Gibbs Y. Kanyongo

Student Attendance, Mobility, and Mathematics Achievement in an Urban School District.

ABSTRACT The authors aim to describe student attendance–mobility within a large urban district in ways that are meaningful and useful to schools and the community. First, the prevalence of mobility and nonattendance in Grades 1–12 across all students and by gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic subgroups is presented. Second, the impact on student mathematics achievement is examined. Results show that nonattendance–mobility negatively impact mathematics achievement as measured by the states assessment, even after controlling for socioeconomic status and gender. Interestingly, there is not a differential impact across ethnicities. Black and White subgroups show similar patterns of achievement across attendance and mobility levels. Finally, the authors take a closer look at the 10 district high schools to determine where nonattendance–mobility is of particular concern. Implications for districts are discussed in terms of targeting the extent of the problem and where it is occurring, using that information to improve attendance and reduce mobility, and finally, instituting systematic approaches to deal with student movement in and out of schools.

Proactive and Reactive Aggression and Cognitive and Affective Empathy among Students in Middle Childhood

Youth who engage in proactive and reactive aggression are more likely to be rejected by peers than those not involved in bully-victim conflicts. With poor social information processing skills, children engaging in bullying behaviors do not possess the appropriate levels of affective and cognitive empathy to defuse aggressive situations. Youth with low levels of cognitive empathy may understand the emotions of others but choose not to react to these feelings. This research study examines the relationship between proactive and reactive aggression and cognitive and affective empathy in typically-developing children, age nine to eleven. The research findings show that cognitive and affective empathy are not significant predictors of proactive aggression; however, they are significant predictors of reactive aggression.

Association between Obesity and Therapeutic Goal Attainment in Patients with Concomitant Hypertension and Dyslipidemia

Abstract Background: Obesity is associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus, as well as cardiovascular diseases. Objectives: To evaluate demographic, diagnostic, and treatment characteristics of patients with concomitant hypertension and dyslipidemia, stratified by body mass index and the attainment of blood pressure (BP) and lipid targets in obese versus nonobese patients. Methods: This retrospective study used data from GE Centricity Electronic Medical Records database (2004–2011) of a primary care physician group. Patients aged ≥ 18 years and having concomitant hypertension and dyslipidemia were categorized based on their body mass index: normal weight (≤ 24.9 kg/m2), overweight (25.0–29.9 kg/m2), and obese (≥ 30.0 kg/m2). Blood pressure and lipid goal attainments were based on Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure and National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines, respectively. Results: A total of 9086 patients with concomitant hypertension and dyslipidemia were identified and categorized as normal weight (n = 1256), overweight (n = 3058) and obese (n = 4772). Patients who were obese were younger (< 65 years); were more likely to have diabetes mellitus (P < 0.001); had higher baseline BP and triglyceride levels and lower levels of high–density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < 0.05); and were more likely to be prescribed antihypertensives and antilipemic agents (P < 0.001). In multivariate analyses, obese patients were significantly more likely to fail to attain BP (odds ratio = 1.562, P < 0.001) and dual BP and low–density lipoprotein cholesterol (odds ratio = 1.193, P = 0.023) goals. Conclusions: Obesity appears to be an independent risk factor for the failure to attain BP and dual BP and low–density lipoprotein cholesterol goals in patients with concomitant hypertension and dyslipidemia. These findings suggest that future research is needed to determine the underlying link between obesity and failure to attain these goals.

Mental Health and Somatic Distress among Ethiopian Migrant Returnees from the Middle East

Objective: This study aimed to examine the mental health and somatic distress among migrant returnee population in Ethiopia. Background: Mental health and psychosocial distress are frequent among people who have faced adversity, such as exposure to abuse, exploitation, loss, displacement, and human trafficking. Returned Migrants are the most vulnerable population for such adversities, especially when they work in under-regulated sectors such as domestic work entered through illegal migration. Addressing the mental health issues of returnees has to be a cross- cutting activity of any migration -crisis intervention. However, knowledge about the frequency, severity, and risk factors as they affect migrants’ mental health in Ethiopian is limited at best. Method: In a sample of 1,035 returnee migrants, data were collected on the mental distress based on SRQ-20 and somatic distress based on PHQ-15. A descriptive statistics correlation, t-test, and factorial MANOVA analysis were run to determine the distress status and the relationship between different variables. Results: Using a cut of point of 8, 26.08% of the sample was considered to be a probable case (n=270), with females endorsing more items than males. Twenty- three percent (11.7%, Mild; 8.2% Moderate; and 3% Sever) of the participants reported somatic manifestation of psychological distress. A significant relationship is found between participants’ mental health distress and somatic psychological distress. Religious affiliation and ethnicity are found to be associated with mental health distress, while gender and education are found to be significantly associated with somatic psychological distress. Conclusion: Ethiopian migrant returnees deal with significant mental health distress and endorsed somatic symptoms in outpatient setting. Migrant returnees should access to a mental health service that is exclusively geared towards their mental health problems instead of clustering them together under the umbrella of general health services. Future studies are needed into the nature and efficacy of mental healthcare intervention in Ethiopia.

Ego Identity and Relational and Social Aggression Mediated by Elaborative and Deep Processing

Abstract: In this investigation, late adolescents’ (N = 629) ego identity status (e.g., identity achievement, identity diffusion, identity moratorium, and identity foreclosure), cognitive processing style, and self-reported use of relational aggression and social aggression were measured in order to assess potential relationships among these constructs. Four separate models were used to test these hypotheses, and the results showed support for some but not all the four hypotheses. In this sample, it appears that individuals with high levels of cognitive sophistication who lack social maturity by which to resolve relationship problems were more likely to use social aggression than those with lower levels of cognitive processing skills or with higher levels of emotional maturity.

Callous-Unemotional Traits, Relational and Social Aggression, and Interpersonal Maturity in a Sample of Behaviorally Disordered Adolescents.

ABSTRACT The authors examined the degree to which callous-unemotional traits and narcissism predict relational aggression, social aggression, and prosocial skills in a sample of 79 adolescent offenders (13–18 years old; 26% girls; 74% boys) attending a school for youth with behavior disorders in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Narcissism made a significant contribution to the prediction of both relational aggression and social aggression, accounting for most of the unique variance in the prediction of these indirect forms of aggression. Conversely, callous-unemotional traits—but not narcissism—made a significant contribution to the prediction of lower prosocial skills. Furthermore, in contrast to the large number of studies indicating gender differences in the expression of aggression, no significant gender differences in the present study were found.

Relational and Social Aggression and Reflective Processing in a University Sample

This study examined whether the dimension of reflective processing (e.g., deep and elaborative processing) was connected to the use of relational aggressions, social aggression, or both. A convenience sample of 629 college students (66% female, 91.6% White) was surveyed to ascertain the relation between self-reported relational and social aggression and deep and elaborative processing. The overall multivariate regression model was significant, Wilks’s λ = .12, F(4, 2162) = 1010.80, p < .001. Univariate results were used to show that the two predictors (relational and social aggression) significantly and strongly positively predicted the use of deep processing, R2 = .81, p < .001, as well as the use of elaborative processing, R2 = .87, p < .001. In summary, higher levels of social and relational aggression were related to higher levels of deep and elaborative processing. Implications for these findings are presented.

The Relationship Between Hyperfemininity and Achievement of Ego Identity Among College Women

In this study, the relationships between the variables of hyperfemininity and ideological and interpersonal identity status among college women were investigated. A 3 × 3 factorial ANOVA was conducted with Hyperfemininity (low, medium, and high) and Year in School (1 year, 2 years, and 3 or more years). Significant main effects were found for Hyperfemininity and for Year in School, but none of the interaction effects were significant.

Hierarchical Linear Modelling of Sixth-Grade Students’ Socio-economic Status and School Factors On Mathematics Achievement: Case studies of Kenya and Zimbabwe

This study investigated the relationship between socio-economic status, school-level variables and mathematics achievement of sixth graders in Kenya and Zimbabwe. The study is based on secondary data collected by the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ III). SACMEQ employed cluster-sampling procedures to collect data from 4412 students in 193 schools in Kenya, and 3021 students in 155 schools in Zimbabwe. A multilevel model (Hierarchical linear model) was used to analyse variation in student achievement in mathematics between and within schools. Owing to the nested nature of the data, the study utilised the Wiley and Harnischfeger model as a general framework for choosing variables and conceptualising multiple components of education. The findings in both countries showed that socio-economic status and school resources were significant predictors of mathematics achievement. The variable class size n Kenya was positively related to mathematics achievement, but in Zimbabwe a negative and significant relationship existed between class size and achievement. In Kenya school type was positively associated with mathematic achievement, but in Zimbabwe no such association existed. Additionally, 25–30% of the variance in student achievement in mathematics in both countries is explained by differences between schools. These findings suggest a disparity in mathematics achievement between schools in both countries based on class size and school type. Stakeholders can use these findings to make policies that help establish parity across the schools.