Child maltreatment among boy and girl probationers: Does type of maltreatment make a difference in offending behavior and psychosocial problems?

This study examined differences in offending behavior and psychosocial problems between juvenile offenders who have been sexually abused (n = 231), physically abused (n = 1,568), neglected (n = 1,555), exposed to multiple forms of maltreatment (n = 1,767), and non-victims (n = 8,492). In addition, the moderating effect of gender in the association between type of maltreatment and offending behavior/psychosocial problems was examined. Results showed that violent offenses were more common in victims of physical abuse and victims of multiple forms of abuse than in non-victims, both in boys and girls. In boys, sexual offenses were far more common in victims of sexual abuse than in victims of other or multiple forms of maltreatment or in non-victims. In girls, no group differences were found in sexual offending behavior. For both boys and girls, externalizing problems were relatively common in victims of physical abuse and neglect whereas internalizing problems were relatively common in victims of sexual abuse. In victims of multiple forms of maltreatment, both internalizing and externalizing problems were relatively common. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.     

Child maltreatment and adult criminal behavior: Does criminal thinking explain the association?

Criminal thinking styles were examined as mediational links between different forms of child maltreatment (i.e., sexual abuse, physical abuse, and physical neglect) and adult criminal behaviors in 338 recently adjudicated men. Analyses revealed positive associations between child sexual abuse and sexual offenses as an adult, and between child physical abuse/neglect and endorsing proactive and reactive criminal thinking styles. Mediation analyses showed that associations between overall maltreatment history and adult criminal behaviors were accounted for by general criminal thinking styles and both proactive and reactive criminal thinking. These findings suggest a potential psychological pathway to criminal behavior associated with child maltreatment. Limitations of the study as well as research and clinical implications of the results are discussed.     

Does the gender of parent or child matter in child maltreatment in China?

Child maltreatment is a public health problem worldwide, and China is no exception. However, the pattern of child maltreatment remains unknown, including whether the gender of children and their parents has an impact on the occurrence of maltreatment. This study aims at examining the rates and frequency of child maltreatment, including physical abuse, psychological abuse and neglect perpetrated by mothers and fathers. We also test whether the interaction between parents’ gender and their child's gender affects the occurrence of child maltreatment in China. 997 children from the China Jintan Child Cohort Study participated in the present study and reported their maltreatment experience perpetrated by their mothers and fathers using the questionnaire, Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scale (CTSPC_CA). Generalized linear model analyses show that boys were more likely than girls to report physical abuse, and, in particular, boys were more likely than girls to be physically abused by their fathers. On the other hand, mothers were more likely than fathers to exhibit psychological aggression and use corporal punishment for both boys and girls. There was no difference based on the child's or parent's gender in the occurrence of neglect. The findings present empirical evidence that enhances the understanding of the pattern of child maltreatment in China, provide implications for social workers and health professionals to identify children at risk of child maltreatment, and shed light on future research studies.     

Truancy in Europe: Does the type of educational system matter?

Truancy is known to: Hamper academic achievement, predict a range of school-related problems and cause early school leaving. Hence, the development and implementation of measures to tackle truancy are considered as important strategies to prevent early school leaving in Europe. Despite this, there is almost no comparative research which studies variation in truancy rates. This article relies on PISA 2012 data from 24 European countries to empirically answer two questions: (1) To what degree do truancy rates vary cross-nationally? and (2) Do these differences in truancy rates relate to characteristics of the educational system? We found that between-country truancy rates varied more than differences in early school leaving. Moreover, even after taking into account control variables such as economic development and youth unemployment rates, the ways in which educational systems select and group pupils are closely related to truancy rates.     

Maltreatment type and behaviors: Does listening matter?

This article presents an exploratory assessment of whether children's perceptions of caseworker support (e.g. feeling listened to) moderates the relationship between the type of maltreatment and problematic behaviors. Relying on data collected for the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW I), this research measures how often children felt listened to by their caseworkers and the effect on the relationship between two types of maltreatment (e.g. physical abuse and neglect) and problematic child behaviors. Results indicate that whereas children reported feeling listened to most of the time, there are significant differences in the probabilities of problematic behavior scores between physically abused and neglected children according to how often they felt listened to. With the exception of those children who felt listened to all of the time, physically abused children have a higher probability of problematic behaviors than neglected children. Comparisons between the two maltreatment types indicate a greater impact of listening on physically abused children across the continuum of feeling listened to (e.g. never to all of the time), than for neglected children, except for at the highest level of listening, as results indicate a small, but significant difference indicating neglected children are more positively impacted by listening than physically abused kids. Implications for practice are that children's perceptions of support from caseworkers may influence behavioral outcomes differently according to maltreatment type. Additionally, these findings encourage the inclusion of children's perspectives regarding the relationships they have with caseworkers.     

Does the position of source information for multiple documents matter? Insights from two experiments

When processing information from multiple documents about a controversial topic, it is important to consider information about the respective documents’ sources. In two experiments, we investigated whether different ways of providing source information affects learners’ use of source information when trying to make sense of a controversy. Experiment 1 (123 participants) varied the position of source information before or after the contents as well as the integration of source information with the contents. When source information was integrated with contents, more participants tended to name the accurate answer when source information was presented before contents. However, for blocked (i.e. non-integrated) presentation, more participants gave an accurate answer when source information was presented after the contents. Experiment 2 (117 participants) tested whether this latter finding could be explained with a lack of conflict awareness when participants were confronted with all source information in a block before the contents. However, making learners aware of the conflicting nature of the documents before the learning phase did not change the pattern of results for the blocked presentation of source information. In contrast, highlighting the conflict just before learners answered the open-ended question resulted in more participants giving an accurate answer when source information was presented before rather than after the contents. These results are discussed taking into account the characteristics of the learning phase and the test phase, outlining various pathways for future research.     

School absenteeism and academic achievement: Does the timing of the absence matter?

A large body of research demonstrates that school absenteeism is detrimental to learning, academic achievement and educational outcomes. However, questions remain whether this relationship varies according to the timing and reasons of absenteeism. Using time-stamped administrative school attendance data among 62,841 students enrolled in secondary education, this study examined whether the association between school absenteeism and student's examination results at the end of the school year varies with the timing and reasons of absenteeism. The findings show that unexcused absenteeism, sickness absenteeism and school exclusion all have a negative impact on student's academic achievement. In addition, the findings suggested that unexcused absenteeism is more harmful at the beginning of the school year and at the end of the school year. Sickness absenteeism seems also more harmful at the end of the school year. In the discussion I elaborate on the implications of these findings for policy and practice.     

Why do students exhibit different attention-related behavior during instruction? Investigating effects of individual and context-dependent determinants

To determine the success of their instruction, teachers need to rely on observable cues in students' behavior. However, students exhibit different attention-related behavior within one lesson as well as compared with their peers. It is not yet clear to what extent these differences result from the design of classroom instruction and how individual and contextual factors determine students' behavior during instruction. In the present study, we applied a continuous behavior-rating system to 10 classroom videos and based our analysis on 1200 1-s intervals of N = 199 students. Using dynamic structural equation modeling, students' attention-related behavior was primarily determined by contextual factors, stressing the important role of teachers but also the impact of factors that are unique in individual classrooms.     

The persistence of students’ academic effort: The unique and combined effects of conscientiousness and individual interest

The present study was designed to test the CONscientiousness × Interest Compensation (CONIC) model in a longitudinal setting (four time points; N = 3,880 students). For this purpose, we first examined the power of conscientiousness (measured with student and parent reports) and interest in predicting perceived academic effort in three school subjects (Math, German, and English). In a second step, we investigated whether conscientiousness and interest interacted in a compensatory pattern as predicted by the CONIC model. Results showed that conscientiousness and interest significantly and positively predicted future perceived academic effort. In addition, conscientiousness and interest interacted in a compensatory manner, such that interest was less important for perceived academic effort in students who were high in conscientiousness (and vice versa).     

Do teacher characteristics matter? New results on the effects of teacher preparation on student achievement

Research fairly consistently demonstrates that teachers are an important measurable factor in student learning, yet few teacher characteristics are shown to be consistently related to student achievement. Using a state administrative dataset that matches individual students to their teachers over time, I find that math teachers’ undergraduate performance, as measured by GPA (overall, math, and math education) and course hours (math and math education), is predictive of 5th grade math achievement. The effects of the teacher characteristics are mediated by years of experience and vary according to student types.     

Does mind wandering mediate the effects of habitual reading motivation on comprehension?

The present article reports on a study that examined how individual differences in habitual reading motivation affect a reader's tendency to engage in text-related and text-unrelated thinking during reading. Two-hundred participants read each three texts about finance and meteorology topics and answered comprehension questions afterward. Participants' thoughts during reading were assessed with retrospective ratings and thought samples. Habitual reading motivation was assessed with questionnaires in a separate session prior to reading. Structural equation models fit to this data revealed that more motivated readers reported less mind wandering, more engagement in elaborative thinking and comprehension monitoring, as well as higher topic interest. Furthermore, the beneficial effect of reading motivation on comprehension was partially mediated by mind wandering, elaboration, comprehension monitoring, and interest. Our findings offer a novel explanation for the well-known beneficial effects of reading motivation on comprehension: habitually motivated readers are more likely to engage in text-related thinking and avoid text-unrelated thoughts.     

Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship in faculty reward systems: Does It Make a Difference?

This article presents findings from a national study of Chief Academic Officers of 4-year institutions on the impact of policy efforts to encourage multiple forms of scholarship in faculty roles and rewards. The extent of reform, kinds of reform and influence of initiating reform is examined in four areas: expectations for faculty evaluation, the faculty evaluation process, promotion and tenure outcomes, and institutional effectiveness. The findings are also examined by institutional type. Findings from this study show that campuses that initiated policy reforms to encourage multiple forms of scholarship were significantly more likely than their counterparts to report that teaching scholarship and engagement counted more for faculty evaluation, to report a broader set of criteria used to assess scholarship, and report a higher percentage of tenure and promotion cases that emphasized their work in these areas. In addition, CAOs at campuses that initiated reforms reported a greater congruence between faculty priorities and institutional mission, and greater improvement in attention to undergraduate learning over the last decade.     

Teenage dropouts and drug use: Does the specification of peer group structure matter?

Four alternative structures of peer groups are compared in an empirical analysis of teenage dropouts and recent drug use. In general, individual-specific covariates remain robust regardless of group structure specification in dropout models, but lose significance in models of drug-use. Estimates of correlated school effects depend on the specification of group structure. Contextual group effects have no influence on the probability that an individual uses drugs, but demonstrate some statistical significance, albeit ambiguous and strongly dependent on the specification of group structure. Endogenous peer effects do not influence the probability of dropping-out of school, but exhibit positive complementarities with respect to recent drug-use. Modeling the probabilities of leaving school and recent drug-use within a jointly distributed empirical framework indicates that unobserved attributes bridging the two types of behavior demonstrate positive correlation.     

Does policy matter in shadow education spending? Revisiting the effects of the high school equalization policy in South Korea

In 1972, the South Korean government proposed the high school equalization policy (HSEP) to eliminate high-stakes exams and introduce random school assignment to high school entrance. This policy was intended to reduce a financial burden imposed on families due to the costs of children’s shadow education. Since its first implementation in major cities in 1974, the HSEP has been increasingly expanded to many regions across South Korea. Yet little known is about whether the HSEP has achieved its policy goal in terms of decreasing the demand for shadow education. Using data from a longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample of South Korean seventh graders, this study assesses the extent to which the HSEP makes a difference in changes in household expenditures on shadow education during the middle school (grades 7–9). Propensity score matching methods are used to remove selection bias and test the heterogeneity of the effects of the HSEP. Results show small effects for the HSEP in reducing the financial burden of shadow education spending on families, particularly for lower income families. The findings suggest that the government intervention by reducing disparities among schools and competition for entering a particular school makes a difference in shadow education spending.     

Does the choice of reference levels of education matter in the ORU earnings equation?

This paper examines whether the results of the earnings equation developed in the over-education/required education/under-education (ORU) literature are sensitive to whether the usual or reference levels of education are measured using the Realized Matches or Worker Self-Assessment methods. The analyses are conducted for all male native-born and immigrant workers in the US, by level of skill, and by occupation. While point estimates differ, particularly when earnings equations are estimated for the smaller samples of sub-groups of the workforce, the general findings are robust to this measurement issue. Thus, the answers provided to the typical research questions in the ORU literature on the productivity of schooling are independent of the measure of the usual or reference level of education used in the analyses.     

Child maltreatment and alcohol outlets in Spain: Does the country drinking culture matters?

BackgroundAlcohol outlet density has been linked to rates of substantiated maltreatment both cross-sectionally and over time. Most of these studies have been conducted in Anglo-Saxon countries, especially in the U.S., but other countries, where alcohol outlets and alcohol consumption may have different social meanings, are clearly underrepresented in the literature.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to analyze whether alcohol outlet density is associated with neighborhood-level child maltreatment risk in a South-European city.Participants and settingA longitudinal study was conducted in the city of Valencia (Spain). As spatial units, we used 552 census block groups. Family units with child maltreatment protection measures from 2004 to 2015 were geocoded (n = 1799).MethodsA Bayesian spatio-temporal autoregression model was conducted to model the outcome variable.ResultsResults indicated that, once controlled for other neighborhood-level characteristics, the influence of off-premise density and restaurant/cafe density were not relevant, while bar density showed a negative relationship with child maltreatment risk. Spatially lagged alcohol outlet variables were also not relevant in the model.ConclusionsOur results suggest the importance of taking into account the cultural influences on the relationship between alcohol outlets and child maltreatment risk. Future cross-cultural research is needed for better understanding this relationship.     

Does students’ heritage matter in their performance on and perceptions of historical reasoning tasks?

This mixed methods study explores how high school students (N = 35) enrolled in a US charter school with a high Latino/a population perform on and perceive (in terms of interest and relevance) document-based type historical reasoning tasks: one about the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and the other about the experiences of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the 1920s. Students wrote essay responses and completed perception inventories about the tasks. We also interviewed 10 focal students to delve more deeply into students’ thinking regarding the tasks and their interest levels in the two topics. We scored students’ responses along the criteria of historical claims, substantiation of claims, use of evidence from documents, sourcing of documents and contextualization. Our hypotheses were that students would perform better on, and be more interested in, tasks that were culturally relevant to them. We found that although students did not perform differently on the two tasks overall, students’ perceptions of the tasks differed, with a significantly greater interest in the task about Mexicans and Mexican Americans. We address the complexity of these findings and discuss implications for curriculum and practise.     

Does the design of learning outcomes matter from students’ perspective?

Learning outcomes have gained more attention in the development of higher education course unit programmes. This study sought to understand how the design of learning outcomes relates to students’ perceptions of their motivation, satisfaction, engagement and achievement of the learning outcomes. The learning outcomes from 78 course units were coded to reflect the level of cognitive demand according to Bloom’s Taxonomy and the attended students (n = 1329) were surveyed regarding their perceptions of their achievement of the learning outcomes. The results indicated that the lowest four levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy were most commonly used in the design of learning outcomes, the highest level was not used at all. The levels of learning outcomes related to students’ perceptions of their achievement of learning outcomes, motivation, satisfaction and engagement. The results demonstrated that students were more likely motivated, satisfied, engaged to achieving learning outcomes, which were designed at higher levels of cognitive demand.     

Does homework behavior mediate the relation between personality and academic performance?

Past research has consistently shown that there is a relation between personality and academic performance, but much less work has focused on explaining this relation. The present study examined whether three aspects of homework behavior, namely homework time, procrastination, and learning strategies, mediate the relation between personality and academic performance, controlling for cognitive ability, track level, gender, and ethnicity. We investigated this in a nationally representative sample of about 9000 secondary school students in The Netherlands (average age 13 years). Results indicated that all personality traits were related to homework behavior, and that both personality and homework behavior were related to end-of-year grades in math and Dutch language. Nevertheless, homework behavior only partially mediated the relation between personality and grades.     

Which feedback is more effective for pursuing multiple goals of differing importance? The interaction effects of goal importance and performance feedback type on self-regulation and task achievement

This study examined how performance feedback type (progress vs. distance) affects Korean college students’ self-regulation and task achievement according to relative goal importance in the pursuit of multiple goals. For this study, 146 students participated in a computerised task. The results showed the interaction effects of goal importance and performance feedback type on self-regulation and task achievement. Specifically, the participants in high goal importance conditions who received distance feedback showed higher self-regulation of metacognition (goal setting), motivation-emotion (efforts investment, task enjoyment) and task achievement (task completion time, task score) than those who received progress feedback. In addition, effort investment and task enjoyment increased in the latter part of the task for the participants in high goal importance conditions who received distance feedback, whereas they decreased for those who received progress feedback. However, the opposite results were shown for the participants in low goal importance conditions.