Assessing the Independent Contribution of Maternal Educational Expectations to Children’s Educational Attainment in Early Adulthood: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis

Background Parental educational expectations have been associated with children’s educational attainment in a number of long-term longitudinal studies, but whether this relationship is causal has long been debated. The aims of this prospective study were twofold: 1) test whether low maternal educational expectations contributed to failure to graduate from high school; and 2) compare the results obtained using different strategies for accounting for confounding variables (i.e. multivariate regression and propensity score matching). Methodology/Principal Findings The study sample included 1,279 participants from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children. Maternal educational expectations were assessed when the participants were aged 12 years. High school graduation – measuring educational attainment – was determined through the Quebec Ministry of Education when the participants were aged 22–23 years. Findings show that when using the most common statistical approach (i.e. multivariate regressions to adjust for a restricted set of potential confounders) the contribution of low maternal educational expectations to failure to graduate from high school was statistically significant. However, when using propensity score matching, the contribution of maternal expectations was reduced and remained statistically significant only for males. Conclusions/Significance The results of this study are consistent with the possibility that the contribution of parental expectations to educational attainment is overestimated in the available literature. This may be explained by the use of a restricted range of potential confounding variables as well as the dearth of studies using appropriate statistical techniques and study designs in order to minimize confounding. Each of these techniques and designs, including propensity score matching, has its strengths and limitations: A more comprehensive understanding of the causal role of parental expectations will stem from a convergence of findings from studies using different techniques and designs

Prévention de la délinquance : le rôle médiateur des pairs

The objective of this study was to test whether friends' characteristics mediated the link between early reduction of disruptive behavior and later reduction of delinquency (through a prevention program). The prevention program includes two components : social-cognitive-skills training for boys and parent-skills training at home. It was applied over a two-year period when the subjects were 8- and 9-year-old. Subjects were low SES boys rated as disruptive by their kindergarten teachers. They were randomly assigned to a prevention or a control condition. Their friends ' aggressiveness was rated by classmates over a three-year period following the end of the prevention program. Subjects reported on their delinquent behaviors when they were 13- and 14-year-old. Results indicate that friends' aggressiveness partially mediated the impact of the program on preventing delinquency. However, compared to the control boys, other mediating variables might also have played a role

The CODAT wins project : the current status and recent findings of collaborative project of development of anthropometrical measures in twins

The COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins) project is a large international collaborative effort to analyze individual-level phenotype data from twins in multiple cohorts from different environments. The main objective is to study factors that modify genetic and environmental variation of height, body mass index (BMI, kg/m2 ) and size at birth, and additionally to address other research questions such as long-term consequences of birth size. The project started in 2013 and is open to all twin projects in the world having height and weight measures on twins with information on zygosity. Thus far, 54 twin projects from 24 countries have provided individual-level data. The CODATwins database includes 489,981 twin individuals (228,635 complete twin pairs). Since many twin cohorts have collected longitudinal data, there is a total of 1,049,785 height and weight observations. For many cohorts, we also have information on birth weight and length, own smoking behavior and own or parental education. We found that the heritability estimates of height and BMI systematically changed from infancy to old age. Remarkably, only minor differences in the heritability estimates were found across cultural– geographic regions, measurement time and birth cohort for height and BMI. In addition to genetic epidemiological studies, we looked at associations of height and BMI with education, birth weight and smoking status. Within-family analyses examined differences within same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins in birth size and later development. The CODATwins project demonstrates the feasibility and value of international collaboration to address gene-by-exposure interactions that require large sample sizes and address the effects of different exposures across time, geographical regions and socioeconomic status

Developmental associations between victimization and body mass index from 3 to 10 years in a population sample

In the current prospective study, we investigated (1) whether high and low BMI in early childhood puts a child at risk of victimization by their peers, and (2) whether being victimised increases BMI over the short- and long-term, independent of the effect of BMI on victimization. We also examined whether gender moderated these prospective associations. Participants were 1344 children who were assessed yearly from ages 3 -10 years as part of the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD). BMI predicted annual increases in victimization for girls aged 6 years and over; for boys aged 7 and 8 years of age, higher BMI reduced victimization over the school year. Further, victimization predicted annual increases in BMI for girls after age 6 years. When these short-term effects were held constant, victimization was also shown to have a three and five-year influence on annual BMI changes for girls from age 3 years. These short- and long-term cross-lagged effects were evident when the effects of family adversity were controlled. The findings support those from previous prospective research showing a link between higher BMI and victimization, but only for girls. Further, being victimised increased the likelihood that girls would put on weight over time, which then increased future victimization. The implications of these prospective findings for interventions are considered

Can sports mitigate the effects of depression and aggression on peer rejection?

This study examined whether sports participation moderates the longitudinal link of depressive and aggressive symptoms with increased peer rejection. The sample consisted of 291 adolescents (50.5% girls), assessed at ages 12 and 13 years. Depressive and aggressive symptoms as well as peer rejection were assessed through peer nominations, whereas participation in team and individual sports was assessed via adolescents' self-reports. Regression analyses revealed that boys – but not girls – who displayed high levels of depressive symptoms experienced an increase in peer rejection. However, participation in team sports mitigated the association between depressive symptoms and increased peer rejection in boys, whereas participation in individual sports exacerbated that same association. Although aggressive symptoms were also associated with an increase in peer rejection for boys and girls, sports participation did not moderate this link. These results support the usefulness especially of team sports as part of prevention activities for vulnerable youth

School adjustment and substance use in early adolescent boys: association with paternal alcoholism with and without dad in the home

The present study examined the association of paternal alcoholism with early adolescent boys’ school adjustment and substance use, and its moderation by paternal absence, controlling for parents’ socioeconomic resources. A community sample of 653 urban, low socioeconomic status (SES) families from Montreal, Canada, was assessed and information collected from parents, teachers, and adolescents’ self-reports, and school records. Paternal alcoholism was significantly associated with boys’ lower academic performance, lower grades, higher frequency of tobacco, marijuana and hard drugs use, of getting drunk, and using a variety of hard drugs. However, the separation from the alcoholic father represented a significant factor of moderation in regard to boys’ substance use: Sons of alcoholic fathers living with their dad in intact families were more likely to use tobacco and marijuana, to get drunk, and to use a variety of hard drugs than their peers not living with their alcoholic father, whether in single-mother or stepfamilies

Onset of antisocial behavior, affiliation with deviant friends, and childhood maladjustment: A test of the childhood- and adolescent-onset models

Predictors and concurrent correlates of childhood-onset and adolescent-onset antisocial behavior were studied in a sample of 165 boys and 151 girls, followed from age 6 to age 15. An integrated general growth mixture model was used to determine the number and shape of developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior exhibited by boys and girls. Associations of these trajectories with trajectories of attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADH) problems and deviant peer affiliation were examined. A childhood-onset, an adolescent-onset, and a low antisocial behavior trajectory were identified. A minority of the sample (11%), mostly males, followed the childhood-onset trajectory. This trajectory was predicted by prior membership in the high ADH trajectory in childhood. The adolescent-onset trajectory (46%) was associated with increases in friends' antisocial behavior but not with ADH problems. Most females (60%) followed the low antisocial trajectory. A substantial proportion of females, however, followed the childhood (5%) and adolescent-onset trajectories (35%). The male-female ratios in the childhood and adolescent-onset trajectories were similar. The results largely supported theories that distinguish between childhood and adolescent onsets of antisocial behavior, but they did not suggest that boys and girls differ in the age of onset of antisocial behavior. © 2007 Cambridge University Press

Prospective links between friendship and early physical aggression : preliminary evidence supporting the role of friendship quality through a dyadic intervention

Positive friendships have been related to decreasing levels of children’s physical aggression over time. While this evidence calls for interventions aimed at helping children build good-quality friendships, tests of causality through experimental manipulations are still needed. The goal of this study was to examine whether an intervention aimed to increase dyadic friendship quality could decrease children’s physical aggression at the peer-group level over a school year. A total of 34 aggressive children and each child’s best friend were randomly assigned to two groups: an experimental condition where the members in each dyad participated together in 12 weekly intervention sessions and a no-intervention control condition. Multiple sources were used to evaluate changes in friendship quality and children’s physical aggression. Results showed an indirect effect of the intervention on decreasing levels of physical aggression through the improvement of one specific feature of friendship quality: conflict resolution. These results point to the usefulness of including this relational aspect in intervention programs targeting aggressive children

Trajectories of gambling problems from mid-adolescence to age 30 in a general population cohort

Studies of gambling starting before adulthood in the general population are either cross-sectional, based on the stability of these behaviors between 2 time points, or cover a short developmental period. The present study aimed at investigating the developmental trajectories of gambling problems across 3 key periods of development, mid-adolescence, early adulthood, and age 30, in a mixed-gender cohort from the general population. Using a semiparametric mixture model, trajectories were computed based on self-reports collected at ages 15 (N = 1,882), 22 (N = 1,785), and 30 (N = 1,358). Two distinct trajectories were identified: 1 trajectory including males and females who were unlikely to have experienced gambling problems across the 15-year period, and 1 trajectory including participants likely to have experienced at least 1 problem over the last 12 months at each time of assessment. Participants following a high trajectory were predominantly male, participated frequently in 3 to 4 different gambling activities, and were more likely to report substance use and problems related to their alcohol and drug consumption at age 30. Thus, gambling problems in the general population are already observable at age 15 in a small group of individuals, who maintain some level of these problems through early adulthood, before moderately but significantly desisting by age 30, while also experiencing other addictive behaviors and related problem

Variety of gambling activities from adolescence to age 30 and association with gambling problems: a 15‐year longitudinal study of a general population sample

Participants A mixed‐gender general population cohort assessed at ages 15 (n = 1882), 22 (n = 1785) and 30 (n = 1358). Measurements Adolescent and adult versions of the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). Findings Group‐based trajectory analysis identified three distinct trajectories: a late‐onset low trajectory (26.7% of sample) initiating gambling at age 22, an early‐onset low trajectory (64.8% of sample), characterized by one to two different activities from age 15 onwards and a high trajectory (8.4% of sample), with an average of four to five different activities from age 15 to 30. Males (14.2%) were four times more likely to be on a high trajectory than females (3.5%) (P < 0.001). Preferred types of gambling activities were similar across the three trajectories. Participants on a high trajectory reported higher gambling frequency at ages 15 and 30, and were more likely to experience problem gambling at age 30: 3.09 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.66, 5.75] and 2.26 (95% CI = 1.27, 4.04) times more, respectively, than late‐onset low and early‐onset low participants, even when socio‐economic status (SES), frequency of gambling and problem gambling in adolescence, gender, age 30 education, SES and frequency of gambling were controlled. Conclusions Engaging in several different types of gambling in early adulthood appears to be a risk factor for emergence of problem gambling