The early childhood home visiting field lacks a basic understanding of home visiting program staff members' receipt of on-the-job training from experts outside of their programs who are not their immediate colleagues or supervisors. To address this gap, we created a unique dataset by asking program leaders to log the external technical assistance (TA) that staff members received, and we collected a survey from 288 of the same staff members. We performed descriptive analyses to learn how many hours of TA staff members were receiving, what topics the TA most commonly addressed, and what formats (e.g., in-person or virtual/remote, individual, or group) the TA was most commonly provided in. We then associated characteristics of the TA received with staff and program characteristics, as well as with staff members' turnover. Multilevel analyses showed the TA supports that home visiting staff members received differed by role (home visitor or supervisor) and program characteristics, including home visiting model-Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) or Parents as Teachers (PAT)-program size, and maturity. About 23% of the home visiting staff members left their programs over the course of 18 months. PAT staff members were more likely to leave their programs than NFP staff members. We did not find that characteristics of TA received were predictive of staff members' turnover. Implications and the need for further research are discussed.

The early childhood home visiting field lacks a basic understanding of home visiting program staff members’ receipt of on-the-job training from experts outside of their programs who are not their immediate colleagues or supervisors. To address this gap, we created a unique dataset by asking program leaders to log the external technical assistance (TA) that staff members received, and we collected a survey from 288 of the same staff members. We performed descriptive analyses to learn how many hours of TA staff members were receiving, what topics the TA most commonly addressed, and what formats (e.g., in-person or virtual/remote, individual, or group) the TA was most commonly provided in. We then associated characteristics of the TA received with staff and program characteristics, as well as with staff members’ turnover. Multilevel analyses showed the TA supports that home visiting staff members received differed by role (home visitor or supervisor) and program characteristics, including home visiting model—Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) or Parents as Teachers (PAT)—program size, and maturity. About 23% of the home visiting staff members left their programs over the course of 18 months. PAT staff members were more likely to leave their programs than NFP staff members. We did not find that characteristics of TA received were predictive of staff members’ turnover. Implications and the need for further research are discussed.

Preschool children subjected to suspension and expulsion miss valuable educational opportunities and are more likely to experience academic failure and grade retention. These forms of exclusionary discipline are more frequent in preschool settings than in K-12 education classrooms. Previous research has examined the prevalence and influencing factors of exclusionary discipline in early childhood settings, but less is known about what this looks like in a well-resourced state-funded preschool program that includes characteristics that have been shown in prior research to be associated with reducing the likelihood of exclusionary discipline incidents (e.g., low student-teacher ratios, program resources to assist teachers in managing child behaviors). This study examines reports of exclusionary discipline actions in a large, well-resourced, state preschool program for low-income 4year-olds and examines whether report of these disciplinary actions varies by teacher characteristics. The study also reports teachers' reasons for engaging in these practices. Data are drawn from annual surveys of 147 teachers working in the state preschool program from 2016 to 2018. We find that at least one child was subject to some form of exclusionary discipline in more than a quarter of responding teachers' classrooms. Suspension was the most common form of exclusionary discipline. Teachers with fewer years of experience teaching preschool were more likely to report engaging in exclusionary discipline than more experienced teachers. Concerns regarding the safety of the child, the child's peers, or program staff were cited by nearly all teachers as a reason for using exclusionary discipline.

Objectives: The objectives were to characterize the rate, duration, and factors associated with napping in a large, nationally representative sample of toddlers attending child care.Design: We analyzed a subset of data from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, including parent report, caregiver report, and observational measures.Participants: Data were limited to the 3050 participants reporting that their 2-year-old routinely spent greater than 1 hour per week in nonparental child care.Measurements: Interviews were completed to measure child care type (relative, nonrelative, center-based), demographics, bedtime characteristics (eg, presence of a bedtime routine, assistance needed to fall asleep), and naptime. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Research Edition was used to measure child outcomes.Results: Napping was reported to occur in 91% of 2-year-olds, with most naps reported to last 2 hours. Significant racial and ethnic differences were found in nap duration, with black children napping longer and Latino children napping shorter than white children, controlling for socioeconomic status and sex. Chiklren cared for by relatives had longer naps than those in nonrelative child care. There were no significant relationships between naps and child outcomes.Conclusions: Results highlight racial and ethnic differences in daytime napping duration and interesting differences in nap duration in different child care settings. Child care providers may use these results to adopt appropriate expectations, policies, and practices for 2-year-old napping. (C) 2016 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This presentation reports on the goals and preliminary outcomes of the Child-Parent Centers (CPC) Expansion Project, which is a PreK to 3 rd grade school reform model aimed at improving the shortand long-term outcomes of participating children and families. The model provides continuous education and family support services to schools serving a large percentage of lowincome children. The model is based on an earlier project implemented in the 1970s and 1980s in a large, Midwestern city which followed participating children into adulthood and demonstrated consistent positive outcomes across a range of domains, including educational achievement. The CPC Expansion Project includes a quasi-experimental design to examine the impact of the current model on kindergarten school readiness and second grade school achievement as well as the impact on parent involvement in children’s education and learning.

Introduction Home visiting programs are designed and implemented to support families in providing an environment that promotes the healthy growth and development of their children. Programs may target their services to families and caregivers who are at a particular disadvantage when it comes to establishing and maintaining such an environment. They may also focus on families in which the child is more vulnerable than the typical child because of health or developmental concerns.

This study assessed the links between maternal sleep and mothers’ perceptions of their attachment relationship with their infant among women at risk for postpartum depression by virtue of having been depressed during pregnancy. Sixty-two mothers completed sleep diaries and questionnaires at 3 and 6 months postpartum. Regression analyses, controlling for depression severity and infant temperament, revealed significant prospective correlation between maternal shorter total sleep time at 3 months and lower scores on a mother–infant attachment questionnaire at 6 months. At 6 months, the longer time mothers were awake tending to their infants the lower were their attachment scores. The findings suggest that improving sleep of mothers who suffered from prenatal depression may have a positive effect on mothers’ self-reported relationship with their infants.

This study assessed whether elevated severities of maternal depression and disturbed maternal sleep would be associated with maternal perceptions of higher Negative Affectivity of her infant. Sixty-nine mothers participated in this study. The study was part of a larger randomized controlled study testing the efficacy of acupuncture as a treatment for depression during pregnancy. The present study focused on data collected at 6 months postpartum in a naturalistic follow-up design, using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), maternal sleep diaries (completed daily for 1 week), and the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R). Regression analyses revealed that (a) maternal depression severity was a significant predictor of the IBQ-R Distress and Falling Reactivity scales and (b) poor maternal sleep was a significant predictor of the IBQ-R Sadness scale. Our findings support previous findings of significant links between maternal emotional distress and perceived Negative Affectivity of her infant's temperament and provide a novel insight linking maternal poor sleep with perceived sadness of the infant.

Sixty-eight families participated in a longitudinal study that included video observations of sleep during the 1st year of life and annual follow-up phone interviews until the children were 4 years of age. Results revealed that approximately 19% of children have a sleep problem at 2 years of age, defined either by research criteria or parental report, and that sleep problems diminished over time. Approximately 25% of children were reported to be cosleeping at each follow-up interview, but only a third of the parents reported this behavior to be problematic. A subgroup of infants (33%), who were considered stable, non-self-soothers in the 1st year, were more likely to have a sleep onset problem and be cosleeping at the 2-year follow-up assessment.

This study examined whether 3–15, month-old cosleeping infants displayed differences in time spent in active versus quiet sleep, and in the number/duration of nighttime awakenings when compared with solitary-sleeping infants; and also whether they spent the majority of the night sleeping face-to-face, as previously reported. Nine cosleeping and nine solitary-sleeping infants were matched on age, gender, ethnicity, maternal age, and family SES. Video recordings of nighttime sleep yielded percentage of time in active sleep, quiet sleep, and awake, number of wakenings, and the percentage of time cosleeping infants and mothers spent face-to-face. Across age, cosleeping infants had more awakenings per night mean 5.8(1.50) versus 3.2(1.95); t=3.16, p =.006). The percent of the nighttime spent awake did not differ between groups, suggesting that cosleeping infants had shorter awakenings. Cosleeping infants spent 40% of the night face-to-face with their mothers.

This chapter summarizes the existing literature of how sleep continuity and sleep architecture change across the trimesters of pregnancy and factors that may contribute to these changes. It discusses sleep and sleep deprivation during the first 6 months postpartum and deals with a discussion of critical issues and directions for future research. Both hormonal and physical changes associated with pregnancy contribute to the documented decrease in sleep continuity. Daytime sleepiness is conceptually different from daytime fatigue. Whereas fatigue is usually assessed by measuring levels of energy, vigor, and vitality, daytime sleepiness is interpreted in the sleep research field as a high propensity to sleep onset. In the absence of epidemiological data, the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing during pregnancy remains unknown. The incidence of parasomnias, associated with partial arousal from slow-wave sleep (SWS), such as sleepwalking, decreases during pregnancy, most likely because of a decrease in SWS during pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE To compare the structural growth and developmental outcome of children born to mothers diagnosed with major depressive disorder during pregnancy who were exposed or not exposed to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in utero. STUDY DESIGN Children whose mothers were diagnosed with major depressive disorder in pregnancy and elected not to take medication (n = 13) were compared with children of depressed mothers treated with SSRIs (n = 31) on birth outcomes and postnatal neurodevelopmental functioning between ages 6 and 40 months. Children underwent blinded standardized pediatric and dysmorphology examinations and evaluations of their mental and psychomotor development with the use of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID II). RESULTS The Bayley mental developmental indexes were similar in both groups. Children exposed to SSRIs during pregnancy had lower APGAR scores and scored lower on the Bayley psychomotor development indexes and the motor quality factor of the Bayley Behavioral Rating Scale than unexposed children. CONCLUSIONS The findings that SSRIs during fetal development might have subtle effects on motor development and motor control are consistent with the pharmacologic properties of the drugs.

Data on sleep behavior were gathered on 100 children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), ages 2–11 years, using sleep diaries, the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), and the Parenting Events Questionnaire. Two time periods were sampled to assess short-term stability of sleep–wake patterns. Before data collection, slightly more than half of the parents, when queried, reported a sleep problem in their child. Subsequent diary and CSHQ reports confirmed more fragmented sleep in those children who were described by their parents as having a sleep problem compared to those without a designated problem. Interestingly, regardless of parental perception of problematic sleep, all children with PDD exhibited longer sleep onset times and greater fragmentation of sleep than that reported for age-matched community norms. The results demonstrate that sleep problems identified by the parent, as well as fragmentation of sleep patterns obtained from sleep diary and CSHQ data, exist in a significant proportion of children with PDD.