The impact of adverse childhood experiences on an urban pediatric population

Objective

The goal of this study was to investigate the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in youth in a low-income, urban community.

Study design

Data from a retrospective chart review of 701 subjects from the Bayview Child Health Center in San Francisco are presented. Medical chart documentation of ACEs as defined in previous studies were coded and each ACE criterion endorsed by a traumatic event received a score of 1 (range = 0-9). This study reports on the prevalence of various ACE categories in this population, as well as the association between ACE score and two pediatric problems: learning/behavior problems and body mass index (BMI) ≥ 85% (i.e., overweight or obese).

Results

The majority of subjects (67.2%, N = 471) had experienced 1 or more categories of adverse childhood experiences (ACE ≥ 1) and 12.0% (N = 84) had experienced 4 or more ACEs (ACE ≥ 4). Increased ACE scores correlated with increased risk of learning/behavior problems and obesity.

Conclusions

There was a significant prevalence of endorsed ACE categories in this urban population. Exposure to 4 or greater ACE categories was associated with increased risk for learning/behavior problems, as well as obesity.

Practice implications

Results from this study demonstrate the need both for screening of ACEs among youth in urban areas and for developing effective primary prevention and intervention models.     

Student perception of teaching effectiveness: development and validation of the Evaluation of Teaching Competencies Scale (ETCS)

A major criticism of student evaluations of teaching is that they do not reflect student perspectives. Using critical incidents job analysis, students identified nine teaching effectiveness competencies: communication, availability, creativity, individual consideration, social awareness, feedback, professionalism, conscientiousness and problem‐solving. The behaviourally anchored Evaluation of Teaching Competencies Scale is a highly reliable (alpha = .94), unidimensional measure that correlated strongly with an instructor‐related composite of the Students’ Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ, r = .72), but not to a SEEQ composite related to instructor assigned work (r = .04, N = 195). The results are discussed in the context of other measures of teaching effectiveness and transformational leadership theory.     

Exploring the underlying factor structure of the home literacy environment (HLE) in the English and Spanish versions of the Familia Inventory: A cautionary tale

Few research-based measures of the family literacy environment are commercially available, especially in Spanish. One exception is the Familia Inventory (Taylor, 1995). The present study investigated the 10 subscales of this instrument and the factor structure they imply, using data from a low-socioeconomic (SES), largely Hispanic population. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the structure of the instrument as well as whether it is invariant across English and Spanish language versions. The scale was administered to 232 parents of preschoolers. Results of the CFA revealed that the a priori dimensions of the Familia Inventory were not supported for this sample. Follow-up analyses suggested poor fit both within and between subscales. The scale fit poorly within both English and Spanish, precluding testing of invariance across language. Supplemental analyses using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on a subset of the items that had adequate variance suggested that a four-factor solution accounting for 53% of the variance best represented the English data and that a two-factor solution accounting for 43% of the variance best represented the Spanish data. Implications are discussed.     

Measurement Invariance Across Groups in Latent Growth Modeling

This Monte Carlo study investigated the impacts of measurement noninvariance across groups on major parameter estimates in latent growth modeling when researchers test group differences in initial status and latent growth. The average initial status and latent growth and the group effects on initial status and latent growth were investigated in terms of Type I error and bias. The location and magnitude of noninvariance across groups was related to the location and magnitude of bias and Type I error in the parameter estimates. That is, noninvariance in factor loadings and intercepts was associated with the Type I error inflation and bias in the parameter estimates of the slope factor (or latent growth) and the intercept factor (or initial status), respectively. As noninvariance became large, the degree of Type I error and bias also increased. On the other hand, a correctly specified second-order latent growth model yielded unbiased parameter estimates and correct statistical inferences. Other findings and implications on future studies were discussed.     

The Effects of Motivational Instruction on College Students' Performance on Low-Stakes Assessment

Assessments of student learning outcomes (SLO) have been widely used in higher education for accreditation, accountability, and strategic planning purposes. Although important to institutions, the assessment results typically bear no consequence for individual students. It is important to clarify the relationship between motivation and test performance and identify practical strategies to boost students' motivation in test taking. This study designed an experiment to examine the effectiveness of a motivational instruction. The instruction increased examinees' self-reported test-taking motivation by .89 standard deviations (SDs) and test scores by .63 SDs. Students receiving the instruction spent an average of 14 more seconds on an item than students in the control group. Score difference between experimental and control groups narrowed to .23 SDs after unmotivated students identified by low response time were removed from the analyses. The findings provide important implications for higher education institutions which administer SLO assessments in a low-stakes setting.     

New books

LANGUAGE ‐ MAN ‐ SOCIETY: READINGS IN COMMUNICATION. Ed. Harold E. Briggs. New York: Rinehart and Co., 1949; pp. xv + 707. $3.50.

THE ART OF FORCEFUL SPEAKING. By Richard C. Reager. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1949; pp. xvi + 302. $1.49.

HOW TO PUT YOUR IDEAS ACROSS. By Richard W. Wetherill. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1949; pp. x + 435. $2.75.

PUBLIC SPEAKING WITHOUT FEAR AND TREMBLING. By Mark Hanna. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1949; pp. 166. $2.75.

BASIC PUBLIC SPEAKING. By Paul L. Soper. New York: Oxford University Press, 1949; pp. xxi + 394. $2.50.

HANDBOOK OF PUBLIC SPEAKING. Revised Edition. By A. R. Thompr son. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1949; pp. xix + 177. $1.50.

BASIC TRAINING IN SPEECH. Brief Edition. By Lester Thonssen and Howard Gilkinson. Boston: D. C. Heath and Co., 1949; pp. 249. $2.25

HOW TO TALK MORE EFFECTIVELY. By Jean Bordeaux and T. W. Tanaka. Chicago: American Technical Society, 1949; pp. x + 218. $2.75.

DEMOCRACY THROUGH DISCUSSION. By Bruno Lasker. New York: The W. H. Wilson Co., 1949; pp. xvii + 376. $3.50.

THE HUMAN NATURE OF PLAYWRITING. By Samson Raphaelson. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1949; pp. viii + 267. $4.00.

PLAY PRODUCTION AND DIRECTION. By C. Lowell Lees. New York: Prentice‐Hall, 1948; pp. xiii + 311. $5.00.

HOW TO SPEAK THE WRITTEN WORD. By Nedra Newkirk Lamar. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1949; pp. 175. $2.50.

THE ART OF GOOD SPEECH. By Dwight Bolinger and Ralph Weiman. 4 v. Philadelphia: Russell Press, 1948; pp. 159. $9.50.

GENERAL SPEECH: AN INTRODUCTION. By A. Craig Baird and Franklin H. Knower. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Co., 1949; pp. ix + 500. $3.50.

PUBLIC SPEAKING FOR BUSINESS. By William G. Hoffman. Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Co., 1949; pp. xiii + 412. $3.50.

THE LANGUAGE OF WISDOM AND FOLLY: BACKGROUND HEADINGS IN SEMANTICS. Ed. Irving J. Lee. New York; Harper and Brothers, 1949; pp. xxii + 361. $3.00.     

Broadcast Journalism

Thomas R. Asher and J. Victor Hahn's Broadcast Media Guide for Candidates (Washington: Media Access Project, 1910 N Street N.W., 1974—price not given, but about $3.00, paper).

Bruce Herschensohn's The Gods of Antenna (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1975—$7.95)

Robert M. Batscha's Foreign Affairs News and the Broadcast Journalist (New York: Praeger Special Studies, 1975-$15.00)

Stanley Field's The Mini-Documentary: Serializing TV News (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: Tab Books, 1975—$12.95)

Walter Winchell's Winchell Exclusive (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1975—$8.95)     

Telecommunications

R. Terry Ellmore The Illustrated Dictionary of Broadcast-CATV-Telecommunications (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: TAB Books, 1977—$14.95)

first is Edward L. Safford CBer's Handy Manual of SSB (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: TAB Books, 1977—$2.25, paper)

Victor F.G. Veley Third Class FCC License Study Guide (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: TAB Books, 1977—$9.95/6.95)

Communication by Satellite: Perspectives for Users (Institut International de la Communication, 3535 Chemin de la Reine-Marie, bureau 218, Montreal H3V 1H8, Quebec, Canada—$12.00, paper).

Paul Polishuk and Michael O'Bryant, Exposition Proceedings: Telecommunications and Economic Development (Horizon House, 610 Washington St., Dedham, Mass. 02026—$100 for the set of two volumes, paper).