Temperament and family environment in the development of anxiety disorder: Two-year follow-up.

Objective: Behavioural inhibition (BI) in early childhood is associated with increased risk for anxiety. The present research examines BI alongside family environment factors, specifically maternal negativity and overinvolvement, maternal anxiety and mother-child attachment, with a view to providing a broader understanding of the development of child anxiety. Method: Participants were 202 children classified at age 4 as either behaviourally inhibited (N=102) or uninhibited (N=100). Family environment, BI and child anxiety were assessed at baseline and child anxiety and BI were assessed again two-years later when participants were aged 6 years. Results: After controlling for baseline anxiety, inhibited participants were significantly more likely to meet criteria for a diagnosis of social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder at follow-up. Path analysis suggested that maternal anxiety significantly affected child anxiety over time, even after controlling for the effects of BI and baseline anxiety. No significant paths from parenting or attachment to child anxiety were found. Maternal overinvolvement was significantly associated with BI at follow-up. Conclusions: At age 4, BI, maternal anxiety and child anxiety represent risk factors for anxiety at age 6. Furthermore, overinvolved parenting increases risk for BI at age 6, which may then lead to the development of anxiety in later childhood

An Analysis of the Collaboration Between Child Welfare and Early Childhood Education Systems in Cuyahoga County

A review of the legislative and policy history of child welfare and early childhood education systems highlights gaps in communication, data sharing and planning between the two agencies. Closing these gaps can have a significant, positive effect on many aspects of the development and achievement of young children within the child welfare system. Using a mixed methods approach, this study analyzed the collaboration that exists in Cuyahoga County between the child welfare system, special education, and general education settings in early childhood for children up to age five. It highlights what strengths and challenges exist within the two Cuyahoga County systems in terms of cross-training, data-based decision making, developmental assessments, service delivery, and parent engagemen

An Analysis of the Collaboration Between Child Welfare and Early Childhood Education Systems in Cuyahoga County

A review of the legislative and policy history of child welfare and early childhood education systems highlights gaps in communication, data sharing and planning between the two agencies. Closing these gaps can have a significant, positive effect on many aspects of the development and achievement of young children within the child welfare system. Using a mixed methods approach, this study analyzed the collaboration that exists in Cuyahoga County between the child welfare system, special education, and general education settings in early childhood for children up to age five. It highlights what strengths and challenges exist within the two Cuyahoga County systems in terms of cross-training, data-based decision making, developmental assessments, service delivery, and parent engagemen

Long-term change in river invertebrate communities

Finding rules that govern species distribution and coexistence is a fundamental aim of ecological research. The rapidly expanding and increasingly mobile human race is challenging our understanding of some these rules. Using long-term macroinvertebrate data collected from two river systems with contrasting legacies from human activity, this thesis investigates drivers of change in community structure and function, mechanisms underpinning these changes and how these changes affect the accurate assessment of the ecological condition of river systems. The reformation of the river invertebrate communities within the River Clyde system was not predicted by the simple improving measures of water physico-chemistry or life history characteristics of the re-colonising community. This has serious implications for the accurate assessment of river health which is at present largely reliant on the physio-chemical tolerance of macroinvertebrates to indicate prevailing environmental conditions. It is argued that reference condition predictions, like those obtained from the RIVPACS programme, may not be suitable when assessing the ecological health of a river subjected to long-term modification from human activity, like the River Clyde. Significant differences in the stable isotope signatures of resident and colonising populations of Rhyacophila dorsalis (a predatory Trichopteran) provided insight into some mechanisms underlying differences between reforming communities. Trophic position estimates for some colonising populations of R. dorsalis were shown to be lower than expected considering their predatory status and, colonisation patterns were significant in predicting changes in occupied trophic position. The River Endrick is recognised internationally in terms of biodiversity. Over the last 50 years, the diversity of macroinvertebrate fauna of the river has significantly reduced, five species have become locally extinct and there has been a significant change in the distribution of 29 other species. The macroinvertebrate community in the headwater of the river has undergone a dramatic change in structure and function. The contrasting changes to the headwater community and changes in the structure and function of the macroinvertebrate community in the river system require further investigation. This thesis demonstrates the importance of investigating long-term change

A simple operational interpretation of the fidelity

This note presents a corollary to Uhlmann's theorem which provides a simple operational interpretation for the fidelity of mixed states.Comment: 1 pag

Temperament, family environment and anxiety in preschool children.

This research examines the relationship between behavioural inhibition (BI), family environment (overinvolved and negative parenting, parental anxiety and parent-child attachment) and anxiety in a sample of 202 preschool children. Participants were aged between 3 years 2 months and 4 years 5 months, 101 were male. A thorough methodology was used that incorporated data from multiple observations of behaviour, diagnostic interviews and questionnaire measures. The results showed that children categorised as behaviourally inhibited were significantly more likely to meet criteria for a range of anxiety diagnoses. Furthermore, a wide range of family environment factors, including maternal anxiety, parenting and attachment were significantly associated with BI, with inhibited children more likely to experience adverse family environment factors. No interactions between temperament and family environment were found for child anxiety. However, a significant relationship between current maternal anxiety and child anxiety was found consistently even after controlling for BI. Additionally, there was some evidence of a relationship between maternal negativity and child anxiety, after controlling for BI. The results may suggest that temperament and family environment operate as additive, rather than interactive risk factors for child anxiety. This is discussed in the context of theoretical models of child anxiety and directions for future research

Shock geometry and inverse Compton emission from the wind of a binary pulsar

PSR B1259-63 is a 47ms radio pulsar with a high spin-down luminosity which is in a close, highly eccentric 3.5-year orbit about a bright stellar companion. The binary system may be a detectable source of hard gamma-rays produced by inverse Compton scattering of photons from the B2e star SS2883 by electrons and positrons in the pulsar wind. The star provides an enormous density of optical photons in the vicinity of the pulsar, particularly at epochs near periastron. We calculate the emission from the unshocked region of the pulsar wind, assuming that it terminates at a shock where it attains pressure balance with the companion's wind. The spectra and light curves for the inverse Compton emission from the shock-terminated wind are compared with those for an unterminated wind. If the pulsar's wind is weaker than that from the companion star, the termination of the wind decreases the inverse Compton flux, particularly near periastron. The termination shock geometry has the effect of decreasing the asymmetry of the gamma-ray light curve around periastron, which arises because of the asymmetrical variation of the scattering angle.Comment: To be published in the Publications of the Astrophysical Society of Australia, Volume 18 number 1, (10 pages, 6 postscript figures

Interpretation bias in preschool children at risk for anxiety: a prospective study.

A story-stem paradigm was used to assess interpretation bias in preschool children. Data were available for 131 children. Interpretation bias, behavioural inhibition (BI) and anxiety were assessed when children were aged between 3 years 2 months and 4 years 5 months. Anxiety was subsequently assessed 12-months, 2-years and 5-years later. A significant difference in interpretation bias was found between participants who met criteria for an anxiety diagnosis at baseline, with clinically anxious participants more likely to complete the ambiguous story-stems in a threat-related way. Threat interpretations significantly predicted anxiety symptoms at 12-month follow-up, after controlling for baseline symptoms, but did not predict anxiety symptoms or diagnoses at either 2-year or 5-year follow-up. There was little evidence for a relationship between BI and interpretation bias. Overall, the pattern of results was not consistent with the hypothesis that interpretation bias plays a role in the development of anxiety. Instead, some evidence for a role in the maintenance of anxiety over relatively short periods of time was found. The use of a story-stem methodology to assess interpretation bias in young children is discussed along with the theoretical and clinical implications of the findings

Informing early intervention: preschool predictors of anxiety disorders in middle childhood

Background: To inform early intervention practice, the present research examines how child anxiety, behavioural inhibition, maternal overinvolvement, maternal negativity, mother-child attachment and maternal anxiety, as assessed at age four, predict anxiety at age nine. Method: 202 children (102 behaviourally inhibited and 100 behaviourally uninhibited) aged 3–4 years were initially recruited and the predictors outlined above were assessed. Diagnostic assessments, using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule, were then conducted five years later. Results: Behavioural inhibition, maternal anxiety, and maternal overinvolvement were significant predictors of clinical anxiety, even after controlling for baseline anxiety (p,.05). No significant effect of negativity or attachment security was found over and above baseline anxiety (p..1). Conclusions: Preschool children who show anxiety, are inhibited, have overinvolved mothers and mothers with anxiety disorders are at increased risk for anxiety in middle childhood. These factors can be used to identify suitable participants for early intervention and can be targeted within intervention programs