Statistical learning (SL) is believed to be a mechanism that enables successful language acquisition. Language acquisition in turn is heavily influenced by environmental factors such as socioeconomic status (SES). However, it is unknown to what extent SL abilities interact with SES in affecting language outcomes. To examine this potential interaction, we measured event-related potentials (ERPs) in 38 children aged 7-12 while performing a visual SL task consisting of a sequence of stimuli that contained covert statistical probabilities that predicted a target stimulus. Hierarchical regression results indicated that SL ability moderated the relationship between SES (average of both caregiver’s education level) and language scores (grammar, and marginally with receptive vocabulary). For children with high SL ability, SES had a weaker effect on language compared to children with low SL ability, suggesting that having good SL abilities could help ameliorate the disadvantages associated with being raised in a family with lower SES.

Föreliggande studie syftade till att undersöka att undersöka potentiella samband mellan socioekonomisk bakgrund och motivation att söka framtida arbete hos studenter. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av en enkät som analyserades kvantitativt, där 90 studenter fick ta ställning till olika scenarion gällande arbeten med variation avseende löne- och kvalifikationsnivå. Data samlades in under fyra föreläsningstillfällen vid Högskolan i Gävle genom en pappersenkät. Resultatet visar att det inte förelåg några signifikanta skillnader vad gäller studenters motivation att söka arbeten och i relation till respondenternas socioekonomiska bakgrund. En tänkbar slutsats är att gruppen studenter är relativt homogena vad avser socioekonomisk bakgrund och därför observerades inga signifikanta resultat. / The present study aimed to investigate whether there was any connection between socioeconomic background and motivation to seek future work of students. The study was conducted using a questionnaire that was analyzed quantitatively, where 90 students had to consider different scenarios regarding work with the variation in wage and level of qualification. Data were collected during four occasions lecture at the University of Gävle through a paper questionnaire. The results show that there were no significant differences in students 'motivation to seek work and in relation to the respondents socioeconomic background. One possible conclusion is that the group of students is relatively homogenous with regard to socioeconomic backgrounds and therefore measured no significant results.

Background: People in Cameroon are experiencing a dietary transition characterized by changing from traditional food habits to increased intake of highly processed sweet and fatty food. The rapid change in food pattern combined with an increased sedentary lifestyle has resulted in a rather high prevalence of obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Nutritional intake is important during adolescence for growth spurt, health, cognitive development and performance in school. Objective: The aim of this thesis was to assess dietary intake, anthropometry and physical activity of adolescents according to sex and socioeconomic status (SES) and to investigate food perceptions of adolescents living in urban and rural areas of Cameroon. Methods: Girls and boys, 12-16 years of age, were randomly selected from schools in urban and rural areas. Food frequency questionnaire, 24-hour dietary and physical activity recalls, anthropometric measurements, qualitative interviews and a background questionnaire were used for data collection. Results: The proportion of overweight was three times higher in girls (14%) compared to boys (4%). Stunting and underweight were more common among boys (15% and 6%) than girls (5% and 1%). The prevalence of stunting was two times higher among the urban adolescents with low SES (12%) compared to those with high SES (5%). The rural adolescents had the highest proportion of stunting but more muscle that the urban adolescents. The rural adolescents ate in order to live and to maintain health. Urban adolescents with low SES ate in order to maintain health, while those with high SES ate for pleasure. More than 30% of the adolescents skipped breakfast in the urban area. Urban adolescents with high SES and girls reported a more frequent consumption of in-between meals and most food groups compared to the rural adolescents, boys and those with low SES. Over 55% of the adolescents had a protein intake below 10% of the energy (E%). Twenty-six percent of the adolescents had fat intake below 25 E%, and 25% had fat intake above 35 E%. A large proportion of the adolescents had an intake of micronutrients below the estimated average recommendation. Boys and the adolescents with low SES reported a higher energy expenditure and physical activity level than girls and the adolescents with high SES, respectively. Both under- and over-reporting of energy intake were common among the adolescents. Conclusions: The present study showed that nutrient inadequacy, stunting, underweight, as well as overweight and obesity were common among the adolescents in Cameroon. Therefore an intervention program targeting both under- and overnutrition among school adolescents is needed. Sex and socioeconomic differences also need to be considered.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the developmental outcomes of Chinese American children's social competence in their transition to elementary school. In this study, I used a mixed-methods research design. The first part of the study was a secondary analysis of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort. I examined cultural differences in the effects of parental warmth, parental SES, parent-child communication, and children's participation in peer-oriented structured extracurricular activities on the social development of European American and Chinese American children. For the second part of the study, I developed questions based on the findings of the quantitative analysis and conducted interviews to further explore how Chinese immigrant mothers' parenting beliefs and practices contributed to their children's development of social competence. The results showed that in Chinese immigrant families, parental SES influenced parent-child communication, which in turn promoted children's social competence. Parental SES, but not parental warmth, predicted their children's participation in peer-oriented structured extracurricular activities. Years of stay in the U.S. positively predicted children's participation in peer-oriented structured extracurricular activities, while it negatively predicted parent-child communication in Chinese immigrant families. The qualitative data suggested that Chinese immigrant mothers facilitated their children's social development by giving them verbal guidance for peer problems, encouraging conversations at home, and serving as role models for their children. Children's activity participation was restricted by the affordability of activities and parents' ability to provide transportation for their children. The Chinese immigrant mothers perceived taking on daily responsibilities and spending quality time together with their children as ways to express love toward them. These mothers' childrearing practices were influenced by the generational gap and acculturation. This study broadens our understanding of Chinese American children's development of social competence in their transition to formal schooling. It contributes new knowledge about 1) cultural differences in the effects of parental warmth and SES on parent-child communication; 2) the influences of parental SES on parent-child communication and Chinese American children's participation in peer-oriented structured extracurricular activities; and 3) the effect of years of stay in the U.S. on parent-child communication in Chinese immigrant families. / text

Using the G8 countries’ (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States) samples from the 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), this study aimed to explore the phenomenon of double jeopardy in mathematics achievement for socially disadvantaged students. Double jeopardy is a situation of dual penalties where coming from low socioeconomic status (SES) families and attending low SES schools results in concurrent penalties at both the student level and school level in mathematics achievement. This study examined the phenomenon of double jeopardy in the G8 countries across four school locations: rural regions, towns, cities, and metropolitan areas. This study also examined four separate definitions of socioeconomic status in order to determine the effectiveness of each definition. The four definitions corresponded to four SES measures utilized in this study: father’s SES, mother’s SES, family occupation SES, and combined family SES. Multilevel analysis with students nested within schools indicated that significant double jeopardy effects varied according to SES measure, school location, and country. However, the majority of the double jeopardy effects across all the variables were large in magnitude. Furthermore, the combined family SES and the metropolitan school location were often the most sensitive SES measure and school location, respectively, to double jeopardy in the G8 countries.

This study tested the Adolescent Family Assessment Model, using a descriptive correlational design. The model describes the relationships between caregiving behaviors, caregiving knowledge, peer and family approval, and the outcome variable of family functioning. Social exchange theory and social learning theory guided the study. Model building procedures involved replicated testing with data from two samples: Anglo and Mexican American adolescent mothers. The subjects were 50 Anglo and 64 Mexican American adolescent mothers living in the southwest, nineteen years of age or less, who had not yet completed their high school education, and were living in the same household as their child. Family was operationalized for both the family of origin and the current family unit of the adolescent mother. Eighty-three percent (N = 94) of the sample were enrolled in teen parent programs. Four instruments were tested and used to measure the concepts: the Infant Caregiving Inventory (alpha =.93); Smilkstein's Family Apgar (alpha =.90); the Peer Approval Instrument (alpha =.73); and the Family Approval Instrument (alpha =.83). Results for Anglo mothers indicated that caregiving behavior was explained by single marital status (R² =.22). Family functioning was explained by the age of the adolescent's first child (R² =.11). The empirical Mexican American model differed from the Anglo model. Caregiving knowledge was explained by past experience caring for toddlers (R² =.14), while family functioning was explained by caregiving behavior (R² =.10). The variables function differently in Mexican American and Anglo families, reflecting the cultural value of family within the groups. Results offer direction to health care providers working with adolescent parents and for future research endeavors.

Darbo tikslas. Įvertinti pirmaklasių mitybos ypatumus ir sąsajas su šeimos socioekonomine padėtimi. Tyrimo metodika. Šis PSO kordinuojamas tyrimas yra Lietuvos vaikų augimo/nutukimo stebėsenos tyrimo dalis. Tyrimo objektas – pirmų klasių moksleiviai, atstiktinai atrinkti iš visų Utenos bei Vilniaus apskričių mokyklų, vienetu laikant klasę, kurią sudaro ne mažiau nei 17 moksleivių. Viso atrinkta 33 mokyklos. Tyrimo rezultatai lyginami tarp Vilniaus ir kitų Rytų Lietuvos miestų. Darbe naudoti tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė; anketinės vaikų tėvų (išdalinta 1268, grįžo 1107, atsako dažnis 86,1 proc.) ir mokyklų vadovų (užpildytos 33 anketos) apklausos; statistinė duomenų analizė atlikta naudojantis statistiniu paketu SPSS 15.0 for Windows. Rezultatai. Prekybos maistu ir gėrimais automatai yra 14 proc. apklaustųjų mokyklų. Dauguma (75 proc.) mokinių valgo 4 ir daugiau kartų per dieną, 75,6 proc. kasdien pusryčiauja. Kasdien pieno produktų (jogurto, varškės, balto sūrio) vartoja daugiau nei du penktadaliai, vaisių – trečdalis, daržovių - penktadalis vaikų. Daugiau nei pusė vaikų arbatą saldina dviem šaukšteliais cukraus. Geriausiai savo vaikų sveikatą tėvai vertina Visagine bei Vilniuje, prasčiausiai – Ignalinoje bei Utenoje. Aukštajį išsilavinimą turi 1,3 karto daigiau mamų nei tėčių. Trečdalis didžiausias pajamas gaunančių tėvų gyvena Vilniuje. Mažiausiai pajamų vienam asmeniu (iki 400 litų) tenka Visagine, Utenoje bei Zarasuose gyvenantiems respondentams. Vaikai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Aim of study. To evaluate the eating habits of first-formers and links with socioeconomic determinants of their families. Methods. This study is a fragment of the “Observation of Lithuanian children’s growth” research, taking place in Lithuania and being coordinated by World Health Organization. The research wark was performed in 33 rondomly selected schools of Utena and Vilnius districts. The unit of the measurements was a class, which was made of more than 17 of first-formers. The metods of research was: analysis, of scientific literature, the standart quescionnaire has been carried out for parents (1268 questionnaires were distributed to parents and 1107 of them were filled and returnend back. The respoce rate was 81,1 %.) and for school agents (33 questionnaire were share-out and filled at the time). SPSS 11 for Windows was used to analyse the results. Results. There are food and fluids automats in 14 % of schools. The firs-formers were having meals four times a day and more (75 proc.), the majority of them had breakfast every day. Every day dairy products (yogurt, curd, white cheese) eat 40 %, fresh fruits – 33 % and fresh vegetables 20% of first formers. The tea has often been sweeten by two spoons of sugar. Parents, who lived in Vilnius and Visaginas, rate their childrens health the best, and parents, who lived in Ignalina and Utena, rate their childrens health the worst. Mothers are more hight-educated than fathers at rate of 1,3. Parents, who gets the biggest... [to full text]

This study will examine how domestic violence manifests differently across socioeconomic status, and how these manifestations affect a victim’s self-esteem, self-efficacy, and locus of control. Participants in this study will be female victims of domestic violence over the age of 18 who reside in the San Francisco Bay Area, and who are also members of domestic violence support groups. Participants will complete a survey that includes questions about self-esteem, self-efficacy, and locus of control, in addition to a domestic violence assessment that includes questions about financial and emotional abuse, and barriers that they may face in receiving the support they need. Results will highlight the different ways that domestic violence manifests across SES, and indicate that affluent women have lower levels of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and a more external locus of control than their low-income counterparts. This is mainly due to the perception that domestic violence doesn’t occur in affluent communities, and thus the distribution of resources is skewed, leading to increased shame and isolation. This information will hopefully provide a foundation for developing programs that seek to provide support for affluent victims of domestic violence.

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is a popular screening and research instrument for measuring severity of depression. The instrument was translated to Portuguese for use in Brazil in 1979; however, it was not until recently that its psychometric properties have been tested empirically for the Brazilian population. The purpose of the present study was to explore the BDI's psychometric properties in a northern region of Brazil and to test for possible relationships between certain demographic variables and BDI outcomes. Samples used in this study were from an urban area in Roraima, the northernmost state of Brazil. The BDI showed adequate levels of internal consistency in nonclinical and clinical samples. Female respondents had significantly higher scores than male respondents. Those who had lower levels of education, income, or occupational status had significantly higher scores than those with higher levels of these variables. Adolescents had significantly higher scores than adults from all age groups except those from age 19 to 22. No significant difference was found between those who identified themselves as “indigenous” and those who identified themselves as “non-indigenous.” Regression analysis results showed that the combination of gender, education, and age best accounted for the variance in BDI scores. An ANCOVA revealed that clinically depressed adults had significantly higher BDI scores than nonclinically depressed adults. Factor analysis results showed that there were two main factors in the item structure for both female respondents and male and female respondents combined: one factor of mainly cognitive-affective items and the other factor of mainly somatic items. The results were discussed in terms of the future use of the BDI in Brazil.

The purpose of the project was to examine the relationship between the social development of preschool children and parenting styles. Preschool social development was accessed by the use of sociometry. Parenting styles of mothers and fathers were determined by a questionnaire. The parenting styles and the sociometric status of the children were analyzed to determine a relationship using the chi-square analysis. The analysis indicated that there was no significant relationship between parenting styles and the sociometric status of preschool children. It is recommended that more research be done in the fields of parenting styles and sociometry.