RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Stress is not experienced the same by everyone. Some individuals, such as individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), are at risk of heightened sensitivity to stress responses. ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder commonly characterised by deficits in social communication and social interaction. Among different stressor stimuli, social stressors are particularly worth our attention due to the social and communication challenges inherent in ASD. This study aims to systematically evaluate different social stressor stimuli in eliciting physiological reactivity in ASD, focusing on the children and adolescent population. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We designed a study protocol for this study and submitted it to PROSPERO for systematic review registration. Any studies with children and adolescents with ASD between the ages of 0 and 18 in clinical and community settings will be included. All types of social stressor interventions will be included. The outcome of interest will include studies with physiological activity of the participants being measured, for example, measures related to autonomic functioning, electrodermal functioning and cortisol level. The primary literature sources will be across four electronic databases: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo and CINAHL in August 2021. The second source of literature will be across grey literature, including ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global and across clinical trial registries in August 2021. Hand searching of references will be performed on the reference lists of all included studies. Two volunteers pursuing postgraduate-level studies will independently search and screen potential studies for eligibility. Finally, all references considered by hand searching will be reviewed by two researchers. The methodological quality of the research will be assessed by adopting the quality assessment used by a previous study. The assessment consists of four primary categories: descriptive validity, internal validity, external validity and statistical conclusion validity. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No ethical approval is required for this study. Results will be disseminated through conferences and publications in relevant peer-reviewed journals. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021244039.
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Trastorno del Espectro Autista , Trastornos del Neurodesarrollo , Adolescente , Niño , Preescolar , Comunicación , Humanos , Lactante , Recién Nacido , Metaanálisis como Asunto , Revisiones Sistemáticas como AsuntoRESUMEN
COVID-19 is a significant public health crisis and it has given a major impact especially in the field of education. The situation has forced educators around the world to shift to an online mode of teaching and children are forced to study online at home. The benefits of online learning are undeniable, but the possible long-term developmental risks of prolonged screen use should not be overlooked. Recent research findings have clearly suggested the negative effects of screen time on the brain development and well-being of our younger generation. Considering the possible long-term developmental risks of prolonged screen use, policy makers should consider appropriate public health policy (e.g., recommendations on screen time) and guideline for the implementations of online learning (e.g., allowing flexibility to suit individual needs). Multidisciplinary collaboration between policy makers, health care professionals, schools, and parents is required to rethink the current situation before it is too late.
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COVID-19 , Educación a Distancia , Encéfalo , Niño , Atención a la Salud , Humanos , SARS-CoV-2RESUMEN
There are more children diagnosed with specific learning difficulties in recent years as people are more aware of these conditions. Diagnostic tool has been validated to screen out this condition from the population (SpLD test for Hong Kong children). However, for specific assessment on handwriting problem, there seems a lack of standardized and objective evaluation tool to look into the problems. The objective of this study was to validate the Chinese Handwriting Analysis System (CHAS), which is designed to measure both the process and production of handwriting. The construct validity, convergent validity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability of CHAS was analyzed using the data from 734 grade 1-6 students from 6 primary schools in Hong Kong. Principal Component Analysis revealed that measurements of CHAS loaded into 4 components which accounted for 77.73% of the variance. The correlation between the handwriting accuracy obtained from HAS and eyeballing was r=.73. Cronbach's alpha of all measurement items was .65. Except SD of writing time per character, all the measurement items regarding handwriting speed, handwriting accuracy and pen pressure showed good to excellent test-retest reliability (r=.72-.96), while measurement on the numbers of characters which exceeded grid showed moderate reliability (r=.48). Although there are still ergonomic, biomechanical or unspecified aspects which may not be determined by the system, the CHAS can definitely assist therapists in identifying primary school students with handwriting problems and implement interventions accordingly.
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Agrafia/diagnóstico , Diagnóstico por Computador/instrumentación , Evaluación de la Discapacidad , Escritura Manual , Estudiantes , Pueblo Asiatico , Niño , Diagnóstico por Computador/métodos , Hong Kong , Humanos , Proyectos Piloto , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Instituciones AcadémicasRESUMEN
A previous study found a visual deficit in contour integration in English readers with dyslexia (Simmers & Bex, 2001). Visual contour integration may play an even more significant role in Chinese handwriting particularly due to its logographic presentation (Lam, Au, Leung, & Li-Tsang, 2011). The current study examined the relationship between children's performance in visual contour (VC) integration and Chinese handwriting. Twenty students from grade 3 to grade 6 were recruited (M=9.51, SD=1.02) from a mainstream primary school using the convenience sampling method. Ten students were identified by teachers as having handwriting problems, and the other 10 were typical students. Participants performed the VC tasks and their handwriting performance was assessed by a Chinese Handwriting Assessment Tool (CHAT) in a classroom setting. Correlation analyses revealed that VC accuracy was significantly and negatively correlated with on paper time and total writing duration. t-Test analyses revealed statistically significant differences in VC accuracy between students with typical and poor handwriting, with consistently better VC accuracy performance in all conditions in the typical handwriting group. The results may have important implications for interventions aiming at improving children's handwriting.