Suchergebnisse

Children's social interactions are crucial for healthy and adaptive social and emotional development. Free play situations, like the school break, represent an important opportunity for children as they learn how to negotiate, take their losses, be a part of a group, and not stand alone. Yet how to measure children's social interactions in groups outside or at large playgrounds? Traditionally, questionnaires and observations are used in order to gain a systematic insight into children's social behavior when they move around in groups; however, these methods can be both unreliable and intrusive. To increase the construct validity of these measures, we have applied a new method to follow children's dynamics at the playground, using radio frequency identification devices (RFID). In this case, we describe how this method works, what it can measure, how it adds to current methods, and the limitations of each of these measures (questionnaires, observations, and RFID sensors). Finally, we give suggestions for the use of RFID sensors and for further development in this area.

AbstractEmpathy is an important building block for social interactions, that not only allows individuals experience and understand others' affective states, but also to helpfully respond to them. Although empathy can already be observed from infancy, only one questionnaire has been specifically developed to examine young children's empathy. This study translated and validated the original Dutch Empathy Questionnaire (EmQue) into Portuguese. A total of 250 caregivers of preschool typically developed children, aged between 3 and 6 years old, participated in this study. To assess the validation, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted, and internal consistency and concurrent validity were tested. The outcomes confirmed that the Portuguese version of the EmQue is also organized in a three‐factor structure (i.e., Emotion Contagion, Attention to Others' Feelings, and Prosocial Actions). The validation required the exclusion of five of the original items. The internal consistencies of the three EmQue scales for this Portuguese version were good. Associations between the three empathy scales with emotion recognition and prosocial behaviors were in accordance with previous research confirming concurrent validity. Divergent validity assessed through the association of the three empathy scales with aggression was partially confirmed.

Individuals with special education needs have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as they have been shown to be at high risk of losing medical and institutional support at a time when people are being asked to stay isolated, suffering increased anxiety and depression as a consequence. Their families have often found themselves under tremendous pressure to provide support, engendering financial hardship, and physical and emotional strains. In such times, it is vital that international collaborations assess the impact on the individuals and their families, affording the opportunity to make national and international comparisons of how people have coped and what needs to be done to optimize the measures taken by families, associations and governments. This paper introduces one such collaboration.