Browsing by Author "Godamunne, P.K.S."

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Designing a tool to monitor development of 2-5 year old children by preschool teachers in Sri Lanka: A preliminary report
(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2018) Caldera, A.; Mendis, M.; Muttiah, N.; Wijesinghe, T.M.; Godamunne, P.K.S.; Chathurika, L.K.E.; Jayasena, B.N.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.; Perera, K.M.N.; Tilakarathne, N.; Peiris, M.K.R.R.; Sumanasena, S.P.
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Identifying neurodevelopmental impairments and providing early intervention positively impacts later academic and functional outcomes of children. Globally available child development screening tools are not readily accessible or validated for Sri Lanka. As a large proportion of Sri Lankan children aged 2-5 years attend preschools, teachers can complement developmental monitoring. The aim of this study was to design a tool to monitor the development of 2-5 year old children by preschool teachers. METHODS: Twelve local and global tools including the tool developed by Plan International and the Child Health Development Record (CHOR) were reviewed. All tools were mapped according to the domains and subdomains in the National Early Childhood Developmental Standards for Sri Lankan Children. A Delphi process was carried out by a panel of experts to include culture specific activities that assess all domains and subdomains across age groups. RESULTS: The existing tool developed by Plan International lacked indicators for health, daily living and social and emotional development. The CHOR was deficient in cognitive, receptive language, social and emotional indices. Several activities in some instruments were common to more than one age group. The domains incorporated into the proposed tool included motor, cognitive, language, social and emotional and self- help skills. Approximately 50 items per each age group were included in this tool CONCLUSION: A preliminary play-based tool for monitoring development of children 2-5 years of age across five main domains in natural settings for preschool children was developed. A pilot study is required to assess the validity of the tool.
Psycho-social factors associated with parental stress among parents of children with autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome in Sri Lanka
(Book of Abstracts, Annual Research Symposium 2014, 2014) Godamunne, P.K.S.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Samankula, D.; Samarasinghe, G.
Determining factors associated with parental stress can assist in the development of interventions to improve the well-being of parents of children with developmental disabilities. Though studies in other countries have identified a variety of factors that have an impact on stress experienced by parents of children with cerebral palsy, autism or Down syndrome, no such studies have been done in Sri Lanka.
The Psycho-social factors associated with stress and coping experiences of Sri Lankan parents of children with Autism, Cerebral Palsy or Down syndrome
(2014) Godamunne, P.K.S.
Psychometric properties of the cognitive and motor scales of the Bayley Scales of infant development among Sri Lankan children
(12th Annual Research Symposium, University of Kelaniya, 2011) Godamunne, P.K.S.; Liyanage, P.L.C.K.; Wimaladharmasooriya, N.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Wickramesinghe, A.R.; Patterson, C.; Sathiakumar, N.
The objective of the study was to compare the cognitive and motor developmental patterns of Sri Lankan (SL) children aged 6, 12 and 24 months with children from the United States (US) using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development – 3rd Edition (Bayley III) (Bayley2006). This study used a cross sectional design and included 150 apparently normal, full-term infants aged 6, 12 and 24 months (± 2 weeks) from the Gampaha District of Sri Lanka. The Cognitive, Fine Motor and Gross Motor Subtests of the Bayley III Scales of infant development were administered to 50 children from each of the selected age groups individually. Group means and standard deviations were calculated for the Bayley Cognitive, Fine Motor and Gross Motor Scales as well as the scaled scores at each assessment age. The test-retest reliability of the instrument was examined using the intra class correlation (ICC) coefficient. There were no significant differences between the cognitive and motor scores of Sri Lankan children compared to the US norms at six months of age. At 12 months, Sri Lankan children had significantly higher cognitive scores and significantly lower gross motor scores than the US norms. The cognitive scores of Sri Lankan children were significantly lower than the US norms at 24 months. The gender of the child and having an older sibling did not significantly impact on children‟s scores. The test was shown to have a high test-retest reliability among Sri Lankan children. There were some differences in the performance of Sri Lankan children on the cognitive and the Motor Scales of the Bayley III Scale as compared to US children. However, the differences were minor and we recommend the use of these subscales to assess neurodevelopment in Sri Lankan children up to two years. We recommend that the Bayley III Scale be validated for other age groups of Sri Lankan children as well.
Psychometric properties of the Sinhala Parental Stress Scale and BriefCOPE: Validation among parents of children with chronic illnesses and developmental disabilities
(Book of Abstracts, Annual Research Symposium 2014, 2014) Godamunne, P.K.S.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Samankula, A.D.; Samarasinghe, G.
Measuring stress associated with bringing up a child with a chronic illness or a developmental disability can help health care professionals prevent more serious consequences in terms of psychological health as well as in planning effective intervention strategies for families. Identifying coping styles employed by parents in coping with stress can be useful in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a particular family and help formulate interventions and services accordingly to strengthen family resilience. Therefore it is necessary to obtain valid and reliable tools to assess parental stress and coping. In busy clinical settings as well as research settings where there are multiple demands on participants, it is important to use brief measurement tools. The Parental Stress Scale (Berry & Jones, 1995) and BriefCOPE (Carver, 1997) are brief yet psychometrically sound instruments for assessing parental stress and coping respectively.
The psyco-social factors associated with stress and coping experiences of Sri Lankan parents of children with autism, cerebral palsy or down syndrome
(University of Kelaniya, 2014) Godamunne, P.K.S.
This study aimed to identify psycho-social factors associated with parental stress and coping experiences of Sri Lankan parents of children with autism, cerebral palsy or Down syndrome. A mixed method study design was used. In a qualitative study (N=42), semi-structured interviews were carried out with parents of children with autism, cerebral palsy or Down syndrome and health care and educational professionals. The Sinhala versions of the Parental Stress Scale (PSS) and Brief COPE were validated (N=342). A case-comparison study (N=288) was conducted to identify individual and social factors associated with parental stress and coping. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts revealed six themes describing parents' perceptions of their child, themselves, families, support services, child's condition and societal acceptance. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a two factor solution for the Sinhala Parental Stress Scale and a four factor solution for the Sinhala Brief COPE. Both scales showed adequate test-retest reliability. In the case comparison study, multiple regression analyses revealed that socio-economic status and the use of avoidant coping were significant predictors of parental stress levels and in turn, parental stress levels along with avoidant coping and child's level of independence were significant predictors of parents' psychological morbidity. The results of this study point to the need for planning and implementing interventions and services for families of children with disabilities in Sri Lanka using a social-ecological framework and adopting a family partnership model when providing services to these families.
REACh for the preschoolers; a developmental assessment tool for 2-5 year old children in Sri Lanka
(BioMed Central, 2023) Caldera, A.V.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.; Muttiah, N.; Godamunne, P.K.S.; Jayasena, B.N.; Chathurika, L.K.E.; Perera, K.M.N.; Mendis, M.; Tilakarathne, D.; Peiris, M.K.R.R.; Wijesinghe, T.; Senarathna, N.E.; Saubhagya, W.D.L.; Chandraratne, M.; Sumanasena, S.P.
BACKGROUND: Preschool children in low resource settings are at higher risk of missing developmental potential due to the lack of standardized and validated methods for the timely detection of children with developmental delays or neurodevelopmental disorders. The preschool teacher is a non-specialist resourceful link within the community to detect and offer interventions early. This paper discusses the preliminary iteration of designing and testing the psychometric properties of a developmental assessment for children aged 24 to 60 months in Sri Lanka. This assessment is designed to be conducted by preschool teachers in their preschool setting. METHODS: Three processes followed: 1. Designing and development of the Ragama Early Assessment for Children (REACh) complete preschool developmental assessment and a tool kit 2. Testing and training teachers on conducting the REACh assessment 3. Preliminary assessment of the psychometric properties including content validity, internal consistency, interrater reliability and concurrent validity. RESULTS: A literature search identified 11 assessments and 542 items representing cognitive, social-emotional and adaptive, language and motor domains. Content validity was assessed to select and adapt items. A complete assessment tool was designed to be administered in four settings within the preschool. This was further improved during pre and pilot testing and teacher training. Cronbach's alpha measuring internal consistency was > 0.70 for cognitive, language, social-emotional and adaptive domains across all three age groups in 1809 children. Interrater reliability was > 65% for age groups 36-47 and 47- 60 months. Concurrent validity using a clinical gold standard demonstrated sensitivity of more than 0.75 for all age groups with variable specificities (24-35 months: 0.71, 36- 47 months: 0.43 and 48-60 months: 0.67) assessed in 75 children. CONCLUSIONS: This culturally and linguistically adapted tool was tested nationally in Sri Lanka. The inte-rrater reliability between teachers and research assistants was higher than 65% for all domains in children more than 36 months. The preliminary iteration confirms it as an acceptable screening assessment for all age groups but with significantly lower specificity in the 36-47 month age group. Further improvement in certain domains together with intense teacher training is likely to enhance the validity and reliability of the assessment.
Sri Lankan parents' attitudes towards adolescent reproductive and sexual health education needs: A qualitative study
(Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya & Plan International, 2008) Godamunne, P.K.S.
INTRODUCTION: Adolescents have unique reproductive health needs when compared to adults, and the behaviours adopted in adolescence have serious implications for their later well being. Serious gaps have been found in providing sexual and reproductive health information to adolescents in Sri Lanka. OBJECTIVE: To explore the attitudes of Sri Lankan parents' towards adolescent reproductive and sexual health education, to identify current parental practices of imparting reproductive and sexual health information to their children and to identify perceived barriers parents face in discussing sexual and reproductive health issues with their children. METHODS: A qualitative study conducted using focus groups discussions in Kurunegala, Kandy, Gampaha and Colombo districts among 71 parents having an adolescent child. RESULTS: All'parents said that it was essential to provide reproductive and sexual health education to adolescents, mainly to deter them from engaging in any precocious sexual activity and to protect children from various threats posed by society, such as sexually transmitted diseases and child sexual abuse. Generally most parents were reluctant to directly discuss reproductive and sexual health issues with their children due to cultural taboos and resultant feelings of shyness and embarrassment. However, mothers, to some extent, discussed reproductive and sexual health matters with their children, often with their daughters and sometimes even with sons. However, some parents expressed lack of knowledge to do so. Parents also indirectly educated their children on sexual and reproductive health topics by providing them with books to read. Many parents considered school and teachers to be the best source of reproductive and sexual health information for their children. Doctors too were considered by parents to be a reliable source of reproductive and sexual health information. CONCLUSION: Parents considered adolescent reproductive and sexual health education as essential to protect and deter children from engaging in any precocious sexual activity. However, most parents were reluctant to openly discuss reproductive and sexual health topics with their children. In general, parents preferred outside sources, people other than themselves, such as teachers and doctors to provide their children with reproductive and sexual health information.
Stress and Coping Experiences of Parents of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Sri Lanka: A Qualitative Study
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Godamunne, P.K.S.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Samarasinghe, G.
Objectives: To describe how parents of children with autism, cerebral palsy or Down syndrome understand and explain the child’s disability, and identify stressors affecting these parents and their coping strategies. Method: A qualitative, phenomenological study was carried out. Thirty parents (15 mothers and 15 fathers) of children with autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome aged between 3 and 11 years of age participated. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants and taperecorded. Transcripts of interviews were analysed for emerging themes and concepts. Results: Most parents used medical explanations to explain their children’s conditions. Some parents of children with autism used brief separation from an attachment figure as a possible reason for their child’s condition. The physical burden of care, financial cost, travelling for various treatments and worries about the future were identified as being key stressors for parents. Developing a routine, facing one day at a time, avoidance and spending time with family were some of the coping mechanisms described by parents. Parents used the image of a ‘special parent’ to describe themselves which likely helped them to cope. Family members, friends, parents of children with similar disorders, institutions and professionals were identified as main sources of social support that helped parents cope. Conclusions: The results of this study can help raise awareness among health care workers about the stressors experienced by parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders in Sri Lanka and aid them to address these issues, as well as strengthen parents’ adaptive coping mechanisms.