Item Analysis of the Czech Version of the WJ IV COG Battery from a Group of Romani Children.

The objective of the article is to present an item analysis of selected subtests of the Czech version of the WJ IV COG battery from a group of Romani children, ages 7-11. The research sample consisted of 400 school-aged Romani children from the Czech Republic who were selected by quota sampling. A partial comparative sample for the analysis was the Czech population collected as norms of the Czech edition of © Propsyco (n = 936). The Woodcock-Johnson IV COG was used as a research tool. Statistical analysis was performed in Winstep software using Differential Item Functioning; differences between groups were expressed in logits and tested via the Rasch-Welch T-test. It was discovered that higher item difficulty was noted in the verbal subtests, although variability in item difficulty was found across all subtests. The analysis of individual items makes it possible to discover which tasks are most culturally influenced.

Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of Working Adults in the Czech Republic: Analysis of Self-Report Psychological Data in a One Year Perspective.

The article presents research evidence on psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economically active Czech population aged 18-64 (n = 1603; 365 men and 1238 women) within a one year perspective. The aim is to describe the differences in the reported mental health indicators (anxiety, depression, and distress) for women and men in the four age groups, two groups with different working statuses (continuation of work/interrupted working status), and between two phases of the epidemic (March to May 2020 and September 2020 to February 2021). The results point to elevated scores of negative mental health indicators (anxiety, depression, and distress) in different subgroups. More negative experiences in a pandemic situation were found, especially in groups of women, people under the age of 35, and among people with interrupted working status. The results also indicate a deterioration of symptoms over time during the epidemic.

Changes in Cognition and Hemodynamics 1 Year after Carotid Endarterectomy for Asymptomatic Stenosis.

OBJECTIVES: The impact of a change in hemodynamics on cognitive skills in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis (ACS) after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of CEA for ACS at 1 year by assessing the changes in anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral artery blood flow in tandem with changes in cognitive efficiency. METHODS: Flow volume in cerebral arteries using quantitative magnetic resonance angiography was measured in a group of 14 males and 5 females before and at 1 year after CEA for ACS. Cognitive efficiency was assessed by Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). The values of flow volume were processed using simple ratio (SR) and were used for covariance analyses with changes in cognitive skills after CEA. RESULTS: A significant improvement in cognitive efficiency indexes of immediate memory and visuospatial perception at 1 year after CEA for ACS was observed. Simultaneously, a significant deterioration of speech index was noted. During the analysis of association between flow and cognition, the highest correlation could be seen between the middle cerebral artery (MCA) flow and the visuospatial perception. A change in posterior cerebral artery (PCA) flow was associated with an increase in immediate memory index and anterior cerebral artery (ACA) flow change with the speech index. CONCLUSION: Convergence of data supporting the association between revascularization and cognitive improvement were added in a small, single-center cohort of ACS patients undergoing CEA. No significant differences in cognition were seen between preoperative findings and at 1 year after CEA. Visuospatial perception improvement was linked to flow change in MCA, immediate memory improvement to flow change in PCA, and speech index change to flow change in ACA. Methodical limitations of this small study preclude formulating larger generalizations. Hemodynamic factors in CEA should be assessed in a larger-scale study.

Hegemony in the Roma family.

This article is intended to describe the current hegemonic masculinity within the Roma family structure in the Czech Republic, with regard to changes related to developments in the majority society and the current socioeconomic situation of the Roma. The theoretical context of this article is based on the paradigm of masculine hegemony as it exists and has existed in the Roma families. Data for the study came from semi-structured interviews with 30 Roma females and 30 Roma males living as couples, in three Czech cities. The main finding reveals a dichotomy between the traditional roles of Roma women, i.e. care for the family and the household, and the present functions, i.e. contributing to the family income through social benefits. We observed a decline in the traditional role of Roma men, who were often unemployed. We related the change in the roles of men to the "non-functionality of the men", contributing to the emerging potential for emancipation of Roma women. However, the traditional patriarchal Roma family is structured such that men are given the main decision making powers, which has slowed changes in marginalized Roma families. Additionally, social pressures against women as well as socially conditioned pressures that act to preserve hegemonic masculinity, have largely prevented the realization of the potential for emancipation of Roma women, or if a woman tries to leave her non-functioning husband.