Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a medical diagnosis, applied mainly but not exclusively to children. Diagnosis of ADHD is a controversial issue as the validity of the condition is questioned, and the main form of intervention offered to children in the UK is M…
The health of children is a matter of primary concern both to the state and to the individual, and the maintenance and restoration of that health are activities which take place both in the public domain and in the home. The recognition of the importance and interdependence of p…
In Malawi there has been significant progress in reducing post-neonatal and under-5 deaths over the past decade but very little progress in reducing neonatal deaths. The major causes of neonatal deaths in Malawi are prematurity, infections and birth asphyxia. Neonatal sepsis has…
Objective: Given the well-established association between epilepsy and sleep disturbance and the evidence suggesting the importance of sleep in memory consolidation, there is reason to investigate the relationship between sleep and rate of forgetting in children with epilepsy. T…
The work presented in this thesis is the result of 2 years of investigation into pathogenic mechanisms resulting in the development of osteonecrosis in children and young people treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). This was a study using in vitro methods to investiga…
This thesis consists of a series of studies utilising quantitative ultrasound (Sunlight Omnisense 7000P) to assess bone health of infants. Preterm infants are at risk of osteopenia of prematurity (OP) which can result in fractures in the short term and may have an impact on grow…
This study presents an evaluation of the Lego® Therapy intervention (LeGoff, 2004) for six children, aged six to ten, with varying social communication difficulties. Lego® Therapy is a small-group, child-led and peer-based social development programme. Relevant theory and existi…
Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are common in children. They contribute significantly to patient morbidity, mortality and hospitalisation costs. There is limited data on the avoidability of ADRs in children and wide variation in avoidability rates has been reported. There is curre…
Background The literature suggests that working and long-term memory are impaired in paediatric brain tumour survivors (Robinson Fraley, Pearson, Kuttesch & Compas, 2013; Robinson et al., 2014). Survivors report difficulties remembering information they learned days before, incl…
Background and aims: Leukaemia is a cancer of the blood and is the most common type of childhood cancer with almost 500 new cases every year in the UK. There is a vast amount of research exploring the experiences of parents of children with cancer, however, there is less researc…
Background: Insulin pumps have the potential to improve glycaemic control and health in childhood type 1 diabetes (T1D) but they require intensive monitoring and their impact on parental quality of life (QoL) is less well understood. Aims: To explore the views of parents who man…
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe and chronic mental health disorder, affecting many areas of functioning including: affect regulation, impulse control, interpersonal relationships and self-image. Causal factors are only partly known due to a scarcity of prospect…
This research examined relationships and positive growth in families of children who have a developmental disability. Chapter one is a critical review of the literature relating to positive growth in parents of children who have a developmental disability. Past studies have indi…
The possibility that seeing aggression on television and in video games might cause aggression in children is a public health concern. A systematic review found insufficient, contradictory and methodologically flawed evidence regarding this association in children with behaviour…
Despite the scientific, technological and surgical improvements of the past 50 years organ dysfunction following elective paediatric cardiac surgery utilising cardiopulmonary bypass continues to account for increased complications, often leading to a protracted course in hospita…
The bacteria located within the human gastrointestinal tract (the gut microbiota) perform numerous protective, immunological and metabolic functions for the host. They are increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of acquired inflammatory diseases of the gut in childhood, name…
The main aim of this thesis was to improve our understanding of the development of early inhibitory emotions and emotion regulation from infancy, and the role of these emotions in early risk pathways. More specifically, this thesis investigated (1) the development of fearful tem…
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Social Stories utilising either photograph or symbol illustrations to address the target behaviours of children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Multiple single-case experiments were conducted utilising an A…
This research project sets out to explore the lived experience of Being and caring for a child with a Life Limiting Condition. This research uses van Manen’s (1990) conceptualisation of hermeneutic phenomenology that is both a research methodology and a method. The first empiric…
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder of childhood. Most of the deficits it describes are situated examples of classroom misdemeanour, and yet the school’s complicity in rising diagnostic trends has not been extensively qu…