<p>Despite decades of research attention given to academic underachievement, longitudinal and developmental investigation of this phenomenon has been sparse. To address this shortcoming, the current study used a longitudinal, person-centered approach to identify latent subgroups of growth in the joint development of underachievement and four motivational beliefs (self-concept, task importance, psychological cost value, and self-worth) from first through sixth grade. Two types of underachievement latent classes emerged: one characterized by sustained underachievement and the other by growing underachievement (an Achievement class was also consistently found). Sustained, chronic underachievement was not associated with declines in self-concept or task importance, but was related to moderately lower levels of psychological cost value and self-worth, and was also related to lower middle school academic achievement. Growing underachievement was associated with lower and declining self-concept and task importance. Although differential class membership by gifted status was hypothesized, no such effects were found. Gender effects were found for the Task Importance and Self-Worth models in the hypothesized direction, but this effect was not as robust as in prior research. Findings from the current study build on prior research highlighting heterogeneity among underachieving students.</p> / Dissertation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / A empatia, definida como a habilidade de compartilhar, compreender e de expressar o entendimento dos pensamentos e sentimentos dos outros, tem sido amplamente estudada. As trajetórias de desenvolvimento, que representam os diversos caminhos que o desenvolvimento do self pode tomar, também têm sido amplamente estudadas por pesquisadores transculturais, geralmente em contextos prototípicos e envolvendo três modelos de desenvolvimento do self: autonomia, interdependência e autonomia relacionada. Estudos anteriores mostraram que os participantes do Rio de Janeiro tendem para a autonomia relacionada, equlibrando características autônomas e relacionais, que são parte do nosso ambiente sociocultural, no qual habilidades sociais, como a empatia, são requeridas. O desenvolvimento da empatia pode ser relacionado à demanda ambiental por comportamentos, de acordo com aspectos sociodemográficos e valores compartilhados. Esta tese visa apresentar dados de 106 famílias do Rio de Janeiro: pai (idade média M = 51,6 anos), mãe (idade média M = 48,3 anos) e seus filhos jovens (17-25 anos, idade média M = 20,9 anos, 67,9% mulheres). A maioria dos pais, mães e dos filhos tinham Ensino Superior incompleto ou acima. Este estudo objetivou investigar a relação entre empatia e os modelos de desenvolvimento de self e a transmissão transgeracional em contexto não prototípico. O Inventário de Empatia de Falcone e colaboradores (IE) foi utilizado para avaliar a empatia. As Escalas de Desenvolvimento do Self de Ka&#287;itçiba&#351;i (EDS), (Self Autônomo (AutS), Self Interdependente (IntS) de Self Autônomo-Relacionado (ARS)) foram utilizadas para avaliar o modelo de desenvolvimento do self. Filhos também responderam quantas horas semanais conviviam com pais e mães. Testes t pareados mostraram, como esperado, que os escores de ARS foram os mais altos para todos os participantes. Correlações de Pearson foram feitas entre os escores de IE e EDS de ambos os pais e filhos. Os escores de ARS de pais, mães e filhos correlacionaram-se positivamente, assim como seus escores de IE. Examinando entre instrumentos, para pais e filhos, altos escores em ARS foram correlacionados a altos escores de IE. O tempo de convívio relatado entre pais e filhos correlacionou-se com IntS e IE dos pais. Para testar o modelo teórico proposto de ARS de pais e mães e dos filhos e a empatia de ambos os pais como preditores da empatia dos filhos, análises de regressão foram utilizadas. A empatia dos pais e das mães previu, separadamente, a empatia dos filhos, mas não em conjunto. Nenhum dos escores ARS dos participantes previu o IE dos filhos. Estes resultados favorecem a hipótese da prevalência de selves autônomo-relacionados no Rio de Janeiro. Pais, mães e filhos mostraram similaridades e tiveram relações importantes entre seus escores de EDS, assim como para o IE. Apesar de o modelo com todos juntos não ter sido significativo, separadamente o IE de pais e de mães predisse o IE dos filhos. Este resultado sugere que a empatia parental pode ter algum efeito sobre a dos filhos jovens, mas não o modelo parental de desenvolvimento do self, inesperadamente. De modo interessante, os pais apresentaram um papel importante no desenvolvimento de seus filhos / Empathy, defined as the ability to share, comprehend and express understanding of others thoughts and feelings, is broadly studied. Developmental trajectories, that represent the diverse pathways that self development can take, have also been widely studied by cross-cultural researchers, generally in prototypical contexts and involving three models of self development: autonomy, interdependency and autonomy-relatedness. Previous studies have shown Rio de Janeiros participants tend towards related-autonomy, balancing autonomous and relational characteristics that are part of our sociocultural environment, in which social abilities, like empathy, are required. The development of empathy can be related to environmental demand to behave, according to socio-demographic aspects and shared values. This dissertation aims to present data from 106 families from Rio de Janeiro: father (mean age M = 51.6 yrs.), mother (mean age M = 48.3 yrs.) and their grown-up children (17-25 yrs., mean age M = 20.9 yrs., 67.9% were daughters). Most fathers, mothers and adolescents had incomplete college degree or higher. This study aimed at investigating the relation between empathy and the models of self development and the transgenerational transmission in a non prototypical context. Falcone and collaborators Inventory of Empathy (IE) was used to assess empathy. Ka&#287;itçiba&#351;is Self Development Scales (SDS), (Autonomous Self (AutS), Interdependent Self (IntS) and Autonomous-Related Self (ARS) scales) were used to assess the model of self development. Adolescents also reported how many hours a week they lived with each one of their parents. Paired sample t tests showed, as expected, that scores on ARS were the highest scale for all participants. Pearson correlations were made between parents and adolescents IE and SDS scores. Fathers, mothers and adolescents ARS scores were all positively correlated, so as their IE scores. Examining between instruments, for both fathers and adolescents, higher ARS scores were correlated with their higher IE scores. The time adolescents reported living with fathers was correlated with fathers IntS and IE scores. In order to test the proposed theoretical model of parents and adolescents ARS and parents empathy as predictors of adolescents empathy, regression analyses were used. Fathers and mothers empathy predicted separately adolescents empathy, but not together. None of the participants ARS scores predicted adolescents IE. These results favor the hypothesis of prevalence of autonomous-related selves in Rio de Janeiro. Parents and adolescents showed similarities and had important relation between their SDS scores, so as for their IE. Despite not being significant in a model with them all together, separately, each fathers and mothers IE predicted adolescents IE. This result suggests parental empathy may have some effect on adolescents empathy, but not parental self development model, unexpectedly. Interestingly, fathers have shown an important role in their grown-up childrens development

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / A empatia, definida como a habilidade de compartilhar, compreender e de expressar o entendimento dos pensamentos e sentimentos dos outros, tem sido amplamente estudada. As trajetórias de desenvolvimento, que representam os diversos caminhos que o desenvolvimento do self pode tomar, também têm sido amplamente estudadas por pesquisadores transculturais, geralmente em contextos prototípicos e envolvendo três modelos de desenvolvimento do self: autonomia, interdependência e autonomia relacionada. Estudos anteriores mostraram que os participantes do Rio de Janeiro tendem para a autonomia relacionada, equlibrando características autônomas e relacionais, que são parte do nosso ambiente sociocultural, no qual habilidades sociais, como a empatia, são requeridas. O desenvolvimento da empatia pode ser relacionado à demanda ambiental por comportamentos, de acordo com aspectos sociodemográficos e valores compartilhados. Esta tese visa apresentar dados de 106 famílias do Rio de Janeiro: pai (idade média M = 51,6 anos), mãe (idade média M = 48,3 anos) e seus filhos jovens (17-25 anos, idade média M = 20,9 anos, 67,9% mulheres). A maioria dos pais, mães e dos filhos tinham Ensino Superior incompleto ou acima. Este estudo objetivou investigar a relação entre empatia e os modelos de desenvolvimento de self e a transmissão transgeracional em contexto não prototípico. O Inventário de Empatia de Falcone e colaboradores (IE) foi utilizado para avaliar a empatia. As Escalas de Desenvolvimento do Self de Ka&#287;itçiba&#351;i (EDS), (Self Autônomo (AutS), Self Interdependente (IntS) de Self Autônomo-Relacionado (ARS)) foram utilizadas para avaliar o modelo de desenvolvimento do self. Filhos também responderam quantas horas semanais conviviam com pais e mães. Testes t pareados mostraram, como esperado, que os escores de ARS foram os mais altos para todos os participantes. Correlações de Pearson foram feitas entre os escores de IE e EDS de ambos os pais e filhos. Os escores de ARS de pais, mães e filhos correlacionaram-se positivamente, assim como seus escores de IE. Examinando entre instrumentos, para pais e filhos, altos escores em ARS foram correlacionados a altos escores de IE. O tempo de convívio relatado entre pais e filhos correlacionou-se com IntS e IE dos pais. Para testar o modelo teórico proposto de ARS de pais e mães e dos filhos e a empatia de ambos os pais como preditores da empatia dos filhos, análises de regressão foram utilizadas. A empatia dos pais e das mães previu, separadamente, a empatia dos filhos, mas não em conjunto. Nenhum dos escores ARS dos participantes previu o IE dos filhos. Estes resultados favorecem a hipótese da prevalência de selves autônomo-relacionados no Rio de Janeiro. Pais, mães e filhos mostraram similaridades e tiveram relações importantes entre seus escores de EDS, assim como para o IE. Apesar de o modelo com todos juntos não ter sido significativo, separadamente o IE de pais e de mães predisse o IE dos filhos. Este resultado sugere que a empatia parental pode ter algum efeito sobre a dos filhos jovens, mas não o modelo parental de desenvolvimento do self, inesperadamente. De modo interessante, os pais apresentaram um papel importante no desenvolvimento de seus filhos / Empathy, defined as the ability to share, comprehend and express understanding of others thoughts and feelings, is broadly studied. Developmental trajectories, that represent the diverse pathways that self development can take, have also been widely studied by cross-cultural researchers, generally in prototypical contexts and involving three models of self development: autonomy, interdependency and autonomy-relatedness. Previous studies have shown Rio de Janeiros participants tend towards related-autonomy, balancing autonomous and relational characteristics that are part of our sociocultural environment, in which social abilities, like empathy, are required. The development of empathy can be related to environmental demand to behave, according to socio-demographic aspects and shared values. This dissertation aims to present data from 106 families from Rio de Janeiro: father (mean age M = 51.6 yrs.), mother (mean age M = 48.3 yrs.) and their grown-up children (17-25 yrs., mean age M = 20.9 yrs., 67.9% were daughters). Most fathers, mothers and adolescents had incomplete college degree or higher. This study aimed at investigating the relation between empathy and the models of self development and the transgenerational transmission in a non prototypical context. Falcone and collaborators Inventory of Empathy (IE) was used to assess empathy. Ka&#287;itçiba&#351;is Self Development Scales (SDS), (Autonomous Self (AutS), Interdependent Self (IntS) and Autonomous-Related Self (ARS) scales) were used to assess the model of self development. Adolescents also reported how many hours a week they lived with each one of their parents. Paired sample t tests showed, as expected, that scores on ARS were the highest scale for all participants. Pearson correlations were made between parents and adolescents IE and SDS scores. Fathers, mothers and adolescents ARS scores were all positively correlated, so as their IE scores. Examining between instruments, for both fathers and adolescents, higher ARS scores were correlated with their higher IE scores. The time adolescents reported living with fathers was correlated with fathers IntS and IE scores. In order to test the proposed theoretical model of parents and adolescents ARS and parents empathy as predictors of adolescents empathy, regression analyses were used. Fathers and mothers empathy predicted separately adolescents empathy, but not together. None of the participants ARS scores predicted adolescents IE. These results favor the hypothesis of prevalence of autonomous-related selves in Rio de Janeiro. Parents and adolescents showed similarities and had important relation between their SDS scores, so as for their IE. Despite not being significant in a model with them all together, separately, each fathers and mothers IE predicted adolescents IE. This result suggests parental empathy may have some effect on adolescents empathy, but not parental self development model, unexpectedly. Interestingly, fathers have shown an important role in their grown-up childrens development

A contribuição desta pesquisa para o conhecimento científico está em tecer considerações sobre a viabilidade do estudo da criminalidade brasileira à luz das noções de carreiras criminosas e de trajetórias desenvolvimentais, contendo uma parte inteiramente dedicada ao estudo teórico pertinente, e outra contendo uma busca de conhecimentos por meio de pesquisa empírica. Do ponto de vista teórico, oferece uma síntese das proposições referentes aos conceitos de carreiras criminosas e de trajetórias de desenvolvimento da conduta delituosa; do ponto de vista empírico, estuda a atividade infracional de 157 adolescentes jurisdicionados do sexo masculino de modo a verificar a existência ou inexistência de carreiras, ou seja, padrões de atividades infracionais, oferecendo informações e sugestões para a implementação de políticas públicas aplicadas em favor do desenvolvimento individual e social, com as vistas voltadas ao fenômeno da delinqüência juvenil. O enfoque empírico da pesquisa é o descritivo, valendo-se de informações constantes em processos judiciais infracionais arquivados no cartório da Vara da Infância, da Juventude e do Idoso, da Comarca de Ribeirão Preto, Estado de São Paulo, buscando-se, sob uma perspectiva longitudinal retrospectiva, os históricos infracionais dos adolescentes sujeitos da pesquisa, conforme os registros oficiais disponíveis. Tendo como objetivo a descrição das variáveis relativas aos fatos processados como infrações e aos sujeitos a quem tais fatos foram atribuídos, obteve como resultados principais: todos os adolescentes do sexo masculino, constantes dos dados desta pesquisa, com idades entre 11 e 14 anos na data do primeiro boletim de ocorrência registrado (e que tenha originado um processo infracional em Ribeirão Preto-SP) foram processados, pelo menos, duas vezes; as infrações processadas que mais se destacam em termos de freqüência são o furto, o roubo, o porte de droga, o tráfico e a lesão corporal; a maioria dos sujeitos (89,3%) foram processados por 2 a 7 infrações, sendo assim reduzido o número de sujeitos que ultrapassa esta faixa; a participação de sujeitos em processos infracionais aumenta conforme a idade na data do registro do boletim de ocorrência que origine um processo; as idades com mais intensidade de boletins de ocorrência originando processos são as de 16 e 17 anos, correspondendo juntas a 70,8% de um total de 514 fatos processados, além do que 95% dos sujeitos tiveram seu último boletim de ocorrência registrado nas idades de 16 ou 17 anos. A idade na data do primeiro boletim de ocorrência é indicativo do número de infrações processada, sendo que quando mais cedo o sujeito tem um boletim de ocorrência registrado, e que origine um processo, participa de mais processos e esta participação se prolonga mais, durante a adolescência. Praticamente não há variação entre a gravidade da primeira e da última infração registrada. Desafios relativos à fonte de dados oficiais, como ausências e conflitos entre informações, é assunto crucial na interpretação dos resultados obtidos na presente pesquisa. / The contribution of this search for scientific knowledge is in weaving considerations on the viability of the Brazilian study of crime in the light of the concepts of criminal career and developmental trajectories, with a portion devoted entirely to the relevant theoretical study, and another containing a quest for knowledge through empirical research. From a theoretical viewpoint, offers a summary of proposals relating to concepts of criminal career and trajectories of development of offending; from the empirical viewpoint, studies the offending activity of 157 male adolescents in order to verify the existence of careers, or patterns of offending activity, offering information and suggestions for the implementation of public policies in favor of individual and social development, with views geared to the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency. The focus of empirical research is descriptive, using information contained in legal proceedings filed in the office for Children, Youth and Elderly (body of the São Paulo Justice Court), in Ribeirao Preto, São Paulo, with a retrospective longitudinal view, the historic of offending among adolescents subject of the research, according to the available official records. Aiming a description of the variables on the facts prosecuted as offenses and on the individuals to whom these facts were attributed, there are the following key results: all male adolescents, in the data from this study, aged between 11 and 14 years on the date of the first police record (and which has originated a judicial offending process in Ribeirao Preto-SP) were processed at least twice; the infractions that processed more prominently in terms of frequency are the theft, robbery, the carrying of drugs, drug traffic and injury; the majority of subjects (89.3%) were processed by 2 to 7 violations, and thus reduced the number of subjects that are beyond this range; the participation of individuals in offending judicial proceedings increases with age on the date of the police record that results in a process; the ages with more intensity of police recordings originating processes are 16 and 17 years, accounting together with a 70.8% from a total of 514 events processed; moreover 95% of the individuals had their last official event recorded on the ages of 16 or 17 years. The age at the time of the first police record indicates the number of violations processed, in which the earlier the individual has police record (which leads to a process) the more he participates in cases and this participation will last more during the adolescence. Virtually there are no variation between the seriousness of the first and the last recorded violation. Challenges of the official data, as absences and conflicting information, is a crucial issue in the interpretation of results obtained in this study.

Criminological, psychological, and developmental researchers have relentlessly explored behavioral characteristics and juvenile justice outcomes in an effort to establish the most appropriate means of analyzing childhood and adolescent problem behaviors. Cross-discipline, empirical evidence and factor analytic research has consistently identified the presence of two predictive concepts, physical aggression and nonaggressive rule-breaking. Research pertaining to the risk factors and correlates of these two distinct substructures of offending align with theoretically postulated typologies of delinquency and offending as well as the frequently cited patterns of delinquency and offending within reviews of longitudinal research. Using longitudinal data from a sample of 756 at-risk, males and females during late childhood and early adolescence, the present research examined variations in latent trajectories of physical aggression and nonaggressive rule-breaking as well as empirically substantiated risk factors that may influence problem behaviors and juvenile justice involvement. The findings support a 4-class model for both physical aggression and nonaggressive rule-breaking as well as a relationship between supported risk factors and latent class membership. A comprehensive understanding of physical aggression and nonaggressive rule-breaking may provide the basis for targeted, problem-specific strategies aimed at early intervention.

A contribuição desta pesquisa para o conhecimento científico está em tecer considerações sobre a viabilidade do estudo da criminalidade brasileira à luz das noções de carreiras criminosas e de trajetórias desenvolvimentais, contendo uma parte inteiramente dedicada ao estudo teórico pertinente, e outra contendo uma busca de conhecimentos por meio de pesquisa empírica. Do ponto de vista teórico, oferece uma síntese das proposições referentes aos conceitos de carreiras criminosas e de trajetórias de desenvolvimento da conduta delituosa; do ponto de vista empírico, estuda a atividade infracional de 157 adolescentes jurisdicionados do sexo masculino de modo a verificar a existência ou inexistência de carreiras, ou seja, padrões de atividades infracionais, oferecendo informações e sugestões para a implementação de políticas públicas aplicadas em favor do desenvolvimento individual e social, com as vistas voltadas ao fenômeno da delinqüência juvenil. O enfoque empírico da pesquisa é o descritivo, valendo-se de informações constantes em processos judiciais infracionais arquivados no cartório da Vara da Infância, da Juventude e do Idoso, da Comarca de Ribeirão Preto, Estado de São Paulo, buscando-se, sob uma perspectiva longitudinal retrospectiva, os históricos infracionais dos adolescentes sujeitos da pesquisa, conforme os registros oficiais disponíveis. Tendo como objetivo a descrição das variáveis relativas aos fatos processados como infrações e aos sujeitos a quem tais fatos foram atribuídos, obteve como resultados principais: todos os adolescentes do sexo masculino, constantes dos dados desta pesquisa, com idades entre 11 e 14 anos na data do primeiro boletim de ocorrência registrado (e que tenha originado um processo infracional em Ribeirão Preto-SP) foram processados, pelo menos, duas vezes; as infrações processadas que mais se destacam em termos de freqüência são o furto, o roubo, o porte de droga, o tráfico e a lesão corporal; a maioria dos sujeitos (89,3%) foram processados por 2 a 7 infrações, sendo assim reduzido o número de sujeitos que ultrapassa esta faixa; a participação de sujeitos em processos infracionais aumenta conforme a idade na data do registro do boletim de ocorrência que origine um processo; as idades com mais intensidade de boletins de ocorrência originando processos são as de 16 e 17 anos, correspondendo juntas a 70,8% de um total de 514 fatos processados, além do que 95% dos sujeitos tiveram seu último boletim de ocorrência registrado nas idades de 16 ou 17 anos. A idade na data do primeiro boletim de ocorrência é indicativo do número de infrações processada, sendo que quando mais cedo o sujeito tem um boletim de ocorrência registrado, e que origine um processo, participa de mais processos e esta participação se prolonga mais, durante a adolescência. Praticamente não há variação entre a gravidade da primeira e da última infração registrada. Desafios relativos à fonte de dados oficiais, como ausências e conflitos entre informações, é assunto crucial na interpretação dos resultados obtidos na presente pesquisa. / The contribution of this search for scientific knowledge is in weaving considerations on the viability of the Brazilian study of crime in the light of the concepts of criminal career and developmental trajectories, with a portion devoted entirely to the relevant theoretical study, and another containing a quest for knowledge through empirical research. From a theoretical viewpoint, offers a summary of proposals relating to concepts of criminal career and trajectories of development of offending; from the empirical viewpoint, studies the offending activity of 157 male adolescents in order to verify the existence of careers, or patterns of offending activity, offering information and suggestions for the implementation of public policies in favor of individual and social development, with views geared to the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency. The focus of empirical research is descriptive, using information contained in legal proceedings filed in the office for Children, Youth and Elderly (body of the São Paulo Justice Court), in Ribeirao Preto, São Paulo, with a retrospective longitudinal view, the historic of offending among adolescents subject of the research, according to the available official records. Aiming a description of the variables on the facts prosecuted as offenses and on the individuals to whom these facts were attributed, there are the following key results: all male adolescents, in the data from this study, aged between 11 and 14 years on the date of the first police record (and which has originated a judicial offending process in Ribeirao Preto-SP) were processed at least twice; the infractions that processed more prominently in terms of frequency are the theft, robbery, the carrying of drugs, drug traffic and injury; the majority of subjects (89.3%) were processed by 2 to 7 violations, and thus reduced the number of subjects that are beyond this range; the participation of individuals in offending judicial proceedings increases with age on the date of the police record that results in a process; the ages with more intensity of police recordings originating processes are 16 and 17 years, accounting together with a 70.8% from a total of 514 events processed; moreover 95% of the individuals had their last official event recorded on the ages of 16 or 17 years. The age at the time of the first police record indicates the number of violations processed, in which the earlier the individual has police record (which leads to a process) the more he participates in cases and this participation will last more during the adolescence. Virtually there are no variation between the seriousness of the first and the last recorded violation. Challenges of the official data, as absences and conflicting information, is a crucial issue in the interpretation of results obtained in this study.

Anxiety and depression are common in children and adolescents, and involve individual suffering, risk of future psychiatric problems, and high costs to society. However, only a limited number of children experiencing debilitating anxiety and depression are identified and receive professional help. One approach that could possibly reduce the prevalence of these conditions is universal school-based prevention aimed at reducing the impact of risk factors and strengthening protective factors involved in the development of anxiety and depression. The current thesis aimed to contribute to the literature on universal prevention of anxiety and depression in children. Study I involved a meta-analysis of earlier randomized, and cluster-randomized trials of universal prevention of anxiety and depression. Overall, the meta-analysis showed small but significant effects of universal preventive interventions, meaning that lower levels of anxiety and depression were evident after intervention completion and partially evident at follow-up assessments. No variables were found to significantly enhance the effects, however, there was a tendency for larger effects to be associated with mental health professionals delivering the interventions. In Study II, a widely adopted prevention program called Friends for Life was evaluated in a large school-based cluster-randomized effectiveness trial. The results showed no evidence of an intervention effect for the whole sample. However, children with elevated depressive symptoms at baseline and children with teachers who highly participated in supervision, seemed to benefit from the intervention in the short term. Study III involved a 3-year follow-up of Study II and an examination of the effects of sample attrition. The results showed no long-term effects for the whole sample and no maintenance of the short-term subgroup effects observed in Study II. Finally, to increase our understanding of the development of anxiety in children and to assist future improvements of universal prevention, Study IV evaluated different trajectories of overall anxiety together with related patterns of disorder-specific symptoms in a school-based sample over 39 months. Evidence favored a model of three different developmental trajectories across age. One trajectory was characterized by increasing levels of overall anxiety, but fluctuating disorder-specific symptoms arguably related to the normal challenges of children’s developmental level, which warrants an increased focus on age-relevant challenges in universal prevention. The four studies provide further understanding of the overall effectiveness of universal prevention of anxiety and depression in children, the short- and long-term effects of universal prevention in a Swedish context, and ideas for further development of preventive interventions.

Large-scale transcriptomics data studies revolutionised the fields of systems biology and medicine, allowing to generate deeper mechanistic insights into biological pathways and molecular functions. However, conventional bulk RNA-sequencing results in the analysis of an averaged signal of many input cells, which are homogenised during the experimental procedure. Hence, those insights represent only a coarse-grained picture, potentially missing information from rare or unidentified cell types. Allowing for an unprecedented level of resolution, single-cell transcriptomics may help to identify and characterise new cell types, unravel developmental trajectories, and facilitate inference of cell type-specific networks. Besides all these tempting promises, there is one main limitation that currently hampers many downstream tasks: single-cell RNA-sequencing data is characterised by a high degree of sparsity. Due to this limitation, no reliable network inference tools allowed to disentangle the hidden information in the single-cell data. Single-cell correlation networks likely hold previously masked information and could allow inferring new insights into cell type-specific networks. To harness the potential of single-cell transcriptomics data, this dissertation sought to evaluate the influence of data dropout on network inference and how this might be alleviated. However, two premisses must be met to fulfil the promise of cell type-specific networks: (I) cell type annotation and (II) reliable network inference. Since any experimentally generated scRNA-seq data is associated with an unknown degree of dropout, a benchmarking framework was set up using a synthetic gold data set, which was subsequently affected with different defined degrees of dropout. Aiming to desparsify the dropout-afflicted data, the influence of various imputations tools on the network structure was further evaluated. The results highlighted that for moderate dropout levels, a deep count autoencoder (DCA) was able to outperform the other tools and the unimputed data. To fulfil the premiss of cell type annotation, the impact of data imputation on cell-cell correlations was investigated using a human retina organoid data set. The results highlighted that no imputation tool intervened with cell cluster annotation. Based on the encouraging results of the benchmarking analysis, a window of opportunity was identified, which allowed for meaningful network inference from imputed single-cell RNA-seq data. Therefore, the inference of cell type-specific networks subsequent to DCA-imputation was evaluated in a human retina organoid data set. To understand the differences and commonalities of cell type-specific networks, those were analysed for cones and rods, two closely related photoreceptor cell types of the retina. Comparing the importance of marker genes for rods and cones between their respective cell type-specific networks exhibited that these genes were of high importance, i.e. had hub-gene-like properties in one module of the corresponding network but were of less importance in the opposing network. Furthermore, it was analysed how many hub genes in general preserved their status across cell type-specific networks and whether they associate with similar or diverging sub-networks. While a set of preserved hub genes was identified, a few were linked to completely different network structures. One candidate was EIF4EBP1, a eukaryotic translation initiation factor binding protein, which is associated with a retinal pathology called age-related macular degeneration (AMD). These results suggest that given very defined prerequisites, data imputation via DCA can indeed facilitate cell type-specific network inference, delivering promising biological insights. Referring back to AMD, a major cause for the loss of central vision in patients older than 65, neither the defined mechanisms of pathogenesis nor treatment options are at hand. However, light can be shed on this disease through the employment of organoid model systems since they resemble the in vivo organ composition while reducing its complexity and ethical concerns. Therefore, a recently developed human retina organoid system (HRO) was investigated using the single-cell toolbox to evaluate whether it provides a useful base to study the defined effects on the onset and progression of AMD in the future. In particular, different workflows for a robust and in-depth annotation of cell types were used, including literature-based and transfer learning approaches. These allowed to state that the organoid system may reproduce hallmarks of a more central retina, which is an important determinant of AMD pathogenesis. Also, using trajectory analysis, it could be detected that the organoids in part reproduce major developmental hallmarks of the retina, but that different HRO samples exhibited developmental differences that point at different degrees of maturation. Altogether, this analysis allowed to deeply characterise a human retinal organoid system, which revealed in vivo-like outcomes and features as pinpointing discrepancies. These results could be used to refine culture conditions during the organoid differentiation to optimise its utility as a disease model. In summary, this dissertation describes a workflow that, in contrast to the current state of the art in the literature enables the inference of cell type-specific gene regulatory networks. The thesis illustrated that such networks indeed differ even between closely related cells. Thus, single-cell transcriptomics can yield unprecedented insights into so far not understood cell regulatory principles, particularly rare cell types that are so far hardly reflected in bulk-derived RNA-seq data.

Persistent conduct problems, which include aggressive, disruptive, and antisocial behaviors, are associated with a range of negative correlates and sequelae, including school failure and dropout, depression, and substance use. Problematic peer relationships, such as peer rejection and deviant peer affiliation (DPA), have been implicated in both the development and persistence of conduct problems. In particular, the impact of peer rejection has been highlighted in childhood, whereas the effects of DPA have received more attention during adolescence. Conduct problems, peer rejection, and DPA are dynamic processes that change across development, and understanding the relations among these processes is particularly important among contextually disadvantaged youth who are at elevated risk for aggression. Nevertheless, limited research has considered both peer rejection and DPA as they relate to conduct problems in a single study and even less research has looked at potential moderators of the relations among these processes. To address these gaps, I empirically evaluated a developmental model of conduct problems and peer processes, focusing on individual differences across childhood and adolescence. The goal of the present study was to examine continuity and discontinuity of trajectories of conduct problems and problematic peer relations from childhood through adolescence and to identify contextual factors that impact continuity/discontinuity of risk. Participants were 678 urban children recruited in fall of 1st grade for the second generation Prevention Intervention Research Center's Periodic Follow-up of Two Preventative Interventions. Aggression and peer rejection in childhood were modeled separately first, followed by modeling the joint trajectories of aggression and rejection. Four distinct joint trajectories of aggression-rejection in grades 1 to 3 were identified: high decreasing aggression-high stable rejection, low increasing aggression-moderate increasing rejection, moderate decreasing aggression-moderate decreasing rejection, and low stable aggression-low stable rejection. As with the childhood analyses, aggression and DPA in adolescence were modeled separately first, followed by modeling the joint trajectories of aggression and DPA. Three distinct joint trajectories of aggression-deviant peer affiliation in grades 6 to 12 were identified: high decreasing aggression-low stable DPA, moderate stable aggression-high stable DPA, and low stable aggression-low stable DPA. Next, latent transition patterns from high- and low-risk childhood aggression-rejection trajectories to adolescent aggression-DPA trajectories pointed to evidence for both continuity and discontinuity of risk along aggression-DPA trajectories. Introducing contextual variables (i.e., perceived neighborhood adversity, community violence exposure, and poor parental monitoring) into the transition model suggested that higher levels of contextual risk were associated with elevated risk for transition to higher-risk adolescent aggression-DPA classes (i.e., high decreasing aggression-low stable DPA, moderate stable aggression-high stable DPA). / Psychology

The Triple Code Model (TCM) of numerical cognition has become one of the most predominantly theories for how humans perceive, manipulate, and communicate numerical information. It builds on the notion that there exist three functionally distinct but neurologically connected codes that handle manipulations of different numerical input (non-symbolic magnitudes, symbolic representations, and verbal number words). In this study, we add a developmental perspective by collecting child data and comparing it to existing adult data. The main question is whether or not children elicit the same neural correlates as adults while performing three different number comparison tasks in line with TCM. Neuroimaging data using fMRI were collected for a total of 20 participants (ten children and ten adults). The results suggest that children rely on more right-lateralized regions and that a developmental shift towards the left hemisphere and associated language areas occur during acquisition of mathematical proficiency. / <p>VG</p>