Estimated prevalence of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder symptoms among college freshmen: gender, race, and rater effects

Group differences and prevalence rates for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in a matched sample of college freshmen (n = 956) and their parents (n = 956) were investigated for gender and race (African American and Caucasian) effects using current self-report and retrospective parent-report ratings. On self-report, compared to female students, male students displayed higher mean scores on subscales and lower rates for reporting symptom totals beyond DSM-IV thresholds for the three subtypes of ADHD. Mean differences in ADHD symptoms were not apparent for race. However, African American students displayed higher rates for reporting symptom totals beyond DSM-IV thresholds for all subtypes. On retrospective parent report, male students and Caucasian students displayed higher mean scores on all scales and higher rates for reporting symptom totals beyond DSM-IV thresholds for all subtypes. Prevalence rates varied by gender and race on self-report and parent report. Prevalence was examined based on combined data of self-report and parent report and using age-adjusted cutoff criteria. Findings and implications are discussed.     

Evaluating a Tertiary Access Program for Mature Age Women

A thirteen week bridging course curriculum was designed and implemented to assist mature adult women from a low socio‐economic region to gain access to tertiary level education. The course was located at a postsecondary college within the participants' neighbourhood, and presented by a woman staff member of the tertiary institution to which the women were guaranteed entry contingent upon successful completion of the course.

The curriculum focussed explicitly on both academic and non‐academic requirements for successful tertiary study. In the academic strand, significant changes from Concrete to Abstract modes of Learning Style were observed, while in the nonacademic sphere, there was a significant change of preference from Feeling to Thinking styles of decision‐making. Twenty one per cent of participants withdrew and indicated that the course had provided sufficient insight that they were not willing to make a continuing commitment to study at such a demanding level. For all participants, the bridging course succeeded in informing the women's decisions and equipping the majority with skills essential for tertiary level study.     

Parent and Peer Predictors of Change in Attachment Security From Adolescence to Adulthood

Interview, self‐report, peer report, and observational data were used to examine parent and peer relationship qualities as predictors of relative changes in attachment security in a community sample of adolescents followed from ages 14 to 24. Early maternal supportive behavior predicted relative increases in attachment security from adolescence to adulthood, whereas psychological control and interparental hostile conflict predicted relative decreases. Peer predictors of relative increases in security included collaborative and autonomous behaviors and lack of hostile interactions, with peer predictions growing stronger for relationships assessed at later ages. Overall, models accounted for sufficient variance as to suggest that attachment security across this period is well explained by a combination of stability plus theoretically predicted change linked to social relationship qualities.     

Futurescaping: school choice of internationally mobile global middle class families temporarily residing in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

This paper explores internationally mobile global middle class families (GMCF) in terms of how they rationalise moving away from their home country, select schools and reimagine their young children’s futures in an international setting. Building on Appadurai’s notion of ‘the future as a cultural fact’ and Anagnost’s concept of ‘life-making in neoliberal times’ we analyse how the search for escaping the past is dialectically related to seeking better futures. For GMCFs, the search for better futures within current neoliberal times leads to them discursively constructing spatial–temporal movements across international boundaries. The term ‘futurescaping’ is introduced and used to understand the act of imagining futures that are shaped by a person’s past and present experience. We argue that futurescaping is more than simply transnational mobility, but is a multidimensional act, which is dynamic, culturally value-ladened, historically embedded, futuristic and provides a unique view into the everyday lives of internationally mobile GMCF.     

Peer rejection and social information-processing factors in the development of aggressive behavior problems in children

The relation between social rejection and growth in antisocial behavior was investigated. In Study 1,259 boys and girls (34% African American) were followed from Grades 1 to 3 (ages 6-8 years) to Grades 5 to 7 (ages 10-12 years). Early peer rejection predicted growth in aggression. In Study 2,585 boys and girls (16% African American) were followed from kindergarten to Grade 3 (ages 5-8 years), and findings were replicated. Furthermore, early aggression moderated the effect of rejection, such that rejection exacerbated antisocial development only among children initially disposed toward aggression. In Study 3, social information-processing patterns measured in Study 1 were found to mediate partially the effect of early rejection on later aggression. In Study 4, processing patterns measured in Study 2 replicated the mediation effect. Findings are integrated into a recursive model of antisocial development.     

The remedial programme for out-of-school and drop-out children in Rwanda

This article discusses an educational practice that has been introduced in Rwanda, which aims to bring back into the formal education system children who are out-of-school or unschooled, even though they are over the legal enrolment age. The authors analyse this intensive programme, designed for children at that age and adapted to their daily living conditions, which are particularly difficult. They also examine the factors underlying this innovative approach, its originality and the features that make it a good practice that could be applied in other contexts. The minimal conditions for success, the implications for teacher training, the obstacles faced and the strategies devised to overcome these obstacles are also discussed.

The maltreated adolescent: patterns of physical abuse

Although adolescents are severely and chronically physically abused, relatively little attention has been directed towards understanding this phenomenon. This study explored the family characteristics and the behavioral-emotional reactions of 77 adolescents who were physically maltreated. The youths were selected at a number of sites including a runaway shelter, a hospital-based child abuse team, and a protective service unit. Six different patterns of adolescent reaction to abuse were identified: acting-out, depression, generalized anxiety, extreme adolescent adjustment, emotional-thought disturbance, and helplessness-dependency. Abuse toward these youth had been ongoing for an average of nearly five years. As there were no differences in family characteristics and emotional-behavioral reactions between subjects who were abused only during adolescence (including single-incident abuse) and subjects for whom family violence was evident from childhood on, the utility of a developmentally specific system of abuse categorization is questioned. It is suggested that it is the pattern of parent and child interaction rather than the course of the maltreatment that is related to the emotional and behavioral dysfunction of the adolescent victim.     

Testing the ecological validity of teacher-provided versus student-generated postquestions in reading college science text

This study compared the achievement of high- and low-reading-ability students in two classes of a one-semester introductory college biology course after they either received and used teacher-provided questions posed at various taxonomic levels on textual reading assigned over a five-week period (Group 1) or learned via training to generate and use their own questions at the identical taxonomic levels based on the same text over the same period of time (Group 2). Independent variables included (a) form of questioning (teacher provided and self-generated), (b) reading ability (low and high), and (c) question type (referent, literal, interpretive, inferential, and self-critical). Dependent variables included scores from weekly quizzes and from a summative examination. Results indicated that (a) training students to generate and answer their own questions based on text reading had a favorable effect on their midrange (weekly quiz) performance; (b) relative to long-range (summative exam) performance, training students to generate and answer their own questions based on study reading was no more efficacious than providing students with questions based on the same text; and (c) teacher-provided questions at the literal level facilitated the acquisition of intended and incidental discrimination material better than teacher-provided questions at any other taxonomic level.     

Trends in Environmental Engineering Education

Many higher education establishments are facing problems responding to increasing interest in environmental issues among students and employers. This paper outlines both the employers' perspective and the constraints facing educational establishments, as well as the problems associated with devising new courses in environmental engineering     

The Relationship Between Parent-Rated Behavior Problems and Peer Relations in Preschool Children

The relationship between parent-rated behavior problems based on the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire (PBQ) and the peer relations of nonhandicapped and mildly developmentally delayed preschool children was examined in this study. Measures of the peer-related social interactions of 3- and 4-year-old nonhandicapped children and a 4-year-old developmentally delayed group were obtained as children participated in a series of specially designed playgroups. Correlations with scores for the behavior problem dimensions obtained from the PBQ with social interaction and negative relationship peer interaction factors revealed significant relationships only for the nonhandicapped 4-year-old children. Children rated by their mothers as high on the Hostile-Aggressive, Anxiety-Fearful, and Total Behavior Disturbed dimensions were less socially interactive with peers and received higher negative relationship scores than children with lower ratings.