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This study examined professional comfort of 84 early intervention professionals in providing consultation about children with varying types, severity levels, and combinations of disabilities. Analysis suggested that more discomfort was reported if the child had severe disabilities or difficulties in communication and behavior. Additional training predicted professional comfort in providing consultation. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

Investigated the role of classroom characteristics and preschool children's complex interactions with teachers, objects and peers. Found that complex interactions with objects were most probable in dramatic play and in art activities with the teacher present. Complex peer interactions were rare, but complex teacher interactions were probable in one-on-one student teacher interaction or during dramatic play. (JPB)

Examined the underlying factor structure of a rating scale to assess perceived barriers and supports for early childhood inclusion. Identified a single support factor and three barrier factors with adequate internal consistency: (1) program quality; (2) community resources; and (3) coordinating and integrating services for children with disabilities and their families. Barriers were similar for parents and professionals. (Author/KB)

Used a peer rating task and a corresponding teacher rating scale to investigate preschoolers' playmate preferences and perceptions of classmates with and without disabilities. Found that preschoolers with disabilities received lower sociometric ratings than their typically developing peers, but the reasons cited for selecting or rejecting disabled peers were essentially the same as for nondisabled peers. (EV)

Objectives. Infants from families of low socioeconomic status are said to suffer higher rates of lower respiratory illness, but this assertion has not been carefully examined. Methods. We studied the frequency and determinants of lower respiratory illness in infants of different socioeconomic status (n = 393) by analyzing data from a community-based cohort study of respiratory illness during the first year of life in central North Carolina. Results. The incidence of lower respiratory illness was 1.41 in the low socioeconomic group, 1.26 in the middle group, and 0.67 in the high group. The prevalence of persistent respiratory symptoms was 39% in infants in the low socioeconomic group, 24% in infants in the middle group, and 14% in infants in the high group. The odds of persistent respiratory symptoms in infants of low and middle socioeconomic status were reduced after controlling for environmental risk factors for lower respiratory illness. Enrollment in day care was associated with an increased risk of persistent respiratory symptoms among infants of high but not low socioeconomic status. Conclusions. Infants of low socioeconomic status are at increased risk of persistent respiratory symptoms. This risk can be partly attributed to environmental exposures, most of which could be changed. (Am J Public Health. 1992;82:1119-1126)

Pediatricians in small towns who have a tolerant attitude towards Medicaid patients, and who understand the Medicaid payment system may be more likely to treat Medicaid patients than other pediatricians in North Carolina. Of 332 pediatricians, 29% limited the number of Medicaid patients treated in their practice. Sixty-two percent of pediatricians in cities, 13% in middle-sized towns, and 12% in small towns limited treatment of Medicaid patients. Pediatricians who had an unfavorable attitude towards the Medicaid bureaucracy and Medicaid recipients were less likely to accept Medicaid patients than other pediatricians. Forty-three percent of pediatricians who limited treatment of Medicaid patients underestimated payment for Medicaid patients, compared to only 24% of those who did not limit treatment of Medicaid patients. Pediatricians who were paid a higher proportion of their usual fee from Medicaid were more likely to treat Medicaid patients than those who received a lower proportion.

Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke in the surrounding air that is produced by smokers. Passive smoking has adverse effects on children, particularly in the first year of life. The prevalence of passive smoking and conditions in which it occurred were previously assessed in healthy newborns living in North Carolina. The study was extended for another year to assess the changes in tobacco smoke exposure and absorption during the first year of life. The prevalence of tobacco smoke absorption was measured by the excretion of cotinine, the major by-product of nicotine metabolism. The excretion of cotinine increased from 53 to 77 percent within the first year of life. Cotinine excretion persisted through the first year of life in 92 percent of the infants who excreted cotinine at three weeks of age, and was detected in 61 percent of infants who did not excrete cotinine at three weeks of age. These findings suggest that as infants get older, they are exposed more often to household and non-household sources of smoke. The percentage of infants exposed to smokers outside of the household increased from 14 to 36 percent within the first year of life. These results suggest that protection against passive smoking must begin early in life. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)