The introduction aims to provide an overview of the scope of the ELSPAC study in the Czech Republic from the perspective of content areas from which data have been collected in the course of study.Úvodní kapitola představuje psychologickou část studie ELSPAC, její základní cíle a zkoumané oblasti, v kterých byly získávána data

Ježek Stanislav

Lacinová Lenka

Michalčáková Radka

Širůček Jan

Univerzitní repozitář Masarykovy univerzity

Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Institute for Research on Children, Youth and Family       FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLDS IN BRNO  A SLICE OF LONGITUDINAL SELF-REPORTS Stanislav Ježek & Lenka Lacinová (Eds.)                         Brno 2008    2 This book and relevant research activities were supported by the research plan of  Ministry of  Education, Youth and Sports of  the Czech Republic, MSM 0021622406 „Psychological and social characteristics of  children, youth and families, development of  personality in the time of  changes of  modern society”.                         Reviewed by:  doc. PhDr. Tomáš Urbánek, Ph.D., Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic PhDr. Petr Květon, Ph.D., Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic     © Martina Čavnická, Jiří Dalajka, Martin Jelínek, Stanislav Ježek, Tomáš Kohoutek, Štěpán Konečný, Lenka Lacinová, Petr Macek, Jan Mareš, Zuzana Masopustová, Radka Michalčáková, Eva Polášková, Zuzana Sakařová, Lenka Stojanová Škarková, Jan Širůček, Michaela Širůčková, Jan Vančura  © Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies, Institute for Research on Children, Youth, and Family, Brno, 2008  ISBN 978-80-210-4755-6  71. The Psychological Branch of the ELSPAC Study: A Survey of 15-Year-Old Respondents  STANISLAV JEŽEK, LENKA LACINOVÁ, JAN ŠIRŮČEK, & RADKA MICHALČÁKOVÁ  The purpose of  this book is to introduce the data and measures through which the data were obtained in one of  the four waves of  individual psychological data collection associated with the European Longitudinal Study of  Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC) in the Czech Republic. This volume is intended mainly for researchers in the area of  adolescence. It should provide them with an elementary outline of  the ELSPAC study, the assessment instruments used in middle adolescence and the data gathered.    The European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood The ELSPAC study is an international longitudinal epidemiological study initiated in 1985 by the World Health Organisation (Golding, 1989). Its coordination centre is the Institute of  Child Health in Bristol, and currently, there are five countries participating in the project - the United Kingdom, the Isle of  Man, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation. The aim of  the study is to identify the current risks for a healthy and optimum development of  the child, as well as to propose the way of  preventing them. It generally observes whether certain early environmental, biological, social, psychological, and psychosocial factors in the participating countries have a long-term impact on the survival and healthy development of  the foetus, infant and child in the later developmental stages, and whether these factors appear to play the same role in the participating countries. In the Czech Republic, the project is run by the Research Institute of  Preventive and Social Pediatrics under the supervision of  Associate Professor Lubomír Kukla at the Faculty of  Medicine of  Masaryk University in Brno. This is where pediatric surveys of  children take place, and the Institute is also responsible for project administration. The psychological branch of  the study in the Czech Republic is run by the Institute for Research of  Children, Youth and Family supervised by Professor Petr Macek at the Faculty of  Social Studies of  Masaryk University in Brno. The creation of  the primary sample for the Czech ELSPAC owes much to the help from primary-care medical institutions. The original research  8 proposal intended to observe families with a new baby as the unit of  analysis from prenatal period until the baby reaches at least 18 years of  age. Thus the study was launched with a sample consisting of  all the families of  children domiciled in Brno and born (or examined shortly after birth) in medical institutions  between  March 1, 1991 and June 30, 1992, as well as all the families of  the children domiciled in Znojmo and born between April 1, 1991 and  June 30, 1992. That means children born outside medical facilities are not part of  the sample. In the early 1990s home deliveries were very rare, which makes the initial sample includes almost all members of  the target population. This way, our Brno initial sample included 5549 families. From this sample, 3859 mothers had been surveyed following the prenatal period. More on the ELSPAC sample see Širůček (2002), Smékal, Lacinová and Kukla (2004), Sejrková (1999). Individual psychological examinations – the psychological branch In the Czech Republic the collection of  psychological data from both the children and their parents through individual psychological examinations started quite late into the study. The first wave of  data collection took place at age 8 from March 1999 until June 2000 on a subsample of  883 children and their parents. The following examinations took place at age 11 (April 2002 – June 2003, N = 876), age 13 (April 2004 – June 2005, N = 617), and age 15 (April 2006 – June 2007, N = 554). Currently (November 2008), we are collecting data at age 17. Despite the large sample the aim was to capture a complex image of  each individual child. This guided the choice of  techniques and measures to be included in the individual psychological testing battery.   Key objectives of the psychological branch of the ELSPAC study The psychological examinations at the Institute for the Research on Children, Youths and Family starting at age 8 were intended to systematically complement the environmental, medical, social and other variables with both psychological or psychosocial developmental outcomes and psychological mediators or moderators of  further development. Some psychological or psychosocial data are available from data collections prior to age 8 but mostly without much theoretical background. By starting at age 8 we were able to capture the transition from childhood to the period of  adolescence and follow up through adolescence until age 17. The study is still running and we hope to follow our respondent into the period of  emerging adulthood. In the period of  adolescence our focus is on the following four main domains:  Interpersonal relationships in adolescence – family, peers, romantic partners as both outcomes of  early development and also important assets for further development. This includes all the relationships from the attachment perspective and also the parental ‘input’ – parenting styles, parental conflict or marital satisfaction. It also  9includes the related areas of  adjustment (well-being, depression) and coping.  Risk behavior and its functions as an important issue of  this period in itself  possibly influencing various intergenerational relationships. This includes estimating the prevalence of  risk or problem behaviors in their multitude of  forms as well as variables informing us about the individual and social functions of  this behavior and its predictors or moderators.  Cognitive, academic and career development as both outcomes and predictors of  future development. This includes the intellectual abilities as an important developmental asset and moderator of  various perception-based individual variables such as attitudes. We also collect data on the context of  academic and cognitive development like school climate, motivation or mornigness/eveningness.   Self  and identity development as an important developmental task of  the period of  adolescence. We are trying to capture not only the formal development of  identity but also the range of  its contents. This area also includes various personality variables as general predictors or moderators and own body perceptions.  Our psychological perspective emphasizes the adolescent’s subjective experience, which may be perceived as a current reflection of  the developmental process whose active creator and producer, or moderator, is the adolescent him or herself. This conception is incorporated in the approach of  R. M. Lerner, who adapted the SOC model for the developmental period of  adolescence (Macek & Lacinová, 2006). The processes of  selection, optimization, and compensation acting as part of  a positive development (leading to minimizing losses and maximizing personal profits) are represented within observed areas, while depicting their selected aspects. Organization and administration of the collection of psychological data The psychological data in all the data collection waves are collected mainly during the respondent’s visit at the Institute which we call examinations. Some additional self-administered measures were taken home by the respondents to be mailed in later. Parts of  the battery are administered on computer.  The on-site individual psychological examinations are administered by the employees of  the Institute for Research of  Children, Youth and Family and trained students of  the Master’s program in psychology at the Faculty of  Social Studies and the Faculty of  Arts of  Masaryk University in Brno. At the examinations our respondents are usually accompanied by their parents or grand-parents (in most cases, it was their mothers). In all age groups, the individual session lasted approximately 2½ hours. Following an  10approval of  the accompanying person and the respondent, a video recording of  the session was made (for respondents aged 11 years or older). Within a few weeks after the visit, the parents (and starting at age 13 adolescents as well) are sent a report containing the description of  behavior and working style, preliminary results obtained in the individual areas, the form of  interaction with the administrator, as well as coping with the testing stress situation. The parents are also offered the time for individual consultations and a chance to see the video recording of  the testing session. Provided that it was the case of  any more serious problem, the parents were offered to contact a specialized psychological or psychiatric institution. Methodological issues The framework of  the large ELSPAC study is an important support but also a source of  various problems related mainly with the long duration of  the project in time and the adaptation of  foreign, English language instruments into Czech versions. The prospects of  international comparison disqualify domestic, local measurement instruments. On the other hand, in the extensive piloting that is necessary for the adaptations we often run into problems meaning or context. Unfortunately the literature on the cognitive processes involved in responding to psychological survey questions is developed only for adults (Scott, 1997) and there are near.  We also have some concerns about the representativeness of  our sample. Besides the ubiquitous problems of  attrition there is also a developmental side to the problem. Our respondents are young people who have been respondents all their life. Since they were born someone has been asking multitude of  questions about them and as soon as they could respond to questions themselves they were asked about themselves as well as the world around them. Now, at 17 those who remained in the study have developed a habit for answering questions and we have yet to find out in which ways that makes them different from their peers. It appears no question can surprise them but they see hardly any question as important enough to be worth of  more than a second of  thought. We are planning some cross-sectional studies to verify these casual observations. In similar vein we are concerned about the effects of  the size of  the testing battery. It is very tiresome to respond to a wide range of  personal questions for 2 to 3 hours, even with breaks. While it is difficult but possible can hypothesize about the effect of  fatigue on response, hypothesizing about the interaction of  various instruments comprising the testing battery is even more problematic. Structure of this volume This introduction aims to provide an overview of  the scope of  the ELSPAC study in the Czech Republic from the perspective of  content areas from which data have been collected in the course of  the study. The remaining chapters describe in detail individual methods used in data  11collection at age 15. Each chapter provides the theoretical relevance of  a given area of  interest, gives some background about the selection of  the measuring instrument. Often the adaptation of  foreign methods to Czech language and context needs to be described. The book also mentions the advantages of  the selected approach, not leaving out limitations and disadvantages arising when the individual measures were used within a longitudinal survey. Each chapter also presents statistical descriptive overview of  collected data and usually tests of  theoretical assumptions about factorial validity of  the measures. In conclusion or discussion most authors propose possible uses of  data acquired by the described measure for various research questions.  We hope the reader will find the data described in this volume interesting. The ELSPAC project has originally been focused mainly on data collection and not on their analysis. The Institute for Research of  Children, Youth and Family cannot utilize the full information potential in the data and will welcome proposals for interesting analyses. This volume describes only one cross-sectional slice in the full breadth of  one of  the waves but all data from the psychological branch of  the Czech ELSPAC are available for analysis. As for data from the core Czech ELSPAC, Lubomír Kukla, head of  the Research Institute of  Preventive and Social Pediatrics needs to be contacted.  References Golding, J. (1989). Research protocol: European Longitudinal study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC). Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 3, 460-469. Macek, P. & Lacinová, L. (Eds.) (2006). Vztahy v dospívání [Relationships in adolescence]. Brno: Barrister & Principal. Sejrková, E. (1999). Tradice brněnského longitudinálu pokračuje [The tradition of Brno longitudinal research continues]. Psychológia a patopsychológia dieťaťa, 34, 265 – 269. Širůček, J. (2002). Evropská longitudinální studie těhotenství a dětství [European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood]. In V. Smékal & P. Macek (Eds.) Utváření a vývoj osobnosti: Psychologické, sociální a pedagogické aspekty [Personality establishment and development: Psychological, social and pedagogic Aspects] (29 – 36). Brno: Barrister & Principal. Scott, J. (1997). Children as respondents: Methods for improving data quality. In L. Lyberg et al.(Eds.), Survey measurement and process quality (331 – 352). New York: Wiley.  Smékal, V., Lacinová, L., & Kukla L. (Eds.) (2004). Dítě na prahu dospívání [A child on the threshold of adolescence]. Brno: Barrister & Principal.   140                               Stanislav Ježek, Lenka Lacinová (Eds.) Fifteen-year-olds in Brno: A Slice of Longitudinal Self-Reports   Published by Masaryk University in 2008 Supported by the research plan of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic MSM0021622406  1st edition, 2008             200 copies Printed by MSD, spol. s r.o., Lidická 23, Brno  Cover design: Stanislav Ježek  ISBN 978-80-210-4755-6  

The Psychological Branch of the ELSPAC Study: A Survey of 15-Year-Old Respondents

https://is.muni.cz/repo/806682/chapter01Intro.pdf

The Psychological Branch of the ELSPAC Study: A Survey of 15-Year-Old Respondents

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Univerzitní repozitář Masarykovy univerzity