Date Presented 3/30/2017
This session reviews study results describing the relationships among sensory processing, child behavior, academic readiness, and caregiver characteristics in preschool children from high-risk families. Results of the study and implications for occupational therapy practice are presented.
Primary Author and Speaker: Jeanne Zobel-Lachiusa
Contributing Authors: Kathryn Wiezbicki-Stevens, Dawn DiStefano
BACKGROUND: Children with sensory processing deficits may be more vulnerable to the resultant stressors of trauma, such as poorer academic outcomes, frequently found in high-risk families and communities. Chronic or “toxic” stress has been related to poor attention, executive function, and cognitive function; altered cortisol metabolism; and reduced ability to adapt to new stress (Doom, Cicchetti, & Rogosch, 2014; Lupien, McEwen, Gunnar, & Heim, 2009; Shonkoff & Garner, 2012).
PURPOSE: The proposed research study involves a unique collaboration between the psychology, education, and occupational therapy (OT) departments in a small, private university and a local, nonprofit community-based agency that provides family education, training, and support services to low-income children and families. The project team will collaborate on a research study to better understand factors that prevent or delay school readiness among at-risk preschool children enrolled in the agency’s early education and child care sites. The factors or study variables of interest will be sensory processing, stress, school readiness, behavior, and caregiver characteristics in this sample of preschool children and their caregivers.
The purpose of this study will be to inform OT practice in the development of intervention strategies for children and their caregivers to improve academic outcomes and build resiliency in children so they have a better chance at a successful future. Research questions include the following: (1) Is there a relationship between sensory processing, school readiness, behavior, and stress in a sample of preschool-age children? (2) What are the caregiver characteristics in a sample of preschool-age children of high-risk families?
DESIGN AND METHODS: The project team will conduct an exploratory study of mixed-methods design. Participants will be recruited from the agency’s current preschool children (ages 3–5 yr), teachers, and families enrolled in the agency’s early education and child care sites. Quantitative data will be collected from results of standardized assessment tools to analyze sensory processing (Sensory Processing Measure, Sensory Profile), behavior (Preschool Behavior Scales, 2nd ed.), and school readiness (Bracken School Readiness Assessment). Stress levels will be analyzed from results of a self-report questionnaire (Parenting Stress Index, fourth ed.) and cortisol levels retrieved and analyzed from saliva samples of both children and their caregivers. Qualitative data on caregiver characteristics will be employed to identify and analyze themes from results of structured and unstructured interviews. Quantitative results will be analyzed for statistical significance using IBM SPSS Statistics.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: At the time of this application, the study had not yet been implemented. Collaborative planning meetings have occurred, as has a review of current, pertinent literature.
IMPACT STATEMENT: Results from this proposed study will be useful to both OT practitioners and early childhood educators providing services to preschool-age children of high-risk families. An American Occupational Therapy Association (2016) fact sheet describes the benefit of occupational therapy for addressing mental health in children. Additionally, this research study focus is aligned with the recent (2015) Massachusetts State Identified Measurable Result goal to improve children’s social and emotional skills.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2016). Mental health in children and youth: The benefit and role of occupational therapy [Fact sheet]. Retrieved from https://www.aota.org/-/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/Professionals/WhatIsOT/MH/Facts/MH%20in%20Children%20and%20Youth%20fact%20sheet.pdf
Doom, J. R., Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. (2014). Longitudinal patterns of cortisol regulation differ in maltreated and nonmaltreated children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 53, 1206–1215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2014.08.006
Lupien, S. J., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M. R., & Heim, C. (2009). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behavior and cognition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, 434–445. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2639
Shonkoff, J. P., & Garner, A. S. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129, 232–246. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-2663
