Sylvia Maria Ciasca's research while affiliated with University of Campinas and other places

O TISD tem como objetivo identificar sinais de desempenho escolar e neurocognitivos relacionados à dislexia. Trata-se de um instrumento de triagem, por isso, não tem como objetivo o diagnóstico propriamente dito da dislexia, mas possibilita uma triagem inicial dessa condição.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Developmental Dyslexia are disorders usually diagnosed in childhood and adolescence and affect different cognitive functions, however, with differences in central deficits. There is a consensus that children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder manifest alterations in attention and executive functioning. Meanwhile, a growing number of researchers that investigated and described attentional and other executive function alterations in affected Dyslexia individuals. Therefore, our study aimed to compare the cognitive and behavioral profiles of 21 children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (n=7), Dyslexia (n=6), and a control group (n=8), ages 6 to 14 years old, evaluated from January 2022 to July 2023. We excluded children with other neurodevelopmental disorders or neurologic diseases. The results showed that in tasks of working memory and cognitive flexibility, the group with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder presented higher averages than the children with Dyslexia. Furthermore, participants with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder committed more mistakes in attentional tests, mainly in alternating attention, than the Dyslexia group (z = -8.548; p=0.029). Furthermore, participants with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder had higher means for externalizing problems (Average: 62.43; Standard Deviation: 8.36) when compared to the group with Dyslexia (Average: 57.50; Standard Deviation: 5.09), as well as dyslexics had higher means for behavior problems internalizing (Average: 66.00; Standard Deviation: 11.63) than the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder group (Average: 58.00; Standard Deviation: 8.16). The results found in this study showed that children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder had higher averages than the group with Dyslexia in attention and executive functions and indicated the presence of a heterogeneous cognitive and behavioral profile among the participants, however, the clinical groups showed significant impairments in attention, executive functions and behavior, which can have an impact on the functionality and quality of life of these children.

Screening instruments can help to characterize the academic and neuropsychological difficulties of individuals with Dyslexia. The aim of this study was to verify whether there would be differences in performance in the Identification of Signs of Dyslexia Test (TISD) when a group of children with Dyslexia was compared other diagnostic groups of children with level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Intellectual Disability (ID), Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Borderline Intellectual Functioning and Academic Difficulties. Participants were 172 children that had been diagnosed by interdisciplinary teams and average age ranging from 8.75 (SD = 2.21) to 10.14 (SD = 2.36) year-old. Comparison and association analyzes were performed using Univariate Analysis of Variance and Multinomial Logistic Regression, respectively. The results indicated that the ID and ASD groups presented more impaired performances. Additionally, the TISD was sensitive enough to identify differences between the Dyslexia and ASD groups, with the latter presenting worse performance. However, with the other groups, such differences were not observed. Complementary studies, with larger samples, are necessary, considering the effects of other variables associated with the disorders studied.

A presente pesquisa objetivou avaliar as sintomatologias depressivas, ansiosas e a criatividade, bem como verificar suas relações, em um grupo de crianças brasileiras (N = 50). A amostra foi proveniente de escola pública e a faixa etária variou entre 10 e 11 anos (M = 10.36; DP = 0.72). Foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: Teste de Criatividade Figural Infantil (TCFI), Escala Multidimensional de Ansiedade para Crianças (MASC) e o Inventário de Depressão Infantil (CDI). Os resultados apontaram que quatro crianças (8%) pertencentes à amostra geral apresentaram nota acima da de corte no MASC, porém, no CDI, nenhuma. No TCFI, verificou-se que as classificações dentro da média foram as mais frequentes. Somente houve correlações significativas dentro da amostra do gênero feminino, com correlações positivas e moderadas entre o MASC e o CDI e entre o Fator 2 do TCFI (Emotividade) e o CDI. Principalmente esse último dado revelou que possivelmente características depressivas podem estar relacionadas à criatividade em meninas, ou seja, uma possível dupla-excepcionalidade.

The new coronavirus outbreak determined the closure of schools and universities around the world. In Brazil, implementation of online teaching faced many challenges, especially for public schools. We analyzed, via an online questionnaire, the speech of children aged 6 to 11 years old to evaluate their thoughts about virtual classes. The results showed a significant negative correlation between children’s learning perception and their feelings about online classes. A duration longer than 3 hours for the virtual classes was associated with students perceiving them as “boring” and “tiresome”; and children who did not enjoy being taught in front of a screen also perceived their learning during this period as “poor”. Possible psychological impacts for children under confinement, like fear and stress may have contributed to these perceptions. Our limitations were: the small sample size compared with Brazil’s population and, also the concentration of answers in the southern (the richest and most developed) region. When giving children predefined answers, we could not be able to realize the true dimension of their emotions. The results showed that there is a need for institutions to prepare a good virtual environment for teaching, with proper training for the staff involved and attractive classes, able to captivate the students’ attention and allow better learning. In a vast territory like Brazil, there is a need of proper public policies and funding to allow better internet access and reduce educational inequality. Families shall be warned to pay attention to children’s signs of poor mental health, once confinement may be a trigger for symptoms of anxiety and depression, a synergistic conjunction that is able to deteriorate the capacity of attention and our children’s ability of learning. Keywords Schools, COVID-19, Online Systems, Education, Child

INTRODUCTION: There are few formal cognitive and academic tests to evaluate Brazilian students. The strategy of translating and adapting foreign tests is adopted by some researchersOBJECTIVE: To translate and adapt the Mathematical Skills Assessment Battery (BAC-MAT) into PortugueseMETHODS: The process of translation and adaptation followed the steps recommended in the international literature. This process involved the translation into the standard language and the adjustment of cultural words, idioms and, if necessary, complete transformation of some items in order to capture the same concept in the target culture. The BAC-MAT was tested for clarity with Brazilian students without math difficultiesRESULTS: The results show that the translations performed by de Committee formed were considered suitable and there was semantic equivalence to the originalCONCLUSION: The BAC-MAT was translated into Portuguese with cross-culturally adaptation, under the Portuguese title BAC-MAT B. The final version of BAC-MAT was applied successfully. We conclude that the BAC-MAT B can be help healthcare and education professionals who care children with math difficulties

The aim of this study was to identify support for convergent validity for the Test for Identification of Signs of Dyslexia (TISD). This validity is part of a great field named “evidence of validity based on relations with external criteria”. The support of validity studies for the TISD is still ongoing, and this research is a part of them. The total sample (N = 421) was composed of two groups: sample 1 (n = 371), aged between 6 and 16 years (M = 10.10, SD = 2.33); sample 2 (n = 50), aged between 6 and 10 years (M = 7.94, SD = 0.73). Participants in the two samples were evaluated using TISD and two different test protocols. Convergent validity of the TISD was investigated by comparing subtests of the TISD with already validated instruments, which are assumed to measure the same cognitive abilities, through the Pearson’s correlation and simple linear regression analysis. Pearson’s correlations obtained in the samples showed values between 0.22 (with small effect size, r2 = 0.04) and 0.71 (with large effect size, r2 = 0.50). Linear regression analysis revealed predictions of the TISD regarding the other instruments explaining between 8 and 51% of variance in these measures (with effect sizes between medium and large). These analyses corroborate the convergent validity of the TISD. Considering the prediction of its subtests regarding performance in the domains investigated, the TISD can comprise an important screening tool in the Brazilian context.

Objective: To investigate if students with developmental dyslexia (DD) have more behavior problems and depressive symptoms than students without learning difficulties. Method: Participants were 61 students, aged 7-14 years, including 31 with interdisciplinary DD diagnosis and 30 without learning disabilities. We collected data from parents, using the children's behavior checklist (CBCL), and from students, using the children's depression inventory (CDI). Results: The DD group had higher CBCL averages for anxiety, depression, withdrawal, rule-breaking behaviors, aggressiveness, and social, attentional and thought problems. They also showed higher results for the internalizing and externalizing categories, others and total. In the CDI, DD students had higher averages for total score and for the following symptoms: negative self-evaluation, guilt, suicidal thoughts, feeling concern, performance comparison, sleeping difficulties, fatigue, and problems in interacting with peers at school. Conclusions: We discuss the results in terms of implications for DD diagnosis and intervention. Parent reports indicate a higher frequency of behavior problems in students with DD diagnosis. Those students also demonstrate more symptoms of depression than students without learning difficulties.