Reciprocal association between pain and quality of life after newly acquired spinal cord injury.

PURPOSE: Pain is highly prevalent in spinal cord injury (SCI) and a key determinant of quality of life (QoL). This is the first study to examine reciprocal associations between pain and QoL in patients undergoing their first inpatient rehabilitation after SCI. METHODS: Longitudinal data, with three measurement time points (1 month and 3 months after SCI onset, and at discharge from inpatient rehabilitation) from the Inception Cohort of the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Study. Participants were 381 individuals aged ≥ 16 years with a newly diagnosed traumatic or non-traumatic SCI. 75.1% were male and the average age was 53.2 years. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models were conducted to examine the reciprocal association between pain intensity and QoL, as measured with the International SCI QoL Basic Data Set three individual items (satisfaction with life, physical health, and psychological health) and total score (mean of the three individual items). RESULTS: Both item and total QoL scores increased over time. 1 month: 5.3 (SD = 2.7), 3 months: 5.9 (SD = 2.3), discharge: 6.6 (SD = 2.0). Participants reported relatively low levels of pain intensity that remained stable over the course of inpatient rehabilitation. 1 month: 2.7 (SD = 2.3), 3 months: 2.6 (SD = 2.4), discharge: 2.7 (SD = 2.5). There were no significant cross-lagged associations between QoL and pain intensity across time. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that pain intensity does not predict changes in QoL during first rehabilitation, and vice versa. Associations between pain intensity and QoL reported by previous studies may be attributable to individual characteristics and timely events that simultaneously influence pain and QoL.

Informal care and mental health in Germany: What are the differences between non-migrants and ethnic German immigrants? A longitudinal comparative analysis.

OBJECTIVE: In aging Germany, a large part of care is provided by informal caregivers. We aimed to analyze the main drivers of the mental health of caregivers and their intersection with migration status. METHODS: Using panel data covering 18 years (n = 25,659 individuals, aged 16 to 103 years; mean age of 49.5 years) and applying linear regression models we investigated the association between informal caregiving and mental health. We compared non-migrant Germans (NMG) and ethnic German immigrants (EGI), who are the oldest immigrant group in Germany. Informal caregiving was defined as living with a person in need of care or by providing care for ≥2 h per day; the main health outcomes were mental health and mental health changes, measured by a metric scale of six items. RESULTS: Even accounting for selection into caregiving, short-term care seemed to be disadvantageous only for NMG, while long-term care was generally associated with poorer mental health, with a particular disadvantage for EGI. Socio-economic characteristics and personality traits affected mental health changes, but only weakly the caregiving-health association. CONCLUSION: Informal caregiving presents a health burden which is not explained by socio-economic characteristics and personality, but by migration status. Policies to promote health in an aging society need to consider differences in short- and long-term care provision and between migrants and the non-migrants.

The Effect of Inequality and Prosperity on the European Market for Gambling Machines: A Socioeconomic Panel Analysis.

This study examines the potential influence of prosperity and inequality on gambling participation in Europe. We combined data from the Eurostat database, the Global Wealth Report, and the European Casino Association and estimated fixed effects panel regression models. We show that income inequality has a negative effect on the number of gambling machines that flattens for high values, while wealth inequality has a linear negative effect. Moreover, an increase in the disposable income of the lower quintiles leads to significant increases in the number of gambling machines per country. These findings are important for future researchers who relate any kind of economic variable to gambling as well as for policy makers, as our results suggest that the lower-income groups should be given the most attention with regards to gambling regulation.

The temporal relationship between depressive symptoms and self-rated health across adulthood.

Objective: Depressive symptoms have been found to relate to diminished self-rated health (SRH), which is a reliable index of general health. Despite such associations, there is limited research examining the bidirectional temporal relationship between these variables. The current study is the first to investigate the longitudinal relationship between depressive symptoms and SRH utilizing a cross-lagged panel analysis in a sample that spans adulthood (ages 18-93).Method: Data from the Virginia Cognitive Aging Project were used to examine the temporal relationship between depressive symptoms and SRH in a cross-lagged panel analysis using structural equation modeling.Results: A bidirectional temporal relationship, which was not moderated by age, was established between depressive symptoms and SRH.Conclusion: This article is the first to demonstrate that depressive symptoms and SRH influence each other reciprocally over time across adulthood, even after controlling for relevant variables. Considering the ubiquity and ramifications of depressive symptoms among American adults, these results highlight the importance of investigating mechanisms that could elucidate the link between the variables in question.

Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Profiling Using Multiple Forskolin-Responsive Reporter Cells.

We have developed a highly sensitive promoter trap vector system using transposons to generate reporter cells with high efficiency. Using an EGFP/luciferase reporter cell clone responsive to forskolin, which is thought to activate adenylate cyclase, isolated from human chronic myelogenous leukemia cell line K562, we found several compounds unexpectedly caused reporter responses. These included tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as dasatinib and cerdulatinib, which were seemingly unrelated to the forskolin-reactive pathway. To investigate whether any other clones of forskolin-responsive cells would show the same response, nine additional forskolin-responsive clones, each with a unique integration site, were generated and quantitatively evaluated by luciferase assay. The results showed that each clone represented different response patterns to the reactive compounds. Also, it became clear that each of the reactive compounds could be profiled as a unique pattern by the 10 reporter clones. When other TKIs, mainly bcr-abl inhibitors, were evaluated using a more focused set of five reporter clones, they also showed unique profiling. Among them, dasatinib and bosutinib, and imatinib and bafetinib showed homologous profiling. The tyrosine kinase inhibitors mentioned above are approved as anticancer agents, and the system could be used for similarity evaluation, efficacy prediction, etc., in the development of new anticancer agents.

Longitudinal relationship between quality of life and negative life events among adolescents during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-lagged panel analysis.

BACKGROUND: The negative association of quality of life (QoL) and negative life evens (NLEs) among adolescents has been proved by cross-sectional studies, without exploring sex differences. This study aimed to explore the longitudinal associations between QoL and NLEs among adolescents during novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and whether there are sex or age differences. METHODS: A stratified cluster sampling was used to select 1421 students in primary school and middle school in Chongqing, China. From November 2020 (T0) to December 2021 (T2), the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist and the Adolescent Quality of Life Scale were used to collect 3 waves of data. The correlations between study variables were conducted by the Pearson correlation analyses. The direction and strength of the longitudinal associations were analyzed using cross-lagged panel analyses. RESULTS: Results showed significant changes in both variables during COVID-19 pandemic (P < 0.001). Cross-sectional analyses showed stable negative correlations between NLEs and QoL stratified by sex or by age (P < 0.001). Sex and age differences in longitudinal relationships were shown by cross-lagged panel analyses. For males, NLEs had a short-term bi-directional association with QoL [ßA-D = -(0.091-0.340), P < 0.05]; for females, QoL had a short-term correlation with NLEs [ßA = -0.119), ßC = -0.109), P < 0.001]. In the youngest age group, NLEs had a short-term bi-directional correlation with QoL [ßA-D = -(0.098-0.428), P < 0.05]. There was a short-term association between total QoL and NLEs among students except the 14∼15 year group [ßA = -(0.071-0.149), ßC = -(0.086-0.119), P < 0.05], the long-term association between total QoL and NLEs was only significant in adolescents aged 14∼15 years (ßE = -0.132, P < 0.05). The strength of NLEs was slightly higher than that of total QoL, but lower than that of QoL in each dimension. CONCLUSION: There were negative longitudinal relationships between NLEs and QoL during COVID-19 pandemic, and the strength of the associations varied across sex or age. Strengthening QoL in different dimensions may be a promising way to reduce NLEs during the pandemic among adolescents, and interventions should be tailored according different sex and ages.

Is social support beneficial for military cadets to accomplish empowerment? Findings from a long-term cross-lagged panel analysis.

Social support and empowerment are central to health and wellbeing. Besides, social support is often the primary means to help students improve their mental health and accomplish empowerment. However, military academies are an atypical form of tertiary education. Is social support still beneficial for military cadets to accomplish empowerment? Or does empowerment influence the extent of social support a person receives? This study sought to examine the reciprocal relationships between social support and empowerment in military academies, as well as to examine the sex differences in this model. A longitudinal panel survey of military cadets was carried out from the years 2019 to 2021. A crosslagged path model design was used on a sample of military cadets (N = 898) measured on three occasions one year apart. The results suggested that no cross-lagged associations between social support and empowerment. The three-year panel data consistently showed that social support does not enhance military cadets' empowerment, whereas empowerment significantly influences their perceived social support. Furthermore, there were no sex differences in this model. Finally, the findings informed practitioners and future research could be pay attention to the particularity in military settings, in order to provide adequate interventions and services for military cadets.

Externalizing the threat from within: A new direction for researching associations between suicide and psychotic experiences.

A recent suicidal drive hypothesis posits that psychotic experiences (PEs) may serve to externalize internally generated and self-directed threat (i.e., self-injurious/suicidal behavior [SIB]) in order to optimize survival; however, it must first be demonstrated that such internal threat can both precede and inform PEs. The current study conducted the first known bidirectional analysis of SIB and PEs to test whether SIB could be considered as a plausible antecedent for PEs. Prospective data were utilized from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 2232 twins, that captured SIB (any self-harm or suicidal attempt) and PEs at ages 12 and 18 years. Cross-lagged panel models demonstrated that the association between SIB at age 12 and PEs at age 18 was as strong as the association between PEs at age 12 and SIB at age 18. Indeed, the best representation of the data was a model where these paths were constrained to be equal (OR = 2.48, 95% CI = 1.63-3.79). Clinical interview case notes for those who reported both SIB and PEs at age 18, revealed that PEs were explicitly characterized by SIB/threat/death-related content for 39% of cases. These findings justify further investigation of the suicidal drive hypothesis.

The effect of informal caregiving on physical health among non-migrants and Ethnic German Immigrants in Germany: a cohort analysis based on the GSOEP 2000-2018.

BACKGROUND: The number of people in need of care in Germany has been rising since decades, which is related to an increasing need and relevance of informal caregiving. Likewise, the number of people with a migration background has been increasing. This study aims to analyse the impact of informal caregiving on physical health in comparative perspective for Ethnic German Immigrants (EGI) - the largest and oldest immigrant group in Germany - and non-migrant Germans (NMG). METHODS: The sample was drawn from the years 2000-2018 of the German Socio-Economic Panel (n = 26,354). NMG (n = 24,634) and EGI (n = 1,720) were categorized into non-caregivers (n = 24,379) and caregivers (n = 1,975), where the latter were distinguished by 1) their caregiving status and history (current, former, and never caregiver) and 2) the number of years in the caregiver role. Generalized Estimating Equations were applied to examine main effects and the interaction effects of caregiving status and migration background for changes in physical health (n = 102,066 observations). RESULTS: Adjusting for socioeconomic, household related, and individual characteristics, NMG and EGI had similar caregiving patterns and physical health. However, the interaction between migration background and caregiving revealed significantly higher declines in physical health for currently caregiving EGI. Sensitivity analyses indicated that particularly socioeconomic resources moderated this effect. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that caregiving is associated with declines in physical health, particularly in the long term and for EGI. This implies that care-related disadvantages accumulate over time and that the association of caregiving, health and associated determinants are culturally diverse and shaped by migration background. Both the health disadvantages of caregivers and EGI might be mitigated by a positive social and socioeconomic setting, which highlights the relevance of supporting structures and benefits for these subgroups.

Interaction between self-perceived disease control and self-management behaviours among Chinese middle-aged and older hypertensive patients: the role of subjective life expectancy.

BACKGROUND: One of the effective ways to control hypertension is long-term self-management, which is difficult to maintain. Therefore, understanding how people engage in the process of self-management behaviour change is necessary. In this study, we aimed to examine the dynamic relationship between self-perceived disease control and self-management behaviours in Chinese middle-aged and older hypertensive patients, namely, medication use, self-monitoring, physical activity, tobacco and alcohol avoidance, and to explore the mediating role of subjective life expectancy (SLE) on this relationship. METHODS: Data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 508 middle-aged and older hypertensive patients (aged 45+) from the 2013, 2015, and 2018 waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. A cross-lagged panel model combined with mediation analysis was used to determine the dynamic relationship between self-perceived disease control and self-management behaviours and to clarify the mediating effect of SLE on this ascertained relationship. RESULTS: Good self-perceived disease control subsequently predicted good medication use, self-monitoring and physical activity, and vice versa. Subjective life expectancy (SLE) partially mediated the prospective reciprocal relationships between self-perceived disease control and these self-management behaviours, which accounted for 37.11, 25.88, and 19.39% of the total effect of self-perceived disease control on medication use, self-monitoring and physical activity, respectively. These self-management behaviours had a significant and positive feedback effect on self-perceived disease control. However, neither the direct and indirect effects (via SLE) of self-perceived disease control on tobacco and alcohol avoidance were revealed. CONCLUSIONS: Positive feedback loops of present self-perceived disease control, future SLE and self-management behaviours (medication use, self-monitoring, and physical activity) help middle-aged and older hypertensive patients adhere to these behaviours but are useless for the avoidance of addictive behaviours. Interventions aimed at enhancing the effect perception of general self-management behaviours (e.g., medication use, self-monitoring and physical activity) on the present disease control perspective, and future lifespan perspective would be beneficial for the consistent self-management behaviours of middle-aged and older hypertensive patients. The utility of present disease control perception to these self-management behaviours was much higher than the utility of future expectations. Alternative stress relief strategies may be conducive to long-term changes in addictive behaviours.

Assessing the spatial effects of economic freedom on forest-products, grazing-land, and cropland footprints: The case of Asia-Pacific countries.

The literature has shown that economic freedom yields higher economic growth. However, the nexus between economic freedom and the environment in a world of spatial dependency is unclear. Using data from a panel of seventeen Asia-Pacific countries from 2000 to 2017, we investigate the direct and spillover effects of economic freedom (as measured by the annual indexes developed by the Heritage Foundation) and other variables on the ecological footprint of three land-cover types: cropland, forest products, and grazing land. Diagnostic tests confirm the existence of spatial-interaction effects in forest products and grazing land but reject it for cropland. Using a spatial Durbin panel model, we find that the intensity of energy use has a significant impact on the environmental footprint of all resource types. We also confirm the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for forest products and grazing land but not cropland. Unlike previous researchers, we find cropland footprints are unaffected by natural resource rents. We also find that the tax burden is the only economic freedom indicator with a positive and significant impact on all three environmental footprints. Our findings suggest that more investment freedom reduces environmental pressure on cropland and forest-products footprints but has a nonsignificant effect on the grazing-land footprint. Further, financial freedom reduces the forest-products footprint and increases the grazing-land footprint. Property rights, the tax burden, and business freedom increase environmental pressure while government spending lessens grazing land's ecological footprint. Our indirect and overall impact analyses suggest that all types of economic freedom reduce environmental strain in our panel. This research points to the importance of enacting environmental regulations in a way that guarantees ecological sustainability and economic development.

Is the Effect of Environmental Attitudes on Behavior Driven Solely by Unobserved Heterogeneity?

A large body of research exists investigating the link between environmental attitudes and behavior. Many empirical studies have found modest positive effects, suggesting that attitudes toward the environment might indeed influence environmental behavior. However, most of the previous empirical work is cross-sectional and correlational in nature. This means that the issue of the causal effect of environmental attitudes on behavior is far from settled, and that the relationships observed in the past may be due to unobserved confounders. In a panel study using six waves of the GESIS Panel Survey, we examine the individual-level effect of changes in one's attitudes on changes in different forms of environmental behavior. We use fixed effects panel regression within the structural equation modeling framework to control for unobserved time-invariant confounders, while also tackling other methodological challenges. We find that environmental attitudes have no effect on behavior after controlling for unobserved confounders. However, there is a robust effect of attitudes on willingness to sacrifice. This suggests that creating more positive attitudes might make individuals more willing to accept sacrifices for environmental protection.

Maternal feeding style and child weight status among Hispanic families with low-income levels: a longitudinal study of the direction of effects.

BACKGROUND: The home environment is a central and modifiable influence on the development of childhood obesity. Evidence supports the central role of parents in shaping problematic child eating behaviors and excess weight. Most studies of feeding emphasize parent-driven influences without taking into account the child's role in eating interactions. Few studies have addressed the bi-directional nature of feeding dynamics in studies of young children. METHODS: The goals of this study were: 1) to examine if parental feeding styles during preschool (4-5 years) predict child weight status at 7-9 years, and 2) to examine the direction of effects between parental feeding styles and child weight status over time. Participants were part of a larger longitudinal study of Hispanic Head Start families living in the West South Central United States. Data from mother/child dyads were collected at three time points: Time 1 (ages 4-5), Time 2 (ages 5 ½-6 ½), and at Time 3 (ages 7-9). Only data from the Times 1 and 3 were used in the current analyses. A total of 128 mothers and their children had data on all variables needed for the analyses. Assessments included parent-reported feeding styles, feeding practices, acculturation, child eating behaviors, and child height and weight. Hierarchical regression was used to examine the first aim; a cross-lagged panel analysis examined the second aim. RESULTS: An indulgent parental feeding style at ages 4-5 was associated with increased child BMI z-score at ages 7-9. Indulgent feeding significantly contributed to child BMI z-score beyond demographics, baseline child BMI z-score, parental acculturation, and child eating behaviors. Regarding the direction of effects in parental feeding interactions, the cross-lagged analyses showed that both indulgent feeding style and authoritative feeding style at Time 1 positively predicted child BMI z-scores at Time 3. Child effects were significant as well. Child BMI z-score at Time 1 positively predicted indulgent feeding and negatively predicted authoritarian feeding at Time 3. CONCLUSIONS: Indulgent feeding should be addressed in future family-focused childhood obesity initiatives focused on young children and their parents.

Faculty and programmatic influences on the percentage of graduates of color from professional physical therapy programs in the United States.

The physical therapy profession in the United States suffers from a shortage of providers of color. This is unlikely to change with newly graduating students, as 2.6% of 2017 graduates were African American and 5.7% were Hispanic or Latino. Faculty mentorship has a more profound influence on the retention of underrepresented minority students as compared with students from privileged backgrounds, according to undergraduate literature. The influences of faculty characteristics on physical therapy graduates of color are unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine faculty and programmatic characteristics that could influence the percentage of physical therapy graduates of color. This study implemented the theory of academic capitalism to inform the results of a retrospective panel analysis, which used accreditation data from 2008 to 2017. Data from 231 programs was used to create fixed effects and random effects models to estimate the effects that faculty and program characteristics had on the percentage of graduates of color that a program produced. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between faculty of color and graduates of color (p < 0.001), but faculty must be sufficiently diverse before a program can expect a meaningful change in their percentage of graduates of color. Academic capitalist principles suggest that competition between programs for resources could negatively influence the proportion of graduates of color. Cause and effect associations between variables cannot be established. The authors concluded that professional physical therapy programs appeared to have increases in the percentages of graduates of color when they had more core faculty members of color.

From income inequality to social inequity: impact on health levels in an international efficiency comparison panel.

BACKGROUND: Health equity, although addressed in several publications dealing with health efficiency analysis, is not easily translated into the operationalization of variables, mainly due to technical difficulties. Some studies provide evidence that it does not influence health outcomes; others demonstrate that its effect is an indirect one, with the hegemony of material living conditions over its social connotation. The aim of this article is to evaluate the role of health equity in determining health outcomes, in an international comparative analysis of the effectiveness and efficiency of health systems. METHOD: Fixed Effects Model Panel and Data Envelopment Analysis, a dynamic and network model, in addition to comparative analysis between methods and health impacts. The effect variables considered in the study were life expectancy at birth and infant mortality, in 2010 and 2015, according to the sociocultural regions of the selected countries. Inequity was assessed both economically and socially. The following dimensions were considered: physical and financial resources, health production (access, coverage and prevention) and intersectoral variables: demographic, socioeconomic, governance and health risks. RESULTS: Both methods demonstrated that countries with higher inequity levels (regarding income, education and health dimensions), associated or not with poverty, are the least efficient, not reaching the potential for effective health outcomes. The outcome life expectancy at birth exhibited, in the final model, the following variables: social inequity and per capita health expenditure. The outcome infant mortality comprehended the level of education variable, in association with the following healthcare variabels: care seeking due to diarrhea in children under five, births attended by skilled health professionals and the reduction in the incidence of HIV. CONCLUSION: The dissociation between the distribution of health outcomes and the overall level of health of the population characterizes a devastating political choice for society, as it is associated with high levels of segregation, disrespect and violence from within. Countries should prioritize health equity, adding value to its resources, since health inequties affect society altogether, generating mistrust and reduced social cohesion.

Psychotropic medication use and academic performance in adolescence: A cross-lagged path analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The study investigated the directionality of associations between mental health problems and school grades across two timepoints (T1 and T2) during mid to late adolescence; in school year 9 (ages 15-16) and school year 12 (ages 17-18). The study also investigated variation in the associations as a function of gender and across socioeconomic groups. METHODS: Longitudinal data from several Swedish administrative registers were utilised. Information on prescribed psychotropic drugs was used as a proxy for mental health problems, and teacher-assigned school grades were used to measure academic performance. The study sample comprised 85 186 individuals (50.7% girls) born in 1991 who were alive and resident in Sweden in 2010. Directions of associations were analysed by estimating a series of cross-lagged path models. RESULTS: The model with the best fit to data showed that higher school grades at T1 were associated with relatively lower rates of mental health problems by T2, for both boys and girls, mainly in socioeconomic groups with the highest educated parents. This association was equal in size across all of the socioeconomic groups that were explored. CONCLUSIONS: Performing well in school is equally important for boys' and girls' subsequent mental health, but only among adolescents in socioeconomic groups with the highest educated parents. The results underscore the importance of promoting opportunities for youth to do as well as they can in school.

The Bidirectional Relationship Between Subjective Well-Being and Academic Achievement in Adolescence.

The well-being of young people in relation to their school performance has received increased attention in recent years. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the longitudinal and reciprocal relationship between adolescents' subjective well-being and their academic achievements. The current study examined the bidirectional relationship between subjective well-being and academic achievement across two timepoints (T1 and T2) during the course of mid to late adolescence, i.e., in school year 9 (age 15), and school years 11-12 (ages 17-18). The study also investigated variation in the association as a function of adolescent gender. Data on subjective well-being and teacher-assigned school grades of 723 adolescents (48.7% girls) residing in Sweden were analyzed by estimating a series of cross-lagged path models. The findings suggest gender differences in the relationship as no associations were found among boys. Support for a bidirectional relationship between the constructs was only found for girls. For girls, higher subjective well-being at T1 was associated with higher academic achievements at T2, while higher academic achievements at T1 was associated with lower subjective well-being at T2. These findings highlight that the subjective well-being of adolescent girls may be important for their ability to perform at school, but their academic achievements may also inflict negatively on their subjective well-being.

[Differential Stability and Interrater-Dependencies in the Assessment of Psychopathological Symptoms: Longitudinal Analyses Based on the SDQ in Children with and without Specific Learning Disabilities]. / Differentielle Stabilität und Interrater-Dependenzen bei der Beurteilung psychischer Auffälligkeiten: Längsschnittliche Analysen mit dem SDQ bei Kindern mit und ohne Lernstörungen.

Differential Stability and Interrater-Dependencies in the Assessment of Psychopathological Symptoms: Longitudinal Analyses Based on the SDQ in Children with and without Specific Learning Disabilities A widely used open access instrument for screening of internalising and externalising problem behaviour is the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). For the use of the SDQ in clinical practice, information about its differential validity and applicability for follow-up assessments is relevant. Therefore, the aim was to study the SDQ regarding differential stability in the repeatedly collected child, parent and teacher reports. As the social context influences the perception of symptoms, we additionally explored the extent to which the child, parent and teacher reports influenced each other. Also, we studied differences in problem behaviour between children with and without specific learning disabilities and between girls and boys. To this end, 60 children from 5th and 6th grade with and without specific learning disabilities and their parents and teachers filled in the SDQ at three time points during secondary school. The results of the cross-lagged-panel-analyses showed substantial stability for almost all subscales. This shows that in their SDQ-reports, parents, children and teachers can separate the stable parts of problem behaviour from situational variations therein. Inter-rater dependencies between the different reports in the form of cross-delayed effects could be identified mainly from the adult to the child reports and clarify the caregiver's influence on the children's symptom perception. With respect to specific learning disabilities, the results showed differences only for the subscale related to hyperactivity: children with specific learning disabilities had more parent-reported, but less self-reported hyperactive symptoms than children without. Girls reported more emotional problems and boys more conduct problems and less prosocial behavior. Teacher and parents reported almost no differences between boys and girls. The results support the usefulness of the SDQ for repeated assessments in clinical practice.

Stability and change of values during the formative years: Latent state-trait analyses of adolescents in a seven-wave panel study.

OBJECTIVE: Many researchers agree that a person's values are formed during the first two decades of one's life span. But little is known about the exact formation process and the typical development of values during youth. In this article, we investigate the question of intra-individual stability and changes in values during the so-called formative years. METHOD: We used the dataset of a German panel study that took place in seven waves, from 2002 to 2008 (t1 -t7 ), which contained responses obtained from 2,957 boys and girls ages 13-19. The interviews were repeated yearly and were held mainly in classrooms. An analysis of stability and change over the observed time period was done using the framework of latent state-trait theory. RESULTS: The results showed a stable three-dimensional value structure, with strong growth in value stability that decreased slightly at the end of the adolescent period. The development of stability among youth seems to be dependent on the values themselves. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with the aging-stability hypothesis-that is, values become more and more stable parts of an individual's personality during the formative years. Moreover, our results would seem to substantiate hypotheses that assume value-specific courses of development and recurring periods of stability and change later in the life cycle.

Perceived parental sacrifice, filial piety and hopelessness among Chinese adolescents: A cross-lagged panel study.

INTRODUCTION: There is a dearth of research on examining the longitudinal effects of cultural family processes on adolescent hopelessness, and the mechanisms through which the effects happen. Hence, the present study examined the relationship among parental (paternal and maternal) sacrifices, filial piety and adolescent hopelessness in the Chinese context. METHODS: The study was based on a three-wave longitudinal data from a sample of 1569 Chinese adolescents (Time 1: mean age = 13.15 ± .92 years; 50.8% girls). The adolescents were invited to fill out a questionnaire containing measurements of studied variables thrice, at an interval of one year. RESULTS: The results of cross-lagged panel analysis indicated that maternal sacrifice was associated with filial piety, which in turn was linked with hopelessness among Chinese adolescents. Moreover, there was bidirectional effects of adolescent hopelessness at earlier time point on paternal and maternal sacrifice at later time point via filial piety. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that maternal sacrifice serves as a protective factor that reduces adolescents' sense of hopelessness via the development of filial piety. At the same time, the bidirectional indirect effects of filial piety on the relationship between parental sacrifice and adolescent hopelessness also alert family researchers and youth practitioners on the child effects on parental behavior in Chinese families. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.