Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 1995
This article addresses questions such as: What is preventive intervention during infancy? How doe... more This article addresses questions such as: What is preventive intervention during infancy? How does it differ from therapy? With what success has it been implemented? Illustrative risk conditions existing in infancy and intervention efforts to date are reviewed.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, Jul 1, 1995
This article addresses questions such as: What is preventive intervention during infancy? How doe... more This article addresses questions such as: What is preventive intervention during infancy? How does it differ from therapy? With what success has it been implemented? Illustrative risk conditions existing in infancy and intervention efforts to date are reviewed.
Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1986
Power spectral and discriminant analysis techniques were used to compare EEG records obtained at ... more Power spectral and discriminant analysis techniques were used to compare EEG records obtained at term and at 3 months past term from 5 groups of varying risk and developmental outcome. The groups were: healthy full-terms; healthy pre-terms with normal outcomes; sick pre-terms with normal outcomes; sick pre-terms with delayed development; sick pre-terms with later neurological problems. The EEG samples recorded at term were identified as belonging to the correct subject group at 52-70% accuracy, 20% being chance for 5 groups. The accuracy varied with the 4 classes of EEG patterns used. The individual subjects were also classified into their correct groups with few exceptions. Similar success was obtained with EEG samples selected from recording at 3 months past term. The predominant power spectral discriminating features were changes in intra- and inter-hemispheric coherence, and increased power, particularly in the middle and higher frequency range. Thus, computer analyses of EEG samples, using features not readily identified visually, differentiated risk from non-risk infants and also differentiated infants with substantial neonatal medical complications who have good or poor developmental outcomes.
This chapter will focus upon the effects of the postnatal environment upon behavioral capacity in... more This chapter will focus upon the effects of the postnatal environment upon behavioral capacity in high risk infants. Specifically it asks: By what process do at-risk infants from favorable environments overcome their deficits? What are the significant dimensions of such environments?
In order to disentangle the effects on development of prenatal drug exposure from the effects of ... more In order to disentangle the effects on development of prenatal drug exposure from the effects of poor prenatal care, perinatal complications, and low socioeconomic status, toddlers prenatally exposed to drugs were compared to high risk preterm toddlers of similar ethnicity and social class. Intellectual functioning and quality of play were assessed. The drug exposed toddlers had significantly lower developmental scores and less representational play. Furthermore elements of their play were characterized by the investigators as a soft neurological sign. The question of possible CNS impairment is raised.
Patterns in mother-child interaction from infancy to age 12 were investigated in a prospective, l... more Patterns in mother-child interaction from infancy to age 12 were investigated in a prospective, longitudinal study of 44 English-speaking mothers and their preterm children. Maternal responsiveness was assessed by home observations during infancy and the Family Interaction Q-Sort at age 12, derived from 2 structured laboratory situations requiring cooperation of mother and child. A cluster of maternal behaviors of critical control toward the toddler was assessed at age 2 years. Children of mothers who were consistently more responsive during both infancy and early adolescence, as well as children whose mothers became more responsive by age 12, achieved higher IQ and arithmetic scores, had more positive self-esteem, and their teachers reported fewer behavioral and emotional problems than children of mothers who were consistently less responsive both during infancy and at age 12. Continuity in parenting behaviors was related to control and criticism beginning in the toddler period and not to degree of responsiveness to the infant.
Abstract Parents seldom seek help directly for infant mental health problems. Parents enter the h... more Abstract Parents seldom seek help directly for infant mental health problems. Parents enter the health care system seeking advice for identified or presumed biological problems in their infants. Many of these biological problems, however, have major psychosocial ...
... LEILA BECKWITH ... Other studies (Bayley & Schaefer 1964; Becker & Krug 1965; Schaefe... more ... LEILA BECKWITH ... Other studies (Bayley & Schaefer 1964; Becker & Krug 1965; Schaefer & Bell 1958) have also found that questionnaires, and sometimes direct ob-servations, show that the lower the socioeconomic status, the more restrictive and suppressive the maternal ...
Fifty preterm children who had experienced a range of biological hazards were divided into two co... more Fifty preterm children who had experienced a range of biological hazards were divided into two competence groups on the basis of their receptive language development at 24 months. The groups were then compared in terms of the kinds of caregiver-child interactions the children and their primary caregivers engaged in three months earlier in a laboratory assessment. The two language skill groups did not differ on perinatal factors such as birth weight and gestational age, or on length of hospitalization, but did differ in social transactions. The more competent group as compared to the less competent group had caregivers who were more stimulating, the children themselves emitted more vocalization, and the caregivers and children engaged in more reciprocal social transactions.
In this short-term longitudinal study, 30 preschool-aged children with autism were first observed... more In this short-term longitudinal study, 30 preschool-aged children with autism were first observed in Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure and, separately, interacting with the primary caregiver in the home. One year later, each child completed both a developmental assessment and an observational assessment of empathic responding. Behaviors typical for children with autism were distinguished from behaviors suggestive of relationally based attachment disorganization. Forty-five percent of the children were classified as securely attached. The secure group demonstrated language skills superior to those of the insecurely attached group, concurrently and during the follow-up. Compared to parents of children who were insecurely attached, parents of securely attached children were rated as more sensitive. Compared to both organized insecure and disorganized children, secure children were rated as more responsive to an examiner's apparent distress during the follow-up relative to...
When young children with disabilities are unable to participate in learning experiences with thei... more When young children with disabilities are unable to participate in learning experiences with their peers, they often lose critical opportunities to develop and practice many of the social and academic skills they will need in order to succeed in school and everyday life. This study evaluated the extent to which computer-based activities, facilitated by a teacher within a classroom setting, can enable young children with disabilities to share in these important experiences. Changes in the social play behaviors, social pretend behaviors, communication, and affect exhibited by young children with disabilities were examined in both computer and non-computer play activities. Results indicated that computer-based activities represented a context in which toddlers and preschool-aged children with disabilities exhibited more sophisticated levels of play behaviors and more positive, interactive social behaviors.
review the changes that have occurred in the field [of caregiver-infant interaction in normal par... more review the changes that have occurred in the field [of caregiver-infant interaction in normal parent-infant pairs, the contribution of the infant to those interactions, and the consequences of those interactions for later development] begin with a consideration of the family as a social unit, as it influences parenting / examination of normative processes of parenting, as they facilitate competent development / focus on individual differences, risk groups, and dysfunction / implications for intervention will be explored (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 1976
A technique for efficiently presenting a large number of vocabulary items was developed for the t... more A technique for efficiently presenting a large number of vocabulary items was developed for the testing of vocabulary comprehension in children younger than two years. The technique, incorporating slides of real objects, had the advantages of maintaining the child’s attention, motivating task continuation, and overcoming the extraneous contextual cues of test materials. The subjects were 106 children aged 17 to 30 months from a wide range of social status groups, and from both English and Spanish language families. Results indicated significant stability over time as well as a significant relationship to maternal report. Analysis of errors suggested that comprehension develops similarly to production, in that simple nouns were the easiest items, verbs were more difficult, and modifiers and locatives were the most difficult. There were no significant main effects of sex or social status. However, specific environmental variables such as parental attitudes and playmate patterns were s...
Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 1995
This article addresses questions such as: What is preventive intervention during infancy? How doe... more This article addresses questions such as: What is preventive intervention during infancy? How does it differ from therapy? With what success has it been implemented? Illustrative risk conditions existing in infancy and intervention efforts to date are reviewed.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, Jul 1, 1995
This article addresses questions such as: What is preventive intervention during infancy? How doe... more This article addresses questions such as: What is preventive intervention during infancy? How does it differ from therapy? With what success has it been implemented? Illustrative risk conditions existing in infancy and intervention efforts to date are reviewed.
Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1986
Power spectral and discriminant analysis techniques were used to compare EEG records obtained at ... more Power spectral and discriminant analysis techniques were used to compare EEG records obtained at term and at 3 months past term from 5 groups of varying risk and developmental outcome. The groups were: healthy full-terms; healthy pre-terms with normal outcomes; sick pre-terms with normal outcomes; sick pre-terms with delayed development; sick pre-terms with later neurological problems. The EEG samples recorded at term were identified as belonging to the correct subject group at 52-70% accuracy, 20% being chance for 5 groups. The accuracy varied with the 4 classes of EEG patterns used. The individual subjects were also classified into their correct groups with few exceptions. Similar success was obtained with EEG samples selected from recording at 3 months past term. The predominant power spectral discriminating features were changes in intra- and inter-hemispheric coherence, and increased power, particularly in the middle and higher frequency range. Thus, computer analyses of EEG samples, using features not readily identified visually, differentiated risk from non-risk infants and also differentiated infants with substantial neonatal medical complications who have good or poor developmental outcomes.
This chapter will focus upon the effects of the postnatal environment upon behavioral capacity in... more This chapter will focus upon the effects of the postnatal environment upon behavioral capacity in high risk infants. Specifically it asks: By what process do at-risk infants from favorable environments overcome their deficits? What are the significant dimensions of such environments?
In order to disentangle the effects on development of prenatal drug exposure from the effects of ... more In order to disentangle the effects on development of prenatal drug exposure from the effects of poor prenatal care, perinatal complications, and low socioeconomic status, toddlers prenatally exposed to drugs were compared to high risk preterm toddlers of similar ethnicity and social class. Intellectual functioning and quality of play were assessed. The drug exposed toddlers had significantly lower developmental scores and less representational play. Furthermore elements of their play were characterized by the investigators as a soft neurological sign. The question of possible CNS impairment is raised.
Patterns in mother-child interaction from infancy to age 12 were investigated in a prospective, l... more Patterns in mother-child interaction from infancy to age 12 were investigated in a prospective, longitudinal study of 44 English-speaking mothers and their preterm children. Maternal responsiveness was assessed by home observations during infancy and the Family Interaction Q-Sort at age 12, derived from 2 structured laboratory situations requiring cooperation of mother and child. A cluster of maternal behaviors of critical control toward the toddler was assessed at age 2 years. Children of mothers who were consistently more responsive during both infancy and early adolescence, as well as children whose mothers became more responsive by age 12, achieved higher IQ and arithmetic scores, had more positive self-esteem, and their teachers reported fewer behavioral and emotional problems than children of mothers who were consistently less responsive both during infancy and at age 12. Continuity in parenting behaviors was related to control and criticism beginning in the toddler period and not to degree of responsiveness to the infant.
Abstract Parents seldom seek help directly for infant mental health problems. Parents enter the h... more Abstract Parents seldom seek help directly for infant mental health problems. Parents enter the health care system seeking advice for identified or presumed biological problems in their infants. Many of these biological problems, however, have major psychosocial ...
... LEILA BECKWITH ... Other studies (Bayley & Schaefer 1964; Becker & Krug 1965; Schaefe... more ... LEILA BECKWITH ... Other studies (Bayley & Schaefer 1964; Becker & Krug 1965; Schaefer & Bell 1958) have also found that questionnaires, and sometimes direct ob-servations, show that the lower the socioeconomic status, the more restrictive and suppressive the maternal ...
Fifty preterm children who had experienced a range of biological hazards were divided into two co... more Fifty preterm children who had experienced a range of biological hazards were divided into two competence groups on the basis of their receptive language development at 24 months. The groups were then compared in terms of the kinds of caregiver-child interactions the children and their primary caregivers engaged in three months earlier in a laboratory assessment. The two language skill groups did not differ on perinatal factors such as birth weight and gestational age, or on length of hospitalization, but did differ in social transactions. The more competent group as compared to the less competent group had caregivers who were more stimulating, the children themselves emitted more vocalization, and the caregivers and children engaged in more reciprocal social transactions.
In this short-term longitudinal study, 30 preschool-aged children with autism were first observed... more In this short-term longitudinal study, 30 preschool-aged children with autism were first observed in Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure and, separately, interacting with the primary caregiver in the home. One year later, each child completed both a developmental assessment and an observational assessment of empathic responding. Behaviors typical for children with autism were distinguished from behaviors suggestive of relationally based attachment disorganization. Forty-five percent of the children were classified as securely attached. The secure group demonstrated language skills superior to those of the insecurely attached group, concurrently and during the follow-up. Compared to parents of children who were insecurely attached, parents of securely attached children were rated as more sensitive. Compared to both organized insecure and disorganized children, secure children were rated as more responsive to an examiner's apparent distress during the follow-up relative to...
When young children with disabilities are unable to participate in learning experiences with thei... more When young children with disabilities are unable to participate in learning experiences with their peers, they often lose critical opportunities to develop and practice many of the social and academic skills they will need in order to succeed in school and everyday life. This study evaluated the extent to which computer-based activities, facilitated by a teacher within a classroom setting, can enable young children with disabilities to share in these important experiences. Changes in the social play behaviors, social pretend behaviors, communication, and affect exhibited by young children with disabilities were examined in both computer and non-computer play activities. Results indicated that computer-based activities represented a context in which toddlers and preschool-aged children with disabilities exhibited more sophisticated levels of play behaviors and more positive, interactive social behaviors.
review the changes that have occurred in the field [of caregiver-infant interaction in normal par... more review the changes that have occurred in the field [of caregiver-infant interaction in normal parent-infant pairs, the contribution of the infant to those interactions, and the consequences of those interactions for later development] begin with a consideration of the family as a social unit, as it influences parenting / examination of normative processes of parenting, as they facilitate competent development / focus on individual differences, risk groups, and dysfunction / implications for intervention will be explored (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 1976
A technique for efficiently presenting a large number of vocabulary items was developed for the t... more A technique for efficiently presenting a large number of vocabulary items was developed for the testing of vocabulary comprehension in children younger than two years. The technique, incorporating slides of real objects, had the advantages of maintaining the child’s attention, motivating task continuation, and overcoming the extraneous contextual cues of test materials. The subjects were 106 children aged 17 to 30 months from a wide range of social status groups, and from both English and Spanish language families. Results indicated significant stability over time as well as a significant relationship to maternal report. Analysis of errors suggested that comprehension develops similarly to production, in that simple nouns were the easiest items, verbs were more difficult, and modifiers and locatives were the most difficult. There were no significant main effects of sex or social status. However, specific environmental variables such as parental attitudes and playmate patterns were s...
Uploads
Papers by Leila Beckwith