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Children living in agricultural areas are exposed to pesticides in their living areas and through activities of daily living. These exposures may lead to adverse health effects. The purpose of this paper is to investigate household environmental and behavioural factors associated with chlorpyrifos exposure and resultant adverse health effects in children living in an agricultural community.

A cross-sectional study was conducted including 65 toddlers (age of 12–36 months) and their parents were face-to-face interviewed from January to February 2016. Toddler’s hands and feet, toys and floors were wiped for chlorpyrifos residue analysis. The wipes were extracted and analysed by gas chromatography with a flame photometric detector, and blood cholinesterase activity was measured by the EQM Test-mate (model 400).

The average age (± standard deviation) of children was 19.9 (±5.9) months. Chlorpyrifos detections were 61.5 per cent (hands), 57.1 per cent (toys), 53.8 per cent (floors) and 30.8 per cent (feet). The highest chlorpyrifos residue concentration was detected on toy surface (3.022 µg/m²). Chlorpyrifos residues on hands and feet were positively correlated with concentrations on floors and toys (Spearman’s ρ, p<0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that more frequent hand washing (β=−0.236, p=0.067) and showering (β=−0.240, p=0.056) was negatively associated with chlorpyrifos residue on children’s body. House cleaning frequency was significantly associated with an increase in haemoglobin-adjusted erythrocyte cholinesterase (β=0.251, p<0.05).

Chlorpyrifos exposures found in the children household area through their activities and behaviours can cause several adverse health effects. The circumstances associated with chlorpyrifos exposure should be mitigated and reduced to improve the household environment of children living agricultural areas.

The purpose of this paper is to solve the puzzle of the disproportionately lower employment rate of mothers of toddlers with relation to the employment rate of mothers of preschool and school-age children in Estonia.

The research is based on the Most Similar System Design and compares Estonia with Lithuania. The applied methods include inferential statistics and microsimulation techniques, employing the OECD Benefits and Wages Calculator, the OECD Family Support Calculator and EUROMOD – the European tax-benefit microsimulation model.

The comparison revealed that the overwhelming majority of the crucial aspects of socio-cultural, economic and institutional conditions were more favourable for maternal employment in Estonia than in Lithuania. This explains the higher maternal employment rates both for mothers of pre-schoolers and school-age children in Estonia. However, one particular element of the institutional context targeted to the mothers of toddlers – the unconditional parental benefit – had an entirely opposite character. This particular feature of the parental leave scheme was the only factor that could explain why the employment rate of mothers of toddlers is disproportionately lower than the employment rate of mothers of older children in Estonia and much lower than the employment of mothers of toddlers in Lithuania.

This study complements previous research by providing evidence on the relative importance of universal parental benefit schemes in the context of other country-specific conditions for maternal employment, including the availability of institutional childcare. Furthermore, the results presented show that childcare regime typologies, at least those that characterise Eastern European countries, should be more sensitive to children’s age.

The low rate of exclusive breastfeeding and the early introduction of complementary feeding are among the causes of nutritional problems in children. The national coverage of exclusive breastfeeding in 2019 was 67.7%, surpassing the target of the 2019 Strategic Plan, which was 50%. However, there are still several practices of early and inappropriate complementary feeding (32.3%) that can be contributing factors to malnutrition problems in children. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence mother’s self-efficacy levels regarding complementary feeding practices among toddlers in the Tengger tribe.

The study conducted was an observational study with a cross-sectional design. It focused on mothers with children aged 6–24 months in Wonokitri village, East Java. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and information from the local health center. The analysis involved univariate and bivariate analysis using the chi-square test.

Most mothers were aged 20–34 years (78.9%), had a good level of knowledge (61.4%), the last education level of fathers and mothers was high school (47.4%; 54.4%), parents work as farmers (86.0%; 61.4%), Hinduism (98.2%), family income is less than the minimum wage (78.9%), and mothers receive good family support (73.7%). Most toddlers were boys (56.1%), aged 13–24 months (68.4%), and the second child (66.7%). Family support was the only factor that was significantly related to a mother’s self-efficacy in complementary breastfeeding practices (p-value = 0.042).

It is hoped that more families and health workers will support mothers in giving food to their babies based on the guidelines.

This paper collects evidence from indigenous people of the Tengger tribe.

Evaluation of the Teens & Toddlers (T & T) positive youth development (PYD) and teenage pregnancy prevention programme suggested that the intervention had minimal effectiveness partly due to its unclear theory of change. The purpose of this paper is to examine the lived experiences of young women participating in the programme to contribute to a clearer understanding of intervention process and potential mechanisms.

The authors conducted four focus groups (n=20), eight paired or triad interviews (n=12) and 15 interviews with young women participating in an randomized controlled trial of the T & T programme in England, analysing these data using a phenomenological approach.

T & T provided some opportunities to experience the “five Cs” that underpin PYD programme theory: competence, confidence, connection, character and caring. However, the young women did not experience the programme in a way that would consistently develop these characteristics. The lack of opportunities for skill-building and challenge in the activities constrained their ability to build competence and confidence. Some programme facilitators and counsellors were able to achieve connections and caring relationships with the young women, though other adults involved in the programme were sometimes perceived by the participants as overly critical. The character development activities undertaken in the programme addressed attitudes towards sexual risk-taking.

Few studies of the PYD approach examine young people’s perspectives. This research suggests that the young women were not consistently provided with opportunities to achieve youth development within the T & T programmes. In refining the programme, more thought is needed regarding how delivery of particular components may facilitate or impede a PYD experience.

The aim of the current paper is to examine if participants attitudes and perceptions regarding risk leads to subsequent risky behaviours as this is indicative of sexual health and teenage pregnancy. The second aim was to explore if sense of coherence (SOC) (a predictor of mental health) mediates the relationship between perceived risk and risky health behaviours (RHB), or even be used as an indicator for RHB.

Young people from a targeted youth mental health programme for “at risk” teenagers, were asked to complete a battery of measures: SOC, The Adolescent Risk Behaviour Survey (ARBS) and RHB post-programme.

RHB such as drinking alcohol, taking drugs and smoking, correlated positively with attitudes to risk and negatively with SOC. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that there was a significant relationship between ARBS and reported health behaviour, which was strengthened by SOC. SOC contributes to the relationship between attitudes and perception of risk and RHB, whereby individuals with stronger SOC were less likely to partake in RHB. Qualitative analysis revealed that the components of SOC (comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness) were perceptible six months minimum after the programme has been undertaken.

The present research was unable to obtain SOC baseline scores which could be used as evidence of the programme's impact. Furthermore, participants had completed the programme six months to six years previously, hence were relying on memory recall and self-report. Future research would incorporate three points of data collection on SOC in order to monitor change in relation to perceived risk and risk behaviours.

The paper provides a good framework in terms of adding value of the SOC concept for understanding the world of at risk young people and their psychological wellbeing, and a future tool for tracking whether changes occur. RHB in adolescence lead to health related problems as well as risk taking in adulthood, costing the NHS.

The intervention itself aims to target individuals at risk from being not in employment, education or training or teen parents which has wider social implications relating to educational engagement, health behaviours and the community.

The data analysis is applied to a specific group of at risk young people, on a novel intervention which uses an experiential learning model in order to encourage self awareness through the interaction with toddlers, as well as build self efficacy, improve mental health, self-esteem and decision making ability. The battery of measures used in combination within the research context is unique.

Parenting programmes are increasingly a feature of services and policies aimed at improving outcomes for children and families and tackling inequality, yet they remain underused. This study aims to assess parent engagement and retention in the parent and infant (PIN) programme – a universal, multi-component intervention designed to support parents from birth to when their children reach two years of age. The programme can be tailored to parent/community needs but also includes standardised core elements including two Incredible Years parenting programmes. Programme provider perspectives on recruiting and supporting participation were also explored.

A mixed methods study was conducted involving parents (n = 106) and programme providers involved in the PIN programme. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the impact of participant demographic characteristics on the likelihood of programme engagement and attendance. Semi-structured interviews explored facilitators’ experiences of parent recruitment and engagement, as well as barriers and facilitators of parental attendance.

First-time mothers were more likely to initially enrol in the PIN programme than younger or lone parents. However, older age and married/cohabiting status were the strongest predictors of attending at least one-third of programme sessions. Qualitative findings highlighted the importance of relationship building and connection in supporting participant recruitment and engagement. Practical and psychological barriers to programme participation are also described.

The findings shed light on factors that influence engagement and attendance in universal, early parent support programmes. Barriers to parent engagement are multi-layered and tailored strategies to promote uptake of parenting programmes are needed.