39 research outputs found
A national multiple baseline cohort study of mental health conditions in early adolescence and subsequent educational outcomes in New Zealand
Young people experiencing mental health conditions are vulnerable to poorer educational outcomes for many reasons, including: social exclusion, stigma, and limited in-school support. Using a near-complete New Zealand population administrative database, this prospective cohort study aimed to quantify differences in educational attainment (at ages 15-16 years) and school suspensions (over ages 13-16 years), between those with and without a prior mental health condition. The data included five student cohorts, each starting secondary school from 2013 to 2017 respectively (N=272,901). Both internalising and externalising mental health conditions were examined. Overall, 6.8% had a mental health condition. Using adjusted modified Poisson regression analyses, those with prior mental health conditions exhibited lower rates of attainment (IRR=0.87, 95% CI 0.86-0.88) and higher rates of school suspensions (IRR=1.63, 95% CI 1.57-1.70) by age 15-16 years. Associations were stronger among those exhibiting behavioural conditions, compared to emotional conditions, in line with previous literature. These findings highlight the importance of support for young people experiencing mental health conditions at this crucial juncture in their educational pathway. While mental health conditions increase the likelihood of poorer educational outcomes, deleterious outcomes were not a necessary sequalae. In this study, most participants with mental health conditions had successful educational outcomes
Predicting evolution and visualizing high-dimensional fitness landscapes
The tempo and mode of an adaptive process is strongly determined by the
structure of the fitness landscape that underlies it. In order to be able to
predict evolutionary outcomes (even on the short term), we must know more about
the nature of realistic fitness landscapes than we do today. For example, in
order to know whether evolution is predominantly taking paths that move upwards
in fitness and along neutral ridges, or else entails a significant number of
valley crossings, we need to be able to visualize these landscapes: we must
determine whether there are peaks in the landscape, where these peaks are
located with respect to one another, and whether evolutionary paths can connect
them. This is a difficult task because genetic fitness landscapes (as opposed
to those based on traits) are high-dimensional, and tools for visualizing such
landscapes are lacking. In this contribution, we focus on the predictability of
evolution on rugged genetic fitness landscapes, and determine that peaks in
such landscapes are highly clustered: high peaks are predominantly close to
other high peaks. As a consequence, the valleys separating such peaks are
shallow and narrow, such that evolutionary trajectories towards the highest
peak in the landscape can be achieved via a series of valley crossingsComment: 12 pages, 7 figures. To appear in "Recent Advances in the Theory and
Application of Fitness Landscapes" (A. Engelbrecht and H. Richter, eds.).
Springer Series in Emergence, Complexity, and Computation, 201
Body size, physical activity, and exposure to television in preschoolers
Objective: To investigate relationships between preschool-aged childrenās body size and physical activity, exposure to television (TV), and parental body size.
Design and Subjects: Cross-sectional study of 80 children (age: 2 - 5 y, 29% overweight or obese), 73 mothers (37% overweight or obese), and 22 fathers (72% overweight or obese), residing in Auckland, New Zealand, between October 2006 and July 2007.
Measurements: Body size was determined using waist circumference and body mass index (BMI). Child exposure to TV was assessed by questionnaire (number of household TV sets, presence of TV in the childās bedroom, mean TV/movie watching hours on weekdays and weekend days), and physical activity by 7 days of accelerometry.
Results: Compared with children of normal weight/underweight mothers (classified by BMI status), the age-adjusted odds of a child being overweight/obese if their mother was overweight/obese/otherwise was 2.46 (95% CI 1.11, 5.48, P = 0.03). No other associates of child body size were identified.
Conclusion: Contributors to overweight and obesity in preschool aged children are complex and likely to exist in multiple facets of young childrenās lives. More detailed measurement of TV watching and other sedentary behaviours is needed. An ecological approach to identifying risk factors for increased body size in preschoolers is required
Improving the evidence-base for access to primary health care in Canterbury: a panel study
Objective: Despite many reforms and initiatives, inequities in access to primary health care remain. However, the concept of āaccessā and its measurement is complex. This paper aims to provide estimates of general practice visit frequencies for āattendersā (those who seek consultation) and the proportion of ānon-attendersā (those who never seek consultation) of primary health care services.
Methods: A panel study of people enrolled within a large primary health care organisation of affiliated general practices. Standard and zero-inflated regression models were assessed.
Results: 980,918 visits were made by 388,424 people, averaging 2.64 visits/person/year. The zero-inflated negative binomial model was superior, and significant age, gender and ethnic differences were observed in attender and non-attender profiles. More Asian (21.0%), Pacific (19.6%) and Maori (17.1%) people were non-attenders than European/Other (9.0%) people. Among attenders, males, Asian and Pacific people, and young to middle-aged adults, generally had relatively lower visit rates.
Conclusions: Interpretation of utilisation data must be made with caution because of two distinct characteristics: the differential rates of non-attenders and the highly dispersed distribution of attenders.
Implications: Improved understanding of differential non-attender rates and attender visit distributions by demographic factors needs to be considered when addressing improved access to general practice services
Water fluoridation and ethnic inequities in dental caries profiles of New Zealand children aged 5 and 12-13 years: analysis of national cross-sectional registry databases for the decade 2004-2013
Background: Gross and important inequities have historically existed in the oral health profiles of New Zealand children. Following the New Zealand Government's strategic oral health vision, launched in 2006, nationally collected information from 2004 to 2013 was used to analyze patterns in the prevalence of no obvious decay experience (caries-free) and mean decayed-missing-filled teeth indices over time and by community water fluoridation (CWF) and ethnic classifications in New Zealand children aged 5 years and in school year 8 (generally aged 12-13 years)
In the spirit of William Georgetti: Scrutiny of a prestigious national scholarship selection process
Postgraduate scholarship programmes are increasingly important for supporting gifted students from diverse backgrounds. Systems and processes in the application, determination and delivery of scholarships must be robust, transparent, accountable and equitable. However, they are rarely evaluated. One of the most prestigious scholarships in New Zealand ā the William Georgetti Scholarship ā is investigated here for the impact of studentās grade point averages (GPAs) and sex on applicantās progression, the level of agreement between Scholarship Board member rankings, and whether applicants or membersā sex is material to any outcomes. Data from 2007 to 2015 were extracted, and contained 301 applicants considered for shortlisting, 78 who were shortlisted and 60 successful recipients evaluated by 17 Scholarship Board members (5 female, 12 male). Mean GPAs significantly increased over time amongst applicants, those shortlisted, and those successful. While 60% of applicants were female, only 49% of those shortlisted were female; however, this was explained by GPA differences. Some 52% of successful applicants were female. Ranking discordance amongst members was relatively high, but no differential sex biases were noted. The empirical results suggest that current systems and processes are consistent with the scholarshipās deed, although the difference in GPA scores between female and male applicants is of concern
And the winner is ā¦ : inter-rater reliability among scholarship assessors
With increasing competition for postgraduate research scholarships, awarding processes demand attention and scrutiny. We examine inter-rater reliability for two prestigious New Zealand scholarships, the Shirtcliffe Fellowship and the Gordon Watson Scholarship. For each scholarship, five assessors (three academic; two non-academic) independently evaluate all applicants over three domains: Academic Merit, Quality of Study Plans and Character/Leadership. Data from years 2009 to 2014 were extracted, comprising 12 separate assessment rounds. Good to excellent agreement was observed for each scholarship in each year. Agreement was significantly higher for the Academic Merit domain compared to the other domains. Moreover, agreement among academics was higher and less variable than non-academics for this Academic Merit domain. No such differences were noted in the other domains. While resource efficiencies could be made, reductions in committee size resulted in poorer applicant selection performance. Applicants and donors alike can be confident that the awardee for these scholarships is a top applicant
What happened to Anglo-Welsh? Translation trends in writing from Wales
This article looks at recent Welsh fiction in the light of devolution, the related increase in bilingualism and the emergence of young writers who choose to write in Welsh and translate their work into English. This is quite a new departure from 20th century writing from Wales, in which the two strands (writing in Welsh and writing in English, known as 'Anglo-Welsh') were quite distinct. The article examines the reasons behind the choice of language, and the rewriting processes involved in three recent novels
Detecting variable responses in time-series using repeated measures ANOVA: Application to physiologic challenges
We present an approach to analyzing physiologic timetrends recorded
during a stimulus by comparing means at each time point using repeated
measures analysis of variance (RMANOVA). The approach allows temporal
patterns to be examined without an a priori model of expected timing or
pattern of response. The approach was originally applied to signals
recorded from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
volumes-of-interest (VOI) during a physiologic challenge, but we have used
the same technique to analyze continuous recordings of other physiological
signals such as heart rate, breathing rate, and pulse oximetry. For fMRI, the
method serves as a complement to whole-brain voxel-based analyses, and
is useful for detecting complex responses within pre-determined brain
regions, or as a post-hoc analysis of regions of interest identified by
whole-brain assessments. We illustrate an implementation of the technique
in the statistical software packages R and SAS. VOI timetrends are
extracted from conventionally preprocessed fMRI images. A timetrend of
average signal intensity across the VOI during the scanning period is
calculated for each subject. The values are scaled relative to baseline
periods, and time points are binned. In SAS, the procedure PROC MIXED
implements the RMANOVA in a single step. In R, we present one option for
implementing RMANOVA with the mixed model function ālmeā. Model
diagnostics, and predicted means and differences are best performed with
additional libraries and commands in R; we present one example. The
ensuing results allow determination of significant overall effects, and
time-point specific within- and between-group responses relative to
baseline. We illustrate the technique using fMRI data from two groups of
subjects who underwent a respiratory challenge. RMANOVA allows insight
into the timing of responses and response differences between groups, and
so is suited to physiologic testing paradigms eliciting complex response
patterns
āIt just makes you feel invincibleā: A Foucauldian analysis of childrenās experiences of organised team sports
The childhood years are highlighted as a crucial time when ongoing participation in physical activity can be nurtured and maintained. The nurturing of a childās proclivity to participate in organised sport normally falls into the domain of adults. While both parents and coaches have been identified as key influences on childrenās enjoyment of sport, some negative perceptions exist about their roles. Although childrenās perspectives are increasingly being acknowledged as valuable, it would appear that young children are still marginalised as active participants in areas of health related research. The primary objective of this study was to give space to childrenās views of organised sport and to examine how adult behaviours affected these childrenās enjoyment of sport. This qualitative study utilised eight focus group interviews with a total of 30 children (aged 6-11 years) in the Greater Auckland area of New Zealand. This paper presents a Foucauldian discourse analysis of childrenās views relating to their sporting experiences. Children articulated three discursive constructions of sport: sport as competition, sport as fun and sport as fair play. The dominance of sport as competition would appear to serve the needs of coaches and parents more than those of children. Coaches who appear to be firmly positioned within a competitive discourse of sport use their power to support coaching practices that clash with the guidelines provided for them by their sporting bodies. Our analysis shows that many children may be exposed to discursive practices that are not conducive to a child-centred sporting environment. Through the exercise of disciplinary measures, there is pressure on children to conform to the normative behaviours associated with a dominant competitive sport discourse