Children’s entry into school at appropriate ages and their successful progression through the primary grades are strong predictors of later life opportunities and successes. This retrospective study focuses on factors that can influence age appropriate school entry and grade progression with children who were eight at the time of the study and who live in a peri-urban community in Uganda. Children in this resource constrained community face risks of educational exclusion and longer term underachievement that arise from social, health and economic disadvantages, inequalities and inadequate services. The most disadvantaged children, those who live in households with life stress events such as the absence of one or more parents or the impact of diseases such as HIV and AIDS, are at risk of not enrolling in school at an appropriate age or not advancing successfully. Such risks may be mediated through family composition and family demographic variables and may be ameliorated through the presence of community programs designed for young children. This study examined the influence of family variables, home environment life stress events, and exposure to early childhood development (ECD) services on the educational transitions of young children. The study determined that children living with biological parents, and parents with higher educational levels, had more opportunities of exposure to community-based ECD programs, had higher success in enrolling in school at an age-appropriate time, and more successfully progressed through the grade levels. For the purposes of this study, data were collected from 535 children and their 535 caregivers in the peri-urban community of Kyanja in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. The findings provide a backdrop for a discussion regarding the relationship between home environment life stress events, community ECD services for young children, and the current educational status of children aged eight years. A major focus lies on whether enrolment in ECD can help close the gap created by events in and the structure of the home environment. / Graduate

A volatilidade implícita é um importante tema no campo das Finanças. Do ponto de vista acadêmico, é crescente o número de pesquisas sobre o conteúdo informacional embutido no preço dos ativos. Na visão do mercado, a volatilidade implícita pode ser negociada diretamente no mercado de derivativos como um ativo, permitindo o seu emprego para diversificação de riscos em carteiras de investimentos. No entanto, o mercado brasileiro carece de um índice de volatilidade oficial e os estudos sobre o tema no Brasil são bastante limitados, sendo urgente a proposta de métodos de obtenção deste índice coerentes com o cenário de liquidez. Assim, essa pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar o conteúdo informacional da volatilidade implícita no Brasil. Para isso foi necessário estimar um índice de volatilidade implícita para o mercado brasileiro (“VIX Brasil”), investigar o impacto da liquidez na volatilidade implícita, analisar a capacidade preditiva da volatilidade implícita em relação à volatilidade realizada futura e verificar a sua eficiência na emissão de sinais de proximidade de eventos de stress. Foram utilizados dados diários sobre o mercado de opções sobre índice de 2002 a 2013. Os principais resultados sugerem que a liquidez das opções afeta a variabilidade da volatilidade implícita ao longo do tempo. Em relação ao conteúdo informacional da volatilidade implícita no Brasil, obteve-se indícios de que (i) há significativa relação com o retorno da bolsa, sendo esta uma relação assimétrica e concentrada nos extremos da distribuição; (ii) a volatilidade implícita brasileira possui informações sobre volatilidade futura realizada além daquela contida na volatilidade histórica, porém é um estimador viesado e ineficiente; (iii) o “VIX Brasil” possui capacidade sinalizadora da proximidade de eventos de stress, em especial quando utiliza-se o limiar de 10% sobre a sua média móvel de 90 dias como abordagem de emissão de sinal. / The Implied volatility is an important topic of research in Finance. From the academics point of view, there is a growing interest in the information embedded in asset prices. From the practitioners view, the implied volatility can be directly traded in the derivatives market as an asset, being a tool for risk diversification in investment portfolios. However, the Brazilian capital market lacks an official volatility index and studies on the subject in Brazil are very limited. Hence, models for volatilities indexes consistent with the liquidity scenario of the Brazilian market are an urgent issue. Thus, this research aims to analyse the information content of implied volatility in Brazil. For achieving this goal, it was necessary to estimate an implied volatility index for the Brazilian market ("VIX Brazil"), to investigate the impact of liquidity in implied volatility, to analyse the predictive power of implied volatility for the future realized volatility and to check its efficiency for issuing early warning signals (EWS) of stress events. Daily data on the options market index over 2002 to 2013 were used. The main results suggest that the liquidity of options affects the variability of implied volatility over time. Regarding the information content of implied volatility in Brazil, evidence was obtained that (i) there is significant relationship with the market return, which is an asymmetric relationship and concentrated at the tails of the probability distribution; (ii) the Brazilian implied volatility has information about the future realized volatility than that contained in the historical volatility, but it´s a biased and inefficient estimator; (iii) the "VIX Brazil" has signalling power concerning the proximity of stress events, especially when it is used the 10% threshold on its moving average 90 days as signal emission approach.

A volatilidade implícita é um importante tema no campo das Finanças. Do ponto de vista acadêmico, é crescente o número de pesquisas sobre o conteúdo informacional embutido no preço dos ativos. Na visão do mercado, a volatilidade implícita pode ser negociada diretamente no mercado de derivativos como um ativo, permitindo o seu emprego para diversificação de riscos em carteiras de investimentos. No entanto, o mercado brasileiro carece de um índice de volatilidade oficial e os estudos sobre o tema no Brasil são bastante limitados, sendo urgente a proposta de métodos de obtenção deste índice coerentes com o cenário de liquidez. Assim, essa pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar o conteúdo informacional da volatilidade implícita no Brasil. Para isso foi necessário estimar um índice de volatilidade implícita para o mercado brasileiro (“VIX Brasil”), investigar o impacto da liquidez na volatilidade implícita, analisar a capacidade preditiva da volatilidade implícita em relação à volatilidade realizada futura e verificar a sua eficiência na emissão de sinais de proximidade de eventos de stress. Foram utilizados dados diários sobre o mercado de opções sobre índice de 2002 a 2013. Os principais resultados sugerem que a liquidez das opções afeta a variabilidade da volatilidade implícita ao longo do tempo. Em relação ao conteúdo informacional da volatilidade implícita no Brasil, obteve-se indícios de que (i) há significativa relação com o retorno da bolsa, sendo esta uma relação assimétrica e concentrada nos extremos da distribuição; (ii) a volatilidade implícita brasileira possui informações sobre volatilidade futura realizada além daquela contida na volatilidade histórica, porém é um estimador viesado e ineficiente; (iii) o “VIX Brasil” possui capacidade sinalizadora da proximidade de eventos de stress, em especial quando utiliza-se o limiar de 10% sobre a sua média móvel de 90 dias como abordagem de emissão de sinal. / The Implied volatility is an important topic of research in Finance. From the academics point of view, there is a growing interest in the information embedded in asset prices. From the practitioners view, the implied volatility can be directly traded in the derivatives market as an asset, being a tool for risk diversification in investment portfolios. However, the Brazilian capital market lacks an official volatility index and studies on the subject in Brazil are very limited. Hence, models for volatilities indexes consistent with the liquidity scenario of the Brazilian market are an urgent issue. Thus, this research aims to analyse the information content of implied volatility in Brazil. For achieving this goal, it was necessary to estimate an implied volatility index for the Brazilian market ("VIX Brazil"), to investigate the impact of liquidity in implied volatility, to analyse the predictive power of implied volatility for the future realized volatility and to check its efficiency for issuing early warning signals (EWS) of stress events. Daily data on the options market index over 2002 to 2013 were used. The main results suggest that the liquidity of options affects the variability of implied volatility over time. Regarding the information content of implied volatility in Brazil, evidence was obtained that (i) there is significant relationship with the market return, which is an asymmetric relationship and concentrated at the tails of the probability distribution; (ii) the Brazilian implied volatility has information about the future realized volatility than that contained in the historical volatility, but it´s a biased and inefficient estimator; (iii) the "VIX Brazil" has signalling power concerning the proximity of stress events, especially when it is used the 10% threshold on its moving average 90 days as signal emission approach.

A volatilidade implícita é um importante tema no campo das Finanças. Do ponto de vista acadêmico, é crescente o número de pesquisas sobre o conteúdo informacional embutido no preço dos ativos. Na visão do mercado, a volatilidade implícita pode ser negociada diretamente no mercado de derivativos como um ativo, permitindo o seu emprego para diversificação de riscos em carteiras de investimentos. No entanto, o mercado brasileiro carece de um índice de volatilidade oficial e os estudos sobre o tema no Brasil são bastante limitados, sendo urgente a proposta de métodos de obtenção deste índice coerentes com o cenário de liquidez. Assim, essa pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar o conteúdo informacional da volatilidade implícita no Brasil. Para isso foi necessário estimar um índice de volatilidade implícita para o mercado brasileiro (“VIX Brasil”), investigar o impacto da liquidez na volatilidade implícita, analisar a capacidade preditiva da volatilidade implícita em relação à volatilidade realizada futura e verificar a sua eficiência na emissão de sinais de proximidade de eventos de stress. Foram utilizados dados diários sobre o mercado de opções sobre índice de 2002 a 2013. Os principais resultados sugerem que a liquidez das opções afeta a variabilidade da volatilidade implícita ao longo do tempo. Em relação ao conteúdo informacional da volatilidade implícita no Brasil, obteve-se indícios de que (i) há significativa relação com o retorno da bolsa, sendo esta uma relação assimétrica e concentrada nos extremos da distribuição; (ii) a volatilidade implícita brasileira possui informações sobre volatilidade futura realizada além daquela contida na volatilidade histórica, porém é um estimador viesado e ineficiente; (iii) o “VIX Brasil” possui capacidade sinalizadora da proximidade de eventos de stress, em especial quando utiliza-se o limiar de 10% sobre a sua média móvel de 90 dias como abordagem de emissão de sinal. / The Implied volatility is an important topic of research in Finance. From the academics point of view, there is a growing interest in the information embedded in asset prices. From the practitioners view, the implied volatility can be directly traded in the derivatives market as an asset, being a tool for risk diversification in investment portfolios. However, the Brazilian capital market lacks an official volatility index and studies on the subject in Brazil are very limited. Hence, models for volatilities indexes consistent with the liquidity scenario of the Brazilian market are an urgent issue. Thus, this research aims to analyse the information content of implied volatility in Brazil. For achieving this goal, it was necessary to estimate an implied volatility index for the Brazilian market ("VIX Brazil"), to investigate the impact of liquidity in implied volatility, to analyse the predictive power of implied volatility for the future realized volatility and to check its efficiency for issuing early warning signals (EWS) of stress events. Daily data on the options market index over 2002 to 2013 were used. The main results suggest that the liquidity of options affects the variability of implied volatility over time. Regarding the information content of implied volatility in Brazil, evidence was obtained that (i) there is significant relationship with the market return, which is an asymmetric relationship and concentrated at the tails of the probability distribution; (ii) the Brazilian implied volatility has information about the future realized volatility than that contained in the historical volatility, but it´s a biased and inefficient estimator; (iii) the "VIX Brazil" has signalling power concerning the proximity of stress events, especially when it is used the 10% threshold on its moving average 90 days as signal emission approach.

The purpose of this study was: (1) to investigate Kuwait University (KU) students' attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help; and (2) to investigate if family, friends, and societal support played a role in the student's decision to seek professional psychological help as measured by the Family, Friends, and Societal Support Scale (FFSS), which was developed by the author. Other assessment tools used in the study included: (1) Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS) as developed by Fischer and Turner (1970); (2) Orientation Toward Utilization of Social Resources (OTUSR) as developed by Vaux, Burda, and Stewart (1986); (3) a modified Life Stress Events Scale (LSE) based on 18 items selected from the 43 items Social Readjustment Scale published by Holmes and Rahe (1967); and (4) Demographic Data Sheet (DDS). A total of 529 participants completed all five assessment tools. The results indicated that KU students have less favorable attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help than groups studied by other researchers. The results also supported previous research, which found females, in general, to have more favorable attitudes toward seeking professional help than males. Individuals who received previous counseling were more likely to have favorable attitudes toward seeking professional help than those who did not receive such help. Students who majored or minored in psychology had more favorable attitudes toward counseling than those who were not psychology majors or minors. The newly developed scale, FFSS, was an effective predictor of KU students' attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help and explained more variance in ATSPPHS scores than any other predictors used in the study. / Ph. D.