Projections of future population trends that do not explicitly include education in their analysis may be flawed

ScienceDaily (July 28, 2011) — Future trends in global population growth could be significantly affected by improvements in both the quality and quantity of education, particularly female education. Projections of future population trends that do not explicitly include education in their analysis may be flawed, according to research published in the journal Science.

The study uses a novel "multi-state" population modeling approach to incorporate education attainment level, along with age and sex. The integration of education in the analyses adds a "human quality" dimension to projections of fertility, mortality and migration. As education also affects health, economic growth, and democracy, these projections provide a more comprehensive picture of where, how, and under what conditions human well-being is increasing.

The research reinforces earlier findings that the level of formal education achieved by women is, in most cases, the single most important determinant of population growth. More educated women generally have fewer children, better general health, and higher infant survival rates. Education also appears to be a more important determinant of child survival than household income and wealth. The study also found that if concerted efforts were made to fast track education, the global population could remain below 9 billion by 2050. Thus the global population outlook depends greatly on further progress in education.

Researchers Wolfgang Lutz and Samir K.C. from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), evaluated the effect of education on population growth to 2050 using four alternative education scenarios. The scenarios are based on identical sets of education-specific fertility, mortality, and migration rates. They differ only in terms of their assumptions about future school enrolment rates.

"The most ambitious, or 'fast track' (FT) scenario we apply assumes all countries expand their school system at the fastest possible rate -- this is comparable with past, best performing countries, Singapore and South Korea, says co-author Samir K.C.."The most pessimistic scenario of 'constant enrollment numbers' (CEN), assumes no new schools are built and the number of people attending schools remains constant, which, under conditions of population growth, means declining enrolment rates."

"Under these two extreme scenarios, population size in 2050 could vary by as much as 1 billion-with 8.8 billion people expected under the fast track scenario and as many as 9.9 billion under the constant enrolment numbers scenario .... The effect is greatest in countries with current high fertility rates and high education differentials," he stated.

Kenya's population, as an example, would increase from 31 million in 2000, to 85 million in 2050, under the optimistic FT scenario. Under the pessimistic CEN scenario with no new schools, Kenya's population could increase to 114 million. The difference of 30 million between these extremes is equivalent to the size of Kenya's population in 2000. As the scenarios only consider the individual-level effects, not the broader community-level impacts that education can have such as better availability of reproductive health services, the results are likely to be an underestimate of potential population change.

The authors emphasize that the effect of better education on population growth may not be obvious for some time. This is because the effect on fertility of girls entering school now may not be evident for about 15 years, when they enter their prime child bearing years.

The study supports earlier findings by IIASA and the VID regarding the level of educational attainment needed to bring about changes in fertility, with secondary education bringing greater reductions in fertility than primary education alone.

The research highlights the strong link between economic growth and 'human capital' -- the combination of health status and the education levels achieved by adults. Better education affects many aspects of human development, including health, economic growth, and democracy.

The study by Wolfgang Lutz and Samir K. C., from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, the Vienna Institute of Demography of the Austrian Academy of Science, and the Vienna University of Economics and Business (all three institutions have merged their scientific strengths and collaborate in the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital) is published in the latest issue of Science. Reference: Global Human Capital: Integrating Education and Population. Science July 29 2011. Lutz W. and Samir K. C.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

W. Lutz, S. KC. Global Human Capital: Integrating Education and Population. Science, 2011; 333 (6042): 587 DOI: 10.1126/science.1206964

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here

Children's personalities linked to their chemical response to stress

ScienceDaily (July 25, 2011) — Is your kid a "dove" -- cautious and submissive when confronting new environments, or perhaps you have a "hawk" -- bold and assertive in unfamiliar settings?

These basic temperamental patterns are linked to opposite hormonal responses to stress -- differences that may provide children with advantages for navigating threatening environments, researchers report in a study published online July 8, 2011, in Development and Psychopathology.

"Divergent reactions -- both behaviorally and chemically -- may be an evolutionary response to stress," says Patrick Davies, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester and the lead author of the study. "These biological reactions may have provided our human ancestors with adaptive survival advantages. For example, dovish compliance may work better under some challenging family conditions, while hawkish aggression could be an asset in others." This evolutionary perspective, says Davies, provides an important counterpoint to the prevailing idea in psychology that "there is one healthy way of being and that all behaviors are either adaptive or maladaptive."

Coauthor Melissa Sturge-Apple agrees: "When it comes to healthy psychological behavior, one size does not fit all." The assistant professor of psychology at the University of Rochester adds that the findings "give us insight into how basic behavioral patterns are also chemical patterns."

To understand the role of stress in children's reactions, Davies, Sturge-Apple, and Dante Cicchetti, a professor of child development and psychiatry at the University of Minnesota, focused on parental conflict in young families. "Research has shown that exposure to repeated aggression between parents is a significant stressor for children," explains Davies.

The study looked at 201 two-year-old toddlers, all from impoverished families with similar socio-economic profiles. Based on interviews and questionnaires with the mothers, the authors assessed children's exposure to levels of aggression between parents.

The researchers also documented the dove or hawk tendencies of the toddlers in a variety of unfamiliar situations. Children who showed dovish tendencies were vigilant and submissive in the face of novelty. The toddlers clung to their mothers, cried, or froze when encountering new surroundings. Hawks used bold, aggressive, and dominating strategies for coping with challenge. They fearlessly explored unknown objects and new environments.

When the researchers exposed the children to a mildly stressful simulated telephone argument between their parents, distinct patterns of hormonal reactions emerged. Children exposed to high levels of interparental aggression at home showed different reactions to the telephone quarrel. Doves with parents who fought violently produced elevated levels of cortisol, a hormone that is thought to increase a person's sensitivity to stress. Hawks from such stressful home environments put the breaks on cortisol production, which is regarded as a marker for diminishing experiences of danger and alarm.

This high-and-low-cortisol reactivity provides different developmental advantages and disadvantages, the authors write. Heightened cortisol levels characteristic of the doves were related to lower attention problems but also put them at risk for developing anxiety and depression over time. By contrast, the lower cortisol levels for hawks in aggressive families were associated with lower anxiety problems; however, at the same time, these children were more prone to risky behavior, including attention and hyperactivity problems.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of Rochester, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

Patrick T. Davies, Melissa L. Sturge-Apple, Dante Cicchetti. Interparental aggression and children's adrenocortical reactivity: Testing an evolutionary model of allostatic load. Development and Psychopathology, 2011; 23 (03): 801 DOI: 10.1017/S0954579411000319

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here

Quality of life for children with ADHD and their families worsens with greater disease severity

ScienceDaily (July 26, 2011) — The greater the severity of a child's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms, the more negative impacts on the child's health-related quality of life from the perspective of the child and the parent, a new study by a Baylor University psychologist has found.

Researchers compared children with ADHD in different types of treatment settings and found that children with ADHD being treated by a general pediatrician have better overall health-related quality of life and family functioning than children with ADHD being treated in a psychiatric clinic.

The study appears online in the Journal of Attention Disorders and is the first study to demonstrate greater negative impact on quality of life and family function in children with ADHD treated at a psychiatric clinic compared to those treated at a general pediatric clinic.

"These findings have potential implications for the health care needs of children with ADHD," said study author Dr. Christine Limbers, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor. ""The finding that overall agreement between children and parent ratings of the child's quality of life was low underscores the importance of evaluating both children's and parents' perspectives regarding quality of life in routine assessment in clinical practice and clinical trials for children with ADHD since their different perspectives potentially provide unique information."

The researchers surveyed nearly 200 families and evaluated health-related quality of life and family functioning, such as physical, emotional, social and family relationships, from both the perspective of children with physician-diagnosed ADHD and their parents. Researchers then compared those results to a sample of healthy children and to children with ADHD being seen in a psychiatric clinic.

The study found children with ADHD being treated at a general pediatric clinic reported fewer problems with quality of life compared to a sample of children with ADHD being treated in a psychiatric clinic. The study also showed that while children with ADHD treated by a general pediatrician have better overall health-related quality of life than children being seen in a psychiatric clinic, they still experience significant impairments in health-related quality of life compared to healthy children, particularly in psychosocial functioning, which encompasses a wide range of behaviors related to social and emotional well being.

The researchers said that parental worry and family relationships, such as lack of communication between family members and conflicts between family members, and daily family activities, such as family activities taking more time and effort and difficulty finding time to finish household tasks, are key areas to address in a family intervention.

"The data suggest that from the perspective of parents, child social functioning may have the strongest association with impaired family functioning. Consequently, it does not seem sufficient for interventions to only address social functioning with the child," Limbers said. "Teaching parents strategies for coping with their child's social impairments is also critical"

ADHD is one of the most prevalent chronic disorders in childhood and is characterized by impulsivity, a developmentally inappropriate activity level, low frustration tolerance, poor organization of behavior, distractibility, and an inability to sustain attention and concentration.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Baylor University.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here

Quality of life for children with ADHD and their families worsens with greater disease severity

ScienceDaily (July 26, 2011) — The greater the severity of a child's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms, the more negative impacts on the child's health-related quality of life from the perspective of the child and the parent, a new study by a Baylor University psychologist has found.

Researchers compared children with ADHD in different types of treatment settings and found that children with ADHD being treated by a general pediatrician have better overall health-related quality of life and family functioning than children with ADHD being treated in a psychiatric clinic.

The study appears online in the Journal of Attention Disorders and is the first study to demonstrate greater negative impact on quality of life and family function in children with ADHD treated at a psychiatric clinic compared to those treated at a general pediatric clinic.

"These findings have potential implications for the health care needs of children with ADHD," said study author Dr. Christine Limbers, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor. ""The finding that overall agreement between children and parent ratings of the child's quality of life was low underscores the importance of evaluating both children's and parents' perspectives regarding quality of life in routine assessment in clinical practice and clinical trials for children with ADHD since their different perspectives potentially provide unique information."

The researchers surveyed nearly 200 families and evaluated health-related quality of life and family functioning, such as physical, emotional, social and family relationships, from both the perspective of children with physician-diagnosed ADHD and their parents. Researchers then compared those results to a sample of healthy children and to children with ADHD being seen in a psychiatric clinic.

The study found children with ADHD being treated at a general pediatric clinic reported fewer problems with quality of life compared to a sample of children with ADHD being treated in a psychiatric clinic. The study also showed that while children with ADHD treated by a general pediatrician have better overall health-related quality of life than children being seen in a psychiatric clinic, they still experience significant impairments in health-related quality of life compared to healthy children, particularly in psychosocial functioning, which encompasses a wide range of behaviors related to social and emotional well being.

The researchers said that parental worry and family relationships, such as lack of communication between family members and conflicts between family members, and daily family activities, such as family activities taking more time and effort and difficulty finding time to finish household tasks, are key areas to address in a family intervention.

"The data suggest that from the perspective of parents, child social functioning may have the strongest association with impaired family functioning. Consequently, it does not seem sufficient for interventions to only address social functioning with the child," Limbers said. "Teaching parents strategies for coping with their child's social impairments is also critical"

ADHD is one of the most prevalent chronic disorders in childhood and is characterized by impulsivity, a developmentally inappropriate activity level, low frustration tolerance, poor organization of behavior, distractibility, and an inability to sustain attention and concentration.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Baylor University.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here