A Methylome‐Wide Association Study of Trajectories of Oppositional Defiant Behaviors and Biological Overlap With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

In 671 mother–child (49% male) pairs from an epidemiological birth cohort, we investigated (a) prospective associations between DNA methylation (at birth) and trajectories (ages 7–13) of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and the ODD subdimensions of irritable and headstrong; (b) common biological pathways, indexed by DNA methylation, between ODD trajectories and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); (c) genetic influence on DNA methylation; and (d) prenatal risk exposure associations. Methylome‐wide significant associations were identified for the ODD and headstrong, but not for irritable. Overlap analysis indicated biological correlates between ODD, headstrong, and ADHD. DNA methylation in ODD and headstrong was (to a degree) genetically influenced. DNA methylation associated with prenatal risk exposures of maternal anxiety (headstrong) and cigarette smoking (ODD and headstrong).     

A comparison of the criterion-related validity (academic achievement) of the WPPSI and the WISC-R

Correlations of WPPSI IQs with concurrently administered subtests from the WRAT were compared with analogous WISC-R/WRAT correlations in a group of children referred by regular classroom teachers for school psychological services. Although the magnitudes of all correlations were reduced, due to restriction of range, the comparisons indicated no significant differences in the magnitudes of the correlations of the WPPSI and the WISC-R with the WRAT. These results support the use of the two instruments as equivalent predictors of achievement.     

Factorial validity of the 1976 edition of the metropolitan readiness tests for males and females

The 1976 edition of the Metropolitan Readiness Tests was factor analyzed from the responses of 408 beginning first graders. A single General Readiness factor, consistent with prior research, best described the battery of eight subtests. This factor was found to be invariant across sex when separate analyses for males and for females were compared. The coefficient of congruence for the general factor across sex was .98, and the salient variable similarity index reached a value of 1.00.     

How does education have an impact on ethnocentrism? A structural equation analysis of cognitive,occupational status and network mechanisms

Previous studies have distinguished cognitive, occupational status and network mechanisms in the relation between education and ethnocentrism. Hypotheses on these mediating mechanisms are derived from socialization theory, realistic group threat and contact theory. In the current study we use structural equation modeling to investigate the explanatory power of these three mechanisms simultaneously. The analysis is based on a representative population survey from the Netherlands (NELLS 2009, n = 1910). The results show that more than half of the initial association between education and ethnocentrism can be attributed to cognitive ability and occupational status mechanisms. The remaining part of the overall association, however, still has to be modeled as a direct relationship between education and ethnocentrism. This direct association can be attributed either to social desirability or to a direct liberalizing effect of education on social and political attitudes. Our analysis tentatively suggests that the rise of average education levels in Western societies might lead to less ethnocentric attitudes via the cognitive sophistication mechanism.     

Preliminary norms and technical data for use of the Revised-Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale with kindergarten children

The Revised-Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (Reynolds & Richmond, 1978) was administered to 97 kindergarten children. Coefficient alpha reliabilities of .79 for males (N = 53), .85 for females (N = 44), and .82 for the total sample resulted. Contrary to findings with older children, no sex differences occurred in scoring on the anxiety scale. The kindergarten children generally scored higher on the anxiety scale than did older children. Lie scale scores were comparable to those of other primary grade children. Implications for use of the scale with young children are discussed.     

Profile analysis of standardized intelligence test performance of very high IQ children

Practitioners are frequently faced with the need to evaluate the intellectual skills of individuals with very high levels of functioning. Due to the statistical rarity of these persons, few tests have sufficient range of scores for a detailed analysis of intraindividual differences in performance. This paper describes a method using age equivalents and standard scores to recreate the full range of variability in the scores of high-functioning individuals. The method allows for a more complete interpretation of performance that can lead to better educational and therapeutic programming.     

Relationships between age and raw score increases on the Kaufman-assessment battery for children

Raw scores on the 16 K-ABC subtests and the total raw scores on the sequential and simultaneous processing scales and the achievement scale were correlated with age in months for two separate samples, each subdivided by race and sex: the K-ABC standardization sample (N = 2000) and an additional group of blacks and whites tested during the development of the K-ABC sociocultural norms (N = 615). Within each sample, the highest and lowest correlations from all race/sex groups were contrasted across all K-ABC subtests and scales. All correlations between age and raw scores were statistically significant (p ⩽ .05). No significant differences occurred in the magnitude of these relationships as a function of race/sex grouping, supporting the construct validity of the K-ABC as a developmental measure of children's aptitude and achievement for blacks, whites, Hispanics, males, and females.     

Bias in content validity on the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts for White and Mexican-American children

Item bias on Forms A and B of the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts was examined for a sample of White and Mexican-American kindergarten children. The method employed to detect biased items, as defined by an items-by-group interaction, was a two-way analysis of variance with followup being conducted with a Bonferroni-type procedure. Bias-in-item difficulty occurred for both groups, which does not conform to the current popular press view that bias is against ethnic minorities and not against the White majority. The finding that on some items the Mexican-American group out-performed the White group indicates the need to examine carefully the question of bias and to reconsider popular conceptualizations of the many issues of bias in educational and psychological testing.