Educational participation post-16: a longitudinal analysis of intentions and outcomes

The issue of levels of participation in post-compulsory education has been emphasised by the current policy initiatives to increase the age to which some form of participation is compulsory. One of the acknowledged weaknesses of research in the field of children's intentions with regard to participation is the lack of longitudinal data. This paper offers a longitudinal analysis using the Youth Survey from the British Household Panel Survey. The results show that most children can express intentions with regard to future participation very early in their secondary school careers and that these intentions are good predictors of actual behaviour five years later. Intentions to stay on are more consistent than intentions to leave and most children who finally leave at 16 have at some point said they want to remain in education post-16. The strongest association with participation levels is attainment at GCSE. However, there are also influences of gender and parental background and these remain, even after attainment is held constant. The results show the value of focusing on intentions for participation at a very early stage of children's school careers and also the importance of current attempts to reform curriculum and assessment for the 14-19 age group.

The development of children of postnatally depressed mothers: evidence from the Cambridge longitudinal study

Children with a parent who suffers from depression are at raised risk for the disorder themselves. Relatively little is known about the development of psychological vulnerability to depression through childhood, particularly during infancy and early childhood. This paper describes results from a longitudinal prospective study of the development of children, studied from birth to 16 years, of mothers who experienced postnatal depression; it highlights the roles of the developing mother-child relationship, and of physiological functioning and social relationships in the development of adolescent vulnerability.

The dynamics of threat, fear and intentionality in the conduct disorders: longitudinal findings in the children of women with post-natal depression

This paper considers how environmental threat may contribute to the child's use of avoidant strategies to regulate negative emotions, and how this may interact with high emotional reactivity to create vulnerability to conduct disorder symptoms. We report a study based on the hypothesis that interpreting others' behaviours in terms of their motives and emotions - using the intentional stance - promotes effective social action, but may lead to fear in threatful situations, and that inhibiting the intentional stance may reduce fear but promote conduct disorder symptoms. We assessed 5-year-olds' use of the intentional stance with an intentionality scale, contrasting high and low threat doll play scenarios. In a sample of 47 children of mothers with post-natal depression ( PND) and 35 controls, children rated as securely attached with their mothers at the age of 18 months were better able to preserve the intentional stance than insecure children in high threat scenarios, but not in low threat scenarios. Girls had higher intentionality scores than boys across all scenarios. Only intentionality in the high threat scenario was associated with teacher-rated conduct disorder symptoms, and only in the children of women with PND. Intentionality mediated the associations between attachment security and gender and conduct disorder symptoms in the PND group.

A longitudinal study of perceptual grouping by proximity, luminance and shape in infants at two, four and six months

Grouping by luminance and shape similarity has previously been demonstrated in neonates and at 4 months, respectively. By contrast, grouping by proximity has hitherto not been investigated in infancy. This is also the first study to chart the developmental emergence of perceptual grouping longitudinally. Sixty-one infants were presented with a matrix of local stimuli grouped horizontally or vertically by luminance, shape or proximity at 2, 4, and 6 months. Infants were exposed to each set of stimuli for three presentation durations. Grouping was demonstrated for luminance similarity at the earliest testing age, 2 months, by shape similarity at 4 months, but was not observed for grouping by proximity. Grouping by shape similarity showed a distinctive pattern of grouping ability across exposure durations, which reflected familiarity preferences followed by novelty preferences. This remained stable across age. No link was found between the emergence of perceptual grouping ability and the exposure duration required to elicit grouping. We conclude by stressing the importance of longitudinal studies of infant development in furthering our understanding of human cognition, rather than relying on assumptions from the adult endstate.

Maternal psychosocial adversity and the longitudinal development of infant sleep

Research has identified associations between indicators of social disadvantage and the presence of child sleep problems. We examined the longitudinal development of infant sleep in families experiencing high (n = 58) or low (n = 64) levels of psychosocial adversity, and the contributions of neonatal self-regulatory capacities and maternal settling strategies to this development. Assessments of infant sleep at 4-, 7-, and 12-weeks postpartum indicated no differences in sleeping difficulties between high- and low-adversity groups. However, more infant sleep difficulties were reported in the high- versus low-adversity groups at 12- and 18-month follow-ups. Neonatal self-regulatory capacities were not related to the presence or absence of adversity, or to subsequent infant sleep quality. However, there were group differences in maternal settling strategies that did predict subsequent infant sleep difficulties. The pattern of sleep disturbance observed in association with maternal psychosocial adversity at 18-months was consistent with risk for broader impairments in child functioning.

A longitudinal investigation of maternal and child 'anxious cognitions'

Overestimation of threat and underestimation of coping have been frequently reported amongst anxious adults and children. The current study examines the longitudinal relationship between mothers' anxious cognitions and expectations about their child, and children's anxious cognitions. 54 children (aged 10-11 years) and their mothers reported on their interpretation of ambiguous scenarios at two time points. Mothers also reported on their expectations about their child's reaction to ambiguous situations. Significant cross-sectional associations were found between mother and child anticipation of distress. Associations were most consistent between mothers' expectations and children's cognitions. Furthermore, based on regression analyses, mothers' expectations predicted change in children's anxious cognitions over time. Evidence for a reciprocal relationship, that child cognitions predict change in mothers' expectations, was found for girls. The results provide empirical support for potential influences on the development of children's 'anxious cognitive style,' and suggest targets for preventing and reducing maladaptive cognitions in children.

Control of a compliant two-axis robotic arm

In order to ease control, the links between actuators and robotic limbs are generally made to be as stiff as possible. This is in contrast to natural limbs, where compliance is present. Springs have been added to the drive train between the actuator and load to imitate this natural compliance. The majority of these springs have been in series between the actuator and load. However, a more biologically inspired approach is taken, here springs have been used in parallel to oppose each other. The paper will describe the application of parallel extension springs in a robot arm in order to give it compliance. Advantages and disadvantages of this application are discussed along with various control strategies.

Control of a compliant two-axis robotic arm

It is common to make the links between actuators and robotic limbs as stiff as possible, in complete contrast to natural systems, where compliance is present. In the past, to create some compliance in a drive, springs have been added to the link between the actuator and load. Many of these springs have been in series with the drive, but recently a more 'biological' approach has been taken where two springs have been used in parallel to counteract each other. This paper describes the application of parallel extension springs in a robot arm in order to give it compliance. Advantages and disadvantages of this application are discussed, along with various control strategies.

Component processes of early reading, spelling, and narrative writing skills in Turkish: a longitudinal study

The study examined: (a) the role of phonological, grammatical, and rapid automatized naming (RAN) skills in reading and spelling development; and (b) the component processes of early narrative writing skills. Fifty-seven Turkish-speaking children were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 2. RAN was the most powerful longitudinal predictor of reading speed and its effect was evident even when previous reading skills were taken into account. Broadly, the phonological and grammatical skills made reliable contributions to spelling performance but their effects were completely mediated by previous spelling skills. Different aspects of the narrative writing skills were related to different processing skills. While handwriting speed predicted writing fluency, spelling accuracy predicted spelling error rate. Vocabulary and working memory were the only reliable longitudinal predictors of the quality of composition content. The overall model, however, failed to explain any reliable variance in the structural quality of the compositions

Longitudinal investigation of the faecal microbiota of healthy full-term infants using fluorescence in situ hybridization and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.

From birth onwards, the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of infants progressively acquires a complex range of micro-organisms. It is thought that by 2 years of age the GI microbial population has stabilized. Within the developmental period of the infant GI microbiota, weaning is considered to be most critical, as the infant switches from a milk-based diet (breast and/or formula) to a variety of food components. Longitudinal analysis of the biological succession of the infant GI/faecal microbiota is lacking. In this study, faecal samples were obtained regularly from 14 infants from 1 month to 18 months of age. Seven of the infants (including a set of twins) were exclusively breast-fed and seven were exclusively formula-fed prior to weaning, with 175 and 154 faecal samples, respectively, obtained from each group. Diversity and dynamics of the infant faecal microbiota were analysed by using fluorescence in situ hybridization and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Overall, the data demonstrated large inter- and intra-individual differences in the faecal microbiological profiles during the study period. However, the infant faecal microbiota merged with time towards a climax community within and between feeding groups. Data from the twins showed the highest degree of similarity both quantitatively and qualitatively. Inter-individual variation was evident within the infant faecal microbiota and its development, even within exclusively formula-fed infants receiving the same diet. These data can be of help to future clinical trials (e.g. targeted weaning products) to organize protocols and obtain a more accurate outline of the changes and dynamics of the infant GI microbiota.

Disturbances in early parenting of depressed mothers and cortisol secretion in offspring: A preliminary study

Background: Disturbances in cortisol secretion are associated with risk for psychiatric disorder, including depression. Animal research indicates that early care experiences influence hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning in offspring. Similar effects are suggested in human development, but evidence of longitudinal associations between observed early parenting and offspring cortisol secretion is extremely limited. We studied associations between parenting disturbances occurring in the context of maternal postnatal depression (PND), and elevations in morning cortisol secretion in the adolescent offspring of PND mothers. Methods: We observed maternal parenting behaviour on four occasions through the first year and at five-year follow up in postnatally depressed (n = 29) and well (n = 20) mothers. Observations were coded for maternal sensitivity and withdrawal. Basal offspring salivary cortisol secretion was measured at 13-years, using collections over 10-days. Results: Postnatal, but not five-year, maternal withdrawal predicted elevated mean and maximum morning cortisol secretion in 13-year-old offspring. There were no significant associations between maternal sensitivity and offspring cortisol secretion. Limitations: The sample size was relatively small, and effects tended to be reduced to trend level when covariates were considered. The correlational nature of the study (albeit longitudinal) limits conclusions regarding causality. Conclusions: Individual differences in early maternal parenting behaviour may influence offspring cortisol secretion, and thereby risk for depression. Parenting interventions that facilitate active maternal engagement with the infant may be indicated for high risk populations.