Systematic review of birth cohort studies in South East Asia and Eastern Mediterranean regions

Few longitudinal studies of children have taken place in the developing world, despite child mortality being concentrated there. This review summarises the methodologies and main outcomes of longitudinal studies of pre-school children (0 to 59 months) in the World Health Organization’s South East Asia (SEA) and Eastern Mediterranean (EM) Regions

Reasonable Assertions: On Norms of Assertion and Why You Don't Need to Know What You're Talking About

There’s a widespread conviction in the norms of assertion literature that an agent’s asserting something false merits criticism. As Williamson puts it, asserting something false is likened to cheating at the game of assertion. Most writers on the topic have consequently proposed factive norms of assertion – ones on which truth is a necessary condition for the proper performance of an assertion. However, I argue that this view is mistaken. I suggest that we can illuminate the error by introducing a theoretical distinction between the norm of a practice and its goal. In light of this distinction, we can see that proponents of factive norms tend to mistake the goal of a practice for the norm. In making my case, I present an analogy between the norms and goals of placing wagers and the norms and goals of assertion. One may place a bet and lose without being subject to criticism, while one may win and be worthy of criticism. Whether one wins or loses is irrelevant to the normative evaluation of a bet. What is relevant is whether the bet maximizes the bettor's expected value, which is a function of what might be lost, what might be gained, and how likely those prospects are, given the bettor's evidence. Similarly, I argue, whether one's assertion is true or false is not strictly relevant to the normative evaluation of an assertion. What is relevant is whether the speaker has adequate supporting reasons for the assertion, and that the necessary conventional and pragmatic features are present. However, context will determine what count as supportive reasons for a given proposition, what counts as relevant, and what count as conventional and pragmatic elements possessing that relevance. My proposed norm, the Supportive Reasons Norm, is thus sensitive to the context of assertion and shifts from context to context

Research Review: Changes in the prevalence and symptom severity of child posttraumatic stress disorder in the year following trauma – a meta-analytic study

Objective: Understanding the natural course of child and adolescent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has significant implications for the identification of, and intervention for, at-risk youth. We used a meta-analytic approach to examine longitudinal changes in youth PTSD prevalence and symptoms over the first 12 months posttrauma. Methods: We conducted a systematic review to identify longitudinal studies of PTSD in young people (5–18 years old), excluding treatment trials. The search yielded 27 peer-reviewed studies and one unpublished dataset for analysis of pooled prevalence estimates, relative prevalence reduction and standardised mean symptom change. Key moderators were also explored, including age, proportion of boys in the sample, initial prevalence of PTSD and PTSD measurement type. Results: Analyses demonstrated moderate declines in PTSD prevalence and symptom severity over the first 3–6 months posttrauma. From 1 to 6 months posttrauma, the prevalence of PTSD reduced by approximately 50%. Symptoms also showed moderate decline, particularly across the first 3 months posttrauma. There was little evidence of further change in prevalence or symptom severity after 6 months, suggesting that it is unlikely a child would lose a PTSD diagnosis without intervention beyond this point. Conclusions: The current findings provide key information about the likelihood of posttrauma recovery in the absence of intervention and have important implications for our understanding of child and adolescent PTSD. Results are discussed with reference to the timing of PTSD screening and the potential role of early interventions. Findings particularly highlight the importance of future research to develop our understanding of what factors prevent the action of normal recovery from the ‘acute’ posttrauma period

Development and validation of an astronomy self-efficacy instrument for understanding and doing

This paper presents a new astronomy self-efficacy instrument, composed of two factors; one relating to learning astronomy content, which we call astronomy personal self-efficacy, and the other relating to the use of astronomical instrumentation, specifically the use of remote robotic telescopes for data collection. The latter is referred to as the astronomy instrumental self-efficacy factor. The instrument has been tested for reliability and construct validity. Reliability testing showed that factor 1 had a Cronbach\u27s α of 0.901 and factor 2 had a Cronbach\u27s α of 0.937. Construct validity was established by computing one-way analyses of variances, with the p value suitably protected, using independent variables peripherally related to the constructs. These analyses demonstrate that both scales possess high construct validity. The development of this astronomy specific instrument is an important step in evaluating self-efficacy as a precursor to investigating the construct of science identity in the field of astronomy

National Evaluation of the Culture Collective programme Part one: ‘Unprecedented and revitalising’ - Emerging Impacts and Ways of Working: Reflections from the first year of the Culture Collective, Reporting from Queen Margaret University March 2023

David Stevenson - ORCID: 0000-0002-8977-1818 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8977-1818Anthony Schrag - ORCID: 0000-0001-8660-7572 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8660-7572The Culture Collective is a network of 26 participatory arts projects, shaped by local communities alongside artists and creative organisations, and funded by Scottish Government emergency COVID-19 funds through Creative Scotland. This report captures a snapshot of the programme a year into their work.https://www.creativescotland.com/resources-publications/research/archive/2023/national-evaluation-of-the-culture-collective-programmepubpu

Moderating effects of executive functions and the teacher–child relationship on the development of mathematics ability in kindergarten

Academic preparedness, executive function abilities, and positive relationships with teachers have each been shown to be uniquely important for school readiness and success in the early elementary grades. Few studies, however, have examined the joint influence of these readiness variables on early school outcomes. Using data from a prospective longitudinal sample of 1292 children and families in predominantly low-income and rural communities, we found that executive function at child age 48 months and a higher quality relationship with the kindergarten teacher each uniquely moderated the effect of math ability in preschool on math ability at the end of kindergarten. This effect was seen for math ability as measured by the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) mathematics assessment battery but not the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement Applied Problems subtest. For children with lower math ability in preschool as assessed by the ECLS-K Math battery, higher executive function abilities and a more positive relationship with the kindergarten teacher were each associated with a higher than expected level of math ability in kindergarten. Conversely, lowest levels of math ability in kindergarten were observed among children with low math ability in preschool and poor executive function or a less positive relationship with the kindergarten teacher

The Parent Trauma Response Questionnaire (PTRQ): development and preliminary validation.

Background: Following a child's experience of trauma, parental response is thought to play an important role in either facilitating or hindering their psychological adjustment. However, the ability to investigate the role of parenting responses in the post-trauma period has been hampered by a lack of valid and reliable measures. Objectives: The aim of this study was to design, and provide a preliminary validation of, the Parent Trauma Response Questionnaire (PTRQ), a self-report measure of parental appraisals and support for children's coping, in the aftermath of child trauma. Methods: We administered an initial set of 78 items to 365 parents whose children, aged 2-19 years, had experienced a traumatic event. We conducted principal axis factoring and then assessed the validity of the reduced measure against a standardized general measure of parental overprotection and via the measure's association with child post-trauma mental health. Results: Factor analysis generated three factors assessing parental maladaptive appraisals: (i) permanent change/damage, (ii) preoccupation with child's vulnerability, and (iii) self-blame. In addition, five factors were identified that assess parental support for child coping: (i) behavioural avoidance, (ii) cognitive avoidance, (iii) overprotection, (iv) maintaining pre-trauma routines, and (v) approach coping. Good validity was evidenced against the measure of parental overprotection and child post-traumatic stress symptoms. Good test-retest reliability of the measure was also demonstrated. Conclusions: The PTRQ is a valid and reliable self-report assessment of parenting cognitions and coping in the aftermath of child trauma

Risk Factors for Moral Injury Among Canadian Armed Forces Personnel

Objectives: The traumatic nature of high-risk military deployment events, such as combat, is well-recognized. However, whether other service-related events and demographic factors increase the risk of moral injury (MI), which is defined by consequences of highly stressful and morally-laden experiences, is poorly understood. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine determinants of MI in Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2018 Canadian Armed Forces Members and Veterans Mental Health Follow-up Survey (CAFVMHS; unweighted n = 2,941). To identify military characteristics, sociodemographic variables, and deployment-related factors associated with increased levels of MI, a series of multiple linear regressions were conducted across deployed and non-deployed groups. Results: When all variables were considered among the deployed personnel, rank, experiencing military related sexual trauma, child maltreatment (i.e., physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect), and stressful deployment experiences were significant predictors of increased MI total scores (β = 0.001 to β = 0.51, p &lt; 0.05). Feeling responsible for the death of an ally and inability to respond in a threatening situation were the strongest predictors of MI among stressful deployment experiences. Within the non-deployed sample, experiencing military-related or civilian sexual trauma and rank were significant predictors of increased MI total scores (β = 0.02 to β = 0.81, p &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: Exposure to stressful deployment experiences, particularly those involving moral-ethical challenges, sexual trauma, and childhood maltreatment were found to increase levels of MI in CAF personnel. These findings suggest several avenues of intervention, including education and policies aimed at mitigating sexual misconduct, as well as pre-deployment training to better prepare military personnel to deal effectively with morally injurious experiences.</p