Neurobehavioral factors associated with referral for learning problems in a community sample: evidence for an adaptational model for learning disorders

We evaluated community general education (CGE; n = 178), community special education (CSE; n = 30) and hospital-referred (HR, n = 145) children (ages 7-6 to 11-11) prospectively over a 2-year period. During this period, 17 CGE children were referred for evaluation (community referred; CR). Prior to referral, CR children performed more poorly than community-nonreferred (CNR) children on cognitive ability, academic achievement, attention problems, and information processing. CR group performance was equivalent to that of CSE and HR groups, but HR children showed poorer academic achievement. Referred children performed more poorly on all measures than nonreferred, whether they met formal diagnostic criteria for a learning disorder or not. Learning disorders may be better conceptualized as a context-dependent problem of functional adaptation than as a disability analogous to physical disabilities, raising questions about the validity of using psychometric test scores as the criterion for identification.     

Learning and Earning: Measuring 'Rates of Return' Among Mature Graduates from Part-time Distance Courses

This paper develops a method for tracking changes in the earnings of Open University graduates and for examining the extent to which such changes differ from national trends. The preliminary findings suggest that Open University graduates do indeed achieve relative financial gains and some attempts are made to identify where these increases are most commonly found.     

A prospective investigation of appraisals as mediators of the link between interparental conflict and child adjustment

This longitudinal study tested the role of children's appraisals of threat and self-blame as mediators of the association between interparental conflict and child adjustment in a sample of 298 Welsh children ages 11 to 12 years. Exposure to higher levels of interparental conflict at Time 1 predicted greater perceived threat and self-blame at Time 2, after accounting for the effects of Time 1 adjustment and appraisals on later appraisals. Perceived threat in turn was associated with increased internalizing problems at Tune 2, and self-blame was associated with higher externalizing problems. The pattern of results was largely consistent for child and parent reports of conflict and for boys and girls, though some gender differences were found in associations between appraisals and adjustment.     

Peer victimization and empathy for victims of bullying: A test of bidirectional associations in childhood and adolescence

Anti-bullying interventions often assume that knowing how it feels to be bullied increases empathy for victims. However, longitudinal research on actual experiences of bullying and empathy is lacking. This study investigated whether within-person changes in victimization predicted changes in empathy over 1 year using random-intercept cross-lagged panel models. Self- and peer-reported victimization, and cognitive and affective empathy for victims were measured in a sample of 15,713 Finnish youth (M_age = 13.23, SD_age = 2.01, 51.6% female; 92.5% had Finnish-speaking parents; data was collected in 2007–2009 when information about participants’ race/ethnicity was not available due to ethical guidelines for the protection of personal information). Results indicated small, positive longitudinal associations from victimization to cognitive empathy. Implications for empathy-raising interventions are discussed.