An investigation of the home and family questionnaire\u27s concurrent and predictive validity

The current study sought to replicate the findings of Pierce, Alfonso, & Garrison (1998) that constructed and tested the Home and Family Questionnaire (HFQ). More specifically, the internal consistency of the HFQ’s three subscales, Maturity Facilitation, Child’s Use of Stimulating Materials, and the Parent-Child Emotional Relationship, was investigated. Construct validity of the HFQ was investigated by correlating the HFQ subscale scores to the Parenting Styles Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) subscale scores (Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen & Hart, 1995). Criterion-related validity was investigated by correlating the HFQ subscale scores with the Pictorial Scales of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance in Young Children (PSPC) subscale scores (Harter & Pike, 1984) and with participants’ math and reading grades. Concurrent validity of the HFQ and MC-HOME (Caldwell & Bradley, 1984) was investigated with chi-square analyses of individually matched items and with correlational analyses of the instruments’ subscale scores. Internal reliability of the HFQ subscale scores in the current study were comparable to those found in Pierce et al.(1998), with the exception of the Parent-Child Emotional Relationship. Negative relationships were found between the HFQ Parent-Child Emotional Relationship subscale scores and the PSDQ Authoritarian and Permissive subscale scores. HFQ Maturity Facilitation scores were significantly related to Physical Competence scores and Peer Acceptance scores. Child’s Use of Stimulating Materials scores were significantly related to Physical Competence scores. No significant correlations were found between the HFQ subscale scores and math and reading grades. Chi-square analyses for the individually matched HFQ and MC-HOME items demonstrated a high degree of agreement, with 75% of the matched items exhibiting agreement levels 70% or higher. Correlational analyses of the HFQ and MC-HOME subscale scores showed relationships between the HFQ Maturity Facilitation and the MC-HOME Responsivity and Emotional Climate subscale scores. The HFQ Child’s Use of Stimulating Materials subscale scores showed relationships with the MC-HOME Responsivity, Encouragement of Maturity, Family Companionship, and Emotional Climate subscale scores. No relationships were found between the HFQ Parent-Child Emotional Relationship subscale scores and the MC-HOME subscale scores

Creating a Community Classroom: Strategies to Promote Inclusion and Reduce Bullying in Early Childhood

Research suggests that young children with disabilities often fall victim to bullying because of a lack of social competence and social skills necessary for consistent engagement with peers. This article focuses on a comprehensive approach to classroom management and offers important strategies for a multilevel positive behavioral support plan. The positive behavioral support plan is embedded in the daily curriculum and includes strategies that enhance cooperative learning and socialization experiences, increases academic readiness, and supports academic success

Current approaches used in epidemiologic studies to examine short-term multipollutant air pollution exposures

Air pollution epidemiology traditionally focuses on the relationship between individual air pollutants and health outcomes (e.g., mortality). To account for potential copollutant confounding, individual pollutant associations are often estimated by adjusting or controlling for other pollutants in the mixture. Recently, the need to characterize the relationship between health outcomes and the larger multipollutant mixture has been emphasized in an attempt to better protect public health and inform more sustainable air quality management decisions

Man and the Last Great Wilderness: Human Impact on the Deep Sea

The deep sea, the largest ecosystem on Earth and one of the least studied, harbours high biodiversity and provides a wealth of resources. Although humans have used the oceans for millennia, technological developments now allow exploitation of fisheries resources, hydrocarbons and minerals below 2000 m depth. The remoteness of the deep seafloor has promoted the disposal of residues and litter. Ocean acidification and climate change now bring a new dimension of global effects. Thus the challenges facing the deep sea are large and accelerating, providing a new imperative for the science community, industry and national and international organizations to work together to develop successful exploitation management and conservation of the deep-sea ecosystem. This paper provides scientific expert judgement and a semi-quantitative analysis of past, present and future impacts of human-related activities on global deep-sea habitats within three categories: disposal, exploitation and climate change. The analysis is the result of a Census of Marine Life – SYNDEEP workshop (September 2008). A detailed review of known impacts and their effects is provided. The analysis shows how, in recent decades, the most significant anthropogenic activities that affect the deep sea have evolved from mainly disposal (past) to exploitation (present). We predict that from now and into the future, increases in atmospheric CO2 and facets and consequences of climate change will have the most impact on deep-sea habitats and their fauna. Synergies between different anthropogenic pressures and associated effects are discussed, indicating that most synergies are related to increased atmospheric CO2 and climate change effects. We identify deep-sea ecosystems we believe are at higher risk from human impacts in the near future: benthic communities on sedimentary upper slopes, cold-water corals, canyon benthic communities and seamount pelagic and benthic communities. We finalise this review with a short discussion on protection and management methods

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Permission-Giving and Marital Infidelity

The research used qualitative methods to begin exploring how individual’s decision-making enhances their risk of having a marital affair. Particularly how does a woman give herself permission to move forward with having an affair? Semistructured interviews were recorded with women who had a marital affair and then transcribed in preparation for coding. The transcendental phenomenological model was used to analyze the data collected. Sensitizing concepts were used as a base in identifying how participants were able to limit their cognitive dissonance as a way of giving themselves permission to have an affair. The results found four methods of limiting cognitive dissonance: not being worthy of loyalty, rationalization, guilt-free infidelity, and compartmentalization. Clinical implications are discussed

Forty Years of Research on Predictors of Homelessness

© 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Homelessness is a chronic public health issue in the U.S. This paper reviews the endurance and evolution of individual, youth, and family homelessness over the past 40-plus years. Thematic findings detail research on predictors of homelessness among adolescents, runaway youth, veterans, older adults, sheltered families, and female-headed families. Results provide a summary of contributors to homelessness, including issues related to family instability, unemployment and poverty, mental illness, substance use, unstable living arrangements, child maltreatment, social support, crime, and violence. Findings highlight key and persistent predictors of homelessness found across decades, as well as more recently identified and nuanced precursors to individual or family displacement. The goal of this work was to summarize what is known about predictors of homelessness to inform targeted research, practice, and policies