• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.29-38
• /
• 2015

This study explores reading fluency among elementary school students considering language level and family income(low SES). Forty eight students from 1st to 3rd grades participated in two paragraph reading tasks. Half of the children were from low income family and half of the children had low lexical knowledge. Reading fluency as in the number of correctly read syllables per minute, the total error frequency and error types were used to compare group differences. There were significant differences in the number of correctly read syllables per minute between two income groups and two language groups. There was a significant difference between low income group and non-low income group in total number of errors only when children's lexical knowledge were low. There were no group differences in error types of repetition and omission. Substitution and insertion error seemed to reflect the total error pattern. These results imply the importance of early screening and early involvement for children with low lexical knowledge from low income family. Monitoring and early intervention will support these children's reading development.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.76-81
• /
• 2009

Ovjectives: As the attention devoted to children's mental health increases, medical costs and burdens mount as well. In the present study, we evaluated the association between socioeconomic status(SES) and major child psychiatric symptoms. Methods: The subjects of this study were children of recruited from a mental health screening program in the Seoul Sungbuk mental health center over the course of 3 months. To establish the SES of each child, we collected data about each child's medical insurance, years of parental education, household income, family structure and housing. 149 children & parents completed questionnaires including the Childhood Depression Inventory(CDI) and the Korean Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale(K-ARS). Results: The mean K-ARS-P score was $12.1{\pm}11.1$ and the suspected prevalence of ADHD was 20.8%(n=31). The mean cm score was $12.9{\pm}7.9$, and the prevalence of suspected depression was 16.8%(25). Depressive symptoms and ADHD symptoms were both more severe than those observed in a previous epidemiologic study in Korea. Depressive symptoms were more closely associated with family SES status. Conclusion: SES status is one of the most important risk factors in the development of major child psychiatric symptoms. In our study we found that depressive symptoms in particular were most tightly associated with psychosocial factors. Evaluation of the risk factors, early screening and intervention for low SES children would be valuable mental health management tactics to implement in a community mental health system.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.97-111
• /
• 2007

Children from low-income families are vulnerable to variable psychological and emotional stress related to financial issues and dysfunctional families. The subjects were 15 1st to 3rd graders who were low on the Self Esteem Scale (SES). They were attending an after-school center for elementary school students. They participated in three art therapy groups from April to October 2005. Children's depressive symptoms and self-esteem were assessed using the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and an observational check-list. Results showed that the group art therapy program brought about significant effects on increasing self-esteem of the children and reducing depressive symptoms, showing that group art therapy can facilitate emotional and psycho-social growth of children from low-income families and can be developed in family-based community programs.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.46 no.10
• /
• pp.97-106
• /
• 2008

We examined the effects of family and home literacy environments on the vocabulary and reading abilities of 3 to 5-year-olds. In particular, SES was considered against home literacy environment. The sample consisted of 366 Korean children and their mothers. We found that the level of mother's education was related to the child's vocabulary test score. After controlling for family factors, home literacy environment score positively predicted children's performance both in vocabulary and reading tests. Magnitudes of differences between the two literacy groups (high and low home literacy environment) became larger in the children from relative lower income families. Magnitudes of differences for vocabulary and reading tests was strikingly large in the low-income group both in vocabulary and reading tests. These findings shed lights on the importance of parent education and family services for low-income families with preschool children.