bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Political Feasibility of Privatizing Old‐Age Insurance
Authors: Hirte Georg
Published: September 2003

Though a transition to a fully funded pension system is favoured by many economists, it is not even considered by politicians in Germany. This paper examines the hypothesis that this is in accordance with the preferences of the population. By performing a dynamic CGE analysis referenda on pension policies are simulated. They show that a fully privatizing scheme is not politically feasible in Germany, however long the pre‐announcement period, if the alternatives are the current policy or a partially privatizing policy. This explains why a fully privatizing policy is not an issue in the political debate in Germany. In order to examine what are the reasons for this outcome, the German Bismarckian System is compared to a Beveridge‐System which is similar to the British pension system. Actually, in the latter case, a transition to a fully funded system is what the majority opts for in a dynamically consistent equilibrium. This is evidence that the future of the pension system depends on its history.
Teaching Religion in Its Contemporary Contexts: A Case Study
Authors: Gravett Sandra L.
Published: September 2003

Abstract.  After the disheartening results of an informal investigation of content knowledge and reading comprehension among her students, the author ponders the implications for her teaching objectives. What are we, as educators in religious studies, really teaching and how are we doing it? How are we accommodating students with less traditionally honed academic skills without diminishing content? She describes her experiments with several new teaching strategies for enhancing student learning by helping them improve basic skills, develop cultural literacy, and relate course content to their personal experience.
Pedagogy and Practice: Using Wisdom Ways in the Classroom
Authors: Fiorenza Elisabeth Schüssler
Published: September 2003

Abstract.  The Academic Teaching and Biblical Studies Section of the Society of Biblical Literature chose Wisdom Ways, by Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, as the basis for a discussion on teaching at its November 1902 meeting in Toronto. Each presenter commented on the underlying pedagogy of the book, sharing exercises and assignments they had used in their classrooms to help students interpret the materials, especially from a feminist and/or liberationist perspective. Adapted from the SBL presentations, this is a different type of review essay that describes the use of a book in three different settings: a free‐standing seminary, a state university, and a university‐affiliated divinity school. These three distinct contexts are in turn the settings for three individual pedagogical styles. The result is a conversation among author, teachers, text, and students that illustrates the interplay of teaching, learning, and context.
Monetary policy transparency: transparent about what?
Authors: Thornton Daniel L.
Published: September 2003

This paper puts the issue of monetary policy transparency into a broad economic perspective. In so doing, it narrows the focus from that which frequently appears in this literature. The analysis is predicated on the assertion that the sole economic argument for transparency is policy effectiveness—transparency is desirable if it enhances the effectiveness of policy and is not if it does not. In cases where transparency neither enhances nor impairs the effectiveness of policy, the case for transparency can be argued on non‐economic grounds. This analysis has implications for several policy/transparency issues. Important among these is the assumption in this literature that inflation and output must be viewed by policymakers as substitutes. I suggest that policymakers might generate a better inflation/output outcome if they thought of inflation and output objectives as complements rather than substitutes.
Imperfect transparency and the strategic use of information: an ever present temptation for central bankers?
Authors: Hallett Andrew Hughes , Viegi Nicola
Published: September 2003

Most economists argue that transparency in monetary policy is desirable because it helps the private sector make better informed decisions. They also argue that a lack of transparency has been a key problem in Europe's monetary policy. Using standard models—where there are also opportunities to use fiscal policy—we show that a lack of transparency will have very different effects depending on whether it represents a lack ofpoliticaltransparency or a lack ofeconomic(or information) transparency. The former allows the central bank to create and exploit a ‘strategic’ reputation to its own advantage. The latter does not. Thus, political transparency helps us understandhowmonetary policy decisions are made. But economic transparency would revealwhatinformation went into those decisions.
Does monetary policy transparency reduce disinflation costs?
Authors: Chortareas Georgios , Stasavage David , Sterne Gabriel
Published: September 2003

We examine the relationship between central bank transparency and the costs of disinflation. We provide a model where disinflation efforts imply a higher sacrifice ratio when the public is not fully convinced about the central bank's resolve to reduce inflation and show that information dissemination by the central bank can remedy this problem. To assess the empirical implications we estimate sacrifice ratios based on individual estimates of Phillips curves in 21 OECD economies. Using transparency indices pertaining to both the detail with which central banks publish forecasts and the means by which policy decisions are explained, we find that a higher degree of central bank transparency is associated with lower sacrifice ratios. This result is robust to alternative estimation methods and periods considered.
The inflation bias revisited: theory and some international evidence
Authors: Cukierman Alex , Gerlach Stefan
Published: September 2003

The Kydland–Prescott, Barro–Gordon inflation bias result hinges on policymakers aiming at employment above potential. This has been questioned by academics and policymakers on the ground of realism. We show that even if policymakers target the normal level of employment, a bias arises if they are uncertain about economic conditions and are more sensitive to employment below than above normal. This view implies a positive association between inflation and the variance of output shocks. Cross‐sectional empirical evidence from OECD economies supports this implication. We also discuss the consequences for the transparency of monetary policy and for central bank reform.
Option Pricing in Stochastic Volatility Models of the Ornstein‐Uhlenbeck type
Authors: Nicolato Elisa , Venardos Emmanouil
Published: September 2003

Stochastic volatility models of the Ornstein‐Uhlenbeck type possess authentic capability of capturing some stylized features of financial time series. In this work we investigate this class of models from the viewpoint of derivative asset analysis. We discuss topics related to the incompleteness of this type of markets. In particular, for structure preserving martingale measures, we derive the price of simple European‐style contracts in closed form. Furthermore, the range of viable prices is determined and an empirical application is presented.
Nonconvergence in the Variation of the Hedging Strategy of a European Call Option
Authors: Peters R. Th.
Published: September 2003

In this paper we consider the variation of the hedging strategy of a European call option when the underlying asset follows a binomial tree. In a binomial tree model the hedging strategy of a European call option converges to a continuous process when the number of time points increases so that the price process of the underlying asset converges to a Brownian motion, the Bachelier model. However, the variation of the hedging strategy need not converge to the variation of the limit process. In fact, it is shown that the asymptotic variation of the hedging strategy may be of any order.
A Dynamic Investment Model with Control on the Portfolio's Worst Case Outcome
Authors: Zhao Yonggan , Haussmann Ulrich , Ziemba William T.
Published: September 2003

This paper considers a portfolio problem with control on downside losses. Incorporating the worst‐case portfolio outcome in the objective function, the optimal policy is equivalent to the hedging portfolio of a European option on a dynamic mutual fund that can be replicated by market primary assets. Applying the Black‐Scholes formula, a closed‐form solution is obtained when the utility function is HARA and asset prices follow a multivariate geometric Brownian motion. The analysis provides a useful method of converting an investment problem to an option pricing model.
Pricing Discrete European Barrier Options Using Lattice Random Walks
Authors: Hörfelt Per
Published: September 2003

This paper designs a numerical procedure to price discrete European barrier options in Black‐Scholes model. The pricing problem is divided into a series of initial value problems, one for each monitoring time. Each initial value problem is solved by replacing the driving Brownian motion by a lattice random walk. Some results from the theory of Besov spaces show that the convergence rate of lattice methods for initial value problems depends on two factors, namely the smoothness of the initial value (or the value function) and the moments for the increments of the lattice random walk. This fact is used to obtain an efficient method to price discrete European barrier options. Numerical examples and comparisons with other methods are carried out to show that the proposed method yields fast and accurate results.
The Dilemma of Double Standards in U.S. Human Rights Policy
Authors: Turner Scott
Published: September 2003

In May 2000 the United States was voted off of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. This reflected the frustration of much of the international community with the United States’ increasingly obstructionist approach to international institutionalism. The United States’ opposition to the proposed International Criminal Court (ICC) reflects its pursuit of double standards in human rights policy. Double standards are manifest in U.S. support for Israel and Turkey with their records of gross human rights violations. They likewise are discernable in the strategic motives behind the 1999 Kosovo intervention. The proposed ICC challenges the United States’ use of human rights rhetoric to pursue unilateral objectives by forging a more neutral means of prosecuting international justice. If the United States is to recover its status as the world's human rights leader, it must renew its commitment to multilateral institutionalism and must avoid double standards that undermine the legitimacy of human rights discourse.
When History Hurts
Authors: Bachner Sally
Published: August 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

Amy J. Elias, Sublime Desire: History and Post‐1960s Fiction
The Verificationist in Spite of Himself
Authors: Schmitter Amy M.
Published: August 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

Keith Moxey, The Practice of Persuasion: Paradox and Power in Art History
Suffering, Faith and Penitence Amongst British Prisoners 1835 to 1860: The Application of a Theology
Authors: Forsythe Bill
Published: August 2003

This article discusses suffering amongst some British prisoners prior to and post their imprisonment between 1835 and 1860. Those who revealed their suffering to officials tended to disclose this in the context of the evangelical Christian prison mission which was a dominant motif of prison discipline at this time. Clear themes of suffering emerged from their self disclosures, which prisoners themselves set in the context of a spiritual struggle which they experienced as highly problematic.
Organisational influences upon the development of occupational expertise throughout the career
Authors: Van Der Heijden Beatrice I. J. M.
Published: August 2003

The present study describes the relationship between four organisational predictor variables and the degree of occupational expertise of higher‐level employees in three different career stages. The factors in question are: social support from immediate supervisor, social support from near colleagues, organisational facilities and attention from immediate supervisor for a further career development. Hypotheses have been tested with original survey data from 420 higher‐level employees and 224 direct supervisors working in large organisations both in the profit and in the non‐profit sector. The results indicate that the focus of attention is, in general, restricted to the employee's present contribution and to the familiar job domain. Activities aimed at enlarging the outlook are virtually non‐existent. That is to say, management has a preoccupation with instrumental leadership, i.e. aimed at the here‐and‐now and less future‐oriented, instead of appropriate people management.
Building on formal education: employers’ approaches to the training and development of new recruits in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Venter Katharine
Published: August 2003

Conceptions of modern management and of skill in China have developed out of quantitative, production oriented traditions that have tended to downplay the human side of management, training and development. Based on recent survey and case study research this paper argues that some organisations are moving away from such narrow definitions. These tend to be resource rich, larger enterprises, often in modern growth sectors and organisations exposed to foreign practice (either by virtue of foreign ownership or investment, or as a result of exposure to the pressures of global competition through operation in international markets). Skills shortages are faced by organisations throughout China. However, employers do not generally feel that the education system is serving to address these skills needs. The varying conceptions of modern management shape the manner in which organisations recruit from, and build, on formal education provision. Many resource rich employers are using formal education as a selection mechanism, selecting the educational elite and continuing to develop them. Those organisations that have limited access to highly qualified recruits are also least likely to be in a position to provide extensive or high quality training. Consequently the divide between resource rich and resource poor organisations, in terms of both organisational resources and employees’ opportunities for skill acquisition, learning and development, seems likely to widen.
A twin study of anxiety‐related behaviours in pre‐school children
Authors: Eley Thalia C. , Bolton Derek , O'Connor Thomas G. , Perrin Sean , Smith Patrick , Plomin Robert
Published: September 2003

Background: From middle childhood onwards, substantial evidence points to phenotypic differentiation between anxiety diagnostic categories such as generalised anxiety, separation anxiety, specific phobia, and obsessive‐compulsive disorders. However, little is known about the genetics of these categories and especially about the phenotypic and genetic structure of related behaviours in pre‐school children.

Methods: We examined the phenotypic differentiation and genetics of mother‐reported anxiety‐related behaviours in 4,564 four‐year‐old twin pairs, from a population‐based sample.

Results: Confirmatory factor analyses provided support for five correlated factors: General Distress, Separation Anxiety, Fears, Obsessive‐Compulsive Behaviours, and Shyness/Inhibition. Genetic influences were found on all five factors, but the pattern of influences differed considerably across them, with particularly high heritability estimates for Obsessive‐Compulsive Behaviours and Shyness/Inhibition, and substantial shared environmental influence on Separation Anxiety. Multivariate genetic analyses revealed moderate genetic correlations between the five factors. Genetic overlap was particularly pronounced between General Distress and the other anxiety‐related behaviours, accounting for about half of their covariance. Genetic variance on Obsessive‐Compulsive Behaviours was the least correlated with the other scales. The shared environmental influences correlated highly across the factors, accounting for the greatest proportion of covariation between Separation Anxiety, Fears and Obsessive‐Compulsive Behaviours. The non‐shared environment influences were largely variable specific.

Conclusions: These data provide evidence for phenotypic and genetic overlap as well as differentiation between aspects of anxiety‐related behaviours in young children. We conclude that research with young children will benefit from more specific assessments of anxiety‐related behaviours in addition to less differentiated assessments of ‘internalising’ symptoms.
Sibling‐based association analyses of the serotonin transporter polymorphism and internalizing behavior problems in children
Authors: Young Susan E. , Smolen Andrew , Stallings Michael C. , Corley Robin P. , Hewitt John K.
Published: September 2003

Background:Childhood internalizing problems are often precursors in the development of more serious psychiatric syndromes including anxiety and depressive disorders. Twin studies of the etiology of these disorders suggest that the genetic risk factors underlying anxiety and depression are highly correlated. However, the specific genetic mechanisms responsible for this risk have not yet been identified.

Methods:We examined the association between childhood internalizing problems and a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene (5‐HTTLPR) in 711 children participating in a longitudinal twin study of behavioral and emotional development. Internalizing problems were measured at ages 4, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 12 years using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) parent report form. We applied a sibling‐based methodology for estimating allelic association with quantitative traits, while controlling for population stratification.

Results:No associations were found for CBCL Internalizing problems at any age, including the subscales for Somatic Complaints, Withdrawn and Anxiety/Depression.

Conclusions:Thus, although our results did not support the hypothesis that the 5‐HTTLPR contributes to a dimensional expression of internalizing behavior problems, this does not rule out the possibility that it is an interesting polymorphism to pursue in the search for genetic risk factors related to major depressive and/or anxiety disorders.
Depressive symptoms in children and adolescents: changing aetiological influences with development
Authors: Scourfield Jane , Rice Frances , Thapar Anita , Harold Gordon T. , Martin Neilson , McGuffin Peter
Published: September 2003

Background: Evidence suggests that depressive symptoms become increasingly heritable as children grow into adolescence. However, the literature is not entirely consistent in this respect and existing longitudinal twin studies have examined changes within adolescence only.

Method: Parent and self‐report questionnaire data were used to examine the genetic and environmental influences on depressive symptoms in a UK sample of 670 twin pairs aged 5–17. Age effects were examined cross‐sectionally and longitudinally using data collected over a 3‐year period.

Results: Cross‐sectional analyses showed that shared environmental effects had significant influence in younger children but not in adolescence, when depression scores were significantly more heritable. The results of these cross‐sectional analyses were supported when two waves of parent‐report data collected over three years were analysed. Significant new genetic influences emerged in adolescence but no new shared environmental influences. Some sex differences were found, with girls showing greater genetic influence than boys, but only from parent‐report data.

Conclusions: These findings support and extend earlier work which has shown increasing genetic influence on depressive symptoms as children grow into adolescence.
Negative life events as an account of age‐related differences in the genetic aetiology of depression in childhood and adolescence
Authors: Rice Frances , Harold Gordon T. , Thapar Anita
Published: September 2003

Background: Many twin studies have reported that the genetic aetiology of depression differs according to age, with genetic influences being more important for adolescents than younger children. We sought to examine whether this age‐related increase in the relative importance of genetic factors is due to an increase in gene–environment correlation specifically involving negative life events.

Method: Questionnaires were sent to the families of a population‐based sample of twins aged between 8 and 17 years. Parents of all the twins and adolescents aged 11 and over were asked to complete the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (Costello & Angold, 1988) and a modified version of the Life Events Checklist (Johnson & McCutcheon, 1980). Responses were obtained from 1468 families and data were analysed using genetic model fitting. Bivariate analysis of 1) negative life events and 2) behaviour‐dependent life events and depression symptoms was undertaken separately for children (aged 8 to 10 years) and adolescents (aged 11 to 17 years). Differences in genetic and environmental parameters across age groups were tested.

Results: Adolescence was associated with a greater number of behaviour‐dependent life events. Genetic covariation of negative life events and depression was greater for adolescents than for children.

Conclusions: Bivariate model fitting was consistent with the greater heritability of depression seen in adolescence being due to an increase in gene–environment correlation involving negative life events. However, the effects of genes associated specifically with maturation in adolescence, the possibility of ‘person’ effects and the role of other environmental factors also need to be considered.
Genetic epidemiology of self‐reported lifetime DSM‐IV major depressive disorder in a population‐based twin sample of female adolescents
Authors: Glowinski Anne L. , Madden Pamela A.F. , Bucholz Kathleen K. , Lynskey Michael T. , Heath Andrew C.
Published: September 2003

Background: In adults, about 40% of the variance in risk of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is due to genetic factors, but little data exist on the heritability of youth MDD. The goal of this study was the genetic analysis of MDD in an epidemiologically and genetically representative sample of adolescent female twins.

Methods: A sample of 3416 female adolescent twins systematically ascertained from birth records was assessed using a structured telephone interview that included a comprehensive DSM‐IV‐based section for the diagnostic assessment of MDD. Mean subject age at time of assessment was 15.5 and participation rate exceeded 85%. Genetic modeling was conducted taking into consideration the problem of censoring, i.e., that younger adolescents were not through their period of risk for adolescent onset of MDD.

Results: Lifetime self‐reported MDD prevalence ranged from 1% under age 12 to 17.4% at age 19 and older. The genetic variance in risk of MDD was 40.4% (95% confidence interval (CI): 23.9–55.1), with the remaining variance explained by non‐shared environmental effects 59.6% (95%CI: 44.9–76.1). Shared environmental effects were not significant. A significant recall bias was observed with older respondents on average reporting later onsets for their first episode of MDD.

Conclusions: The genetic and environmental contributions to risk of MDD in this representative sample of female adolescent twins are remarkably analogous to findings from adult samples. These results are congruent with a conceptualization of adolescent MDD and adult MDD as having very similar etiologic determinants.
Adolescent twins discordant for major depressive disorder: shared familial liability to externalizing and other internalizing disorders
Authors: Burcusa Stephanie L. , Iacono William G. , McGue Matt
Published: September 2003

Background: In adolescents, as in adults, there is often comorbidity between major depressive disorder (MDD) and many other disorders. In this study, the discordant twin method was used to investigate whether this comorbidity in adolescents may be due to a shared familial liability between MDD and other internalizing disorders, and between MDD and externalizing disorders.

Methods: We examined prevalence rates of anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and childhood externalizing disorders in 624 seventeen‐year‐old same‐sex monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs. Overall prevalence of MDD in this sample was 12.9%. Twenty‐seven twin pairs were concordant for MDD, 107 were discordant for MDD, and 490 were concordant for no MDD.

Results: Prevalence rates for disorders other than MDD were elevated in the depressed twins relative to the control twins from pairs concordant for no MDD. Prevalence rates were also elevated in the nondepressed co‐twins of depressed twins. Twin concordance for disorders other than MDD was higher in twin pairs where at least one twin was depressed than in pairs where neither twin was depressed.

Conclusions: These results support a shared familial liability between MDD and other internalizing disorders and between MDD and externalizing disorders in adolescents.
Resolving multiple epigenetic pathways to adolescent depression
Authors: Eaves Lindon , Silberg Judy , Erkanli Alaattin
Published: September 2003

Background: Genotype × environment interaction (G × E) arises when genes influence sensitivity to the environment. G × E is easily recognized in experimental organisms that permit randomization of genotypes over fixed environmental treatments. Genotype–environment correlation (rGE) arises when genetic effects create or evoke exposure to environmental differences. Simultaneous analysis of G × E and such ‘active’ or ‘evocative’ rGE in humans is intractable with linear structural models widely used in behavioral genetics because environments are random effects often correlated with genotype. The causes of the environmental variation, therefore, need to be modeled at the same time as the primary outcome.

Methods: A Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach is used to resolve three distinct pathways involving genes and life events affecting the development of post‐pubertal depression in female twins and its relationship to pre‐pubertal anxiety: 1) the main of genes and environment; 2) the interaction of genes and environment (G × E); and 3) genotype–environment correlation (rGE).

Results: A model including G × E and rGE in addition to the main effects of genes and environment yields significant estimates of the parameters reflecting G × E and rGE. Omission of either G × E or rGE leads to overestimation of the effects of the measured environment and the unique random environment within families.

Conclusions: 1) Genetic differences in anxiety create later genetic differences in depression; 2) genes that affect early anxiety increase sensitivity (G × E) to adverse life events; 3) genes that increase risk to early anxiety increase exposure to depressogenic environmental influences (rGE). Additional genetic effects, specific to depression, further increase sensitivity to adversity. Failure to take into account the effects of G × E and rGE will lead to misunderstanding how genes and environment affect complex behavior.
Developmental differences in neuronal engagement during implicit encoding of emotional faces: an event‐related fMRI study
Authors: Nelson Eric E. , McClure Erin B. , Monk Christopher S. , Zarahn Eric , Leibenluft Ellen , Pine Daniel S. , Ernst Monique
Published: September 2003

Background: Prior studies document strong interactions between emotional and mnemonic processes. These interactions have been shown to vary across development and psychopathology, particularly mood and anxiety disorders.

Methods: The present study used functional neuroimaging to assess the degree to which adolescents and adults differ in patterns of neuronal engagement during implicit encoding of affective stimuli. Subjects underwent rapid event‐related fMRI while viewing faces with angry, fearful, happy, and neutral expressions. A surprise post‐scan memory test was administered.

Results: Consistent with previous findings, both adolescents and adults displayed engagement of left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex when viewing subsequently recognized stimuli. Age differences emerged in patterns of neuronal activation associated with subsequent recognition of specific face‐emotion types. Relative to adults, adolescents displayed more activity in the anterior cingulate when viewing subsequently remembered angry faces, and more activity in the right temporal pole when viewing subsequently remembered fear faces. Conversely, adults displayed more activity in the subgenual anterior cingulate when viewing subsequently remembered happy faces and more activity in the right posterior hippocampus when viewing subsequently remembered neutral faces. These age‐related differences emerged in the absence of differences in behavioral performance.

Conclusions: These findings document developmental differences in the degree to which engagement of affective circuitry contributes to memory formation.
Maternal antenatal anxiety and behavioural/emotional problems in children: a test of a programming hypothesis
Authors: O'Connor Thomas G. , Heron Jonathan , Golding Jean , Glover Vivette ,   the AL SPAC Study Team
Published: September 2003

Background: Previous animal investigations link antenatal stress with a range of persistent behavioural abnormalities in the offspring. The current study examined if the effect was also found in humans through middle childhood.

Methods: The current study is based on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a prospective, community‐based study that has followed a cohort of women from pregnancy. Self‐report measures of maternal anxiety and depression were assessed at repeated intervals in pregnancy and the postnatal period. Children's behavioural/emotional problems were assessed by parent report at age 47 and 81 months. Information on obstetric and psychosocial factors was obtained at several points in pregnancy and the postnatal period.

Results: Children whose mothers experienced high levels of anxiety in late pregnancy exhibited higher rates of behavioural/emotional problems at 81 months of age after controlling for obstetric risks, psychosocial disadvantage, and postnatal anxiety and depression (for girls, OR = 1.91, 95%CI = 1.26–2.89; for boys, OR = 2.16, 95%CI = 1.41–3.30). Furthermore, the effect at 81 months was comparable to what was previously obtained at 47 months, suggesting the kind of persistent effect proposed in the animal literature.

Conclusions: There is evidence that antenatal stress/anxiety has a programming effect on the fetus which lasts at least until middle childhood.
Mother–child joint activity and behaviour problems of pre‐school children
Authors: Galboda‐Liyanage Kumari Chandani , Prince Martin James , Scott Stephen
Published: September 2003

Background: Behaviour problems are common among pre‐school children, and a substantial proportion persist, causing significant burden to the family, schools and health services. Relatively little research has addressed the effects of positive parenting on behaviour disorder in pre‐school children, particularly in larger population‐based studies.

Method: A cross‐sectional postal survey of a representative, population‐based sample of 800 mothers of 3½‐year‐old children living in an outer London Borough was carried out to assess the association between mother–child joint activity and behaviour problems of pre‐school children. The response rate was 70%.

Results: Lower levels of mother–child joint activity remained independently associated with behaviour problems of pre‐school children both on a binary and a continuous scale after adjusting for a wide range of household, maternal and child circumstances. The association between low levels of mother–child joint activities and behaviour problems of the children was stronger in the presence of social problems in the family.

Conclusion: Possible causal pathways and directions for future research and intervention are discussed.
Low‐ and high‐level controlled processing in executive motor control tasks in 5–6‐year‐old children at risk of ADHD
Authors: Kalff Ariane C. , De Sonneville Leo M.J. , Hurks Petra P.M. , Hendriksen Jos G.M. , Kroes Marielle , Feron Frans J.M. , Steyaert Jean , Van Zeben Thea M.C.B. , Vles Johan S.H. , Jolles Jelle
Published: September 2003

Background: The scant research on the characteristics of Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in kindergarten years curtails progress on early assessment of ADHD.

Method: By screening a general population sample of 1317 five‐ to six‐year‐old children, four groups of children were selected. The performance of 30 children later diagnosed with ADHD was compared with 74 children later diagnosed with ‘borderline ADHD’ (children exhibiting all ADHD symptoms but without disruptions on two situations), 113 children later diagnosed with other psychopathology, and 126 healthy controls on computerised motor control tasks involving low‐ and high‐level controlled processing. In addition, motor control was compared with movement speed.

Results: The children at risk of ADHD were in general less accurate and more variable in their movements than the children with other psychopathology and healthy controls. Under conditions of high‐level controlled processing, the children at risk of ADHD were disproportionately more inaccurate and had a more unstable performance with their preferred hand than the other children. In addition, linear effects were found, with the children at risk of ADHD having the worst performance, followed by the children with ‘borderline ADHD’, and then both groups of control children. No significant group differences were found in movement speed.

Conclusions: The main findings are interpreted as evidence for a specific deficit in high‐level controlled processing in young children at risk of ADHD, now found in a motor task, rather than a response task. Furthermore, the results support the notion that ADHD represents a dimensional trait. In addition, problems in movement control (the need to allocate attentional capacity) rather than problems in movement speed distinguish children at risk of ADHD from other children. The findings are interpreted as evidence that higher‐order executive processes, such as self‐control and self‐regulation, are already affected early in the development of ADHD.
Suicidal ideations and attempts in juvenile delinquents
Authors: Ruchkin Vladislav V. , Schwab‐Stone Mary , Koposov Roman A. , Vermeiren Robert , King Robert A.
Published: September 2003

Background: Suicidality among adolescents is a common focus of clinical attention. In spite of links to disruptive behaviors and other types of psychopathology, it is not clear whether other factors commonly associated with suicide, such as personality and parenting, predict suicidality over and above psychopathology. The purpose of the present study was to assess suicidal ideations and attempts and their relationship to psychopathology, violence exposure, personality traits and parental rearing in Russian male juvenile delinquents with conduct disorder (CD).

Method: Suicidality and psychopathology were assessed using a semi‐structured psychiatric interview in 271 incarcerated male juvenile delinquents diagnosed with CD. Violence exposure, personality characteristics and perceived parental rearing were assessed via self‐reports.

Results: Thirty‐four percent of those diagnosed with CD (92 subjects) reported a lifetime history of either suicidal thoughts or attempts. Suicidal ideators and attempters did not differ significantly on any variable of interest, but both reported significantly higher rates of psychopathology and violence exposure than the non‐suicidal group, as well as higher levels of harm avoidance, lower self‐directedness, and higher rates of perceived negative parental rearing. Finally, even when controlling for the relationship with psychopathology, personality and perceived parental rearing factors showed significant associations with suicidality.

Conclusions: Juvenile delinquents with CD have high rates of suicidal ideations and attempts, related to a wide spectrum of psychopathology and specific personality traits. These findings suggest that a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors create vulnerability to stressors, which under the influence of situational factors (e.g., repeated traumatization) may lead to suicidal thoughts and acts. Factors potentially contributing to vulnerability for suicidality should be identified when planning prevention and rehabilitation efforts for troubled youth.
Aiding diagnosis of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder and its subtypes: discriminant function analysis of event‐related potential data
Authors: Smith Janette L. , Johnstone Stuart J. , Barry Robert J.
Published: September 2003

Background: Robust evidence exists that the brain functioning of children and adolescents with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) differs from that of normal controls. The purpose of this study was to further investigate whether event‐related potential (ERP) measures of brain function could be used to reliably classify normal controls versus children and adolescents with two subtypes of AD/HD.

Methods: Behavioural and topographic ERP data from children aged 8–12 years (n = 75) and adolescents aged 13–18 years (n = 75) were entered into stepwise discriminant function analyses separating controls and subjects with AD/HD, and also subjects with AD/HD‐Predominantly Inattentive type (AD/HDin) from those with AD/HD‐Combined type (AD/HDcom).

Results: For children aged 8–12 years, controls and children with AD/HD could be separated with an overall classification accuracy of 73.3%, and the AD/HD subtypes were classified with 69.4% overall accuracy. For adolescents aged 13–18 years, 58.7% of the control vs. AD/HD subjects were correctly classified, and 62.7% of subjects in the subtypes. Classification function coefficients for each of these discriminations are presented for the purposes of cross‐validation.

Conclusions: In children aged 8–12 years, analysis of ERP data may aid a clinician in diagnosing AD/HD, although the clinical utility of ERP analysis is reduced for adolescents aged 13–18 years. Suggestions are made to combine ERP measures with other measures of brain function in order to improve classification accuracy, and also to predict drug response in children diagnosed with AD/HD.
Predictive Power of Peer Behavioral Assessment for Subsequent Maladjustment in Community Samples of Disruptive and Nondisruptive Children
Authors: Realmuto George M. , August Gerald J. , Hektner Joel M.
Published: August 2003

In a prospective, longitudinal study with community samples of disruptive and nondisruptive children, the predictive relations between peer‐assessed dimensions of behavioral reputation in elementary school and teacher‐rated behavioral adjustment and test scores of academic achievement were examined over a 4‐year period. The Revised Class Play (RCP), a social role matching instrument completed by students about their classmates, was used to assess behavioral dimensions of children's peer reputation at baseline. Regression analyses showed that the RCP dimensions of aggressive‐disruptive, sensitive‐isolated, and social etiquette were the best predictors of later teacher‐rated externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and subsequent adaptive skills respectively. Only IQ predicted later academic achievement. When IQ and disruptive/nondisruptive group status were added to each regression equation they further contributed as significant predictors. When parent and teacher ratings of behavior problems at baseline were entered jointly with RCP dimensions into regression equations, the peer dimensions further explained outcome variance. Additive effects of the RCP dimensions were found only for the externalizing problems outcome. Disruptive children with mild levels of aggressive behavior and high levels of sensitive‐isolated behavior had less externalizing problems at outcome. A comparison of the difference between disruptive and nondisruptive groups in the relationship of baseline RCP scores to teacher outcomes showed no difference between groups, suggesting that the groups did not depart appreciably from their initial differences relative to each other over time.
The Interface between ADHD and Language Impairment: An Examination of Language, Achievement, and Cognitive Processing
Authors: Cohen Nancy J. , Vallance Denise D. , Barwick Melanie , Im Nancie , Menna Rosanne , Horodezky Naomi B. , Isaacson Lila
Published: August 2003

Language impairments are commonly observed among children referred for psychiatric services. The most frequent psychiatric diagnosis of children with language impairment (LI) is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It is not clear whether there are differences between children with ADHD and comorbid LI and children with other psychiatric disorders who are also comorbid for LI. In the present study the language, achievement, and cognitive processing characteristics of 166 psychiatrically referred 7–14‐year‐old children were examined using a 2×2 (ADHD, LI) design to examine four groups: children with ADHD+LI, children with ADHD who have normally developing language, children with psychiatric diagnoses other than ADHD with a language impairment (OPD+LI) or without a LI (OPD). Results indicated that children with LI were at the most disadvantage regardless of the nature of the psychiatric diagnosis. Contrary to prediction, working memory measures, used to tap the core cognitive deficit of ADHD in executive functions, were more closely associated with LI than with ADHD. It was concluded that caution must be exercised in attributing to children with ADHD what might be a reflection of problems for children with language impairment generally. As most therapies are verbally based it is notable that language competence is rarely evaluated systematically before such therapies are undertaken.
Lack of Attentional Bias for Emotional Information in Clinically Depressed Children and Adolescents on the Dot Probe Task
Authors: Neshat‐Doost Hamid T. , Moradi Ali R. , Taghavi Mohammad R. , Yule William , Dalgleish Tim
Published: August 2003

The present study utilised a cognitive paradigm to investigate attentional biases in clinically depressed children and adolescents. Two groups of children and adolescents—clinically depressed (N = 19) and normal controls (N = 26)—were asked to complete a computerised version of the attentional dot probe paradigm similar to that used by MacLeod, Mathews, and Tata (1986). Results provided no support for an attentional bias, either toward depression‐related words or threat words, in the depressed group. This finding is discussed in the context of cognitive theories of anxiety and depression.
Autism and Developmental Receptive Language Disorder—a Comparative Follow‐up in Early Adult Life. I: Cognitive and Language Outcomes
Authors: Mawhood Lynn , Howlin Patricia , Rutter Michael
Published: August 2003

In this paper we compare adult outcome in a group of young men with autism and a group with developmental receptive language disorders. The two groups were first assessed in early childhood, when aged 7 to 8 years of age. Although matched at that time for nonverbal IQ (mean 92–93) and expressive language ability, the Autism group was significantly more impaired on most measures of social and communication skills and stereotyped behaviours. A later follow‐up, in mid‐childhood, suggested that although the groups were still quite distinct, social and behavioural problems had become more apparent in the Language group. The current study was completed when the participants were aged, on average, 23 to 24 years. The findings indicated that verbal IQ and receptive language scores had improved significantly more in the Autism group than in the Language group over time. Moreover, although the Language group were less severely impaired in their social use of language, many showed a number of abnormal features in this domain. There were no differences between the groups on tests of reading or spelling. Discriminant function analysis, which had clearly distinguished between the groups as children, now showed much greater overlap between them. Regression analysis indicated that although early language ability appeared to be related to outcome in the Autism group, in the Language group there was little association between measures of childhood functioning and later progress. The implications of these findings for understanding the nature of the underlying deficit in autism and the relationship between the two disorders are discussed.
Deaf Children's Understanding of Emotions: Desires Take Precedence
Authors: Rieffe Carolien , Terwogt Mark Meerum
Published: August 2003

Deaf children frequently have trouble understanding other people's emotions. It has been suggested that an impaired theory of mind can account for this. This research focused on the spontaneous use of mental states in explaining other people's emotions by 6‐ and 10‐year‐old deaf children as compared to their hearing peers. Within both age‐groups deaf children referred to others' beliefs as often as their hearing peers and their references to desires even exceeded those of hearing children. This relative priority for the expression of desires is discussed in terms of possible communicative patterns of deaf children. The specific problems that deaf children meet in their daily communication might explain their abundance of desire‐references: plausibly, they give a high priority to stress their own desires and needs unambiguously.
Language and Social Cognition in Children with Specific Language Impairment
Authors: Farmer Marion
Published: August 2003

This study explored the links between the development of language and the development of social cognition. Measures of language, phonological short‐term memory, social cognition, and social competence of two groups of children with specific language impairment (SLI), one group attending a special school, the other attending integrated educational placements, were compared with those of chronological and language age‐matched normally developing peers (N= 8 in each group). Significant differences between the scores of normally developing children and the scores of the group of children with SLI who attended the special school were found for social cognition and ratings of social competence. Children with SLI from integrated placements did not differ significantly from other groups on these measures. Assessments of language development and phonological short‐term memory were not related to social cognition and social competence. Models of the possible relationship between social cognition and language development in children with SLI are discussed.