The Bigger the Children, the Bigger the Worries: Are Preschoolers and Adolescents Affected Differently by Family Instability with Regard to Non-cognitive Skills?

Substantial research on the relationship between family structures and child outcomes represents a considerable part of the literature. However, family structure provides a rather static view of the relationship of children's living arrangements and their well-being, revealing hardly anything about the stability of a family for a longer period. This paper focuses on the impact of family instability on children. In light of human capital accumulation, we hypothesize that a stable family (either a two parent or a single parent family) might be beneficial for child outcomes, in particular for non-cognitive skills. We use skills, such as socio-emotional behavior or locus of control, as our primary measure of child outcomes. The paper focuses on the potential impact of family instability occurring at different childhood stages on non-cognitive skills of preschoolers (aged five to six) and of adolescents (aged seventeen). Our analysis is based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). Family instability is defined by yearly observed maternal partnership variations. Our results suggest that differences in family stability account for some of the gradient in social-behavioral difficulties for preschool children. By using sibling differences for our adolescents' sample, we find that multiple partnership transitions experienced early in life are negatively correlated with non-cognitive skills in adolescence, e.g., such adolescents are less likely to be active or self-determined in life.Child development, family dynamics, locus of control, non-cognitive skills

Child Care Choices in Western Germany Also Correlated with Mother's Personality

The expansion of formal child care, particularly for children under the age of three, has resulted in more and more children from this age group attending day care facilities. This formal child care setting is frequently combined with care provided by grandparents or other individuals. The combination and number of child care settings made use of is influenced by a variety of socio-economic factors and the range of options available. Maternal personality can also explain differences in child care choices, if only to a relatively limited extent and predominantly in families residing in western Germany. Analyses based on the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) show that mothers in western Germany who are very open to new experiences are more likely to combine the use of formal with informal child care. Mothers, who classify themselves as conscientious, in line with personality research, are less likely to use this setting as the sole additional type of child care alongside parental care. The analyses emphasize just how different parental preferences are. A policy that is focused on freedom of choice and on creating the conditions for this by expanding the child care infrastructure should take these differences into account.Child care, personality factors, maternal employment

Wahl der Kinderbetreuung hängt in Westdeutschland auch mit der Persönlichkeit der Mütter zusammen

Mit dem Ausbau der außerhäuslichen Betreuungsangebote, insbesondere für Kinder unter drei Jahren, nutzen immer mehr Kinder dieser Altersgruppe Kindertageseinrichtungen. Diese formelle Betreuung wird häufig mit der Betreuung durch Großeltern oder andere Personen kombiniert. Welche Betreuungskombinationen und wie viele genutzt werden, hängt mit einer Vielzahl von sozioökonomischen Merkmalen und dem Angebot zusammen. Die Persönlichkeit der Mutter kann darüber hinaus Unterschiede in der Betreuungswahl erklären - wenn auch nur einen relativ geringen Anteil und vorrangig bei Familien, die in Westdeutschland leben. Analysen auf der Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) haben für Westdeutschland gezeigt, dass Mütter, die sehr offen für Neues sind, eher die Nutzung einer Kindertageseinrichtung mit Formen informeller Betreuung kombinieren. Mütter, die sich im Sinne der Persönlichkeitsforschung als gewissenhaft einstufen, nutzen diese Angebote seltener als alleinige Betreuungsform neben der elterlichen Betreuung. Die Analysen zeigen einmal mehr, wie unterschiedlich die Präferenzen von Eltern sind. Eine Politik, die auf Wahlfreiheit setzt und durch einen Ausbau der Betreuungsinfrastruktur die Voraussetzungen dafür schafft, kann diesen Unterschieden gerecht werden.Child care, personality factors, maternal employment

Beyond the subject. Students\u27 perceptions of cross-curricular instruction

Fächerübergreifender Unterricht wird vielfach gefordert. Aber wie wirksam sind fächerübergreifende Unterrichtsphasen wirklich? Dazu wurden Schülerinnen und Schüler an Gymnasien in den Jahrgängen 7 bis 13 beobachtet und befragt. Fächerübergreifendes Lernen wird als ausgesprochen sinnvoll und effektiv erlebt: insbesondere Motivation, Selbsttätigkeit und Lernintensität werden deutlich gesteigert. (DIPF/Orig.)Instruction transcending single subjects is often demanded, but how effective is this method in reality? This issue was investigated by observing sections of cross-curricular instruction in secondary classes of grade 7 through 13 and interviewing students afterwards. The findings show that students experience cross-curricular lessons as singularly effective on learning motivation, class-room activity, and knowledge gains. (DIPF/Orig.

Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) and Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma (PPARG) Are Stage-Dependent Prognostic Markers of Malignant Melanoma

Using tissue microarrays (TMAs) we studied COX2/PPARG immunoreactivity in a broad spectrum of tumors focussing on clinicopathological correlations and the outcome of patients with malignant melanoma (MM). TMA-1 contained normal and tumor tissues (n = 3448) from 47 organs including skin neoplasms (n = 323); TMA-2 88 primary MM, 101 metastases, and 161 benign nevi. Based on a biomodulatory approach combining COX/PPAR-targeting with metronomic low-dose chemotherapy metastases of 36 patients participating in a randomized trial with metastatic (stage IV) melanoma were investigated using TMA-3. COX2/PPARG immunoreactivity significantly increased from nevi to primary MM and metastases; COX2 positivity was associated with advanced Clark levels and shorter recurrence-free survival. Patients with PPARG-positive metastases and biomodulatory metronomic chemotherapy alone or combined with COX2/PPARG-targeting showed a significantly prolonged progression-free survival. Regarding primary MM, COX2 expression indicates an increased risk of tumor recurrence. In metastatic MM, PPARG expression may be a predicitive marker for response to biomodulatory stroma-targeted therapy

Ba3Ga3N5 - A Novel Host Lattice for Eu2+ - Doped Luminescent Materials with Unexpected Nitridogallate Substructure

The alkaline earth nitridogallate Ba3Ga3N5 was synthesized from the elements in a sodium flux at 760°C utilizing weld shut tantalum ampules. The crystal structure was solved and refined on the basis of single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. Ba3Ga3N5 (space group C2/c (No. 15), a = 16.801(3), b = 8.3301(2), c = 11.623(2) Å, β = 109.92 (3)°, Z = 8) contains a hitherto unknown structural motif in nitridogallates, namely, infinite strands made up of GaN4 tetrahedra, each sharing two edges and at least one corner with neighboring GaN4 units. There are three Ba2+ sites with coordination numbers six or eight, respectively, and one Ba2+ position exhibiting a low coordination number 4 corresponding to a distorted tetrahedron. Eu2+ - doped samples show red luminescence when excited by UV irradiation at room temperature. Luminescence investigations revealed a maximum emission intensity at 638 nm (FWHM =2123 cm−1). Ba3Ga3N5 is the first nitridogallate for which parity allowed broadband emission due to Eu2+ - doping has been found. The electronic structure of both Ba3Ga3N5 as well as isoelectronic but not isostructural Sr3Ga3N5 was investigated by DFT methods. The calculations revealed a band gap of 1.53 eV for Sr3Ga3N5 and 1.46 eV for Ba3Ga3N5

Differences in osmotolerance in freshwater and brackish water populations of Theodoxus fluviatilis (Gastropoda: Neritidae) are associated with differential protein expression

The euryhaline gastropod Theodoxus fluviatilis is found in northern Germany in freshwater or in brackish water habitats in the Baltic Sea. Previous studies have revealed that individuals from both habitats are not distinguishable by morphological characters or by sequence comparison of DNA encoding 16S RNA or cytochrome C. As reported in this study, animals collected in the two habitats differ substantially in their physiological ability to adapt to different salinities. Comparison of accumulation rates of ninhydrin-positive substances (NPS) in foot muscle upon transfer of animals to higher medium salinities revealed that brackish water animals were perfectly able to mobilize NPS, while freshwater animals had only limited ability to do so. In an attempt to explore whether this difference in physiology may be caused by genetic differentiation, we compared protein expression patterns of soluble foot muscle proteins using 2D gel electrophoresis and silver staining. Of the 40 consistently detected protein spots, 27 showed similar levels in protein expression in animals collected from freshwater or brackish water habitats, respectively. In 12 spots, however, protein concentration was higher in brackish water than in freshwater animals. In four of these spots, expression levels followed increases or decreases in medium salinities. In a different set of 4 of these 12 spots, protein levels were always higher in brackish water as compared to freshwater animals, regardless of their physiological situation (14 days in artificial pond water or in medium with a salinity of 16‰). The remaining 4 of the 12 spots had complex expression patterns. Protein levels of the remaining single spot were generally higher in freshwater animals than in brackish water animals. These expression patterns may indicate that freshwater and brackish water animals of T. fluviatilis belong to different locally adapted populations with subtle genetic differentiation

Drinking Motives, Personality Traits, Life Stressors - Identifying Pathways to Harmful Alcohol Use in Adolescence Using a Panel Network Approach

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Models of alcohol use risk suggest that drinking motives represent the most proximal risk factors on which more distal factors converge. However, little is known about how distinct risk factors influence each other and alcohol use on different temporal scales (within a given moment vs. over time). We aimed to estimate the dynamic associations of distal (personality and life stressors) and proximal (drinking motives) risk factors, and their relationship to alcohol use in adolescence and early adulthood using a novel graphical vector autoregressive (GVAR) panel network approach.DESIGN, SETTING, AND CASES: We estimated panel networks on data from the IMAGEN study, a longitudinal European cohort study following adolescents across three waves (ages 16, 19, 22). Our sample consisted of 1829 adolescents (51% females) who reported alcohol use on at least one assessment wave.MEASUREMENTS: Risk factors included personality traits (NEO-FFI: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness; SURPS: impulsivity and sensation seeking), stressful life events (LEQ: sum scores of stressful life events), and drinking motives (DMQ: social, enhancement, conformity, coping anxiety, coping depression). We assessed alcohol use (AUDIT: quantity and frequency) and alcohol-related problems (AUDIT: related problems).FINDINGS: Within a given moment, social (partial correlation (pcor) =0.17) and enhancement motives (pcor=0.15) co-occurred most strongly with drinking quantity and frequency, while coping depression motives (pcor=0.13), openness (pcor=0.05), and impulsivity (pcor=0.09) were related to alcohol-related problems. The temporal network showed no predictive associations between distal risk factors and drinking motives. Social motives (beta=0.21), previous alcohol use (beta=0.11), and openness (beta=0.10) predicted alcohol-related problems over time (all p&lt;0.01).CONCLUSIONS: Heavy and frequent alcohol use, along with social drinking motives, appear to be key targets for preventing the development of alcohol-related problems throughout late adolescence. We found no evidence for personality traits and life stressors predisposing towards distinct drinking motives over time.</p