Inter-participant variability in daily physical activity and sedentary time among male youth sport footballers: independent associations with indicators of adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness

Participation in youth sport is assumed to promote and contribute towards more physically active lifestyles among children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine inter-participant variability in objectively measured habitual physical activity (PA) behaviours and sedentary time among youth sport participants and their implications for health. One-hundred-and-eighteen male youth sport footballers (Mean ± s = 11.72 ± 1.60) wore a GT3X accelerometer for 7 days. Average daily PA [min · day^?1, in light (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA) and combined moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA)] and sedentary time were calculated. Participants’ body mass index adjusted for age and sex (BMI–standard deviation score), per cent body fat (BF%), waist circumference and cardiorespiratory fitness were assessed. Results revealed that variability in daily PA behaviours and sedentary time (min · day^?1) was associated with BMI–standard deviation score [VPA (?), MVPA (?)], BF% [sedentary time (+), VPA (?), MVPA (?)], waist circumference [sedentary time (+), LPA (?)] and cardiorespiratory fitness [sedentary time (?), MPA (+), VPA (+), MVPA (+)]. Whilst sedentary time and MVPA were not related to health outcomes independent of one another, associations with markers of adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness were stronger for sedentary time. Sedentary time was also significantly positively related to waist circumference independent of VPA. Results demonstrate inter-participant variability in habitual PA and sedentary time among youth sport participants which holds implications for their health. Thus, promoting PA and, in particular, reducing sedentary time may contribute towards the prevention of adverse health consequences associated with a physically inactive lifestyle for children and adolescents active in the youth sport context.     

Recognition of facial emotions among maltreated children with high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine processing of facial emotions in a sample of maltreated children showing high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Maltreatment during childhood has been associated independently with both atypical processing of emotion and the development of PTSD. However, research has provided little evidence indicating how high rates of PTSD might relate to maltreated children's processing of emotions. METHOD: Participants' reaction time and labeling of emotions were measured using a morphed facial emotion identification task. Participants included a diverse sample of maltreated children with and without PTSD and controls ranging in age from 8 to 15 years. Maltreated children had been removed from their homes and placed in state custody following experiences of maltreatment. Diagnoses of PTSD and other disorders were determined through combination of parent, child, and teacher reports. RESULTS: Maltreated children displayed faster reaction times than controls when labeling emotional facial expressions, and this result was most pronounced for fearful faces. Relative to children who were not maltreated, maltreated children both with and without PTSD showed enhanced response times when identifying fearful faces. There was no group difference in labeling of emotions when identifying different facial emotions. CONCLUSIONS: Maltreated children show heightened ability to identify fearful faces, evidenced by faster reaction times relative to controls. This association between maltreatment and atypical processing of emotion is independent of PTSD diagnosis.     

Educating the Child‐centred Practitioner: Innovations and dilemmas

The education of child‐centered early childhood practitioners involves issues of content, pedagogy, relationships and context. Recent insights on the nature of child‐centered teaching generated by collaborative research with teachers, has highlighted its complexity and suggests that new ways of thinking about teacher education are needed. But developing a more learner‐centered approach to early childhood teacher education will be difficult, given the instrumentalist orientation in many institutions and in societies at large. This paper discusses the broad issues surrounding the development of a more learner‐centered approach to early childhood teacher education and describes several initiatives the authors have been involved in, in Australia and the United States.     

Assessing sex and career biases in screening candidates for a deanship: An experimental study

To test how sex biases operate in the screening of candidates for administrative positions, an experimental study was conducted to evaluate the contribution of gender and career pattern effects on candidates' ratings. Faculty from seven universities were asked in a task that was judged to be realistic to evaluate vitae of six candidates for a deanship of a college of arts and sciences. Experimental design permitted alteration of the vitae to change gender and career patterns. No significant difference was found in the ratings assigned to male and female candidates. Career break did have a significant effect; candidates with career breaks received higher ratings on the average than those without career breaks. There was no significant interaction of gender and career break. Three different ratings systems were used, but none interacted with either gender or career break. However, closer examination of screeners' ratings did suggest that career experience was evaluated in different ways for male and female candidates.     

Maternal Interactions and Self-Reports Related to Attachment Classifications at 4.5 Years

Building on attachment theory and infancy research, this study examines relations between maternal style and attachment patterns in early childhood. Mothers of children classified as Secure at 4.5 years were rated higher than mothers of Insecure children on positive mood, meshing, enjoyment of child, and providing a relaxed home atmosphere. In a laboratory joint task, they had a higher frequency of monitoring, planning, and affirming and also received higher ratings for providing a sensitive framework. Compared with all other mothers, mothers of Avoidant children monitored less and planned less but reported themselves in a better light on 3 temperament scales as well as a depression scale. Mothers of Ambivalent children rated themselves as the most depressed and anxious and the least satisfied with their marriages. Their interactions at home were characterized by friction. Mothers of Controlling children rated themselves as least irritable and anxious, but in the laboratory they affirmed less, enjoyed the task less, and provided a less sensitive framework than all other mothers.     

Assessing and Controlling Acquiescent Responding When Acquiescence and Content Are Related: A Comprehensive Factor-Analytic Approach

This article proposes procedures for assessing and controlling acquiescence in personality scales when acquiescence is related to the content that the scale intends to measure. Our proposal is comprehensive in that it can be applied to different item response formats fitted with response models that can be parameterized as factor-analytic models. In the calibration stage, our proposal makes joint use of a balanced scale and a set of markers for acquiescence, and consists of 2 sequential procedures: a direct semirestricted solution, and a restricted solution with minimal identification constraints. In the scoring stage, we discuss how the information given by the acquiescence–content relation can be used to obtain Bayes expected a posteriori scores. The robustness of the direct procedure is assessed both analytically and by simulation. A free, user-friendly program that implements the procedures proposed is made available. Practical issues of use and interpretation are discussed and illustrated with an empirical application.     

Houston Teaching Academy: Partnership in developing teachers

The need for excellent teachers to teach at-risk inner-city children is well documented. Too often new teachers who have received their field experience in the suburbs are hired to teach in multicultural inner-city schools with little preparation to serve this population of children and families. Changing the history of failure for this population of teachers and their students to an experience of success was the primary goal of the partnership between the Houston Independent School District and the University of Houston's College of Education.The structure of the Houston Teaching Academy (HTA) includes four collaborative decision-making councils. Representatives from the school and college serve on each of the councils. Shared weekly seminars for supervising teachers, student teachers, and college supervisors are led by school teachers or college supervisors. Methods courses are taught at the HTA, and the students serve as tutors in the classrooms. Several graduate college courses requested by teachers are offered at the HTA.Concurrent with the development of the HTA, a formative and summative evaluation has monitored the progress of the HTA toward its goals. The HTA graduates have been followed into their first years of teaching. Interviews with their principals indicate that 77% are effectively teaching in inner-city and multicultural settings.     

Correlation of the PPVT and WISC-R: A function of diagnostic category

PPVT and WISC-R scores were compared for 259 students ranging in age from 6 to 16. In descending order, Pearson product correlations ranked best for the total sample, emotionally disabled, regular class, mentally retarded, and learning disabled. In all groups, the PPVT overestimated ability and was significantly different from the WISC-R scores as measured by correlated t-tests.