DSpace Repository :: Browsing by Author "Lobo, Michele A."

Browsing by Author "Lobo, Michele A."

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

Early Exploration of One’s Own Body, Exploration of Objects, and Motor, Language, and Cognitive Development Relate Dynamically Across the First Two Years of Life
(Developmental Psychology, 2022-02) Babik, Iryna; Galloway, James Cole; Lobo, Michele A.
Early exploratory behaviors have been proposed to facilitate children’s learning, impacting motor, cognitive, language, and social development. This study related the performance of behaviors used to explore oneself to behaviors used to explore objects, and then related both types of exploratory behaviors to motor, language, and cognitive measures longitudinally from 3 through 24 months of age via secondary analysis of an existing dataset. Participants were 52 children (23 full-term, 29 preterm). Previously published results from this dataset documented delays for preterm relative to full-term infants in each assessment. The current results related performance among the assessments throughout the first 2 years of life. They showed that the developmental trajectories of behaviors children used for self-exploration closely related to the trajectories of behaviors they employed to explore objects. The trajectories of both self and object exploration behaviors significantly related to trajectories of children’s motor, language, and cognitive development. Specifically, significant relations to global development were observed for self-exploratory head lifting, midline head and hand positioning, hand opening, and behavioral variability, as well as for object-oriented bimanual holding, mouthing, looking, banging, manipulating, transferring of objects, and behavioral intensity and variability. These results demonstrate continuity among the early exploratory behaviors infants perform with their bodies alone, exploratory behaviors with portable objects, and global development. The findings identify specific self- and object-exploration behaviors that may serve as early indicators of developmental delay and could be targeted by interventions to advance motor, language, and cognitive outcomes for infants at risk for delay.
The Effect of START-Play Intervention on Reaching-Related Exploratory Behaviors in Children with Neuromotor Delays: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial
(Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 2022-10-11) Babik, Iryna; Cunha, Andrea; Choi, Dongho; Koziol, Natalie A.; Harbourne, Regina T.; Dusing, Stacey C.; McCoy, Sarah W.; Bovaird, James A.; Willet, Sandra L.; Lobo, Michele A.
Aims: Children with neuromotor delays are at risk for reaching and object exploration impairments, which may negatively affect their cognitive development and daily activity performance. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Sitting Together And Reaching To Play (START-Play) intervention on reaching-related exploratory behaviors in children with neuromotor delays. Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 112 children (Mean = 10.80, SD = 2.59 months old at baseline) with motor delays were randomly assigned to receive START-Play intervention or usual care-early intervention. Performance for ten reaching-related exploratory behaviors was assessed at baseline and 1.5, 3, 6, 12 months post-baseline. Piecewise linear mixed-effects modeling was used to evaluate short- and long-term effects of the intervention. Results: Benefits of START-Play were observed for children with significant motor delays, but not for those with mild delays. START-Play was especially beneficial for children with significant motor delays who demonstrated early mastery in the reaching assessment (i.e., object contact ≥65% of the time within 3 months after baseline); these children showed greater improvements in manual, visual, and multimodal exploration, as well as intensity of exploration across time. Conclusions: START-Play advanced the performance of reaching-related exploratory behaviors in children with significant motor delays.
Evaluation of the Movement and Play Opportunities and Constraints Associated With Containers for Infants
(Pediatric Physical Therapy, 2024-10-01) Alghamdi, Zainab S.; Orlando, Julie M.; Lobo, Michele A.
Purpose: Containers (eg, strollers, bouncers) are an important part of infants’ environment but may negatively impact infant development and health. This study evaluated movement and play opportunities, constraints, and manufacturers’ developmental claims for infant containers. Methods: Containers were identified through Amazon.com. A content analysis of identified products was conducted to identify movement and visual-manual play opportunities, constraints, and developmental claims. Results: Content was analyzed for 460 containers. Containers varied in their movement and play opportunities; however, most did not incorporate toys and restricted trunk movement, self-directed locomotion, and independent head and trunk control. Containers, especially those with built-in toys, often had claims related to gross motor, sensory, and fine motor development. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the variability of movement and play opportunities observed across and within categories of infant containers. General recommendations about container use may be less effective than more specific education to parents about selecting and implementing containers. WHAT THIS EVIDENCE ADDS Current evidence: Infant containers such as strollers, jumpers, and floor seats are commonly used by caregivers in home and daycare settings.1,2 Caregivers’ reports of container use indicate that infants spend hours in containers each day.1,3 Although containers are a significant component of infants’ physical environment, their prolonged use has been discouraged by some professional organizations to prevent the negative developmental and health outcomes associated with container baby syndrome (CBS).4 However, manufacturers often make claims about the developmental benefits of their products. These claims, which may or may not align with current literature, can influence parents’ beliefs and purchasing decisions.5 Gap in the evidence: Containers may negatively impact infant development and health by limiting movement and environmental exploration opportunities; however, the opportunities and constraints provided by commercially available containers have not been evaluated. Additionally, the developmental claims made by manufacturers have not been examined. How does this study fill this evidence gap? In this study, we performed a systematic content analysis of the movement and play opportunities, constraints, and developmental claims made by manufacturers of a large sample of commercially available containers. Implication of all the evidence to clinicians: Most containers place young infants in supine or reclined, restrict trunk movement, limit independent support of the head, do not allow self-locomotion, and lack built-in toys. These findings provide insight into potential mechanisms by which containers may result in CBS. Varying levels of movement and play opportunities for containers were observed. The results can inform clinicians and others when supporting parents selecting containers and suggest recommendations for use should depend upon the container rather than being global. Manufacturers of many containers made claims related to motor, cognitive, sensory, and physical development. Clinicians’ awareness of these claims may support education efforts with parents since claims influence parents’ beliefs and purchasing decisions.
Hand-Use Preferences for Reaching and Object Exploration in Children with Impaired Upper Extremity Functioning: The Role of Environmental Affordances
(Symmetry, 2023-12-05) Babik, Iryna; Lobo, Michele A.
Infants and young children with weakened or impaired upper extremity functioning often develop a strong hand-use “preference” for reaching and object manipulation. While “preferring” their stronger hand, they often partially or completely ignore their “non-preferred” hand. Such manual lateralization might impede complex object exploration, which would negatively affect children’s cognitive development. The question is whether environmental affordances would significantly affect children’s manifested hand-use “preferences” by promoting the use of the “non-preferred” hand. The current sample included 17 children (5 males; 13.9 ± 8.7 months at baseline) with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (arthrogryposis). The reaching and object exploration of the children were evaluated longitudinally across a 6-month period with and without the Playskin LiftTM exoskeletal garment (Playskin). Results showed that the use of the Playskin increased both unimanual and bimanual object contact. Also, when anti-gravity support was provided to the arms by the Playskin, children significantly increased the use of their non-preferred hand, which correlated with improved quality of object play—more bimanual object interaction and greater intensity, variability, and complexity of exploration. These findings suggest that hand-use “preference” in children with arthrogryposis is quite malleable during early development. It is likely that children with impaired upper extremity functioning do not “prefer” to use a particular hand but, rather, cannot afford using both hands due to their limited muscular or manual abilities. Importantly, environmental affordances (i.e., anti-gravity support for the arms) might significantly affect the early development of manual lateralization, with potential implications for children’s quality of object exploration and future cognitive development.
Infant Motor Milestones: Analysis of Content and Variability Among Popular Sources for Parents
(Pediatric Physical Therapy, 2024-10-08) Orlando, Julie M.; Cunha, Andrea B.; Namit, Samantha; Banoub, Abram; Alharbi, Bashayer M.; Lobo, Michele A.
Purpose: Evaluate the content and variability of infant motor milestone education provided to parents in popular sources. Methods: Sources were screened for inclusion, and their motor milestone content was coded. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed. Results: Content from 241 websites, applications, and books was evaluated; 6984 motor milestones were extracted, representing 146 unique milestone codes across 14 categories. Books and applications had more milestone content than websites. There was variability in the milestones mentioned and their associated ages across the sources and relative to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) content. Several frequently mentioned milestones were behaviors that facilitate early learning. Conclusions: There is variability among sources in the motor milestones they provide to parents of infants. The AAP and CDC content likely has some influence on the broader content available, but there is substantial deviation from the information they provide. WHAT THIS EVIDENCE ADDS Current evidence: Education about developmental milestones can positively impact parental knowledge and confidence and enhance discussions between parents and healthcare providers.1 In addition to health care providers, parents report commonly accessing popular sources, including internet searches, websites, books, and mobile applications (apps), to learn about child development.2-5 Gap in the evidence: Parents are more likely to encounter information about milestones than suggestions for play activities or toys when searching about infant milestones, development, and play in popular sources.5 Yet, the nature of this motor milestone content has not been previously studied. How does this study fill this evidence gap? This study comprehensively describes which infant motor milestones parents are educated about by popular sources (ie, apps, books, and websites) and when those milestones are mentioned throughout infants’ first year of life. The study also evaluates whether the content available among popular sources besides those authored by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) varies from the information provided by the AAP and CDC. Implication of all the evidence: There is a large amount of variable information about infant’s motor milestones available to parents in popular sources, with similarities but also deviations and expansions from the AAP and CDC content. The results provide a comprehensive picture of the motor milestones that parents are likely to encounter in popular sources from birth through 1 year. They highlight behaviors parents are less likely to learn about on their own, suggesting health care providers might consider more active education if they want parents to be knowledgeable about these behaviors. Health care providers might suggest apps or books to parents seeking greater amounts of information yet may consider offering education periodically in concurrence with expected developmental skills.6
Information Available to Parents Seeking Education about Infant Play, Milestones, and Development from Popular Sources
(Behavioral Sciences, 2023-05-19) Orlando, Julie M.; Cunha, Andrea B.; Alghamdi, Zainab; Lobo, Michele A.
Parents commonly seek information about infant development and play, yet it is unclear what information parents find when looking in popular sources. Play, Milestone, and Development Searches in Google identified 313 sources for content analysis by trained researchers using a standardized coding scheme. Sources included websites, books, and apps created by professional organizations, commercial entities, individuals, the popular press, and government organizations/agencies. The results showed that for popular sources: (1) author information (i.e., qualifications, credentials, education/experience) is not consistently provided, nor is information about the developmental process, parents’ role in development, or determining an infant’s readiness to play; (2) milestones comprise a majority of the content overall; (3) search terminology impacts the information parents receive; (4) sources from the Milestone and Development Searches emphasized a passive approach of observing developmental milestones rather than suggesting activities to actively facilitate learning and milestone development. These findings highlight the need to discuss parents’ online information-gathering process and findings. They also highlight the need for innovative universal parent-education programs that focus on activities to facilitate early development. This type of education has potential to benefit all families, with particular benefits for families with children who have unidentified or untreated developmental delays.
School nurses: Researcher and clinician collaborations to address paediatric health inequities
(Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2023-08-02) Covington, Lauren B.; Hildick, Heidi; Robinson, Anastasia; Pennington, Mandy; Mansi, Suzanne; Ji, Xiaopeng; Strang, Abigail; Rani, Seema; Robson, Shannon; Lobo, Michele A.; Cuffee, Yendelela; Selekman, Janice; Taherzadeh, Sanaz; Carroll, Jill; Covey, Ann; Murray, Kenna; Zimmerman, Chriss; Horney, Jennifer A.; Sowinski, Christine; Patterson, Freda
School nurses are front-line paediatric public health providers who are eager and poised to address paediatric health inequities. They are tasked with remaining informed about current health issues (i.e. immunization updates, surges in emerging and reemerging illnesses, novel medications and side effects, etc.), but also the disparities that arise within different populations of students (Willgerodt et al., 2018). Further, school nurses are well-positioned to be advocates for the most vulnerable students at risk for health disparities and inequities. For example, school nurses are able to identify and advocate for students who experience food and housing insecurity, lack access to medical or dental care, and/or those who live in unstable or insecure environments (Gratz et al., 2021). School nurses bridge gaps that address lack of healthcare access for their students by making referrals to social workers, public health departments or statewide agencies. School nurses are truly community engaged—sharing with community members the top issues plaguing their students, as well as listening to and addressing priority health issues afflicting the community (Gratz et al., 2021; Willgerodt et al., 2018).
START-Play Physical Therapy Intervention Indirectly Impacts Cognition Through Changes in Early Motor-Based Problem-Solving Skills
(Pediatric Physical Therapy, 2023-07) Koziol, Natalie A.; Kretch, Kari S.; Harbourne, Regina T.; Lobo, Michele A.; McCoy, Sarah W.; Molinini, Rebecca; Hsu, Lin-Ya; Babik, Iryna; Cunha, Andrea Baraldi; Willett, Sandra L.; Bovaird, James A.; Dusing, Stacey C.
Purpose: This study tested whether the Sitting Together and Reaching to Play (START-Play) physical therapy intervention indirectly impacts cognition through changes in perceptual-motor skills in infants with motor delays. Methods: Participants were 50 infants with motor delays randomly assigned to START-Play plus Usual Care Early Intervention (UC-EI) or UC-EI only. Infants' perceptual-motor and cognitive skills were assessed at baseline and 1.5, 3, 6, and 12 months post-baseline. Results: Short-term changes in sitting, fine motor skills, and motor-based problem-solving, but not reaching, predicted long-term changes in cognition. START-Play indirectly impacted cognition through motor-based problem-solving but not sitting, reaching, or fine motor skills. Conclusions: This study provided preliminary evidence that early physical therapy interventions that blend activities across developmental domains and are supported by an enriched social context can place infants on more optimal developmental trajectories.
Why We Move: Social Mobility Behaviors of Non-Disabled and Disabled Children across Childcare Contexts
(Frontiers Media, 2016-09-21) Logan, Samuel W.; Ross, Samantha Mae; Schreiber, Melynda A.; Feldner, Heather A.; Lobo, Michele A.; Catena, Michele A.; MacDonald, Megan; Galloway, James C.; Samuel W. Logan, Samantha Mae Ross, Melynda A. Schreiber, Heather A. Feldner, Michele A. Lobo, Michele A. Catena, Megan MacDonald and James C. Galloway; Lobo, Michele A.; Galloway, James C.
Background Social mobility is defined as the co-occurrence of self-directed locomotion and direct peer interaction. Social mobility is a product of dynamic child–environment interactions and thus likely to vary across contexts (e.g., classroom, gymnasium, and playground). Purpose The purpose of this present study was to examine differences in children’s social mobility: (1) across contexts by age and (2) between non-disabled and disabled children. Method Participants (n = 55 non-disabled and three disabled children; Mage = 3.1 years, SD = 1.4) were video recorded within a university-based early learning center. Children were recorded for 20 min in each context: classroom, gymnasium, and playground. A 15-s momentary time sampling method was used to code social mobility, the simultaneous occurrence of self-directed locomotion, and direct peer interaction. This variable was calculated as percent time within each context. Results A planned Friedman’s rank ANOVA (n = 55), stratified by age, indicated that older children (3–5 years old) differed across contexts in their social mobility [χ2(2) ~ 7.3–10.5, p < 0.025], whereas younger children (1–2 years old) were similar across contexts. Social mobility was significantly lower in the classroom compared with the playground and gymnasium (with no difference between the latter contexts) for older children. Visual analysis confirmed that disabled children (n = 3) engaged in substantially less time in social mobility (average 0–1%), compared with non-disabled, age-similar peers (2–3 years old average 1–12%) across all contexts. Conclusion A substantial gap exists between non-disabled and disabled children for social mobility. There is an increase in magnitude and variability of social mobility around age three that suggests the gap between non-disabled and disabled children will continue to widen.

Browsing by Author "Lobo, Michele A."

Results Per Page

Sort Options