LF-rTMS ameliorates social dysfunction of FMR1-/- mice via modulating Akt/GSK-3ß signaling.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurological disorders which affect approximately 1% of children around the world. Social dysfunction is one of the two core syndromes of ASD, and still lacks effective treatment. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive and safe procedure that uses magnetic fields to modulate neural activity. Whether it were effective in modulating social function remains unclear. By using 3-chamber test, ultrasonic vocalization recording and Western-blotting, we demonstrated that FMR1 (fragile X mental retardation protein) mutant mice, a model of ASD, exhibited obvious defects in social preference and ultrasonic communication. In addition, we detected increase of p-Akt (S473) and p-GSK-3ß (S9), and decrease of p-PSD-95 (T19) in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of FMR1-/- mice. Treating FMR1-/- mice with 1 Hz repetitive TMS (rTMS) exerted a long lasting effect in improving both the ultrasonic communication and social preference, as well as restoring the levels of Akt/GSK-3ß activity and spine density in the FMR1-/-ACC. Our data, for the first time, demonstrated a beneficial effect of low frequency rTMS (LF-rTMS) on the social function of FMR1-/- mice and an involvement of Akt/GSK-3ß signaling in this process, indicating LF-rTMS as a potential therapeutic strategy for ASD patients.

Individual-, family-, and school-level interventions targeting multiple risk behaviours in young people.

BACKGROUND: Engagement in multiple risk behaviours can have adverse consequences for health during childhood, during adolescence, and later in life, yet little is known about the impact of different types of interventions that target multiple risk behaviours in children and young people, or the differential impact of universal versus targeted approaches. Findings from systematic reviews have been mixed, and effects of these interventions have not been quantitatively estimated. OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of interventions implemented up to 18 years of age for the primary or secondary prevention of multiple risk behaviours among young people. SEARCH METHODS: We searched 11 databases (Australian Education Index; British Education Index; Campbell Library; Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL); Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), in the Cochrane Library; Embase; Education Resource Information Center (ERIC); International Bibliography of the Social Sciences; MEDLINE; PsycINFO; and Sociological Abstracts) on three occasions (2012, 2015, and 14 November 2016)). We conducted handsearches of reference lists, contacted experts in the field, conducted citation searches, and searched websites of relevant organisations. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), including cluster RCTs, which aimed to address at least two risk behaviours. Participants were children and young people up to 18 years of age and/or parents, guardians, or carers, as long as the intervention aimed to address involvement in multiple risk behaviours among children and young people up to 18 years of age. However, studies could include outcome data on children > 18 years of age at the time of follow-up. Specifically,we included studies with outcomes collected from those eight to 25 years of age. Further, we included only studies with a combined intervention and follow-up period of six months or longer. We excluded interventions aimed at individuals with clinically diagnosed disorders along with clinical interventions. We categorised interventions according to whether they were conducted at the individual level; the family level; or the school level. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We identified a total of 34,680 titles, screened 27,691 articles and assessed 424 full-text articles for eligibility. Two or more review authors independently assessed studies for inclusion in the review, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias.We pooled data in meta-analyses using a random-effects (DerSimonian and Laird) model in RevMan 5.3. For each outcome, we included subgroups related to study type (individual, family, or school level, and universal or targeted approach) and examined effectiveness at up to 12 months' follow-up and over the longer term (> 12 months). We assessed the quality and certainty of evidence using the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. MAIN RESULTS: We included in the review a total of 70 eligible studies, of which a substantial proportion were universal school-based studies (n = 28; 40%). Most studies were conducted in the USA (n = 55; 79%). On average, studies aimed to prevent four of the primary behaviours. Behaviours that were most frequently addressed included alcohol use (n = 55), drug use (n = 53), and/or antisocial behaviour (n = 53), followed by tobacco use (n = 42). No studies aimed to prevent self-harm or gambling alongside other behaviours.Evidence suggests that for multiple risk behaviours, universal school-based interventions were beneficial in relation to tobacco use (odds ratio (OR) 0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.60 to 0.97; n = 9 studies; 15,354 participants) and alcohol use (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.92; n = 8 studies; 8751 participants; both moderate-quality evidence) compared to a comparator, and that such interventions may be effective in preventing illicit drug use (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.55 to 1.00; n = 5 studies; 11,058 participants; low-quality evidence) and engagement in any antisocial behaviour (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.98; n = 13 studies; 20,756 participants; very low-quality evidence) at up to 12 months' follow-up, although there was evidence of moderate to substantial heterogeneity (I² = 49% to 69%). Moderate-quality evidence also showed that multiple risk behaviour universal school-based interventions improved the odds of physical activity (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.50; I² = 0%; n = 4 studies; 6441 participants). We considered observed effects to be of public health importance when applied at the population level. Evidence was less certain for the effects of such multiple risk behaviour interventions for cannabis use (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.62 to 1.01; P = 0.06; n = 5 studies; 4140 participants; I² = 0%; moderate-quality evidence), sexual risk behaviours (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.12; P = 0.22; n = 6 studies; 12,633 participants; I² = 77%; low-quality evidence), and unhealthy diet (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.64 to 1.06; P = 0.13; n = 3 studies; 6441 participants; I² = 49%; moderate-quality evidence). It is important to note that some evidence supported the positive effects of universal school-level interventions on three or more risk behaviours.For most outcomes of individual- and family-level targeted and universal interventions, moderate- or low-quality evidence suggests little or no effect, although caution is warranted in interpretation because few of these studies were available for comparison (n ≤ 4 studies for each outcome).Seven studies reported adverse effects, which involved evidence suggestive of increased involvement in a risk behaviour among participants receiving the intervention compared to participants given control interventions.We judged the quality of evidence to be moderate or low for most outcomes, primarily owing to concerns around selection, performance, and detection bias and heterogeneity between studies. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Available evidence is strongest for universal school-based interventions that target multiple- risk behaviours, demonstrating that they may be effective in preventing engagement in tobacco use, alcohol use, illicit drug use, and antisocial behaviour, and in improving physical activity among young people, but not in preventing other risk behaviours. Results of this review do not provide strong evidence of benefit for family- or individual-level interventions across the risk behaviours studied. However, poor reporting and concerns around the quality of evidence highlight the need for high-quality multiple- risk behaviour intervention studies to further strengthen the evidence base in this field.

Early adolescent Rai1 reactivation reverses transcriptional and social interaction deficits in a mouse model of Smith-Magenis syndrome.

Haploinsufficiency of Retinoic Acid Induced 1 (RAI1) causes Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS), a syndromic autism spectrum disorder associated with craniofacial abnormalities, intellectual disability, and behavioral problems. There is currently no cure for SMS. Here, we generated a genetic mouse model to determine the reversibility of SMS-like neurobehavioral phenotypes in Rai1 heterozygous mice. We show that normalizing the Rai1 level 3-4 wk after birth corrected the expression of genes related to neural developmental pathways and fully reversed a social interaction deficit caused by Rai1 haploinsufficiency. In contrast, Rai1 reactivation 7-8 wk after birth was not beneficial. We also demonstrated that the correct Rai1 dose is required in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons for proper social interactions. Finally, we found that Rai1 heterozygous mice exhibited a reduction of dendritic spines in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and that optogenetic activation of mPFC neurons in adults improved the social interaction deficit of Rai1 heterozygous mice. Together, these results suggest the existence of a postnatal temporal window during which restoring Rai1 can improve the transcriptional and social behavioral deficits in a mouse model of SMS. It is possible that circuit-level interventions would be beneficial beyond this critical window.

Prenatal influenza vaccination rescues impairments of social behavior and lamination in a mouse model of autism.

BACKGROUND: Prenatal infection is a substantial risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism in offspring. We have previously reported that influenza vaccination (VAC) during early pregnancy contributes to neurogenesis and behavioral function in offspring. RESULTS: Here, we probe the efficacy of VAC pretreatment on autism-like behaviors in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced maternal immune activation (MIA) mouse model. We show that VAC improves abnormal fetal brain cytoarchitecture and lamination, an effect associated with promotion of intermediate progenitor cell differentiation in MIA fetal brain. These beneficial effects are sufficient to prevent social deficits in adult MIA offspring. Furthermore, whole-genome analysis suggests a strong interaction between Ikzf1 (IKAROS family zinc-finger 1) and neuronal differentiation. Intriguingly, VAC rescues excessive microglial Ikzf1 expression and attenuates microglial inflammatory responses in the MIA fetal brain. CONCLUSIONS: Our study implies that a preprocessed influenza vaccination prevents maternal bacterial infection from causing neocortical lamination impairments and autism-related behaviors in offspring.

Promoting positive youth development: a psychosocial intervention evaluation / La promoción del desarrollo positivo en la juventud: evaluación de una intervención psicosocial

Convergence among treatment, prevention, and developmental psychosocial intervention approaches has led to the recognition of the need for evaluation models and research designs that employ a full range of evaluation information to provide an empirical basis for enhancing the efficiency, efficacy, and effectiveness of prevention and psychosocial positive youth development interventions (PYD). This study reports an investigation of a PYD psychosocial program using an Outcome Mediation Cascade (OMC) evaluation model, which is an integrated model for evaluating the empirical intersection between intervention and developmental processes. The Changing Lives Program (CLP) is a community engaged PYD psychosocial intervention for multi-ethnic, multi-problem at risk youth in urban alternative high schools. Findings indicated that the hypothesized model fit the data, χ2 (7) = 6.991, p= .43, RMSEA = .00, CFI = 1.00, WRMR = .459. Findings also provided preliminary evidence consistent with the hypothesis that, in addition to having effects on targeted positive outcomes, PYD interventions are likely to have progressive cascading effects on untargeted problem outcomes (in this case, behavioral outcomes) that operate through effects on positive outcomes

La convergencia entre enfoques de tratamiento, prevención e intervención psicosocial evolutiva ha dado lugar a que se reconozca que se necesitan modelos de evaluación y diseños de investigación que utilicen una gama completa de información sobre evaluación que siente la base empírica para mejorar la eficiencia, la eficacia y la efectividad de la prevención y de las intervenciones psicosociales en el desarrollo positivo de la juventud (DPJ). Este estudio trata de la investigación sobre un programa psicosocial sobre DPJ utilizando el Outcome Mediation Cascade (OMC), modelo integrado para evaluar la intersección empírica entre la intervención y los procesos de desarrollo. El Changing Lives Program (CLP) es una intervención psicosocial de DPJ en la que está implicada la comunidad para jóvenes multiétnicos en riesgo en colegios urbanos de secundaria alternativos. Los resultados indican que el modelo postulado se ajusta a los datos, χ2 (7) = 6.991, p= .43, RMSEA = .00, CFI = 1.00, WRMR = .459. Igualmente, los resultados aportan pruebas preliminares consistentes con la hipótesis de que además de tener influencia en los resultados positivos planeados es probable que las intervenciones DPJ tengan efectos progresivos en cascada en los resultados no previstos de los problemas (en este caso, resultados en el comportamiento) que operan a través de sus efectos en los resultados positivos

Long-Term Effects of the Communities That Care Trial on Substance Use, Antisocial Behavior, and Violence Through Age 21 Years.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether the effects of the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system, implemented in early adolescence to promote positive youth development and reduce health-risking behavior, endured through age 21 years. METHODS: We analyzed 9 waves of prospective data collected between 2004 and 2014 from a panel of 4407 participants (grade 5 through age 21 years) in the community-randomized trial of the CTC system in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Oregon, Utah, and Washington State. We used multilevel models to evaluate intervention effects on sustained abstinence, lifetime incidence, and prevalence of past-year substance use, antisocial behavior, and violence. RESULTS: The CTC system increased the likelihood of sustained abstinence from gateway drug use by 49% and antisocial behavior by 18%, and reduced lifetime incidence of violence by 11% through age 21 years. In male participants, the CTC system also increased the likelihood of sustained abstinence from tobacco use by 30% and marijuana use by 24%, and reduced lifetime incidence of inhalant use by 18%. No intervention effects were found on past-year prevalence of these behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of the CTC prevention system in adolescence reduced lifetime incidence of health-risking behaviors into young adulthood. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01088542.

Adapting and enhancing PAX Good Behavior Game for First Nations communities: a mixed-methods study protocol developed with Swampy Cree Tribal Council communities in Manitoba.

INTRODUCTION: High rates of mental health problems, such as suicidal behaviours, among First Nations youth in Canada are a major public health concern. The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a school-based intervention that provides a nurturing environment for children and has been shown to promote positive outcomes. PAX Good Behavior Game (PAX GBG) is an adaptation and enhancement of the GBG. While PAX GBG has been implemented in Indigenous communities, little research exists examining the cultural and contextual appropriateness and effectiveness of the intervention in First Nations communities. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The present paper describes a protocol of the mixed-methods approach guided by an Indigenous ethical engagement model adopted to implement, adapt and evaluate PAX GBG in First Nations communities in Manitoba, Canada. First, implementation outcomes (eg, acceptability, adoption) of PAX GBG will be evaluated using qualitative interviews with teachers, principals and community members from Swampy Cree Tribal Council (SCTC) communities. Second, by linking administrative databases to programme data from schools in 38 First Nations communities, we will compare PAX GBG and control groups to evaluate whether PAX GBG is associated with improved mental health and academic outcomes. Third, the qualitative results will help inform a cultural and contextual adaptation of PAX GBG called First Nations PAX (FN PAX). Fourth, FN PAX will be implemented in a few SCTC communities and evaluated using surveys and qualitative interviews followed by the remaining communities the subsequent year. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Manitoba Health Research Ethics Board and will be obtained from the Health Information Privacy Committee and respective data providers for the administrative database linkages. Dissemination and knowledge translation will include community and stakeholder engagement throughout the research process, reports and presentations for policymakers and community members, presentations at scientific conferences and journal publications.

Gluten- and casein-free diet and autism spectrum disorders in children: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: Effective treatments for core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are lacking. We systematically updated evidence on the effectiveness of a gluten-free and casein-free (GFCF) diet as a treatment for ASD in children. METHODS: The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases were searched up until August 2016, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs); additional references were obtained from reviewed articles. RESULTS: Six RCTs (214 participants) were included. With few exceptions, there were no statistically significant differences in autism spectrum disorder core symptoms between groups, as measured by standardized scales. One trial found that compared with the control group, in the GFCF diet group there were significant improvements in the scores for the 'communication' subdomain of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and for the 'social interaction' subdomain of the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale. Another trial found significant differences between groups in the post-intervention scores for the 'autistic traits', 'communication', and 'social contact' subdomains of a standardized Danish scheme. The remaining differences, if present, referred to parent-based assessment tools or other developmental/ASD-related features. No adverse events associated with a GFCF diet were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, there is little evidence that a GFCF diet is beneficial for the symptoms of ASD in children.

Repeated fluvoxamine treatment recovers early postnatal stress-induced hypersociability-like behavior in adult rats.

Childhood maltreatment is associated with impaired adult brain function, particularly in the hippocampus, and is not only a major risk factor for some psychiatric diseases but also affects early social development and social adaptation in later life. The aims of this study were to determine whether early postnatal stress affects social behavior and whether repeated fluvoxamine treatment reverses these changes. Rat pups were exposed to footshock stress during postnatal days 21-25 (at 3 weeks old: 3wFS). During the post-adolescent period (10-14 weeks postnatal), the social interaction test and Golgi-cox staining of dorsal hippocampal pyramidal neurons were performed. Following exposure to footshock stress, 3wFS rats showed an increase in social interaction time, which might be practically synonymous with hypersociability, and a decrease in spine density in the CA3 hippocampal subregion, but not in CA1. These behavioral and morphological changes were both recovered by repeated oral administration of fluvoxamine at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day for 14 days. These findings suggest that the vulnerability of the hippocampal CA3 region is closely related to social impairments induced by physical stress during the juvenile period and shed some light on therapeutic alternatives for early postnatal stress-induced emotional dysfunction.

Social Dysfunction and Diet Outcomes in People with Psychosis.

This analysis aimed to examine the association of social dysfunction with food security status, fruit intake, vegetable intake, meal frequency and breakfast consumption in people with psychosis from the Hunter New England (HNE) catchment site of the Survey of High Impact Psychosis (SHIP). Social dysfunction and dietary information were collected using standardised tools. Independent binary logistic regressions were used to examine the association between social dysfunction and food security status, fruit intake, vegetable intake, meal frequency and breakfast consumption. Although social dysfunction did not have a statistically significant association with most diet variables, participants with obvious to severe social dysfunction were 0.872 (95% CI (0.778, 0.976)) less likely to eat breakfast than those with no social dysfunction p < 0.05. Participants with social dysfunction were therefore, 13% less likely to have breakfast. This paper highlights high rates of social dysfunction, significant food insecurity, and intakes of fruits and vegetables below recommendations in people with psychosis. In light of this, a greater focus needs to be given to dietary behaviours and social dysfunction in lifestyle interventions delivered to people with psychosis. Well-designed observational research is also needed to further examine the relationship between social dysfunction and dietary behaviour in people with psychosis.

Carbon monoxide incompletely prevents isoflurane-induced defects in murine neurodevelopment.

BACKGROUND: Commonly used anesthetics have been shown to disrupt neurodevelopment in preclinical models. It has been proposed that such anesthesia-induced neurotoxicity is mediated by apoptotic neurodegeneration in the immature brain. Low dose carbon monoxide (CO) exerts cytoprotective properties and we have previously demonstrated that CO inhibits isoflurane-induced apoptosis in the developing murine brain. Here we utilized anti-apoptotic concentrations of CO to delineate the role of apoptotic neurodegeneration in anesthesia-induced neurotoxicity by assessing the effect of CO on isoflurane-induced defects in neurodevelopment. METHODS: C57Bl/6 mouse pups underwent 1-hour exposure to 0ppm (air), 5ppm, or 100ppm CO in air with or without isoflurane on postnatal day 7. Cohorts were evaluated 5-7weeks post exposure with T-maze cognitive testing followed by social behavior assessment. Brain size, whole brain cellular content, and neuronal density in primary somatosensory cortex and hippocampal CA3 region were measured as secondary outcomes 1-week or 5-7weeks post exposure along with 7-day old, unexposed controls. RESULTS: Isoflurane impaired memory acquisition and resulted in abnormal social behavior. Low concentration CO abrogated anesthetic-induced defects in memory acquisition, however, it also resulted in impaired spatial reference memory and social behavior abnormalities. Changes in brain size, cellular content, and neuronal density over time related to the age of the animal and were unaffected by either isoflurane or CO. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-apoptotic concentrations of CO incompletely prevented isoflurane-induced defects in neurodevelopment, lacked concentration-dependent effects, and only provided protection in certain domains suggesting that anesthesia-related neurotoxicity is not solely mediated by activation of the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.

[Effectiveness of School-based Interventions for the Prevention and/or Reduction of Psychosocial Problems among Children and Adolescents: A Review of Reviews]. / Wirksamkeit von schulbasierten Interventionen zur Prävention und/oder Reduktion psychosozialer Probleme bei Kindern und Jugendlichen: Ein Review von Reviews.

Objective: To summarize the current evidence on the effectiveness of school-based interventions for the maintenance of mental health and the prevention of psychosocial problems among pupils. Methods: A systematic literature search of reviews published between 2007 and 2015 was carried out. Databases searched included Medline, PsycINFO, Campbell Library, Cochrane Library, NICE, ERIC, and Web of Science. Study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment (using AMSTAR criteria) were performed by 2 independent reviewers. Results: 6 reviews covering 331 primary studies were included in this review of reviews. Findings of three reviews with a focus on the maintenance and/or promotion of mental health and general well-being suggested that interventions aimed at changes in the social and the school environment were more effective than those that only targeted individual behavior change among pupils. Interventions for the reduction of mobbing/bullying were most effective if they comprised organizational changes at schools, such as playground and schoolyard supervision, and disciplinary measures. One review suggested strong evidence for the effectiveness of classroom management to reduce violent behavior among pupils. Conclusions: Participation in interventions promoting changes in the school environment, in addition to individual behavior change, appears to be associated with improved mental health among pupils and reductions in mobbing/bullying and violent behavior at schools.

[On the Effectiveness of the Prevention Program JobFit: A Comparison of Different Class Levels]. / Zur Wirksamkeit des Präventionsprogramms JobFit: Ein Vergleich unterschiedlicher Klassenstufen.

The JobFit-Training for adolescents (Petermann u. Petermann, 2010) is a well documented behavioural psychological prevention program for students from the eighth grade and up. The present study examines the results of the evaluation of the practical implementation of the training over the course of two years. Data from 828 students could be collected in two measurements, before and after the intervention, out of which 323 were eighth-graders and 505 were ninth-graders. The analysis showed that eighth-graders profit more with regards to acquiring knowledge through the training than ninth-graders do. However, unlike male eighth-graders, female eighth-graders were unable to furthermore improve their social competences through the training. On the other hand the ninth-graders profit from the training in both groups with regards to their social competences.

(-)Epigallocatechin-3-gallate prevents the reserpine-induced impairment of short-term social memory in rats.

Reserpine has been confirmed to induce cognitive dysfunction and increase brain neural oxidative stress. Green tea catechins, particularly (-)epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), have strong antioxidative properties and can protect against numerous oxidative damages. In this study, we examined the possible protective effects of EGCG on reserpine-induced impairment of short-term memory in rats. Reserpine (1 mg/kg, intraperitoneal)-induced memory impairment was assessed using the social recognition task method; locomotor activity and the olfactory discrimination ability were not altered as measured by an open-field test and an olfactory discrimination test, respectively. EGCG treatment (100 and 300 mg/kg, intraperitoneal, for 7 days, starting 6 days before the reserpine injection) could improve the worsened social memory of reserpine-treated rats. Also, EGCG treatment reduced reserpine-induced lipid peroxidation and enhanced the antioxidation power in the hippocampi of reserpine-treated rats. These results suggest a protective effect of EGCG in treating reserpine-induced impairment of memory, most probably through its powerful antioxidative activities. Accordingly, EGCG may hold a clinically relevant value in preventing reserpine-induced cognitive dysfunction.

Long-term effects of prevention and treatment on youth antisocial behavior: A meta-analysis.

Youth antisocial behavior exacts a tremendous toll on society and often persists into adulthood. Although researchers have identified a number of psychosocial interventions that prevent or reduce youth antisocial behavior in the short term, evidence of long-term intervention benefits has only recently become available. In addition, research on such interventions spans two substantial but largely separate bodies of literature: prevention and therapy. The present study used meta-analysis to integrate research on the long-term effects of preventive and therapeutic interventions for youth antisocial behavior and examined potential moderators of these effects. Results from 66 intervention trials (i.e., 34 prevention, 32 therapy) indicated that a broad range of youth psychosocial interventions demonstrated modest effects on antisocial behavior (mean d=0.31, 95% confidence interval=0.23-0.39) for at least one year beyond the end of interventions relative to control conditions. Among other findings, moderator analyses revealed that inclusion of a peer group intervention component was associated with reduced intervention effects for samples consisting predominantly of boys or older youths. The results of this study have important implications for service providers, administrators, and policymakers involved in the implementation of preventive and therapeutic interventions targeting youth antisocial behavior.

Assessing neighborhood disorder: validation of a three-factor observational scale / Evaluación del desorden en los vecindarios: validación de una escala observacional de tres factores

This study presents data on the development and preliminary validation of an observational scale assessing neighborhood disorder. Independent observations by trained raters of neighborhood disorder were conducted in 552 census block groups in the city of Valencia (Spain). Intraclass correlation coefficients assessing inter-rater reliability indicated fair to substantial levels of agreement among raters. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a final three-factor model scale measuring physical disorder, social disorder, and physical decay. Results for the internal consistency showed large composite reliability indices indicating good reliability for all neighborhood disorder factors. Evidence of criterion-related validity was found by exploring associations between neighborhood disorder factors and three neighborhood characteristics: neighborhood socioeconomic status, immigrant concentration, and residential instability. Also for criterion-related validity, Moran's I test results for spatial correlation showed that the three types of neighborhood disorder tend to cluster in space and are not randomly distributed across the city. In general, this paper provides evidence of a reliable and valid observational measure to assess neighborhood disorder (AU)

Este estudio presenta el desarrollo y validación preliminar de una escala observacional para la evaluación del desorden en los vecindarios. Se realizaron observaciones independientes del desorden por evaluadores entrenados en 552 sectores censales de la ciudad de Valencia (España). Los coeficientes de correlación intraclase para la evaluación de la fiabilidad interjueces indicaron unos niveles adecuados de acuerdo entre jueces. Los resultados del análisis factorial confirmatorio apoyaron un modelo final de tres factores: desorden físico, desorden social y deterioro físico. La evaluación de la consistencia interna mediante composite reliability indices mostró valores elevados para todos los factores. La validez de criterio fue determinada mediante la exploración de las asociaciones entre los factores de desorden del vecindario y tres características del mismo: estatus socioeconómico, concentración de inmigrantes e inestabilidad residencial. Además, como medida de validez de criterio, el test de Moran que evalúa la correlación espacial mostró que los tres tipos de desorden tienden a agruparse espacialmente y no se distribuyen aleatoriamente en la ciudad. En general, este artículo proporciona evidencias de la fiabilidad y validez de una escala para la medida del desorden en los vecindarios (AU)

The association between adolescents' health and disparities in school career: a longitudinal cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Literature suggests that children's educational achievement is associated with their health status and the socioeconomic position of their parents. Few studies have investigated this association in adolescence, while this is an important period affecting future life trajectories. Our study investigates the relationship between adolescents' health and their subsequent school career, taking into account their parents' socioeconomic position. METHODS: Data of all Dutch adolescents who entered secondary education in 2003, according to the national education register, were linked to electronic health records from general practices and to data from the Dutch population register on a patient by patient basis. Secondary school career data of 2455 adolescents were available for several years, resulting in a longitudinal prospective cohort. School career was measured by the completion of secondary education within the research period. RESULTS: For most health problems, adolescents' health status at the moment of entering secondary education showed no association with the subsequent course of their school career. However, adolescents who had more frequent contact with their general practitioner for acute psychosocial problems (e.g. enuresis or overactive/hyperkinetic disorder), were less likely to complete their secondary education, also after adjustment for parental socioeconomic position. They were also less likely to complete their secondary education at the level of entry. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents' secondary school career is negatively affected by the presence of acute psychosocial health problems, but not by the presence of physical health problems. This underlines the importance of adequately addressing mental health problems in adolescence.