Competency-based intervention is an approach in youth services focusing on enhancing skills aligned with age-appropriate developmental tasks. It is employed across various contexts and for diverse...Show moreCompetency-based intervention is an approach in youth services focusing on enhancing skills aligned with age-appropriate developmental tasks. It is employed across various contexts and for diverse target populations. However, the extent of evidence supporting this method in literature is unclear. This thesis synthesizes multiple sources to provide a comprehensive overview of to which extend this topic has been researched: What is known about this methodology, its strengths and weaknesses, and the specific target groups under investigation? Through a narrative review, ten evidence-based and seven non-evidence-based sources have been integrated to present a holistic perspective on the field of competency-based intervention. Several sources have indicated that the application of this model is effective in improving behavior and psychosocial conditions, including youth residing in residential facilities, high-risk families, adolescents with severe psychiatric/behavioral issues, and elementary school children with antisocial behavior. Although indications have been found that this method brings many advantages in practice, it was concluded that there is not enough evidence for competence-based work in the literature due to limitations in the studies. There is a need for further research to assess the effectiveness of this widely used approach.Show less
Abstract Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, characterized by deficits in sociability, behaviour and communication. Children with autism spectrum disorder often face...Show moreAbstract Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, characterized by deficits in sociability, behaviour and communication. Children with autism spectrum disorder often face eating difficulties. Those difficulties might be accompanied by disruptive behaviours. Individuals with autism and their families might therefore be negatively influenced by such eating difficulties. The aim of the present research was to examine the interventions available in the literature in order to treat eating difficulties children with ASD display. Therefore, the following research questions were formulated: What interventions exist for treating eating difficulties in children with ASD? What techniques are effective in treating eating difficulties in children with ASD? Are interventions that include parents more effective in treating eating difficulties in children with ASD compared to those that do not include parents? To answer the research questions, a systematic literature review was conducted. The PICO system was used to establish the search term of the review. The quality of the selected studies was assessed by two independent reviewers, using a combination of methodological quality assessment tools. Regarding the first research question, eleven interventions were available for eating difficulties in children with ASD. The other two research questions failed to be answered. No specific technique was found as effective in treating eating related difficulties, yet the combination of techniques was used among the studies. Reinforcement accompanied by other techniques, constitutes promising results. None of the studies compared interventions which include parents and not include parents. Based on this, it is recommended that further research is needed to be performed, provided with more rigorous research designs in order to test the effectiveness of techniques and parental component in the interventions treating eating difficulties in children with ASD.Show less
The aim of this article is to investigate what role mental wellbeing plays in the experienced somatoform symptoms in adolescents who experienced childhood adversity, during the COVID-19 pandemic....Show moreThe aim of this article is to investigate what role mental wellbeing plays in the experienced somatoform symptoms in adolescents who experienced childhood adversity, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, it is investigated if changes in mental wellbeing between two timepoints during the pandemic are related to changes in somatoform symptoms during COVID-19 in adolescents who experienced childhood adversity. Also, exploratory analyses were run to investigate whether mental wellbeing at the first time point could predict changes in somatoform symptoms over time and vice versa. Longitudinal measures from seventy-six adolescents are used across two timepoints: during the first peak in the pandemic (April 2020) and when the restrictions were less stringent (July 2020). The results show that there is an association between the experienced somatoform symptoms and mental wellbeing. This association is also found between the change in mental wellbeing over time and the change in somatoform symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also clear that both mental wellbeing and somatoform symptoms during the first peak of the SARS-CoV-2-virus have no predictive value for the change in mental wellbeing or somatoform symptoms over time. This research contributes to the existing body of literature with the discovery that mental wellbeing and somatoform symptoms are associated during COVID-19 in adolescents who experienced childhood adversity. Although the association is clear in this research, it is recommended to extend the research design by including multiple, possibly contributing factors, such as loneliness, stress, gender, type, severity and duration of the experienced childhood adversity, to investigate the underlying mechanism. Secondly, it is recommended to investigate the effectiveness of interventions which adequately support adolescents who experienced childhood adversity and experience somatoform symptoms, for example the ‘Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy’-intervention.Show less
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions may have far-reaching consequences for mental health among adolescents with experiences of childhood adversities (CA). Exposure to CA...Show moreIntroduction: The COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions may have far-reaching consequences for mental health among adolescents with experiences of childhood adversities (CA). Exposure to CA influences information processing such as threat processing and reward processing and is therefore associated with elevated risk for psychopathology partly due to altered patterns of social functioning. We propose that adolescents with CA may experience loneliness due to the COVID-19 restrictions and that experiencing loneliness can depend on exposure to deprivation and threat because of its distinct effects on neurological development. Methods: We recruited adolescents (N = 79, 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑒= 22,4, SD = 2,645) from the Resilience after Individual Stress Exposure (RAISE) who filled in a questionnaire of experienced Childhood Adversities before the lockdown. We measured loneliness during the first lockdown (April 2020), the relaxation of restrictions (July 2020) and the reintroduced restrictions (October 2020). The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) measured Childhood adversities and the Revised University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (R-UCLA) measured loneliness. Results: The findings showed that loneliness in April, July and October did not change (F(1.906, 131.508) = .187, p > .05). Loneliness and experiences of threat did not interact with each other; reported loneliness was not influenced by experiences of threat (F(1.906, 131.508) = .282, p > .05). Loneliness and experiences of deprivation did not interact with each other; loneliness was not influenced by experiences of deprivation (F(1.906, 131.508) = .237, p > .05). There was an association between loneliness (April) and neglect (β = .1.18 (t (74) = 3.73; p < .001, r=.56), but no association between loneliness and threat (β = .005 (t) (74) = .017; p > .05). Discussion: The corona pandemic is characterized by an unpredictable situation, which may have caused feelings of fear and anxiety for the entire population which resulted in solidarity; the virus could affect anyone. This could explain the absence of association between threat and loneliness as well as the absence of difference in loneliness in April, July and October.Show less
Motivation within the educational system has been a subject with a wide range of attention for many years. Still, there are no clear guidelines teachers can use to contribute to the intrinsic...Show moreMotivation within the educational system has been a subject with a wide range of attention for many years. Still, there are no clear guidelines teachers can use to contribute to the intrinsic motivation of their students. The goal of this literature review was to provide concrete guidelines that teachers can use to contribute to the intrinsic motivation of their primary school students. This was done firstly by identifying concrete actions that teachers can use to contribute to the intrinsic motivation of their students, according to the selfdetermination theory. Secondly literature research focused on how big the effect sizes matching with these concrete actions were. A systematic search yielded five studies that were eligible. However there were studies included in the study that had a different student population than primary school students, which were highschool- and university students. The results indicated that there were no huge differences in the outcomes of the studies with different student populations. Results of the concrete actions teachers can use to contribute to their students' intrinsic motivation can be categorised by the basic needs of the selfdetermination theory. When it comes to autonomy, this research indicates that teachers should give their students valuable choices during their learning process. The bond or relationship can be improved by showing affection, respect and by being understanding. The research also indicates that teachers should try to match teaching with the personal interest of the students. When it comes to competence, research indicates that teachers should offer activities to their students that match their current competence. Communication, expectations and positive feedback are also key, when it comes to competence, according to the literature research.Show less
The Preventive Intervention Trajectory (Preventief Interventie Team; PIT) is a project which intervenes preventively in children who have a risk of future criminal behavior. Interventions focus on...Show moreThe Preventive Intervention Trajectory (Preventief Interventie Team; PIT) is a project which intervenes preventively in children who have a risk of future criminal behavior. Interventions focus on reducing externalizing problem behavior in these children. It is important to know which factors have an influence on the effectivity of the PIT. Current research focused on the association between self-worth and externalizing problems. Previous research is inconsistent, which suggests there is a possibility that the association between self-worth and externalizing problems is a quadratic association. Current research examined the possibility that children with average self-worth would have less externalizing problems at timepoint one than children with high and low self-worth. Children with low, average and high self-worth were compared on (reduction of) externalizing problems before treatment, on the short term (six months), and on the long term (twelve months). Results showed that there is was no significant linear association between self-worth and externalizing problems before treatment, which supports the suggestion that there might be a quadratic association. However, ANOVA-analysis revealed that there was also no significant quadratic or linear relation. Externalizing problems in children reduced significantly on the short and long term. However, no significant linear or quadratic relation between self-worth and the reduction in externalizing problems on the short and long term was found, indicating that there is no association between self-worth and (the reduction of) externalizing problems. Future research should include a larger sample to verify the current findings.Show less
While reading a text, the reader makes a mental representation of this text to understand it. Reading comprehension is one of the most important tasks in primary school. It is important for success...Show moreWhile reading a text, the reader makes a mental representation of this text to understand it. Reading comprehension is one of the most important tasks in primary school. It is important for success in all subjects in school, but it is also important in daily life. The aim of this study is to investigate if readers a text understand better if they are interested in the subject of the text than when they are less interested. In addition, it is investigated whether the difference is different for low-motivated readers than for highly-motivated readers. The following research question has been formulated: ‘Do readers understand a text better when they are very interested in the subject of a text than when they are uninterested in the subject of the text? And is the difference non-identical for highly intrinsically motivated readers and low intrinsically motivated readers?’ To answer the research question, the reader has completed a reading task and a questionnaire about reading motivation. The reader has chosen three interesting topics and three uninteresting topics to read. After reading the text, the reader was asked to answer three literal questions and three inference questions about the text. In this way, it could be investigated whether interest in a specific text plays a role in text comprehension. The reader also completed a questionnaire about reading motivation to investigate whether the difference is different for highly motivated readers than for low-motivated readers. In this research, attention is only paid to intrinsic motivation. The research has shown that interest has no influence on text comprehension and there is no difference for highly motivated readers and low-motivated readers. Despite these results, it is still recommended to look for texts that arouse the interest of children. According to the literature, interest and motivation are effective factors for text comprehension.Show less
