A longitudinal study of depressiveness in children in public care

Rajhvajn Bulat L. A longitudinal study of depressiveness in children in public care Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 412–423 © 2009 The Author, Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. The aim of this article is to analyse the challenges involved when making longitudinal observations of depressiveness in children raised in public care. The first measurement comprised 375 children from children's homes and foster families; however, most of the results are based on an analysis of the 139 children who participated in both parts of the research. We used the Child Depression Inventory and the anxiety/depression subscales of Youth Self Report and Child Behaviour Checklist as measures of depressiveness. The comparison of results from the first and second measurements showed that depressiveness in children in public care decreased over time. Children who grew up in children homes were, in the first measurement, more depressed than those living in foster families, but after five years that difference had disappeared. Furthermore, decrease in depressiveness is predominantly associated with less frequent delinquent, aggressive or hyperactive behaviour, less withdrawal and better control over uncomfortable emotions.     

《唐方镇文职僚佐考》增补

文职僚佐是唐代藩镇的重要组成人员,随着考古资料的增进,有关唐代藩镇文职僚佐的史料不断增加,将这些资料加以整理对研究唐朝历史将提供便利条件。     

读朱新天著《印度教万神殿艺术——印度王后井探秘》

朱新天博士的新著《印度教万神殿艺术——印度王后井探秘》,是她近20年来苦心研究印度艺术的结晶。该书已分别以中、英、法三种文字同时出版,在国际印度艺术研究领域产生了重要影响。     

金融危机下中国创业投资“囚徒困境”演化研究

创业投资家和创业企业家的＂囚徒困境＂是制约中国创业投资进一步发展的主要障碍之一。对短期利益的追求和缺乏信任是造成中国创业投资＂囚徒困境＂的两个重要原因。在金融危机背景下,＂囚徒困境＂的演化将朝着有利于创业投资家的方向发展。金融危机虽然能改变博弈的结果,却未能改变＂囚徒困境＂的成因。     

简论语料库与教师角色之转变

现代电子语料库已有了近50年的发展,但语料库应用于课堂教学才刚刚起步。通过近年语料库辅助课堂教学诸多实践研究,教师们不仅可以获得教学中的例句,还可引导学生们学习更地道、更准确的表达方式。     

基于主体功能区划自然保护区生态补偿机制之构建与完善

根据国家主体功能区划,自然保护区被界定为禁止开发区域,必然要对其科学有效地实施生态补偿;自然保护区生态补偿机制应当结合当前主体功能区划的政策导向,进行重新定位与构建。依据公共物品与外部性等理论,为缓解现实矛盾,需积极探索构建多元化融资渠道的保护区生态补偿机制,主要涉及政府与市场两种基本途径或机制范畴,合理安排相应的政策引导与制度创新。制度构建的关键在于加快自然保护区生态补偿的立法调整,无论是政府财政转移支付还是市场经济手段的生态补偿政策,都需要立法确定其方针原则、实施模式及机制。     

The Development of Peer Interaction in Infancy: Exploring the Dyadic Processes

Peer interaction is an important component of children's social repertoires that is associated with a variety of developmental outcomes and life skills. The present study provides an in‐depth study of early dyadic peer behaviors during the infancy period, during which social competence with peers is first being developed. Results from variable‐centered analyses highlight the effectiveness of behaviors, such as offering objects to peers, and point to the importance of the social context set by a peer's prior social behavior and processes for eliciting peer responses. Findings from person‐centered analyses reveal marked individual differences in the processes through which infants are successful in eliciting responses from their peers, illustrating the presence of multiple pathways to achieving social competence with peers.     

Parameter Estimation for a Discretely Observed Integrated Diffusion Process

Abstract.  We consider the estimation of unknown parameters in the drift and diffusion coefficients of a one-dimensional ergodic diffusion X when the observation is a discrete sampling of the integral of X at times i Δ , i  =  1 ,…, n . Assuming that the sampling interval tends to 0 while the total length time interval tends to infinity, we first prove limit theorems for functionals associated with our observations. We apply these results to obtain a contrast function. The associated minimum contrast estimators are shown to be consistent and asymptotically Gaussian with different rates for drift and diffusion coefficient parameters.     

Between stability and higher-order asymptotics

We discuss the effects of model misspecifications on higher-order asymptotic approximations of the distribution of estimators and test statistics. In particular we show that small deviations from the model can wipe out the nominal improvements of the accuracy obtained at the model by second-order approximations of the distribution of classical statistics. Although there is no guarantee that the first-order robustness properties of robust estimators and tests will carry over to second-order in a neighbourhood of the model, the behaviour of robust procedures in terms of second-order accuracy is generally more stable and reliable than that of their classical counterparts. Finally, we discuss some related work on robust adjustments of the profile likelihood and outline the role of computer algebra in this type of research.     

Conditionally Reducible Natural Exponential Families and Enriched Conjugate Priors

Consider a standard conjugate family of prior distributions for a vector-parameter indexing an exponential family. Two distinct model parameterizations may well lead to standard conjugate families which are not consistent, i.e. one family cannot be derived from the other by the usual change-of-variable technique. This raises the problem of finding suitable parameterizations that may lead to enriched conjugate families which are more flexible than the traditional ones. The previous remark motivates the definition of a new property for an exponential family, named conditional reducibility. Features of conditionally-reducible natural exponential families are investigated thoroughly. In particular, we relate this new property to the notion of cut, and show that conditionally-reducible families admit a reparameterization in terms of a vector having likelihood-independent components. A general methodology to obtain enriched conjugate distributions for conditionally-reducible families is described in detail, generalizing previous works and more recent contributions in the area. The theory is illustrated with reference to natural exponential families having simple quadratic variance function.