Background Variations in communicative participation of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) cannot be wholly explained by their language difficulties alone and may be influenced by contextual factors. Contextual factors may support or hinder communicative participation in children, which makes their identification clinically relevant. Aims To investigate which contextual (environmental and personal) factors in early childhood are protective, risk or neutral factors for communicative participation among school-aged children with DLD, and to identify possible gaps in knowledge about this subject. Methods & Procedures A scoping review was conducted based on a systematic search of studies published from January 2007 to March 2022 in Pubmed, Embase (without MEDLINE), CINAHL and PsycINFO. In total, 8802 studies were reviewed using predefined eligibility criteria, of which 32 studies were included for data extraction and critically appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (2021) tools. Main Contribution The methodological quality of included studies was adequate to strong. Personal protective factors identified are being a preschool girl, reaching school age and being prosocial, while personal risk factors are becoming a teenager or adolescent, having low socio-cognitive skills and experiencing comorbid mobility impairment or behavioural problems. Gender after the preschool years and non-verbal abilities were not found to be of influence, and the role of socio-emotional skills is inconclusive. Receiving therapy is an environmental protective factor, while the association between socio-economical family characteristics with communicative participation is inconclusive. Conclusions & Implications Limited research has been conducted on which risk and protective factors present in early childhood are associated with later communicative participation of children with DLD. The influence of co-occurring health conditions, social background variables, individual psychological assets, interpersonal relationships and attitudes of other people represent knowledge gaps. In addition, knowledge about the comparative effectiveness of different types of interventions and service delivery models, and the impact of administrative control, organizational mechanisms and standards established by governments on children's communicative participation is lacking. More longitudinal research is needed focusing on the identification of relevant personal and environmental factors and the interactions between them in relation to communicative participation outcomes.
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Global climate agreements call for action and an integrated perspective on mobility, energy and overall consumption. Municipalities in dense, urban areas are challenged with facilitating this transition with limited space and energy resources, and with future uncertainties. One important aspect of the transition is the adoption of electric vehicles, which includes the adequate design of charging infrastructure. Another important goal is a modal shift in transportation. This study investigated over 80 urban mobility policy measures that are in the policy roadmap of two of the largest municipalities of the Netherlands. This analysis consists of an inventory of policy measures, an evaluation of their environmental effects and conceptualizations of the policy objectives and conditions within the mobility transitions. The findings reveal that the two municipalities have similarities in means, there is still little anticipation of future technology and policy conditions could be further satisfied by introducing tailored measures for specific user groups.
In this study, we examined how the provision of contextual informa- tion and the ability to ask questions and obtain feedback affected mock investigators' interpretation of a crime scene. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions in a 2 × 2 design and assessed two photographs of the same crime scene. Participants were instructed to write a narrative about what they thought had happened at the scene. Results showed that the provision of con- textual information and the ability to ask questions had no effect on the lengths of the narratives participants produced. However, participants who received contextual information wrote a more fac- tual narrative containing more descriptions of actions before, during, and after the crime. Across all conditions, most of the questions were asked about persons who could in some way be involved in the crime. Results of this study indicate that the provision of con- textual information helped participants to focus on the more factual, rather than speculative elements, of the crime.
The precarity in the cultural sector became exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the lockdowns, the sources of income for cultural venues and cultural workers vanished overnight, intensifying an already challenging labour market. Particularly freelance cultural workers were hit hard. While the immediate shock of the pandemic on the cultural sector has been well documented, the effects on the sector in the aftermath of the pandemic are still to be revealed and repaired. This project tackles these issues by zooming in on the case of the performing arts scene in Groningen. This scene constitutes the part of the cultural sector that was affected the most by the lockdowns. Currently, venues and event organizers in Groningen lack qualified freelance staff as many left the industry during the pandemic. At the same time, self-employed cultural workers find it difficult to generate sufficient incomes and develop sustainable careers in the city. The municipality is eager to support the industry, including freelancers, but is unsure about how best to do so. With a consortium composed of the university, the municipality, a knowledge organisation specialised in cultural entrepreneurship, and a network for creative freelancers in the North of the Netherlands the project is well-equipped to reach its two-fold aims of investigating this current situation and coming up with suggestions for solutions. The core component of the project is an interview study with three groups of self-employed cultural freelancers: experienced production staff, experienced performers, and nascent freelancers (both production staff and performers). Based on data from this study, the project provides a multifaceted picture of the cultural ecosystem in Groningen, highlighting how this system is experienced. This establishes a solid foundation for staging discussions on working conditions in the sector, enabling the project to eventually conclude with recommendations on how to improve the situation.
