Mental health reflects an array of causal influences that span biological, psychological, and social circumstances, with resultant underlying causal pathways to poor mental health outcomes in childhood that are complex. Key features of this complexity are reciprocal interactions between person and environment that take place over time. The core of this thesis seeks to attend to the complexity of development to move the field of developmental health forward toward greater explanation, and more successful prediction and prevention. The focal point of the thesis is the psychosocial determinants of childhood mental health, the resource domain of the developing child, and the interplay between characteristics of the individual child, the family, and the community. The eventual goal is to better understand why and how socioeconomic circumstances impact on developmental health. One component of this thesis focuses on the expansion of extant developmental theory. The other component focuses on the development of an analytic strategy that more appropriately reflects the intricacies of this theoretical expansion. In the process, data are analysed, principally as a heuristic strategy, to illustrate the analytical approach needed to support the theoretical framework. The specification of a bioecological conceptual framework suitable to guide research and policy in developmental health is the first principal objective of the thesis. A critical examination of the resource framework proposed by Brooks-Gunn, Brown, Duncan, and Anderson Moore (1995) reveals it to be centred on family and community resources, but otherwise silent with respect to the physical and psychological resources of the child. The quintessential point of this thesis is that theory in developmental health must be able to account for the contribution individuals make to their own development. A modified resource framework is proposed that acknowledges financial, physical, human, and social capital, within the domains of the individual child, the family, and the community. The second principal objective of the thesis, the development of analytical methods that focus on the individual child and the complexity of data generated by this theoretical approach, is then introduced. Theory and method are thus integrated when comprehensive measures of characteristics in multiple domains across developmental periods are modeled using longitudinal data from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study (Newnham, Evans, Michael, Stanley, & Landau, 1993). The mothers of 2,860 children were enrolled at 18 weeks in pregnancy and the children have been followed at birth, one, two, three, five, and eight years of age. Eighty-nine per cent (2,537 /2,860) of families were available for follow-up at eight and 74 per cent (2,126/2,860) of families responded. Extensive demographic, psychological, and developmental data were available for the children and their families and a limited amount of data were available for the communities in which they reside. A measure of mental health morbidity, the Child Behaviour Checklist (Achenbach, 1991), was available for the children at two, five, and eight years of age. In the first instance, dichotomous summary variables are derived for the demographic, psychological, and developmental variables of interest. Variables are then selected for inclusion in one of several explanatory models. To create a mathematical representation of resource characteristics, the information for each child is concatenated as a series of binary strings. Frequency tabulation is then used to aggregate the data and odds ratios are calculated to determine the degree of risk associated with each string of code, or pattern of factors relative to a nominated mental health outcome. The results provided a scaffold from which this theoretical and analytical approach is compared and contrasted with the reviewed literature. Two principal themes of investigation are pursued. The first theme to be examined is the interplay between characteristics of the child, family, and community and the contribution children make to their own development. The specific approach models the interaction between selected characteristics of the child, family and community in each of four developmentally significant time periods. The theoretical position adopted in the present study suggests that the effect of any personal or contextual factor on later development, if a relationship does truly exist, is most likely to be differential. That is, it is a combination of influences that determines developmental outcomes for children, not any single factor acting independently. The modelling process demonstrates that, for the children involved, personal and contextual factors impact mental health differentially depending on various other individual, family and/or community characteristics. The modelling process identifies patterns of factors that impact relatively small, but significant, numbers of children because the models focus on the effect for individual children rather than the effect for the group. For example, one model suggests that the effect of intra-uterine growth restriction for the group as a whole may be minimal, but the impact for some children could be critical depending on the combination of family and community influences, such as the mothers level of education, the family’s experience of significant life stress, and residence in a relatively disadvantaged community. The second theme to be examined is the possibility that the accumulation of resource deficits or risk characteristics, over time, amplifies the likelihood of mental health problems in childhood. The approach models selected characteristics of the child in each of the four periods of development collectively, and it also models selected characteristics spanning each of the four time periods discretely. The results suggest that latency, pathway, and recency effects may operate simultaneously, and that timing and accumulated burden may both be important determinants of risk. For example, with regard to children whose family experienced life stress, these three effects operated in a systematic way to increase the degree of risk of a mental health problem. In summary, the aggregation of data at the individual level is a productive approach in seeking to explain population level social phenomena. While seemingly paradoxical, the identification of the joint, interactive effects between individual, family, and community characteristics, better allows for the quantification of family and community characteristics operating through multiple causal pathways.

Contexte Les programmes de promotion de la santé dans le milieu du travail sont des interventions complexes qui requièrent une compréhension des facteurs de risque pour l’identification des populations à cibler. Leur développement s’appuie souvent sur des méthodes de montage de projet qui ne tiennent pas compte de principes de promotion de la santé de la Charte d’Ottawa. Des approches méthodologiques adaptées sont nécessaires pour comprendre le fonctionnement de ces programmes. Objectifs Mener une réflexion autour de la promotion de la santé dans le milieu du travail à travers : (i) le développement de la « théorie de programme » d’une intervention de promotion de la santé intitulée « Plus Saine la Vie » réalisée à la Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF) et (ii) l’identification des déterminants du diabète de type 2 et de l’hypertension artérielle que l’on peut mesurer en routine auprès d’une population de salariés en surpoids en milieu du travail. Méthodes L’outil de catégorisation des résultats de Promotion Santé Suisse a été utilisé pour développer la « théorie de programme » à l’aide d’une approche inductive fondée sur la documentation disponible sur l’intervention et l’observation de celle-ci sur le terrain. Vingt réunions itératives du comité de pilotage de l’intervention ont assuré la validation du processus qui a abouti au modèle final. Ensuite, nous avons utilisé la méthode de conception de programme proposée par Fry et Zask (2016) pour comprendre quels leviers d’action de la Charte d’Ottawa ont été mobilisés par l’intervention. L’identification des déterminants du diabète de type 2 et de l’hypertension artérielle a été réalisée par deux études transversales auprès des salariés en surpoids de la SNCF volontaires pour participer à un dépistage lors de la visite périodique de médecine du travail (janvier 2011- mars 2015). Résultats Une première « théorie de programme » a été développée avec des informations détaillées sur les activités, les résultats intermédiaires et les objectifs de l’intervention. Quatre axes stratégiques de la Charte d’Ottawa ont été mobilisés par l’intervention : création d’environnements favorables à la santé, renforcement de l’action communautaire, acquisition d’aptitudes individuelles et réorientation des services de santé. Dans la deuxième partie de notre travail, les quatre déterminants suivants ont été identifiés pour expliquer une hyperglycémie chez les salariés en surpoids : le sexe masculin, un âge ≥50 ans, une pression artérielle élevée (≥140/90 mm Hg), et une consommation quotidienne de produits sucrés. De plus, six déterminants ont été identifiés pour expliquer une pression artérielle élevée : le sexe masculin, un âge ≥40 ans, un indice de masse corporelle compris entre 27,5 et 29,9 kg/m², une hyperglycémie (mesurée par la glycémie capillaire ≥ 7 mmol/L), un risque élevé d'apnée du sommeil, et le travail de nuit. À l'inverse, être cadre au sein de la SNCF a été identifié comme un facteur protecteur de pression artérielle élevée. Discussion Notre travail propose un cadre conceptuel pour modéliser les programmes de promotion de la santé dans le milieu du travail et relève ainsi, par l’exemple concret de l’action « Plus Saine la Vie », comment certains des axes stratégiques de la Charte d’Ottawa ont pu être mobilisés dans le milieu du travail. Enfin, l’identification de déterminants du diabète de type 2 et de l’hypertension artérielle au cours d’une visite systématique de médecine du travail des salariés en surpoids montre la faisabilité d’interventions ciblées de promotion de la santé dans le milieu du travail. / Background Workplace health promotion programmes are complex interventions that need a wide understanding of risk factors to target high risk populations. The implementation of these programmes often requires the mobilization of classical methods of programme design and planning. However, these methods usually are not based on the Ottawa Charter five priority areas which provides a framework ensuring programme effectiveness. Understanding how a specific program is supposed to work is a crucial point in health promotion and could contribute to the appropriate programme planning and implementation. Thus, programme theory is a practical tool which captures the complexity of a programme by clarifying its objectives, activities and expected outcomes. Objective The aim of this work was to provide a deep insight about workplace health promotion by (i) developping the underlying programme theory of a health promotion programme entitled “Plus Saine la Vie” (“Healthier Life”) carried out in the French National Railways Company (SNCF) and (ii) identifying the factors that are associated with type 2 diabetes and hypertension and can be routinely measured in French overweight employees to develop targeted preventive strategies in the workplace. Methods The “Swiss Model for Outcome Classification in Health Promotion and Prevention” was used to develop the programme theory. Then, we used the design process proposed by Fry and Zask (2016) to understand which levers of action from the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion had been mobilised in the programme. Secondly, two cross-sectional studies were conducted to identify the determinants of type 2 diabetes and hypertension among SNCF overweight employees who participated in a health screening conducted during their regular occupational health check-up (January 2011-March 2015). Results Our work provides a programme theory with detailed information regarding how this health promotion programme was supposed to work and what it was expected to be implemented in the workplace setting. Moreover, the programme design analysis showed that the programme had mobilised the following Ottawa Charter’s action areas in the workplace setting: “creating supportive environments”, “strengthening community action”, “developing personal skills” and “reorienting health services”. Significant predictors of hyperglycaemia were male sex, age ≥50 years, high blood pressure, and daily intake of sugary food. In addition, male sex, older age (age ≥40), body mass index between 27.5 and 29.9 kg/m², hyperglycaemia, high risk of sleep apnoea, and night work schedule were significantly associated with high blood pressure. Conversely, high job position was identified as a protective factor for high blood pressure. Discussion Our work provides an example of a programme theory which can be used as a framework to develop health promotion programmes in the workplace setting. Moreover, our work presents an analysis of the programme concerning the mobilisation of the Ottawa Charter’s action areas for health promotion in the workplace. Our findings could be used by occupational health professionals to design specific health promotion interventions in the workplace setting to target individuals at high risk for developing hypertension and type 2 diabetes.

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Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:14:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2002-04-24T00:00:00Z / Uma vez definidos os conceitos ali fundamentais e tê-los analisado todo investigação bibliográfica detalhada, o pesquisador identificou fatores relevantes na adaptação a aposentadoria, como por anteriores estudos estrangeiros. contribuição do programa de aposentadoria ajuste aos aposentados e satisfação foi determinado. Os estudos de caso foram realizados em empresas localizadas em São Paulo, Brasil, a fim de verificar o fluxo alinhados programas de aposentadoria locais estão com as teorias discutidas e tendências. L = descobertas apoio financeiro, fatores biológicos, sociais e psicológicos, como maior determinantes da adaptação aposentados mais fácil de aposentadoria. / Once defined all fundamental concepts and having them analyzed throughout detailed literature investigation, the researcher has identified relevant factors in retirement adaptation, as per prior foreign studies. Retirement Program's contribution to retirees' adjustment and satisfaction was determined. Case studies were conducted in companies located in São Paulo, Brazil, in order to verify flow aligned local Retirement Programs are with discussed theories and trends.

The aim of this quantitative, descriptive and co-relational study was to analyze the factors affecting students‟ choice to enrol at private higher education institutions in Botswana. The three specific objectives of the study included, to identify the factors influencing students‟ choice to enrol at private higher education institutions, to predict students‟ intention to enrol at private higher education institutions and, to determine the differences in factors influencing students‟ choice among private higher education institutions. Data was collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire through a survey of 560 stratified randomly sampled first year students from four of the higher education institutions in Botswana. Data collection was done through survey using a valid and reliable questionnaire constructed based on the information gathered from the literature review. A five point Likert‟s scale was adopted to measure the students‟ choice of institution and, intention to enrol at private higher education institution. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, multiple regression analysis and analysis of variance. Principal component analysis revealed thirteen factors affecting students‟ choice to enrol at private higher education institutions. Multiple regression analysis revealed that out of the thirteen factors, only seven factors were found to be significant predictors of students‟ intention to enrol at private higher education institutions. These seven factors were characteristics of programs and course offered, campus life, criteria, procedure and policies for admission, quality of teaching and learning resources, physical characteristics of campus, person based outreach and, electronic based outreach. Analysis of variance and Post Hoc Test determined that only seven factors were significantly different among the four institutions in the study. These seven factors included advice seeking, employment prospects, campus life, quality of teaching and learning resources, person based institutional outreach, electronic based institutional outreach and, policies and procedures for admission. Based on the findings, implications for policy and practice were discussed and appropriate recommendations were made. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

The role that banks as key intermediaries play in the modern economy activities is unquestionable, it is admitted that banks remain one of the key financial intermediaries that provide a variety of services in the economy of every state. However, not all financial intermediaries have a significant impact on modern economies, only a stable and profitable banking sector can adequately play the role of financial intermediary in economy. The bank, as an intermediary in the modern economy must be profitable, and this profitability depends on a number of factors that are referred to in this study as determinants of bank profitability. The effect of internal and external determinants of the bank profitability in South Africa is the main focus of this study. It utilized annual time series internal and external data for the period 2001 to 2013. Quantitative approach methodology using secondary data and panel data technique to measure the impact of the determinants was used in the study. The sample consists of nine banks, followed for 12 years and sampled annually. The results for bank-specific consist of four statistically significant variables such as bank size, non-interest income and non-interest expense and credit risk and four non-significant variables (equity capital, loan, saving deposit, fixe term deposit) also the industry-specific consist only one significant variable (market concentration) while macro-economic determinants consist of three non-significant variables (economic growth, inflation, and lending interest rate). In conclusion, the empirical result shows that the bank specific factors are directly controlled by the Management thereby it has a positive correlation to the bank profitability while the industry specific (market concentration) also positively affects the bank profitability. However, the macroeconomic variables which are beyond the scope of management control were non-significant to profitability but show positive sign. Therefore, the variables which are significant affect positively the bank profitability, and the non-significant variables affect the bank profitability negatively. The findings were consistent with mixed results found in prior literature. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Despite the fact that a preponderance of past studies in corporate finance mainly focus on capital structure decision of firms, the problems of “what factors determine the capital structure choice of firms and how firms adjust their capital structure dynamically” are still riddling. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the determinants of capital structure and capital structure adjustment dynamics of banks. To this end, the study employed a quantitative research approach. Specifically, secondary data have been collected through document review of annual reports of selected banks for longitudinal/panel research design. Besides, primary data have been collected through a self- administered questionnaire distributed to the selected Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) for the cross-sectional survey research design of the study. As the method of data analysis, the study estimates both static and dynamic panel models using fixed effect and GMM estimators respectively. Besides, in analyzing the cross-sectional survey responses, appropriate statistical techniques for order-ranked and nominal/categorical items of the responses have been employed. Specifically, in the univariate analysis of survey responses, mean scores and percentage of categorical responses have been computed for order-ranked and nominal items respectively. Moreover, to test the significance of differences of mean scores of order-ranked and percentage of responses of nominal items conditional on bank characteristics, the study employed the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test and the likelihood ratio test respectively. As the result, the tax shield from interest tax deductibility, profitability and/or size of free cash flows, growth opportunities and regulatory pressure factors are found to be significant determinants of capital structure decisions, consistently in estimations of panel models and cross-sectional survey. In iii examining the capital structure adjustment dynamics, both the regression estimation and survey results revealed the tendency of banks in Ethiopia to set target capital structure and adjust towards it at a relatively faster speed of adjustment. Besides, both regression model estimation and survey results disclose the asymmetrical target capital structure adjustment of banks. To be specific, overleveraged or undercapitalized banks adjust more quickly than underleveraged or overcapitalized banks. Further, the speed of target capital structure adjustment is found to be heterogeneous across banks that differ in their absolute deviations from target capital structure, size, regulatory pressure for capital adequacy and ownership. Hence, by empirically examining the determinants and dynamics of capital structure of banks in Ethiopia, the study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on the subject under study, and/or it fills a gap in the existing reference literature on the subject. Most importantly, the study tries to untangle the capital structure issues of banks, especially the dynamics, in the context of the least developed financial system where there are no secondary market and oligopolistic banking sector. / Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) / D.B.L.

Background: Preconception care (PCC) is highly recommended evidence-based intervention to optimize women’s health in particular and in so doing reduce the incidences of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APO). PCC targets modification of risk factors to APO occurring before and just at early weeks of conception. Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, the need to implement PCC as part of the continuums of the comprehensive Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Care services is not yet studied. Purpose/Aim of the study: This study aimed to develop a guideline to assist the incorporation of PCC in Ethiopian health system thereby reduce the highly incident APOs in the country, which is the purpose of the study. Methodology: This study applied the explanatory sequential mixed method to determine the determinants to the non-implementation PCC in Ethiopia. In addition, a policy document analysis was conducted to identify the existence of policy guiding the implementation of PCC in Ethiopia. Finally, the study applied a Delphi technique to increase the utility and acceptance of the guideline developed. The study was guided by a theory based framework called a Framework for Determinants of Innovation Processes (FDOIP). RESULT: Nearly all (84.7%) of the healthcare providers (HCPs) never ever practiced PCC. Even among those who ever practiced, the majority (74%), practiced it poorly. More than two third (68.6%) had poor PCC knowledge. HCP’s with good PCC knowledge had likely hood of practicing PCC by four times greater than those with poor PCC knowledge (AOR=4.4, 95% CI: 2.5-7.6). The policy document analysis identified the absence of policy guiding the practice of PCC in Ethiopia. The HCP’s curriculums also didn’t include PCC. The determinants to non-implementation of PCC, as perceived by the qualitative study participants include absence of national PCC policy , absence of PCC guideline, lack of institutional PCC plan, presence of other competing demand, lack of laboratory facilities and setup, lack of accountable body, absence of Individual or organization introduced PCC to the country, absence of trained manpower on PCC, absence of known expert in PCC, Poor public awareness about preconception health and PCC, Unplanned Pregnancy and poor health seeking behaviour. CONCLUSION The study revealed the absence of a standard and complete PCC practices by the HCPs. Nearly all HCPs never ever implement PCC. Even those very few practitioners were found practicing PCC poorly that is in a substandard, incidental, and in an inconsistent way. There is no formal policy document guiding the implementation of in Ethiopia. The HCPs training curriculum didn’t include PCC. The guideline developed base on the study findings of the study recommended to incorporating PCC in Ethiopia health system. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

This study empirically investigates the key macroeconomic determinants of economic growth in three Southern African Development Community countries, namely: Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa, using annual data for the period 1970-2013. The study uses the recently developed Autoregressive Distributed Lag bounds-testing approach to co-integration and error correction model. In Malawi, the study finds that investment, human capital development, and international trade are positively associated, while inflation is negatively associated with economic growth in the short run. In the long run, the results reveal that investment, human capital development, and international trade are positively and significantly associated, while population growth and inflation are negatively and significantly associated with economic growth. In Zambia, the short-run results reveal that investment and human capital development are positively and significantly associated, while government consumption, international trade, and foreign aid are negatively and significantly associated with economic growth. The long-run results reveal that investment and human capital development are positively and significantly associated, while foreign aid is negatively and significantly associated with economic growth. In South Africa, the study results show that in the short run, investment is positively and significantly associated, while population growth and government consumption are negatively and significantly associated with economic growth. In the long run, the results reveal that economic growth is positively and significantly associated with investment, human capital development, and international trade, but negatively and significantly associated with population growth, government consumption, and inflation. These results all have significant policy implications. It is recommended that Malawian authorities should focus on strategies that attract investment: in addition there is a need to improve the quality of education, encourage export diversification, reduce population growth, and ensure inflation stability. Similarly Zambian authorities should focus on creation of incentives that attract investment, provision of quality education: moreover they need to improve government effectiveness, encourage international trade and ensure the effectiveness of development aid. South African authorities are recommended to focus on policies that attract investments, the provision of quality education, and trade liberalisation: concomitantly there is also a need to reduce population growth, government consumption and inflation. / Economics / Ph.D. (Economics)

This study examined the determinants of commercial bank liquidity in South Africa. The panel regression approach was used, applying panel data from twelve commercial banks over the period 2006 to 2016. A quantitative research method was used to investigate the relationship between bank liquidity and some microeconomic and bank-specific factors and between bank liquidity and selected macro-economic factors. The regression analysis for four liquidity ratios was conducted using the pooled ordinary least squares regression, fixed effects, random effects and the generalised methods of moments. However, the system generalised methods of moments approach was preferred over the other methods because it eliminated the problem of endogeneity. Results show that capital adequacy, size and gross domestic product have a positive and significant effect on liquidity. Loan growth and non-performing loans had a negative and significant effect on liquidity. Inflation had both a positive and a negative but an insignificant effect on liquidity. The study concluded that South African banks could enhance their liquidity positions by tightening their loan-underwriting criteria and credit policies. Banks should improve their credit risk management frameworks to be more prudent in their lending practices to improve the quality of the loan book to enhance liquidity. They also need to grow their capital levels by embarking on efficient revenue enhancements activities. Banks may also to look at their clients on an overall basis and not on transaction bases, and they need to improve non-interest revenue by introducing innovated products. The South African Reserve Bank could push for policies that might enhance capitalisation by ensuring that the sector is consolidated and thus merging smaller banks to create banks with stronger balance sheets and stronger capital base. This study contributes to the empirical research repository on the determinants of liquidity and more specifically, it identified the significant factors that affect South African commercial bank liquidity. Identifying the determinants of South African commercial bank liquidity will provide the South African Reserve Bank with insight into ways of enhancing liquidity management reforms, to improve the sector’s liquidity management practices and help to maintain a sound and liquid banking sector. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)