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Selected AbstractsSequencing of DSM-IV criteria of nicotine dependenceADDICTION, Issue 8 2009Denise B. Kandel ABSTRACT Aims To determine whether there is a sequence in which adolescents experience symptoms of nicotine dependence (ND) as per the DSM-IV. Design A two-stage design was implemented to select a multi-ethnic target sample of adolescents from a school survey of 6th,10th graders from the Chicago Public Schools. The cohort was interviewed at home five times with structured computerized interviews at 6-month intervals over a 2-year period. Participants Subsample of new tobacco users (n = 353) who had started to use tobacco within 12 months prior to wave 1 or between waves 1 and 5. Measurements and statistical methods Monthly histories of DSM-IV symptoms of ND were obtained. Log-linear quasi-independence models were estimated to identify the fit of different cumulative models of progression among the four most prevalent dependence criteria (tolerance, impaired control, withdrawal, unsuccessful attempts to quit), indexed by specific symptoms, by gender and race/ethnicity. Findings Pathways varied slightly across groups. The proportions who could be classified in a progression pathway not by chance ranged from 50.7% to 68.8%. Overall, tolerance and impaired control appeared first and preceded withdrawal; impaired control preceded attempts to quit. For males, tolerance was experienced first, with withdrawal a minor path of entry; for females withdrawal was experienced last, tolerance and impaired control were experienced first. For African Americans, tolerance by itself was experienced first; for other groups an alternative path began with impaired control. Conclusions The prevalence and sequence of criteria of ND fit our understanding of the neuropharmacology of ND. The order among symptoms early in the process of dependence may differ from the severity order of symptoms among those who persist in smoking. [source] The Department of Education Battle, 1918,1932: Public Schools, Catholic Schools, and the Social Order by Douglas J. SlawsonHISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2008NANCY TAYLOR No abstract is available for this article. [source] A Compositional Analysis of the Organizational Climate-Performance Relation: Public Schools as OrganizationsJOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 8 2006James Griffith The present study examined specific aspects of organizational climate related to job satisfaction, employee turnover, and organizational performance in public elementary schools. Survey data were obtained from school staff and students and from school district archives. Hypotheses tested included: (1) Employee perceptions of organizational climate and job satisfaction, when aggregated to an organizational level, would represent group-level constructs; (2) Employee perceptions of positive organizational climate would be associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and organizational performance and with lower levels of employee turnover; (3) Relations of organizational climate to organizational performance and to employee turnover would be mediated by employee job satisfaction; and (4) Employee perceptions of positive organizational climate and job satisfaction would be associated with less achievement disparity between minority and non-minority students. Study results supported all but one hypothesis. There was no evidence for the mediating effects of job satisfaction on relations of organizational climate to organizational performance and to employee turnover. Results were consistent with the broader organizational literature, which has shown the importance of orderly work environments, collegial relations, and supportive leaders for effectively functioning groups and organizations. [source] Standardized test outcomes for students engaged in inquiry-based science curricula in the context of urban reformJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 8 2008Robert Geier Abstract Considerable effort has been made over the past decade to address the needs of learners in large urban districts through scaleable reform initiatives. We examine the effects of a multifaceted scaling reform that focuses on supporting standards based science teaching in urban middle schools. The effort was one component of a systemic reform effort in the Detroit Public Schools, and was centered on highly specified and developed project-based inquiry science units supported by aligned professional development and learning technologies. Two cohorts of 7th and 8th graders that participated in the project units are compared with the remainder of the district population, using results from the high-stakes state standardized test in science. Both the initial and scaled up cohorts show increases in science content understanding and process skills over their peers, and significantly higher pass rates on the statewide test. The relative gains occur up to a year and a half after participation in the curriculum, and show little attenuation with in the second cohort when scaling occurred and the number of teachers involved increased. The effect of participation in units at different grade levels is independent and cumulative, with higher levels of participation associated with similarly higher achievement scores. Examination of results by gender reveals that the curriculum effort succeeds in reducing the gender gap in achievement experienced by urban African-American boys. These findings demonstrate that standards-based, inquiry science curriculum can lead to standardized achievement test gains in historically underserved urban students, when the curriculum is highly specified, developed, and aligned with professional development and administrative support. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 922,939, 2008 [source] Building a Partnership to Evaluate School-Linked Health Services: The Cincinnati School Health Demonstration ProjectJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 10 2005Barbara L. Rose Partners from the Cincinnati Health Department, Cincinnati Public Schools, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati wanted to determine if levels of school-linked care made a difference in student quality of life, school connectedness, attendance, emergency department use, and volume of referrals to health care specialists. School nurses, principals and school staff, parents and students, upper-level managers, and health service researchers worked together over a 2.5-year period to learn about and use new technology to collect information on student health, well-being, and outcome measures. Varying levels of school health care intervention models were instituted and evaluated. A standard model of care was compared with 2 models of enhanced care and service. The information collected from students, parents, nurses, and the school system provided a rich database on the health of urban children. School facilities, staffing, and computer technology, relationship building among stakeholders, extensive communication, and high student mobility were factors that influenced success and findings of the project. Funding for district-wide computerization and addition of school health staff was not secured by the end of the demonstration project; however, relationships among the partners endured and paved the way for future collaborations designed to better serve urban school children in Cincinnati. (J Sch Health. 2005;75(10):363-369) [source] Low-Income Parents and the Public SchoolsJOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES, Issue 2 2001Bernice Lott This article addresses the responses likely to be received by low-income parents from teachers and staff in their children's public schools in the United States. A review of the relevant literature reveals that teachers and school administrators tend to subscribe to the dominant beliefs that low-income parents do not care about their children's schooling, are not competent to help with homework, do not encourage achievement, and do not place a high value on education. This article presents examples of such middle-class bias in the words and actions of individual teachers, and research findings that tend to contradict these stereotypes. The barriers that exist for low-income parents in interacting with the schools are discussed, and suggestions are offered for ways in which schools can recognize and respect the standpoint and potential contributions of these parents. [source] Slaying myths, eliminating excuses: Managing for accountability by putting kids firstNEW DIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION, Issue 121 2009Robert J. Rodosky The authors write about evaluation, testing, and research and their relation to policy, planning, and program in the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in Louisville, Kentucky. The authors focus on evaluation and testing for accountability and on managing the unit for this purpose. In detail they show the many evaluation demands from both inside and outside JCPS, from the State of Kentucky to No Child Left Behind. Their everyday work context is active, often tumultuous. Managing evaluation in this context is a form of juggling, and the authors succeed in part because they "have seen most of it before." Also contributing to their effectiveness are the leaders' managing styles. This case study gives a good glimpse of the everyday life in a school district evaluation shop. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Collective Bargaining and The Performance of the Public SchoolsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2009Terry M. Moe Students of American politics rarely study public sector unions and their impacts on government. The literature sees bureaucratic power as rooted in expertise, but largely ignores the fact that bureaucrats often join unions to promote their own interests, and that the power of their unions may affect government and its performance. This article focuses on the public schools, which are among the most numerous government agencies in the country, and investigates whether collective bargaining by teachers,the key bureaucrats,affects the schools' capacity to educate children. Using California data, analysis shows that, in large school districts, restrictive labor contracts have a very negative impact on academic achievement, particularly for minority students. The evidence suggests, then, that public sector unions do indeed have important consequences for American public education. Whether they are consequential in other areas of government remains to be seen, but it is an avenue well worth pursuing. [source] Educational Standards in Private and Public Schools,THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 533 2008Giorgio Brunello When school quality increases with the educational standard set by schools, education before college need not be a hierarchy with private schools offering better quality than public schools. In our model, private schools can offer a lower educational standard at a positive price because they attract students with a relatively high cost of effort, who would find the high standards of public schools excessively demanding. We estimate the key parameters of the model and show that majority voting supports a system where private schools have higher quality in the US and public schools have higher quality in Italy. [source] Capitalizing on Disaster: Taking and Breaking Public Schools , By Kenneth J. SaltmanANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2009Elizabeth Villarreal No abstract is available for this article. [source] The Marketization of Education: Public Schools for Private EndsANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2002Assistant Professor Lesley Bartlett This article argues that the neoliberal renaissance of the 1980s marketized education, with distinctly negative social consequences. We examine the emergence and promotion of a national-level discourse that positioned schools in the service of the economy. Based on ethnographic research conducted in North Carolina, we then show how local growth elite utilized this discourse to further their own race and class interests to the exclusion and detriment of poorer, African American parents and students. We suggest that ethnographic studies of policy formation help to socially and historically contextualize contemporary debates and denaturalize unwarranted assumptions about the public good. [source] Does the School Nurse-to-Student Ratio Make a Difference?JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 1 2004Martha Guttu ABSTRACT: Public schools must provide an appropriate education for students with complex health needs. Chronic illnesses such as asthma and diabetes, social morbidities, injuries, and conditions that limit learning such as poor vision commonly affect school-aged children. School nurses often assume a leadership role in providing services for these children. However, although a national standard for school nurse/student ratio has been proposed, little research has examined the relationship between different school nurse-to-student ratios, level of health services provided in schools, and student outcomes. This study examined data in a 21-county region in eastern North Carolina served by a regional school nurse consultant. The school nurse-to-student ratio in these counties ranged from 1:451 to 1:7,440 based on full-time equivalencies. Two systems offered no school nursing services.*** Data from school years ending in 2000,2002 were considered in the analysis. A significant correlation was found between the increased presence of school nurses and services provided to children with diabetes (r = ,.52, p = .000) and asthma (r = ,.43, p = .002). Schools with better ratios provided more counseling services to children for social conditions such as depression and unintended pregnancy (r = ,.38, p = .006), and more follow-up for school-related injuries (r = ,.43, p = .003), and a higher percentage of children with vision problems received follow-up care (r = ,.37, p = .007). A case analysis of one school district that experienced a significant improvement in nurse/student ratio over the study period provides further evidence that school nurses make a difference. [source] Peer mediation training and program implementation in elementary schools: Research resultsCONFLICT RESOLUTION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2002Kathy Bickmore This research examines the implementation and effects of a peer mediation program in twenty-eight urban elementary schools. The Center for Conflict Resolution, a program of the Cleveland, Ohio, public schools, provided intensive training and follow-up support for teams of peer mediators and adult advisers at each school. Trainers were youths from the same community. Qualitative and quantitative evidence indicate that this program significantly improved the average eight- to eleven-year-old students understanding of and inclination to use nonviolent conflict resolution and his or her capacity to achieve in school. The study outlines the specific commitments from administrators and other staff members that were required to develop and implement equitable, effective, and sustainable programs. [source] Wide Awake to the World: The Arts and Urban Schools,Conflicts and Contributions of an After-School ProgramCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 1 2001Therese Quinn While the benefits of arts involvement are increasingly clear, policies and practices consistent with this recognition are not proceeding apace. Nearly half the schools in the United States have no full-time arts teachers and emphases on "standards" have led to the elimination of the arts in many urban schools. This case study of a multi-year after-school arts program in urban public schools explores challenges and tensions that emerged during the program's implementation. Focusing on understanding the place and purpose of an arts program in a specific community, we employed a grounded theory approach and used multiple data-gathering methods, ranging from observations and interviews to surveys. We found that in serving hundreds of students, employing dozens of staff, and aiming to meet several complex goals, this arts program faced technical challenges that undermined its effectiveness. The arts program also suffered from unaddressed conflicts regarding norms and values. Artists attempted to provide students opportunities for creative exploration, while school staff emphasized control, order, and academic goals. We discuss these tensions and the ways they undermined the arts program. [source] Learning from Difference: Considerations for Schools as CommunitiesCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 3 2000Carolyn M. Shields In today's highly complex and heterogeneous public schools, the current notion of schools as homogeneous communities with shared beliefs, norms, and alues is inadequate. Drawing on Barth's (1990) question of how to use ifference as a resource, I take up ideas from feminism, multiculturalism, and inclusive education to consider the development of community in schools. I argue that despite the valuable contributions of these theoretical perspectives, each lso includes the potential for increased fragmentation and polarization. As we consider how to use differences as a foundation for community, it is important ot to reify any particular perspective, thus marginalizing others and erecting new barriers. Explicitly embracing the need to identify and respect difference, being open to new ideas without taking an exclusionary position, and committing to ongoing participation in dialogical processes may help schools to develop as more authentic communities of difference. Among the dominant issues identified in today's climate of turbulent educational reform are concerns about how to restructure schools to ensure equality of student opportunity and excellence of instruction (Elmore, 1990; Lieberman, 1992; Murphy, 1991). Many proposals include modifying present leadership and governance structures, overcoming the hegemony of existing power bases, developing mechanisms for accountability, enhancing professionalism, and co-ordinating community resources. One of the suggestions frequently made to address these issues is to change from a focus on schools as organizations to a recognition of schools as communities (Barth, 1990; Fullan, 1993; Lupart & Webber, 1996; Senge, 1990). However, despite the widespread use of the metaphor of community as an alternative to the generally accepted concept of schools as rational or functional organizations, there seems to be little clarity about the concept of community, what it might look like, how it might be implemented, or what policies might sustain it. Indeed, theories about schools as communities have often drawn from Tönnies (1887/1971) concept of gemeinschaft,a concept which perhaps evokes a more homogeneous and romanticized view of the past than one which could be helpful for improving education in today's dynamic, complex, and heterogeneous context (Beck & Kratzer, 1994; Sergiovanni, 1994a). More recently, several writers (Fine et al., 1997; Furman, 1998; Shields & Seltzer, 1997) have advanced the notion of communities of otherness or difference. These authors have suggested that rather than thinking of schools as communities that exist because of a common affiliation to an established school ethos or tradition, it might be more helpful to explore an alternative concept. A school community founded on difference would be one in which the common centre would not be taken as a given but would be co-constructed from the negotiation of disparate beliefs and values as participants learn to respect, and to listen to, each other. In this concept, bonds among members are not assumed, but forged, and boundaries are not imposed but negotiated. Over the past eight years, as I have visited and worked with a large number of schools trying earnestly to address the needs of their diverse student bodies, I have become increasingly aware of the limitations of the concept of community used in the gemeinschaft sense with its emphasis on shared values, norms, and beliefs, and have begun to reflect on the question framed by Barth (1990): ,How can we make conscious, deliberate use of differences in social class, gender, age, ability, race, and interest as resources for learning?' (p. 514). In this article, I consider how learning from three of these areas of difference: gender, race, and ability, may help us to a better understanding of educational community. This article begins with some illustrations and examples from practice, moves to consider how some theoretical perspectives may illuminate them, and concludes with reflections on how the implications of the combined reflections on practice and theory might actually help to reconceptualize and to improve practice. While it draws heavily on questions and impressions which have arisen out of much of my fieldwork, it is not intended to be an empirical paper, but a conceptual one,one which promotes reflection and discussion on the concept of schools as communities of difference. The examples of life in schools taken from longitudinal research studies in which I have been involved demonstrate several common ways in which difference is dealt with in today's schools and some of the problems inherent in these approaches. Some ideas drawn from alternative perspectives then begin to address Barth's question of how to make deliberate use of diversity as a way of thinking about community. Taken together, I hope that these ideas will be helpful in creating what I have elsewhere called ,schools as communities of difference' (Shields & Seltzer, 1997). [source] Risk factors related to traumatic dental injuries in Brazilian schoolchildrenDENTAL TRAUMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2004Evelyne Pessoa Soriano Abstract,,, The aim of this pilot study was to analyse whether overjet, lip coverage and obesity represented risk factors associated with the occurrence of dental trauma in the permanent anterior teeth of schoolchildren in Recife, Brazil. It included a random sample of 116 boys and girls aged 12 years, attending both public and private schools. Data was collected through clinical examinations and interviews. Dental trauma was classified according to Andreasen's criteria (1994). Overjet was considered as risk factor when it presented values higher than 5 mm. Lip coverage was classified as adequate or inadequate, while obesity was considered according to National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) procedures for the assessment of nutritional status. The prevalence of dental injuries was 23.3%. Boys experienced more injuries than girls, 30 and 16.1%, respectively (P > 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference between traumatic dental injuries and overjet (P < 0.05) and between traumatic dental injuries and lip coverage (P = 0.000). No statistical significant differences were found when obesity and dental trauma were analysed (P < 0.05). It was concluded that boys from lower social strata attending public schools, presenting an overjet size greater than 5 mm and an inadequate lip coverage, were more likely to have traumatic dental injuries in Recife, Brazil. Obesity was not a risk factor for dental trauma in this sample. [source] Prevalence of crown fractures in 8,10 years old schoolchildren in Canoas, BrazilDENTAL TRAUMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2004Maximiano Ferreira Tovo Abstract,,, The objective of this work was to evaluate the prevalence of children with crown fractures in permanent anterior teeth in 206 schoolchildren (104 girls and 102 boys) between the ages of 8 and 10 years, enrolled in three public schools in the city of Canoas, Brazil. The prevalence found was 17% with no significant difference between boys and girls, as well as between the ages. The most affected tooth was the maxillary central incisor, and a majority of the children showed only one affected tooth (88.6%). The types of fracture most commonly found were oblique and horizontal, and the portions of dental structures most affected were ,enamel only' and ,enamel and dentin'. Only seven children (20%) sought out dental treatment. [source] Robust International Comparisons of Distributions of Disposable Income and Regional Public GoodsECONOMICA, Issue 303 2009NICOLAS GRAVEL The paper provides robust normative comparisons of 12 OECD countries based on their distributions of disposable income and access to two regional public goods: infant mortality and pupil,teacher ratios at public schools. Comparisons are performed using two and three-dimensional dominance criteria that coincide with the unanimity of utilitarian judgments taken over specific classes of utility functions. The criteria succeed in ranking conclusively about 30% of all possible comparisons in the two-dimensional case, compared with 67% for one-dimensional income-based comparisons and 6% for three-dimensional ones. Introducing local public goods seems to worsen the relative standing of Anglo-Saxon countries. [source] THE BORDER CROSSED US: EDUCATION, HOSPITALITY POLITICS, AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT"EDUCATIONAL THEORY, Issue 3 2009Dennis CarlsonArticle first published online: 6 OCT 200 In this essay, Dennis Carlson explores some of the implications of Derrida's "hospitality politics" in helping articulate a progressive response to a rightist cultural politics in the United States of policing national, linguistic, and other borders. He applies the concept of hospitality politics to a critical analysis of the social construction of the "problem" of "illegal immigrants" in U.S. public schools. This entails a discussion of three interrelated discourses and practices of hospitality: a universalistic discourse of philosophical and religious principles, a legalistic-juridical discourse, and a discourse and practice grounded in the ethos of everyday life. Derrida suggested that a democratic cultural politics must interweave these three discourses and also recognize the limitations of each of them. Moreover, a democratic cultural politics must be most firmly rooted in the praxis of ethos, and in the ethical claims of openness to the other. [source] School-based alcohol education: results of a cluster-randomized controlled trialADDICTION, Issue 3 2009Matthis Morgenstern ABSTRACT Objective This study aimed to examine the effects of a school-based alcohol education intervention. Design Two-arm three-wave cluster-randomized controlled trial, with schools as the unit for randomization. Surveys were conducted prior to intervention implementation, then 4 and 12 months after baseline. Setting A total of 30 public schools in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Participants Baseline data were obtained from 1686 7th graders. The retention rate was 85% over 12 months. Intervention The intervention consisted of four interactive lessons conducted by teachers, booklets for students and booklets for parents. Measures Knowledge, attitudes, life-time alcohol consumption (ever use alcohol without parental knowledge, ever been drunk and ever binge drinking) and past-month alcohol use. Results Intention-to-treat analyses revealed that intervention status was associated with more general knowledge about alcohol and lower levels of life-time binge drinking. No effects were found with respect to students' self-reported attitudes, intentions to drink, life-time alcohol use and past-month alcohol use. Conclusions The results indicate that this brief school-based intervention had a small short-term preventive effect on alcohol misuse. [source] Effects of home access and availability of alcohol on young adolescents' alcohol useADDICTION, Issue 10 2007Kelli A. Komro ABSTRACT Aims The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of parental provision of alcohol and home alcohol accessibility on the trajectories of young adolescent alcohol use and intentions. Design Data were part of a longitudinal study of alcohol use among multi-ethnic urban young adolescents who were assigned randomly to the control group of a prevention trial. Setting Data were collected from a cohort of youth, and their parents, who attended public schools in Chicago, Illinois (2002,2005). Participants The sample comprised the 1388 students, and their parents, who had been assigned randomly to the control group and were present and completed surveys at baseline, in the beginning of 6th grade (age 12). The sample was primarily low-income, and African American and Hispanic. Measurements Students completed self-report questionnaires when in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades (age 12,14 years; response rates 91,96%). Parents of the 6th grade students also completed questionnaires (70% response rate). Findings Student report, at age 12, of parental provision of alcohol and home alcohol availability, and parental report of providing alcohol to their child and the accessibility of alcohol in the home, were associated with significant increases in the trajectories of young adolescent alcohol use and intentions from ages 12,14 years. Student report of receiving alcohol from their parent or taking it from home during their last drinking occasion were the most robust predictors of increases in alcohol use and intentions over time. Conclusions Results indicate that it is risky for parents to allow children to drink during early adolescence. When these findings are considered together with the risks associated with early onset of alcohol use, it is clear that parents can play an important role in prevention. [source] An expert system for lighting energy management in public school facilitiesEXPERT SYSTEMS, Issue 4 2006Daniel J. Fonseca Abstract: Lighting accounts for a large part of the energy expenses of a facility, ranging from 40% to 60% of the total energy cost. Therefore, it represents a critical factor to consider in any energy management program. Lighting audits involve complex energy calculations, such as the estimation of light intensity per square unit area, quality of illumination, and required number of light sources to obtain an adequate illumination level in the facility. In this paper we discuss the development and implementation of an easy-to-use expert system for lighting energy management in public schools. The prototype computer-based system can evaluate 11 different areas of a school facility, and it can identify suitable lighting solutions from 17 distinct bulb types and 38 ballast types. The system determines a facility's required number of bulbs, and it performs the cost and saving analysis of its final recommendation. The constructed expert system was successfully validated by two human experts through two case studies, involving the evaluation of a conventional classroom and a medium-size office. [source] The Impact of Public School Attributes on Home Sale Prices in CaliforniaGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2000David E. Clark The quality of public schools is often cited as an important attribute which distinguishes a community. Indeed, a recent public opinion poll conducted by the California Public Education Partnership indicates that residents rank improvements in public education higher than such high profile issues as environmental quality and crime reduction. In order to explore the role of educational quality in determining residential property values, a hedonic housing price model is used on a large sample of homes which sold within Fresno County in California over the period 1990-1994. After controlling for a wide range of housing characteristics and neighborhood features, the findings indicate that the school district does significantly influence the real sale price. Then the relative importance of inputs into the production of educational services is investigated as compared to output measures of productivity. These findings suggest that both input and output measures are important. However, elasticity estimates of input measures tend to be higher than those of output measures, with the average class size by far the strongest influence. There is some evidence to suggest that the benefits of additional teachers likely outweigh the costs. Finally, the findings suggest that attributes of schools are more highly valued by local residents than either crime or environmental quality measures within the community. [source] The prevalence of eating disorders not otherwise specifiedINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EATING DISORDERS, Issue 3 2007Paulo P.P. Machado PhD Abstract Objective: Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) represent the most common eating disorder diagnosed in specialized treatment settings. The purpose of the current study is to assess the prevalence of EDNOS in a nationwide community sample. Method: Participants were 2,028 female students, aged 12,23, attending public schools in the 9th to 12th grades in Portugal. Participants completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire in Stage 1 of the study. In Stage 2, we selected all the participants who met any of these criteria: (1) BMI ,17.5, (2) scores ,4 on any of the four EDE-Q Subscales, (3) a total EDE-Q score ,4, or (4) the presence of dysfunctional eating behaviors. In Stage 2, eating disorder experts interviewed 901 participants using the Eating Disorder Examination. Results: The prevalence of all eating disorders was 3.06% among young females. Prevalence for anorexia nervosa was 0.39%, for bulimia nervosa 0.30%, EDNOS 2.37%. Conclusion: EDNOS is a very common eating disorder and accounts for three-quarters of all community cases with eating disorders. © 2006 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2007 [source] Clinical randomized controlled trial of chemomechanical caries removal (CarisolvÔ)INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRIC DENTISTRY, Issue 3 2006M. A. LOZANO-CHOURIO Summary., Objectives., The purpose of this study was to compare the chemomechanical caries-removal system (CarisolvÔ) with high-speed excavation in cavitated occlusal caries of primary molars. Design and setting., The study was a randomized controlled, clinical trial in which the two techniques were compared in each subject. Participants were chosen from public schools, in Maracaibo County, Zulia State, Venezuela. Sample and methods. The sample consisted of 80 primary molars selected from 40 children (mean age 7·7 ± 0·7 years). Each patient had at least two contralateral primary molars with cavitated occlusal caries and approximately equal-size access to lesions. The outcome variables were: clinically complete caries removal, size of the opening of the cavity, volume of carious tissue removed, pain during caries removal, anaesthesia requested by the patient, caries-removal time, and behaviour and preference of patients. Results., All treated molars were clinically caries free whichever caries-removal procedure was used. When Carisolv, was used the final cavity entrance sizes were smaller (P < 0·001) and the estimated volume of tissue removed was less (P < 0·001). The time taken for caries removal was three times longer (7·51 ± 1·83 min, P < 0·001). Some pain was reported by seven (17·5%) participants when Carisolv was used, compared with 16 (40%) when high-speed excavation was used (P < 0·05). Using the Carisolv method there was a higher proportion of patients with positive behaviour (P < 0·01), and 71·0% (P < 0·05) preferred this treatment. Conclusion., Carisolv is an effective clinical alternative treatment for the removal of occlusal dentinal caries in cavitated primary molars; it is more conservative of dental tissue and appeared to be more comfortable for most patients, although the clinical time spent is longer than when using high-speed excavation. [source] Dental arch morphological and dimensional characteristics in Jordanian children and young adults with ,-thalassaemia majorINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRIC DENTISTRY, Issue 2 2005A. AL-WAHADNI Summary. Objective. , The aim of this study was to examine the arch dimensions of Jordanian patients with ,-thalassaemia major in comparison with an unaffected control group. Methods. , The sample consisted of 24 patients who suffered from ,-thalassaemia major (mean age = 13·9 ± 3·1 years) and an unaffected control group (mean age = 13·5 ± 2·9 years) matched for dental age, sex, and incisor and molar relationships. The unaffected control group was randomly selected from four public schools in the Governate of Irbid-Jordan. Alginate impressions were taken of the maxillary and mandibular dental arches of all participants. All measurements of the arch dimensions were made on the casts using an electronic digital sliding calliper. Results. , In the mandibular arch, when compared with the patients with thalassaemia, the unaffected control group subjects showed a (statistically) significantly larger incisor width, larger arch depth, and larger left and right anterior arch lengths (1·18, 2·58, and 1·85 and 1·12 mm, respectively). In the maxillary arch, there was a statistically significant difference in the mean incisor width (± 2·16 mm), arch depth (± 3·14 mm), inter-molar width (± 1·21 mm) and in the left anterior arch length (± 1·97 mm). The canine widths, premolar widths, left and right posterior arch length, and curve of Spee of both arches showed no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Conclusion. , When compared to unaffected subjects, patients with ,-thalassaemia major exhibited: a narrower maxilla; a shorter maxilla and mandible; and smaller incisor widths for the maxillary and mandibular arches. [source] Sex differences in relational and overt aggression in the late elementary school yearsAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 5 2010Janet Kistner Abstract Sex differences in relational and overt aggression among 3rd (n=176), 4th (n=179), and 5th graders (n=145) from three public schools (n=500; 278 girls) were examined. Nominations of relational aggression increased over time among 4th and 5th grade girls, but not among boys or 3rd grade girls. Among 3rd graders, boys received more nominations for relational aggression than girls. By the end of the 5th grade, girls received more relational aggression nominations than boys. There was also a significant rise in nominations of overt aggression among 5th grade girls, but not among 5th grade boys or younger boys and girls. As expected, boys were more likely than girls to be nominated for overt aggression at all grade levels. The findings are helpful for explaining inconsistencies of earlier research pertaining to sex differences in relational aggression and for advancing our understanding of the causes of aggression. Aggr. Behav. 36:282,291, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Biological, social, and community influences on third-grade reading levels of minority Head Start children: A multilevel approachJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2003Virginia A. Rauh The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of individual and community level risks on school outcomes of children who attend Head Start. We studied a sample of 3,693 African American and Hispanic children who had been born in New York City, participated in Head Start, and attended New York City public schools. The outcome was the score obtained on a citywide third-grade reading test. Individual level risk factors were derived from birth certificate data. Community level risks were extracted from citywide U.S. Census data and other public-access data sets. Multilevel regression analyses indicated that at the individual level, lower reading scores were significantly associated with: male gender, low birth weight, unmarried mother, low maternal education, and inadequate interpregnancy spacing. Controlling for individual-level risk, concentrated community poverty significantly lowered reading scores, and a high percentage of immigrants in the community significantly raised scores. There was also a significant crosslevel effect: boys benefited more than girls from the immigrant community effect. The evidence suggests that we can better identify children at future educational risk and maximize the success of early intervention programs by exploring influences on school success at multiple levels, including the community. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 31: 255,278, 2003. [source] Uses and Gratifications of the Web among StudentsJOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION, Issue 1 2000Samuel Ebersole This study was designed to explore how some students in ten public schools view the WWW and how their attitudes and opinions affect their use of this new medium in an educational context. An exploratory principal components analysis of forty use statements resulted in an eight factor solution. Additionally, student responses to a computer-administered survey instrument were collected and analyzed revealing significant differences in the way that students describe their use of the WWW. Gender, grade level, and amount of time spent using the WWW were used to create between-group comparisons of the WWW use categories that made up the computer-administered survey instrument. The final phase of data analysis was a content analysis of sites visited by students. A total of 123,071 URLs were collected from the computers used to administer the computer survey instrument. These were reduced to a total of 500 sites that were reviewed by media specialists. Students were found to be visiting commercial sites at a much higher proportion than those in other domains. Also, the commercial sites received the lowest rating for "suitability for academic research" of all the domain names. And while students reported their purpose for using the WWW as "research and learning" fifty-two percent of the time, the coders found only twenty-seven percent of the sampled sites to be "suitable" for that purpose. [source] Characteristics of Inner-City Pregnant Smoking TeenagersJOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 4 2002Susan A. Albrecht PhD Objective: To describe baseline characteristics of inner-city pregnant adolescent smokers and examine these variables as potential predictors of long-term tobacco abstinence. Study Design: Descriptive study design of the characteristics of pregnant adolescent smokers, with conceptual underpinnings from the Problem-Behavior Theory. Setting: Recruitment and data collection were completed in inner-city outpatient clinics and public schools. Participants: The study enrolled 142 pregnant smoking adolescents. Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported smoking behavior (abstinence vs. smoking) assessed at 12 months from study enrollment was the criterion outcome variable. Variables from Problem-Behavior Theory, tobacco use, and demographics variables were selected as predictors of interest. Results: Twelve months following study enrollment, 123 (87%) participants were smoking, with 19 (13%) reporting abstinence. Pregnant adolescents received messages of encouragement from parents and peers to quit smoking but complicated their pregnancies and smoking cessation efforts by concurrently consuming alcohol during the pregnancy. Conclusion: Findings from this study support previous research on adolescent smokers and extend our knowledge to the inner-city pregnant adolescent smoker. These pregnant teenagers present many needs and challenges for the nurses responsible for their care. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||