Gender differences in the effects of childhood maltreatment on adult depression and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Child maltreatment has well-documented long-term, adverse effects on mental health, but it is not clear whether there are gender differences in these effects. We conducted a systematic review to investigate whether there are gender differences in the effects of maltreatment on adult depression and anxiety. Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Lilacs were searched for relevant studies published up to May 2016. Eligible studies included population-based studies (with a cohort, case-control or cross-sectional design) which assessed maltreatment during childhood or adolescence (≤18 years) and its association with major depression or generalized anxiety disorder (DSM/ICD diagnostic criteria) in adulthood (>18 years) separately for females and males. Meta-analysis was performed to estimate the association between each exposure and outcome using fixed and random effects models. Pooled odds ratios (OR) were estimated separately for women and men and compared. Five studies of physical and sexual abuse were included in the meta-analyses. These provided twenty-two effects sizes estimates (11 for men, 11 for women) for associations between physical/sexual abuse and depression/anxiety. Exposure to each kind of abuse increased the odds of depression/anxiety. Associations were larger for women than for men, however, these gender differences were not statistically significant. Physical and sexual abuse in childhood/adolescence are risk factors for depression/anxiety in adulthood and the effect could be larger for women; however, currently there is insufficient evidence to definitively identify gender differences in the effects of maltreatment.     

The battle of Brain vs. Heart: A literature review and meta-analysis of “hedonic motivation” use in UTAUT2

Much of the scholarly debate on the extrinsic-intrinsic motivation dichotomy to date has focused on organisational context. However, the recent upsurge of technology use amongst individuals in non-organisational context has led to consumer-focused research model such as extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2). The objective of this study is to bring back much needed focus on motivation dichotomy from the consumer perspective. This involved a systematic review and meta-analysis of hedonic motivation an affective construct in UTAUT2 studies. The findings from 79 UTAUT2 empirical studies revealed that only 46 studies (58%) utilised hedonic motivation while the remaining 33 studies (42%) omitted the construct. Extrinsic motivation was the major driver of non-hedonic and non-significant hedonic motivation studies with individuals using technologies for utilitarian outcomes. Unlike UTAUT2, moderators association of hedonic motivation were non-significant in determining consumer intention to use technology. The findings also revealed an important association between hedonic motivation and effort expectancy, in addition to fruitful directions for research and practice.     

Is there a gender gap? A meta-analysis of the gender differences in students' ICT literacy

The study of gender differences in academic achievement has been one of the core topics in education, especially because it may uncover possible gaps and inequalities in certain domains. Whereas these differences have largely been examined in traditional domains, such as mathematics, reading, and science, the existing body of empirical studies in the domain of ICT literacy is considerably smaller, yet abounds in diverse findings. One of the persistent findings however is that boys consider their ICT literacy to be higher than that of girls. This meta-analysis tests whether the same pattern holds for students’ actual performance on ICT literacy tasks, as measured by performance-based assessments. In total, 46 effect sizes were extracted from 23 empirical studies using a random-effects model. Overall, the gender differences in ICT literacy were significant, positive, and favored girls (g = + 0.12, 95 % CI = [0.08, 0.16]). This effect varied between studies, and moderation analyses indicated that the grade level students were taught at moderated its magnitude—effect sizes were larger in primary school as compared to secondary school. In conclusion, our findings contrast those obtained from previous meta-analyses that were based on self-reported ICT literacy and suggest that the ICT gender gap may not be as severe as it had been claimed to be.     

How effective are mobile devices for language learning? A meta-analysis

Language learning has undergone rapid changes over the past several years, from computer-assisted learning to the more recent mobile-device-assisted learning. Although mobile devices have become valuable language-learning tools, the evident substantial contribution of mobile devices to language learning have not yet been investigated. The present meta-analysis of 44 peer-reviewed journal articles and doctoral dissertations that were written over a 20-year period (1993–2013), with 9154 participants, revealed that mobile-device-assisted language instruction has produced a meaningful improvement with an overall mean effect size of 0.55. Different effect sizes for moderator variables, such as learning stages, hardware use, software used, intervention settings, teaching methods, intervention durations, learning skills, target languages, and L1/L2, were also reported. The results are discussed, together with their implications for future research and practices on the use of mobile devices in language learning.     

系统评价/Meta分析在中医药科研中的应用评价

目的：了解系统评价/Meta分析在中医药科研中的应用情况,为后期研究提供参考;方法：计算机检索中国期刊全文数据库2015年前收录的中医药系统评价/Meta分析文献,按照设定的排除标准确定纳入文献,采用文献计量学方法对年代分布、来源期刊、发表机构、核心作者、合作发文、基金资助、研究内容进行统计分析;结果：共纳入文献1735篇,最早的文献起始于1997年,文献来源于302个期刊,第一作者分布在515个机构,涉及境内30个省（市、自治区）和美国、丹麦、香港、澳门,有21位作者发表论文达到10篇以上,论文的合著率为93.0%、合作度为3.76,有30.4%的论文得到了基金资助,干预手段为药物干预（69.6%）、非药物干预（24.9%）和联合干预（5.5%）,文献涉及的病种按ICD-10分类共19个大类;结论：近年来系统评价/Meta分析在中医药科研中的应用取得快速的发展,论文数量显著增长、核心期刊占比较高、发表机构分布广泛、研究团队逐步形成、基金课题较为关注、应用领域不断扩展,但是研究开展的地区分布并不平衡、研究质量也存在较大差异,后期应该加强相关方法学研究,正确使用和合理解读系统评价/Meta分析,努力提高研究的质量。     

Class size effects on reading achievement in Europe: Evidence from PIRLS

Some researchers have suggested that reducing class size may result in increases in student achievement. However, the empirical evidence about class-size effects from experimental or quasi-experimental studies has been mixed overall. This study sheds more light on whether class size reduction impacts reading achievement in eight European countries: Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. We examine class size effects on reading achievement using national probability samples of fourth graders. All eight European countries had participated in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) in 2001, 2006 and 2011. Overall, the results indicate that class size effects on reading achievement are not significant across countries and years. One exception was Romania where class size effects in 2001 and 2011 were significant and negative suggesting that reducing class size corresponded to increases in reading achievement. Trends in class size effects over time were not observed.     

The impacts of family treatment drug court on child welfare core outcomes: A meta-analysis

BackgroundSubstance abuse has been prevalent among caregivers involved in child welfare and is a major barrier to their achieving favorable outcomes. Family Treatment Drug Courts (FTDCs) have been viewed as one of the most promising interventions but research has reported mixed effects on child welfare outcomes. No meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the findings to reach a more generalizable conclusion.ObjectiveThe meta-analysis synthesized findings from existing evaluations to examine whether and to what extent FTDC participants achieved better reunification and safety outcomes than non-participants.Participants and SettingAmong 17 identified studies dated from 2004 to 2018, the pooled sample subjects in the intervention and comparison groups were 3402 and 3683 for the 16 studies on reunification outcomes, and 842 and 632 for the eight studies on child safety outcomes.MethodsWe first estimated the FTDCs’ pooled effects on child reunification and safety outcomes. Furthermore, we conducted a series of subgroup meta-analysis to compare FTDCs’ effects across study and program characteristics.ResultsSubjects participating in FTDCs were substantially more likely to achieve reunification (OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.38, 2.22) without increasing the risk of subsequent foster care reentry or maltreatment re-report. Subgroup meta-analysis suggests factors such as research design, FTDC model, observation length, publication type and period may contribute to FTDCs’ disparities on reunification outcomes.ConclusionsThe synthesized findings strengthen evidence for the implementation and expansion of FTDCs for serving substance abusing caregivers in the child welfare system.     

A meta-analysis on the effectiveness of phonics instruction for teaching decoding skills to students with intellectual disability

This meta-analysis examines the effects of phonics instruction on the decoding skills of students with intellectual disability using a random-effects model. Eight single-case experimental studies and six experimental or quasi-experimental group studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing a total of 297 participants with intellectual disability. The overall effect of phonics instruction on the decoding skills of persons with intellectual disability was large: g = 1.42 (95% CI: 0.75, 2.10). Single-case studies yielded a larger average effect size (g = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.10, 2.78) than group studies (g = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.69). Researcher-designed tests also yielded larger effect sizes than standardized tests. The type of interventionist was not a significant moderator. In the majority of the studies, phonics instruction was carried out using a systematic and direct instruction approach and a one-to-one format. Implications for practice and research are presented, and areas that require further investigation are identified.     

Effects of antiepileptic drugs on bone mineral density and bone metabolism in children: a meta-analysis

Objective: The aim of our meta-analysis was to assess the effects of antiepileptic drugs on bone mineral density and bone metabolism in epileptic children. Methods: Searches of PubMed and Web of Science were undertaken to identify studies evaluating the association between antiepileptic drugs and bone mineral density and bone metabolism. Results: A total of 22 studies with 1492 subjects were included in our research. We identified: (1) a reduction in bone mineral density at lumbar spine (standardized mean difference (SMD)=−0.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) [−0.61, −0.05]), trochanter (mean difference (MD)=−0.07, 95% CI [−0.10, −0.05]), femoral neck (MD=−0.05, 95% CI [−0.09, −0.02]), and total body bone mineral density (MD=−0.33, 95% CI [−0.51, −0.15]); (2) a reduction in 25-hydroxyvitamin D (MD=−3.37, 95% CI [−5.94, −0.80]) and an increase in serum alkaline phosphatase (SMD=0.71, 95% CI [0.38, 1.05]); (3) no significant changes in serum parathyroid hormone, calcium, or phosphorus. Conclusions: Our meta-analysis suggests that treatment with antiepileptic drugs may be associated with decreased bone mineral density in epileptic children.     

Using Total Sample Size Weights in Meta-Analysis of Log-Odds Ratios

The log-odds ratio (ln[OR]) is commonly used to quantify treatments' effects on dichotomous outcomes and then pooled across studies using inverse-variance (1/v) weights. Calculation of the ln[OR]'s variance requires four cell frequencies for two groups crossed with values for dichotomous outcomes. While primary studies report the total sample size (n..), many do not report all four frequencies. Using real data, we demonstrated pooling of ln[OR]s using n.. versus 1/v weights. In a simulation study we compared two weighting approaches under several conditions. Efficiency and Type I error rates for 1/v versus n.. weights used to pool ln[OR] estimates depended on sample size and the percent of studies missing cell frequencies. Results are discussed and guidelines for applied meta-analysts are provided.