There is a growing interest in studying the influence of parental involvement on student achievement, as well as factors that influence parents' choices in being involved in their children's education. This study examined the relationships among socioeconomic status, parental involvement, and students' mathematics achievement in Jordan and the United States. It also investigated the reasons that motivate parental involvement in both Jordan and the United States. For data collection, a four-section instrument was distributed to parents/guardians of students in grades four, five, and six from Jordan and the United States in order to collect demographic information, socioeconomic status, parental involvement levels, mathematics achievement, and qualitative data about the nature of parental involvement and parents' reasons for being involved in their children's mathematical education. The study revealed no relationship between socioeconomic status and parental involvement in Jordan. In the United States, however, the study revealed a positive relationship between socio-economic status and parental involvement at home; only parents' education level had a statistically significant relationship with parental involvement at school. The study further revealed a positive relationship between parental involvement at home (PIH) and students' mathematics achievement (SMA) in both Jordan and the United States. Also, a positive relationship between parental involvement at school (PISC) and students' mathematics achievement (SMA) was observed in the Jordan sample. However, no relationship between PISC and SMA was found in the United States sample. Also, the findings revealed a positive correlation between SES and SMA for the United States sample. However, in the Jordan sample, a positive relationship existed between family income and SMA, and parents' education level and SMA, while no relationship was found between parents' employment status and SMA. Furthermore, the findings revealed a significant difference only between the correlation coefficients of PIH and SMA between Jordan and the United States. The findings of the qualitative data analysis did not particularly support the quantitative findings, but they did provide a clear understanding of parents' diverse reasons for why they chose to be involved in their children's education, such as social and economic gains for their children. It also showed what parents believed affected or influenced their ability or choices with regard to being involved in their children's education. In light of the findings, a number of recommendations were given for further research and practice, specifically with regard to curriculum development and the design of parent-school communication programs.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a key predictor of a multitude of health and functional outcomes, and growing up in low SES contexts is associated with poor neurocognitive outcomes and mental health problems across the lifespan. Recent studies of the links between SES and brain development suggest that associations between low SES and poor neurocognitive and health outcomes are likely accounted for by impacts on neurodevelopment. Low SES is associated with structural brain development, including reduced cortical thickness in frontal regions relevant to higher-level cognitive functions. However, understanding of how the impacts of SES on neurodevelopment contribute to developing psychopathology is limited. The study of how neurodevelopmental processes may contribute to depression is of particular interest given numerous neural correlates of depression, including reduced cortical thickness in frontal regions. Whereas both SES and depression independently have demonstrated associations with grey matter maturation, no studies to date have examined how the associations between SES, depression, and cortical structure interrelate. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by examining associations between SES at both household and neighborhood levels, depression symptoms, and cortical structure in adolescence. Furthermore, exploratory analyses investigated specific pathways of SES effects on depression symptoms and cortical structure through exposure to psychosocial stress. Data were drawn from an ongoing prospective longitudinal study of reward function development. Participants included 232 youth ages 9-13 (57.03% female; 46.59% White, 39.36% African American, 11.24% Multiracial, 2.81% Other; 11.24% Hispanic) and their primary caregivers who completed assessments of depression symptoms and stress at baseline and a 9-month follow-up, as well as an MRI assessment between baseline and follow up. Regression analyses examined associations between 1) SES to cortical structure, 2) SES to depression symptoms, 3) baseline depression symptoms and cortical structure, and 4) cortical structure to depression symptoms at follow-up. Structural equation models examined indirect effects of 1) SES on depression symptoms through cortical structure, 2) SES on cortical structure through depression symptoms, and 3) SES on cortical structure and depression symptoms through experiences of psychosocial stress. Neighborhood SES was positively associated with mean cortical thickness, and household SES was inversely associated with depression symptoms at follow up, controlling for baseline symptoms. No indirect effects were identified. Findings suggest that different aspects of SES may confer unique risks for neural and psychosocial development in early adolescence, such that SES of the neighborhood appears to have global effects on neurodevelopment that are not mediated by mood or proximal stress, whereas SES of the household appears to be associated with increasing mood symptoms and heightened stress experiences in early adolescence. / Psychology

The Mississippi State Department of Education (MDE) adopted a state assessment in 2014 to measure early literacy skills for incoming kindergarten students (Mississippi Joint Legislature Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review [PEER], 2015). The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of early childhood education (ECE) programs in a selected school district in the state. A quantitative research design was used to conduct the study. Specifically, this study sought to determine if there were differences in the mean scores on the Star Early Literacy baseline assessment for students who attended an ECE program and those who did not. In addition, this study sought to determine if there were differences in the mean scores on the Star Early Literacy baseline assessment for four literacy classifications (early emergent reader, late emergent reader, transitional reader, and probable reader), as well as differences for gender, race, and socioeconomic status (SES) among students who attended an ECE program and those who did not. Lastly, the study determined if there were significant differences in the mean scores on the Star Reading and Star Math end-of-year (EOY) assessments as well as differences by gender, race, and SES for students who attended an ECE program and those who did not. Existing data included Star Early Literacy baseline scores, Star Early Literacy four literacy classifications, Star Reading EOY scores and Star Math EOY scores, gender, race, and SES. The results of the study showed that students who participated in an ECE program scored statistically higher on all student academic outcomes when compared to students who did not participate in an ECE program. The results showed there were no statistically significant differences in the mean scores based on gender, race, or SES for student academic outcomes when comparing students who did and did not participate in an ECE program.

There is substantial evidence that suicidal behaviour is disproportionately observed among those with lower socioeconomic positions. Prior literature suggests that policy measures tackling severe socioeconomic deprivation may have impacts on decreasing the health gaps. Yet, little research has been conducted to examine the effects of social and welfare policies on suicidal behaviour and its inequality. This is in part because the understanding of the socioeconomic inequity in suicidal behaviour has been limited by the strong biological individualism, thereby overlooking the potential importance of social and welfare policies to tackle the population-level determinants of suicide. Using jurisdictional and temporal variations in social policies and patterns of suicide, this dissertation contributes to the literature by providing a summary of the current knowledge base of socioeconomic inequality in suicide and suicidal behaviour, identifying the knowledge gaps and future research questions, and adding novel evidence on the impacts of individual social policy and aggregate welfare generosity on suicide mortality and its inequality. In Chapter Two, consists of a scoping review of studies addressing socioeconomic inequalities in suicide and suicidal behaviour or the relationship between socioeconomic positions and different outcomes of suicidal behaviour in high-income countries with quality data. The literature is summarized to map the findings on the socioeconomic inequity in suicidal behaviour. The chapter concludes with an assessment of gaps in the current knowledge base and suggests a future research agenda. In Chapter Three, I examined whether relative welfare generosity in Canadian provinces is associated with overall suicide mortality and employment-based inequalities in suicide mortality by exploiting the provincial differences within Canada. In Chapter Four, I investigated the effects of two recent social pension reforms targeting older adults—Basic Old Age Pension (BOAP) and Basic Pension (BP)—implemented in South Korea on suicide mortality. Taken together, the findings of the dissertation contribute to the existing literature by mapping the relevant literature, identifying research gaps about socioeconomic inequalities in suicide, and suicidal behaviour, and examining the roles of social policy as a moderator of socioeconomic inequalities in suicide. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / There is substantial evidence that suicide and suicidal behaviour are disproportionately observed among those with lower socioeconomic positions. Prior literature suggests that policy measures tackling severe socioeconomic deprivation may have impacts on reducing health gaps. However, little research is conducted to examine what effects can be brought by social and welfare policies on suicidal behaviour. This dissertation contains three studies on socioeconomic inequality in suicide and suicidal behaviour and examines the impacts of socioeconomic policies and welfare generosity that may tackle inequality. The overarching aim of the dissertation is to advance our understandings of socioeconomic inequality in suicide and suicidal behaviour by providing a systematic analysis of socioeconomic inequality in suicide and suicidal behaviour and roles of social policy and welfare generosity on suicide and suicide inequality. The dissertation contributes to the literature by mapping the relevant literature, identifying research gaps about socioeconomic inequalities in suicide, and suicidal behaviour and demonstrate novel findings about the roles of social policy.

Many of the municipalities in Sweden experience socioeconomic residential segregation which increase the polarization between high- and low-income groups and contributes to a higher degree of inequality between people. Previous studies on neighbourhood effects have mainly examined on a city district level and some of them show that different factors such as health, education, participation in politics and trust in society varies depending on where you live. However, there are fewer studies investigating the segregation on a municipality level which this study does for the purpose of getting an overview of the residential segregation in Sweden. By using inequality index as a measure of socioeconomic segregation this study examines how different variables of causes and social and political consequences may correlate with the segregation. To find out if there is a connection between the inequality index and the variables supposed to be causes and consequences of segregation a regression analysis and a correlation analysis is used. The results are showing that small as well as large municipalities are experiencing a residential segregation and the weight of structures on a higher degree of socioeconomic residential segregation. There is also a correlation between the segregation and several negative outcomes on social and political variables. Based on the results, a conclusion can be drawn that the segregation not only contributes to injustice among individuals but also between the municipalities since some of them seem to possess more numerous of problems than others regarding the living environment.

Objetive: To describe the prevention and control practices for the infection to SARS-COV2 in the Peruvian population. Material and Methods: Observational descriptive study. We evaluated a non-probabilistic sample of adult residents in some departments of Peru. Preventive practices were evaluated in people without a history of COVID-19 and control practices in people who had suffered it. Results: We evaluated 3630 Peruvians (mean age 25.4 ± 9.5), of that 3231 don't have a history of COVID-19 and 399 who had suffered it. The prevention and control practices that were realized often or always, with more frequencies, was the use of a mask when they go out home (97.9% vs 87.7), cover their nose or mouth when they sneeze (95.4% vs 89.9%), save the distance to other people in the street (91.4% vs 74.7%), wash their hands when they came home (92.5% vs 88.7%), and disinfect the objects and personal places (82.6% vs 77.4%). The 22.1% and 83.7%, the 59.7% and 80.2, and the 8.0% and 16.8% consumed some type of medicine, medicinal plant, and chlorine dioxide to prevent and control the infection, respectively. Conclusion: In general, less than 50% of the participants performed prevention and control practices against COVID-19 often or always. / Revisión por pares

Disease burden and lifestyle patterns have changed rapidly worldwide, especially in some Asian countries over the past 2 decades. However, cross-country comparative research is limited. This study investigated the nutritional status of preschool children and childbearing women in China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan selected based on their socioeconomic status, population size, and urbanization. Nationally representative data were used from the China National Nutrition and Health Surveillance Report, India National Family Health Survey, Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, the WHO repository, and the World Bank. The prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity and some ratios were compared. These rates varied across these 4 countries and were associated with their economic development levels. China's economic status and prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity (11.5%) were highest; India's economic status was higher than that of Nepal and Pakistan, but had higher rates of stunting, wasting, and underweight (38.4%, 21.0%, and 35.7%, respectively) in preschool children. Pakistan had the highest prevalence of overweight/obesity among childbearing women (52.4% in all, 63.0% in urban areas). Nepal had the lowest economic status and overweight/obesity rate in preschool children (1.2%). In general, the prevalence of overweight/obesity was higher in urban than in rural areas, except among childbearing women in China. Nutritional status and health burden are heavily influenced by economic development. The double burden of malnutrition poses prioritization challenges for policymakers and public health efforts. Prevention of obesity is urgently needed, at least in higher-income countries in Asia.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The purpose of this study was to evaluate the status of a sample of children ages 6 to 36 months with regard to prevalence of tooth decay in a community with an optimum fluoridated water supply. It was determined whether a relation existed between these data and the socioeconomic level of the family. One hundred and fifty children ages 6 to 36 months born and reared in Marion County, Indiana were examined with a dental mirror, explorer and a portable light. Parents/legal guardians of these children were given a questionnaire to obtain family history. Caries prevalence for children ages 6 to 12, 13 to 18, 19 to 24, 25 to 30, and 31 to 36 months were 4%, 0%, 22%, 23%, and 26%, respectively. Age, mother's educational attainment, and Medicaid experience remained significant predictors of caries experience: the odds of caries were 1.1 times for each monthly increase in age. Gender, father's educational attainment, family household income, and single parent status remained marginally significant predictors of caries experience. Results for similar correlation studies between caries prevalence and socioeconomic status for children ages 6 to 36 months are inconsistent. Further research is needed for children ages 6 to 36 months. Caries experience begins before age one. Patients, parents, and health care professionals need to be aware that the caries process begins at an early age, and prevention should begin as early as 6 months of age.

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