Parent report of child behaviour: Findings from the Flint Registry cohort

Abstract

Background: Children in Flint, Michigan, have multiple risk factors for behavioural challenges, including exposure to lead during the Flint water crisis. However, their behavioural health status is largely unknown. Robust data from the Flint Registry can help understand the burden of behavioural outcomes and inform the allocation of resources. Objectives: This population-level evaluation of Flint children's behavioural outcomes aims to answer the question: What is the burden of parent-reported child behaviour problems in Flint Registry enrolled children? Methods: This cross-sectional study describes parent-reported behavioural outcomes of children 2-17 years old who enrolled in the Flint Registry between December 2018 and December 2020. Parents/guardians completed behavioural assessments including the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-3) Parent Rating Scale and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF2) Screening Parent Form. Demographics of enrolees were compared with census data. Composite BASC-3 T scores were compared with national norms. Distributions for clinically relevant categories of BASC-3 and BRIEF2 scores were examined across age and sex groups.Results: Of the 3579 children included in this study (mean age 9.73 ± 3.96 years), about half were female and 79.7% were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Almost half of the children were reported to have clinically concerning scores on the BASC-3 Parent Rating Scale (44.7%) and the BRIEF2 Screening Parent Form (46.7%). Across most age and sex groupings, the reported adaptive skills were relatively low and behaviour symptoms relatively high. Conclusions:Results reveal a substantial burden of parent-reported behavioural problems in Flint Registry children. This is clinically significant and indicates that a large number of children may require comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation and potential medical and/or educational services. Recognising the potential for longterm manifestations of childhood exposures to environmental hazards, longitudinal surveillance is critical to continue to identify and support participants.

Analysis of Human Resource Allocation Scheme for Digital Media Big Data Based on Recurrent Neural Network Model

“…Machine learning is a very useful data mining technology, which can train a large number of data, extract some hidden features from the data, and through continuous research, achieve accurate extraction of data. Machine learning technology is used to process human resources, and cyclic neural network technology is used to study a large number of digital media in order to further improve the processing efficiency [5].…”

Did a nocebo effect contribute to the rise in special education enrollment following the Flint, Michigan water crisis?

“…No comparable media labeling was applied to children in Detroit (Table S1, Figure 5) or the other Michigan cities with much higher %EBL incidence. A significant percentage of Flint households experience water crisis-related stress and other negative psychological effects, are meeting criteria for psychological trauma, report behavioral problems in their children, and believe that "the crisis would never be fixed" (Bosman & Greeson, 2020;Brooks & Patel, 2022;Ezell & Chase, 2021;Jones et al, 2022;Reuben et al, 2022;Sneed et al, 2020;Trejo et al, 2022).…”

Knowledge, confidence, and reported behaviors that promote safe water drinking among women of reproductive age

“…Among children, lead exposure is associated with a number of health consequences, including but not limited to impaired hearing, learning disabilities, lower IQ, and damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems ( 18 ). Studies demonstrated even low levels of exposure could cause persistent effects from childhood into adolescence and hinder educational performance in subjects such as mathematics and reading ( 19 – 23 ).…”