Longitudinal association of conduct and emotional problems with school exclusion and truancy: A fixed effect analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: There is a need for causally stronger research on the association between child mental health and school exclusion and truancy. This study examines school exclusion and truancy in relation to both conduct and emotional problems and considers these problems both as predictors and as outcomes of school exclusion and truancy. METHOD: The sample included 15,236 individuals from the Millennium Cohort Study, a UK longitudinal birth cohort study. Conduct and emotional problems were assessed from childhood to adolescence (age 7, 11, 14 and 17 years), and reports of school exclusion and truancy were collected at age 11 and 14. Fixed effect analyses were used. RESULTS: Increases in conduct problems and emotional symptoms were associated with subsequent exclusion (OR 1.22, [95% CI 1.08-1.37] and OR 1.16, [1.05-1.29], respectively). Emotional symptoms, but not conduct problems, predicted truancy (OR 1.17, [1.07-1.29]). These estimates were similar for males and females. Exclusion was associated with an increase in conduct problems at age 14 (0.50, [0.30-0.69]), and for males, it was associated with an increase in emotional symptoms both at age 14 (0.39, [0.12-0.65]) and 17 (0.43, [0.14-0.72]). Truancy was associated with an increase in conduct problems at age 14 (0.41, [0.28-0.55]), and for females also at age 17 (0.22, [0.03-0.42]), and it was associated with increased emotional symptoms at age 14 (0.43, [0.25-0.62]) and 17 (0.44, [0.21-0.66]), which was similar for males and females. CONCLUSION: Results indicate a bidirectional association between emotional symptoms and school exclusion and truancy, as an increase in these symptoms was associated with later truancy and exclusion, and emotional symptoms increased following both school events. For conduct problems, the association was bidirectional for school exclusion, but unidirectional for truancy as these symptoms did not lead to truancy, but an increase in conduct problems was observed after both exclusion and truancy.

The Effects of Choice on the Reading Comprehension and Enjoyment of Children with Severe Inattention and no Attentional Difficulties.

It has been proposed that enhancing motivation supports the learning of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Less is known if inattentive children with no ADHD diagnosis may similarly benefit, when being motivated to engage in an academic task. Using a repeated-measures design, this study investigated the effects of text choice as an intrinsic motivator on the reading comprehension and enjoyment of Year 4 children attending mainstream primary schools (N = 92; aged 8-9 years; 48 boys); comparing those with no attentional difficulties and severe inattention. We hypothesized that 1) choice would increase reading comprehension and enjoyment 2) choice would increase the reading comprehension and enjoyment of children both with severe inattention and no attentional difficulties 3) choice effects would be significantly greater for children with severe inattention than those with no attentional difficulties. Children participated in a reading intervention that included a Choice (experimental) and a No Choice (control) condition. Child inattention was measured via a Virtual Reality Continuous Performance Task (Omission errors, Reaction Time Variability) and Teacher Ratings. Choice significantly increased reading comprehension, but not enjoyment compared with no choice. Choice improved the reading comprehension of children with both severe inattention and no attentional difficulties. Choice did not benefit the reading of severely inattentive children more than that of children with no attentional difficulties. These findings underline the educational benefits of choice for young readers both with severe inattention and no attentional difficulties, which are further discussed drawing on existing theory and research.

The identification of speech and language problems in elementary school: Diagnosis and co-occurring needs.

BACKGROUND: Oral language skills are the foundation for success at school and in employment. A significant minority of children experience difficulties in the acquisition of oral language resulting in speech and language needs (SLN). There are disjunctures between clinical studies using standardised assessment and educational studies. The current study examines teacher reported SLN alongside assessments of language and cognitive skills to explore children's profiles of needs, developmental trajectories and risk factors. PROCEDURE: Data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study were used to examine teacher identification of SLN at seven (n = 8658) and 11 years (n = 7275). RESULTS: There were high levels of co-occurrence between SLN and other special educational needs at seven and 11 years, with SLN being less common at 11. Vocabulary levels and parental concerns at three and five and educational attainment at seven were highly predictive of SLN at seven, slightly less so at 11. However, a significant proportion of parents of children who scored in the bottom 2nd centile on vocabulary measures did not report their child as experiencing a language problem. Gender and disadvantage were also predictive of SLN but were mediated by the cognitive and behavioural variables. IMPLICATIONS: These results raise questions about whether children's language needs at age 11 are recognised in schools. The extent of co-occurrence challenges the way diagnostic categories should be used and supports the value of profiling of dimensions of need.

The relationship between learning mathematics and general cognitive ability in primary school.

Three relationships between learning mathematics and general cognitive ability have been hypothesized: The educational hypothesis that learning mathematics develops general cognitive skills, the psychometric hypothesis that differences in general cognitive ability cause differences in mathematical attainment, and the reciprocal influence hypothesis that developments in mathematical ability and general cognitive ability influence each other. These hypotheses are assessed with a sample of 948 children from the Twins Early Development Study who were assessed at 7, 9, and 10 years on mathematics, English, and general cognitive ability. A cross-lagged path analysis with mathematics and general cognitive ability measures supports the reciprocal influence hypothesis between 7 and 9 and between 9 and 10. A second analysis including English assessments only provides evidence of a reciprocal relationship between 7 and 9. Statement of Contribution What is already known on this subject? The correlations between mathematical attainment, literacy, and measures of general cognitive skills are well established. The role of literacy in developing general cognitive skills is emerging. What the present study adds? Mathematics contributes to the development of general cognitive skills. General cognitive ability contributes to mathematical development between 7 and 10. These findings support the hypothesis of reciprocal influence between mathematics and general cognitive ability, at least between 7 and 9.

Adversity, Emotional Arousal, and Problem Behaviour in Adolescence: The Role of Non-Verbal Cognitive Ability as a Resilience Promoting Factor.

BACKGROUND: To test whether emotional arousal mediates the moderator effect of non-verbal cognitive ability on the association between cumulative contextual risk (number of proximal and distal adverse life events) and adolescent problem behaviour. METHOD: Data from a UK community sample of secondary school aged children were used. The study sample comprised 207 children with a mean age of 13.44 years (SD = 1.45). Problem behaviour was assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, non-verbal cognitive ability was assessed with Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices Plus, and emotional arousal was measured with the Acting Out Emotions Scale of the Emotion Awareness Questionnaire. Adjustment was made for gender, age, family structure, and socio-economic disadvantage. RESULTS: Non-verbal cognitive ability moderated the effect of cumulative contextual risk on overall problem behaviour, and emotional arousal mediated this moderator effect. That is, risk predicted emotional arousal, which predicted overall problem behaviour, but emotional arousal was more strongly related to overall problem behaviour among children of low non-verbal cognitive ability than among children of high non-verbal cognitive ability. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are important for both theory development and intervention design. They advance theory because they suggest that non-verbal cognitive ability buffers the effect of risk on overall problem behaviour by strengthening control over emotions. They have implications for intervention design because they suggest that interventions carried out to enhance children's emotion regulation skills in the presence of multiple adversity might be more effective if they target children who score low on non-verbal cognitive ability.

Classroom implications of recent research into literacy development: from predictors to assessment.

We outline how research into predictors of literacy underpins the development of increasingly accurate and informative assessments. We report three studies that emphasize the crucial role of speech and auditory skills on literacy development throughout primary and secondary school. Our first study addresses the effects of early childhood middle ear infections, the potential consequences for speech processing difficulties and the impact on early literacy development. Our second study outlines how speech and auditory skills are crucially related to early literacy in normally developing readers, whereas other skills such as motor, memory and IQ are only indirectly related. Our third study outlines the on-going impact of phonological awareness on reading and wider academic achievement in secondary-school pupils. Finally, we outline how teachers can use the current research to inform them about which assessments to conduct, and how to interpret the results.

Adolescents choosing self-harm as an emotion regulation strategy: the protective role of trait emotional intelligence.

OBJECTIVES: The present study seeks to extend the understanding of the role of dispositional factors in the aetiology of self-harm among adolescents. We hypothesized that higher trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) would be associated with a lower likelihood to harm oneself, and that this relationship would be mediated by the choice of coping strategies. DESIGN AND METHODS: Trait EI, coping styles and self-harm behaviours were assessed in 490 adolescents recruited from eight British schools. RESULTS: The results supported our hypothesis and showed that the relationship between trait EI and self-harm was partly mediated by the choice of coping strategies. Emotional coping was a particularly powerful mediator, suggesting that self-harm may be a way to decrease the negative emotions that are exacerbated by maladaptive emotional coping strategies, such as rumination, self-blame, and helplessness. Trait EI was correlated positively with adaptive coping styles and negatively with maladaptive coping styles, and depression. CONCLUSIONS: These findings emphasize the potential value of incorporating coping coaching programmes in the treatment of self-harm patients.

Political, religious and occupational identities in context: placing identity status paradigm in context.

This study critically contrasts global identity with domain-specific identities (political, religious and occupational) and considers context and gender as integral parts of identity. In a cross-sectional survey, 1038 Greek Cypriot adolescents (449 boys and 589 girls, mean age 16.8) from the three different types of secondary schools (state, state technical and private) and from different SES completed part of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status-2 (EOMEIS-2). The macro-context of Greek Cypriot society is used to understand the role of context in adolescents' identities. Results showed that Greek Cypriot young people were not in the same statuses across their global, political, religious and occupational identities. This heterogeneity in the status of global identity and of each identity domain is partially explained by differences in gender, type of school and SES (socio-economic status). The fact that identity status is found to be reactive to context suggests that developmental stage models of identity status should place greater emphasis on context.

Assessing Literacy in Children and Adolescents.

This review provides a framework for examining the assessment of literacy underpinned by current theories of reading and writing. Our choice of assessment tools was influenced by a desire to identify tests that are suitable for diagnosing students of all ages. The key dimensions identified were printed word recognition (lexical and non-lexical), comprehension and writing. We conclude that there is no single test currently available that provides a comprehensive profile of literacy difficulties. The assessor will require critical discrimination in choosing tests that are theoretically sound and diagnostically useful.

Supporting young people who repeatedly self-harm.

This paper explores the views and experiences of a group of 74 young people aged 16-22 who were interviewed following presentation in accident and emergency (A&E) departments after intentionally harming themselves. It focuses on a sub-group of 38 young people with a history of self-harm behaviour that extended from when they were under the age of 16, one-third of whom had been or were currently in care. Whilst some had kept their self-harming hidden and had not received any professional intervention until they reached adulthood, others had been in touch with services, although their treatment had not prevented them from continuing to self-harm. Medication was perceived as 'fobbing off', particularly when unaccompanied by other treatments. The young people described their encounters with counsellors and clinicians, some of whom they perceived not to understand or to listen to their perspective. Whilst not representative of all young people who self-harm, these views are important and deserve attention if interventions for children and adolescents are to prevent repetition of self-harm.