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PubMed2005

Experimental restriction of sleep opportunity in children: effects on teacher ratings.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of experimental restriction of sleep opportunity on teacher ratings of academic performance and behavior in healthy normal children. DESIGN: Home-based, within-subjects design in which participants followed 3 week-long sleep schedules-Baseline (self-selected), Optimized, and Restricted-while attending school, with order of conditions counter-balanced (Optimized and Restricted). PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-four children (39 boys; aged 6 to 12 years, mean = 10) screened for medical and psychological health. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Teachers masked to assigned hours of sleep completed paper-and-pencil questionnaires at the end of each study condition. Questionnaire items were selected from several published measures. Summary scores included Academic Problems, Hyperactive-Impulsive Behaviors, Internalizing, Oppositional-Aggressive, Sleepiness, Total Attention Problems, and Mean Severity of Attention Problems. Main effects of sleep condition were found forAcademic Problems, Sleepiness, Total Attention Problems, and Mean Severity of Attention Problems. Restricting sleep increased ratings of Academic Problems (medium effect) relative to both Baseline (P < .01, eta(p)2 = .11) and Optimized (P < .05, eta(p)2 = .10) conditions and increased the Mean Severity of Attention Problems (medium effect) relative to Baseline (P < .01, eta(p)2 = .12). CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide experimental support for widely held beliefs about the importance of sufficient time-in-bed for academic functioning in children. Reducing sleep opportunity had a direct effect on academic performance, as rated by teachers, even among healthy students with no history of behavioral problems or academic difficulty. Findings also support insufficient sleep as a direct source of variability in the manifestation of attention problems but not hyperactivity.

Achievement↗
PubMed2006

Life goals, approaches to study and performance in an undergraduate cohort.

BACKGROUND: Two main approaches to studying have been distinguished by several researchers, the deep approach and the surface approach. In addition, an achieving or strategic approach employs either deep or surface strategies, depending on the demands of the task. AIMS: The present study investigated factors contributing to the choice of preferred study approach at university and relations between these factors and academic performance. METHOD: A questionnaire was mailed to a complete cohort of entrants in a college of London University in the UK. A further questionnaire was sent part way through the second year of the course. RESULTS: Consistent relations were found between general life goals and approaches to study, with the deep approach being associated with altruistic life goals and the surface approach being associated with wealth and status life goals. The achieving approach was related to both types of life goal, but more strongly to wealth and status life goals. Older students, those with superior results in Advanced Level examinations, those reporting more use of the achieving approach, and those with less interest in wealth and status life goals, produced better academic results. Study approaches became more surface-oriented and less deep and achieving-oriented over the first year of study, but these changes were unrelated to academic performance. CONCLUSIONS: Approaches to study form part of a wider approach to life in general. Students adopting the achieving approach to study performed better. Though the achieving approach tended to weaken as the course proceeded, this change was unrelated to performance.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The effect of compulsory participation of medical students in problem-based learning.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method that has attracted many advocates since its introduction in medical education almost 20 years ago. PBL features the use of student-directed tutorials, medically relevant problems to set study objectives, and independent learning. Educators have worried that not all students will do well with this method. This study compared a group of students who had chosen to be in a PBL curriculum with a group who had not, as they undertook a curriculum that contained both PBL and lecture-based courses. Academic performance was virtually identical regardless of learning method. Students slightly favoured the courses that featured the method they had originally chosen, but a significantly larger proportion of students shifted their preference from the lecture to the problem-based approach than vice versa. Students' academic performance does not appear to suffer when they are involuntarily enrolled in a PBL curriculum and many come to prefer this type of curriculum.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2005

The neuropsychological and language profile of children with benign rolandic epilepsy.

PURPOSE: Benign rolandic epilepsy (BRE) has an excellent prognosis for seizures, but recent research has raised concerns using cognition as an outcome measure. Methodologic problems related to recruitment bias and assessment processes are evident in previous studies. With well-defined criteria for inclusion and comprehensive assessment, the aim of this study was to define the cognitive profile of children with BRE and to assess the effect of interictal EEG activity. METHODS: Patients (n=42) were recruited from six EEG laboratories. The EEG features analyzed were spike frequency, trains, and laterality. Comprehensive neuropsychological and language assessments were conducted. Group means on cognitive measures were compared with normative means. Tests were correlated with EEG features. RESULTS: The study demonstrated that children with BRE have normal intelligence and language ability. However, a specific pattern of difficulties in memory and phonologic awareness was found. Furthermore, a large proportion of children had disproportionate scores in these areas compared with intellectual and language ability. EEG features were minimally associated with cognitive difficulties, and no correlation was found with memory indices and tests of phonologic awareness. CONCLUSIONS: Some children with BRE have specific difficulties in memory and phonologic processing skills, not explained by interictal activity. We recommend that pediatricians ask about academic performance specifically in areas of prereading, reading, spelling, and memory. If difficulties are suspected, assessment targeting phonologic awareness and memory are recommended, as they may not be reflected in overall intellectual and language ability. Difficulties in phonologic awareness affect literacy, and memory problems affect academic performance.

Achievement↗
PubMed1989

Drinking among medical students: a questionnaire survey.

To assess the prevalence of drinking among medical students a questionnaire on smoking, exercise, drinking, and weight was distributed among the students available. A total of 260 replies were received from an estimated available population of 350 students (134 men and 126 women). The mean alcohol consumption obtained by a quantity-frequency measure was 20.5 units/week for male students and 14.6 units/week for female students. Retrospective diary reports showed mean (SE) consumptions of 18 (2) units/week for men (n = 134) and 11 (1) units/week for women (n = 126). Consumption among the men closely matched consumption among men matched for age in the general population. Women, however, drank more than women matched for age. Male and female medical students exceeded the suggested maximum for their sex in equal proportions. Quantity-frequency data showed that 31 (23%) men drank over 35 units/week and 28 (22%) women drank over 21 units/week. Of the 59 students exceeding these limits, 51 responded positively to a standard screening questionnaire for alcohol abuse. Forty students reported that they might have a drinking problem, and 138 reported that alcohol had affected their academic performance at some time; 17 of these were affected frequently. The students suggested sensible maximum consumption figures for health education. Smoking was associated with heavy drinking, especially among the women. These results suggest that some medical students are compromising their future health and their academic performance through excessive drinking.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed2000

Activity-based cost analysis: a method of analyzing the financial and operating performance of academic radiology departments.

PURPOSE: To develop a methodology for an activity-based cost (ABC) analysis in an academic radiology department, to test the hypothesis that the business of academic radiology can be separated into three distinct businesses-clinical activity, teaching, and research-and to determine the effect of the current teaching paradigm on clinical productivity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-seven key departmental activities were defined and distributed among the teaching, research, and clinical businesses. Individual radiologists determined the time spent in each of these activities by completing a detailed log of every activity performed during 2 weeks. All departmental revenue and costs were assigned to each activity in each of the three businesses. RESULTS: The methodology provided a successful understanding of the relative costs of each of the businesses of teaching, research, and clinical activity. It also provided the departmental costs of performing the separate activities typical of each business. Key findings included the following: Faculty spends 72% of time in clinical activities, research is the most expensive service per direct activity hour, and clinical reads (23%) are the single largest departmental cost element. CONCLUSION: ABC analysis can separate academic radiology into three businesses-teaching, research, and clinical-and provide a detailed understanding of the cost structure of each. This analysis identifies opportunities for improved quality of service, productivity, and cost within each business.

Cost Allocation↗
PubMed1998

Effects of perceived attractiveness and academic success on early adolescent peer popularity.

Effects of perceived attractiveness and academic performance on 9th graders' ratings of peers' popularity were investigated. Participants were 270 9th graders (152 girls, 118 boys) who read a vignette describing a hypothetical same-sex peer with whom the student had been assigned to complete a project. The partner's attractiveness and academic performance were systematically varied in four conditions: high attractiveness/high grades, high attractiveness/low grades, low attractiveness/high grades, and low attractiveness/low grades. After reading the vignette, the students rated the partner's popularity. As hypothesized, analyses of variance revealed that attractive partners were significantly more popular than unattractive partners, regardless of whether the partner had high or low grades. Contrary to expectation, attractiveness was not more important to girls than to boys. Integration with past research and suggestions for future research are offered.

Achievement↗
PubMed2002

Risk for disordered eating relates to both gender and ethnicity for college students.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the frequency of disordered eating behaviors among college students and associations by gender, ethnicity, participation in social organizations and college athletics and to determine whether responses to eight health behavior and attitude questions and body weight predicted a high score on the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT)-26, a screening instrument used to identify risks of developing an eating disorder. METHODS: Subjects were a convenience sample of 1,899 college students (cleaned to 1620) who attended four classes, were members of 14 sororities or lived in five residence halls. Students reported height and weight and responded to the EAT-26 and eight items regarding health behaviors and attitudes. RESULTS: Among women and men, 4.5% and 1.4%, respectively, reported previous treatment for an eating disorder, and 10.9% of women and 4.0% of men were at risk for eating disorders (scores > or = 20 on EAT). Among African-Americans, 8.3% of women were at risk. One group of women who lived separately in a social sorority had the highest risk of 15%. The frequency of "weight concerns interfering with academic performance" and "eliminating high fat foods" was moderately correlated to risk for disordered eating for both genders. Body mass only weakly related to risk for disordered eating and the association varied by subgroup. CONCLUSION: Students at risk for disordered eating report weight concerns interfering with their academic performance and include both men and African-Americans, as well as Caucasian American women. Sorority women living in separate residences might be at increased risk.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Validity of the Spanish version of the Child Health and Illness Profile-Adolescent Edition (CHIP-AE).

OBJECTIVES: To assess the structural, convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity of the Spanish version of the Child Health and Illness Profile-Adolescent Edition (CHIP-AE) and to compare results with the U.S. version. SUBJECTS: A sample of adolescents aged 12 to 19 attending schools and representative of the school-aged population in Barcelona, Spain (n = 902). MEASURES: Exploratory factor analyses were performed, and results compared with the U.S. version. The Child Depression Inventory (CDI) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAIC) were administered to a subgroup of adolescents to assess convergent and discriminant validity. Criterion validity was assessed by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to examine the ability of the CHIP-AE academic performance subdomain to predict school grades. RESULTS: The Spanish version has 6 defined domains with a factor structure showing minor differences from the U.S. version. Higher correlations were found between the CDI and STAIC and CHIP-AE subdomains of emotional discomfort and self-esteem (range. 0.48-0.80, P<0.01) than with scales measuring dissimilar concepts. The area under the ROC curve was 0.83 (95% confidence interval, 0.75-0.92) for the number of failed subjects (none/one or more) related to academic performance. CONCLUSIONS: The underlying theoretical model of the Spanish version of the CHIP-AE functions well in Spain, and the Spanish version has acceptable levels of convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity. Sensitivity to change and the use of the health profiles need to be assessed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1982

Characteristics of students preferring family practice/primary care careers.

Survey data from a large national sample of junior medical students were used to make several comparisons between students indicating a preference for family practice and students selecting other specialties. Comparisons were also made between students on the basis of their interest in primary care vs non-primary care fields. On the basis of measures of premedical school academic performance (undergraduate grade point average and Medical College Admission Test scores), students choosing family practice and those indicating a general preference for primary care were similar to students choosing other specialties or nonprimary care fields. Subjectively, students selecting primary care ranked themselves lower than other students in medical school academic performance. Students with a career interest in primary care also gave greater weight to the desire to help people as a career motivation, were more oriented toward considering the sociopsychological context of patients' problems, and were more likely to perceive a need for change to improve health care in the United States.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2004

Academic achievement and emotional status of children with ADHD treated with long-term methylphenidate and multimodal psychosocial treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that intensive multimodal psychosocial intervention (that includes academic assistance and psychotherapy) combined with methylphenidate significantly enhances the academic performance and emotional status of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with methylphenidate alone and with methylphenidate combined with nonspecific psychosocial treatment (attention control). METHOD: One hundred three children with ADHD (ages 7-9), free of conduct and learning disorders, who responded to short-term methylphenidate were randomized for 2 years to receive one of three treatments: (1) methylphenidate alone, (2) methylphenidate plus psychosocial treatment that included academic remediation, organizational skills training, and psychotherapy as well as parent training and counseling and social skills training, or (3) methylphenidate plus attention control treatment. Children's function was assessed through academic testing, parent ratings of homework problems, and self-ratings of depression and self-esteem. RESULTS: No advantage was found on any measure of academic performance or emotional status for the combination treatment over methylphenidate alone and over methylphenidate plus attention control. Significant improvement occurred across all treatments and was maintained over 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: In stimulant-responsive young children with ADHD without learning and conduct disorders, there is no support for academic assistance and psychotherapy to enhance academic achievement or emotional adjustment. Significant short-term improvements were maintained over 2 years.

Affect↗
PubMed2000

Prevalence and impact of dysmenorrhea on Hispanic female adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Dysmenorrhea is the leading cause of short-term school absenteeism. It is associated with a negative impact on social, academic, and sports activities of many female adolescents. Dysmenorrhea has not previously been described among Hispanic adolescents, the fastest growing minority group in the United States. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhea among Hispanic female adolescents; its impact on academic performance, school attendance, and sports and social activities; and its management. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: A total of 706 Hispanic female adolescents, in grades 9 through 12, completed a 31-item questionnaire about the presence, duration, severity, treatment, and limitations of dysmenorrhea at a local urban high school. RESULTS: Among participants who had had a period in the previous 3 months, 85% reported dysmenorrhea. Of these, 38% reported missing school due to dysmenorrhea during the 3 months prior to the survey and 33% reported missing individual classes. Activities affected by dysmenorrhea included class concentration (59%), sports (51%), class participation (50%), socialization (46%), homework (35%), test-taking skills (36%), and grades (29%). Treatments taken for dysmenorrhea included rest (58%), medications (52%), heating pad (26%), tea (20%), exercise (15%), and herbs (7%). Fourteen percent consulted a physician and 49% saw a school nurse for help with their symptoms. Menstrual pain was significantly associated with school absenteeism and decreased academic performance, sports participation, and socialization with peers (P<.01). CONCLUSIONS: Dysmenorrhea is highly prevalent among Hispanic adolescents and is related to school absenteeism and limitations on social, academic, and sports activities. Given that most adolescents do not seek medical advice for dysmenorrhea, health care providers should screen routinely for dysmenorrhea and offer treatment. As dysmenorrhea reportedly affects school performance and attendance, school administrators may have a vested interest in providing health education on this topic to their students. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2000;154:1226-1229.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1991

Prediction of graduate dietetic internship appointments in Canada.

A statistical model of dietetic intern selection was developed from a profile of selection criteria that was obtained in a 1988 survey of Canadian graduate dietetic internship directors. The model was composed of four clusters of variables that resulted from the most frequently used selection criteria: academic performance, work experience, communication skills, and extracurricular activities. Data from a convenience sample of 39 dietetic intern applicants were analyzed, using principal components analysis and discriminant analysis, to test the model's power to predict success in obtaining an internship appointment. In descending order, the criteria with the greatest predictive powers were: academic performance; extracurricular activities; and supervisory, teaching, or instructing types of work experience. The model accounted for 41% of the differences between those who were successful and those who were not successful in obtaining internship appointments in 1989 and correctly classified 30 of 39 subjects. These results provide baseline data on the predictive power of some criteria used for selecting dietetic interns. These findings suggest the need for a replication study with a randomized national sample to crossvalidate the results obtained in this exploratory research.

Canada↗
PubMed1981

Cognitive self-instruction for the control of impulsive classroom behavior: ensuring the treatment package.

The practical utility of cognitive self-instruction training in facilitating the work habits and academic performance of impulsive first-graders was assessed in the context of the regular classroom. The training paradigm was modified and environmental conditions were arranged to facilitate the transfer of the cognitive self-instruction strategy to the classroom. Following training, there were no significant increases in on-task behavior or in academic performance within the context of a group design . On the basis of this and other studies, a drastic revision of the cognitive self-instruction paradigm seems indicated. Not only must training become broader based, but models must be developed that take into account the requisite cognitive processes for task completion as well as the cognitive abilities of the youngsters to whom training is addressed. In general, the incorporation of information from the developmental and cognitive process literature would appear to facilitate the development of more effective training models.

Achievement↗
PubMed2004

Educational and social competencies at 8 years in children with threshold retinopathy of prematurity in the CRYO-ROP multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the educational status and special education services at 8 years among children who had threshold retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). METHODS: A prospective study was conducted of a cohort of children who had birth weight of <1251 g and threshold ROP in the Cryotherapy for Retinopathy of Prematurity multicenter study. At age 5.5 years, visual status, functional skills, and social information were obtained. At 8 years, special education classes, developmental disabilities, rehabilitation therapies, and academic and social competencies were determined by questionnaire. Visual status was considered favorable/unfavorable on the basis of the better eye. RESULTS: Of 255 survivors, 216 (85%) were evaluated at both 5.5 and 8 years. Major impairments were significantly more prevalent in children with unfavorable versus favorable visual status: cerebral palsy (39% vs 16%), developmental disability (57% vs 22%), autism (9% vs 1%), and epilepsy (23% vs 3%). Special education services (63% vs 27%), below-grade-level academic performance (84% vs 48%), and school-based rehabilitation services were significantly less common in children with favorable visual status. Favorable visual status, favorable functional ratings at 5.5 years, markers of higher socioeconomic status, and nonblack race were associated with significantly lower rates of both special education placement and below-grade-level academic performance at age 8. On multivariate logistic regression, only favorable visual status and functional status remained significant predictors for decreasing special education placement. CONCLUSION: Threshold ROP is associated with high rates of developmental, educational, and social challenges in middle childhood; preserved vision was associated with a clear advantage, with more than half of the children with favorable visual status performing at grade level.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2005

Test performance and self-esteem in relation to experienced stress in Swedish sixth and ninth graders--saliva cortisol levels and psychological reactions to demands.

AIMS: To study relations between test performance, academic self-esteem, self-reported stress and saliva cortisol levels in students exposed to test demands at school. METHODS: 46 randomly selected 6th and 9th graders voluntarily participated in an experimental school test concerning reading and mathematics skills. Cortisol saliva samples were collected at awakening, 30 min later, before test and after test. Perceived stress was registered with a visual analogue scale (VAS). A standardized self-rating questionnaire for measuring self-esteem was administered together with questions about school stress and psychological reactions when exposed to stress during a test. RESULTS: Experienced stress during the school test was correlated to low test performance and to low self-rated evaluation of self-esteem as well as to an increase of saliva cortisol levels during the test. There were also correlations between certain psychological reactions to demands and different cortisol measures. Children who reported that they applied the procedure "I say to myself: I can solve this task" in a school test situation had a lower morning increase of saliva cortisol. Reported use of the procedure "I get worried and will have problems solving other tasks too"--when referring to a school test situation--was correlated to an increase in cortisol levels during the test situation. CONCLUSION: Test performance, academic self-esteem, perceived stress and reactions of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) are highly intertwined. Furthermore, certain school stress psychological reactions to performance demands seem to be related to different cortisol reactions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

A meta-analytic inquiry into the relationship between selected risk factors and problem behavior.

Identifying the predictors of problem behavior is essential both for understanding the causes of such behavior and for preventing it. Although a great deal of research has sought to identify the factors predictive of problem behavior, much of the research to date has been correlational and tells us little about causality. This study attempts to improve on the correlational research by applying meta-analytic techniques to existing experimental and quasi-experimental studies of school-based prevention. The following 3 risk factors were examined: academic performance, bonding to school, and social competency skills. The most convincing evidence of a relationship between risk and problem behavior was found for bonding to school. Positive changes in attachment and commitment to school resulting from the preventive interventions were consistently accompanied by positive changes in problem behavior. Preventive interventions that produced improvements in academic performance produced moderate improvements in problem behavior. With regard to social competence, the association depended in large part on the type of measure used to assess social competency skills. Changes in self-report measures of social competency were unrelated to changes in problem behavior, whereas a strong positive correlation was observed between changes in ratings and observations of social competency by others and improvements in problem behavior.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2004

Identifying and characterizing adolescent smoking trajectories.

Our understanding of longitudinal patterns of adolescent smoking development and the determinants of these patterns is limited. The present study evaluated adolescent smoking trajectories and characterized these trajectories with social, psychological, and behavioral factors in a cohort of adolescents assessed annually from grades 9 to 12. Complete data (smoking practices, novelty seeking, academic performance, substance use, peer smoking, physical activity and sports participation, and tobacco ad receptivity) were available on 968 participants; data were analyzed using latent class growth modeling. Four adolescent smoking trajectories emerged: never smokers, experimenters, earlier/faster smoking adopters, and later/slower smoking adopters. Early adopters were characterized by their high novelty seeking personality, depressive symptoms, poorer academic performance, and receptivity to tobacco advertising, as well as their exposure to other smokers, and use of other substances. Later adopters were characterized quite similarly to the early adopters, although they tended to perform better in school and to be more involved in sports. Experimenters also shared many of these same risk characteristics but to a lesser degree. Overall, never smokers were the most conventional in their profile. These data suggest that there is significant heterogeneity in the timing, rate, and intensity of smoking progression. Adolescent smoking prevention and intervention programs will need to consider this heterogeneity and tailor or enhance attention to risk and protective factors depending on the subpopulation.

Adolescent↗