Examining Subtypes of Behavioral/Emotional Risk Using Cluster Analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 628-632
Author(s):  
Bridget V. Dever ◽  
Emily K. Gallagher ◽  
Craig D. Hochbein ◽  
Austin Loukas ◽  
Chenchen Dai

Behavioral and emotional problems among children and adolescents can lead to numerous negative outcomes without intervention. From a prevention standpoint, screening for behavioral and emotional risk is an important step toward identifying such problems before the point of diagnosis or referral. The present study conducted a k-means cluster analysis to determine the subtypes of risk captured by one such screening instrument, the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS). The final solution produced four clusters: Well-Adapted, Internalizing/Adjustment Problems, Mild Externalizing Problems, and General Problems-Severe; these results were similar to those found with the full Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2), suggesting that the BESS assesses similar constructs. Predictive validity evidence suggested that cluster membership was associated with standard achievement scores and in-school disciplinary incidents.

Author(s):  
Mª de la Villa Carpio Fernández ◽  
Mª Cruz García Linares ◽  
Manuel Jesús De la Torre Cruz ◽  
Mª Teresa Cerezo Rusillo ◽  
Pedro F. Casanova Arias

Abstract:This paper analyzed the different consistent and inconsistent combination of maternal and paternal parenting styles and their relationships with psychosocial adjustment problems reported by their children. The participant were 840 Secondary schools students, aged 12 to 16. A cluster analysis was performed in order to obtain the parenting styles of both mothers and fathers. The results shown that children report lower levels of internalizing and externalizing problems when assigning a democratic style to both parents. Children who have a father or a mother with a democratic style have lower psychosocial adjustment problems than family situations where the democratic style is not present. Finally, children whose parents agree on an affective-authoritarian style have fewer externalizing problems.Keywords: parenting styles, consistency, inconsistency, psychosocial adjustment problems, adolescentResumen:Este estudio analiza las diversas combinaciones de consistencia y de inconsistencia en los estilos educativos de ambos progenitores y su relación con los problemas de ajuste psicosocial que informan sus hijos. Los participantes fueron 840 estudiantes de E.S.O. con edades entre los 12 y 16 años. Para la obtención de los estilos educativos parentales se utilizó el análisis de clúster. Los resultados muestran que los hijos informan de menor incidencia de problemas externalizantes e internalizantes cuando se atribuye un estilo democrático a ambos padres. Los hijos que tienen un solo progenitor democrático presentan menores problemas de ajuste psicosocial frente a situaciones familiares donde no está implicado el estilo democrático. Finalmente los hijos que tienen padres que coinciden en un estilo afectivo-autoritario presentan menos problemas externalizantes.Palabras clave: estilos educativos paternos, consistencia, inconsistencia, problemas de ajuste psicosocial, adolescentes.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy K. Clark ◽  
Meagan Karvonen

Alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) have historically lacked broad validity evidence and an overall evaluation of the extent to which evidence supports intended uses of results. An expanding body of validation literature, the funding of two AA-AAS consortia, and advances in computer-based assessment have supported improvements in AA-AAS validation. This paper describes the validation approach used with the Dynamic Learning Maps® alternate assessment system, including development of the theory of action, claims, and interpretive argument; examples of evidence collected; and evaluation of the evidence in light of the maturity of the assessment system. We focus especially on claims and sources of evidence unique to AA-AAS and especially the Dynamic Learning Maps system design. We synthesize the evidence to evaluate the degree to which it supports the intended uses of assessment results for the targeted population. Considerations are presented for subsequent data collection efforts.


SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Matricciani ◽  
Catherine Paquet ◽  
François Fraysse ◽  
Anneke Grobler ◽  
Yichao Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Study objectives Sleep plays an important role in cardiometabolic health. While the importance of considering sleep as a multidimensional construct is widely appreciated, studies have largely focused on individual sleep characteristics. The association between actigraphy-derived sleep profiles and cardiometabolic health in healthy adults and children has not been examined. Methods This study used actigraphy-measured sleep data collected between February 2015 and March 2016 in the Child Health CheckPoint study. Participants wore actigraphy monitors (GENEActiv Original, Cambs, UK) on their non-dominant wrist for seven days and sleep characteristics (period, efficiency, timing and variability) were derived from raw actigraphy data. Actigraphy-derived sleep profiles of 1,043 Australian children aged 11-12 years and 1337 adults were determined using K-means cluster analysis. The association between cluster membership and biomarkers of cardiometabolic health (blood pressure, body mass index, apolipoproteins, glycoprotein acetyls, composite metabolic syndrome severity score) were assessed using Generalised Estimating Equations, adjusting for geographic clustering, with sex, socioeconomic status, maturity stage (age for adults, pubertal status for children) and season of data collection as covariates. Results Four actigraphy-derived sleep profiles were identified in both children and adults: Short sleepers, Late to bed, Long sleepers, and Overall good sleepers. The Overall good sleeper pattern (characterised by adequate sleep period time, high efficiency, early bedtime and low day-to-day variability) was associated with better cardiometabolic health in the majority of comparisons (80%). Conclusion Actigraphy-derived sleep profiles are associated with cardiometabolic health in adults and children. The Overall good sleeper pattern is associated with more favourable cardiometabolic health.


2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 507-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syeda Shamama-tus-Sabah ◽  
Nighat Gilani ◽  
Theodore D. Wachs

Recent findings from Western developed countries have linked home chaos to children’s cognitive performance and behavioral problems. In the present paper we test whether the same pattern of associations can be replicated in a non-Western developing country. Our sample was 203 Pakistani primary school children. To assess home chaos the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS) was translated into Urdu and administered to mothers. Children were assessed using the parent and teachers rating forms of the Behavioral Assessment System for Children and the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices. Home chaos was not related to children’s cognitive performance. However, replicating previous findings from Western developed countries, greater home chaos uniquely predicted higher levels of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems as well as lower levels of adaptive behavior in Pakistani children, as rated by both mothers and teachers.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Michael Bergmann

In Germany, a new assessment system (the NBA) is being applied to assess the need for long-term care. The degree of care that is calculated defines the extent of welfare state benefits. Measuring and analysing the need for care in a statistically appropriate way is subject to certain preconditions. This book presents multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) in combination with cluster analysis (HCA) as an innovative methodological approach to dealing with this challenge. The first part provides a theoretical discussion of the need for care; the second part describes MCA and HCA in detail using an example. The book is aimed at all those involved in the measurement and analysis of the need for care.


2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHERYL L. NEKOLAICHUK ◽  
EDUARDO BRUERA

Objective:The purpose of this study was to gather validity evidence for an innovative experience of hope scale, theHope Differential-Short (HDS), and evaluate its clinical utility for assessing hope in advanced cancer patients.Methods:A consecutive sampling approach was used to recruit 96 patients from an inpatient tertiary palliative care unit and three hospice settings. Each participant completed an in-person survey interview, consisting of the following measures: HDS (nine items), Herth Hope Index (HHI), hope visual analog scale (Hope-VAS) and Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS).Results:Using factor analytic procedures, a two-factor structure for the HDS was identified, consisting ofauthentic spirit(Factor I) andcomfort(Factor II). The HDS factors had good overall internal consistency (α = 0.83), with Factor I (α = 0.83) being higher than Factor II (α = 0.69). The two factors positively correlated with the HHI, Hope-VAS, and one of the ESAS visual analog scales, well-being (range: 0.38 to 0.64) and negatively correlated with depression and anxiety, as measured by the ESAS (range: −0.25 to −0.42).Significance of results:This is the first validation study of the HDS in advanced cancer patients. Its promising psychometric properties and brief patient-oriented nature provide a solid initial foundation for its future use as a clinical assessment measure in oncology and palliative care. Additional studies are warranted to gather further validity evidence for the HDS before its routine use in clinical practice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (04) ◽  
pp. 1850038
Author(s):  
Z. Aytan Ediz ◽  
M. Atilla Öner ◽  
Y. Can Erdem ◽  
Nesimi Kaplan

Make-or-buy decision is an important factor affecting the profitability of the firms in all sectors. The goal of this study is to propose a model for firms in engineering design services sector for make-or-buy decisions. A survey was conducted to determine the importance percentages given in an engineering company in make-or-buy decisions and a model was developed. The results of the case study show intriguing clusters of company personnel. As the lack of consensus among company managers and personnel may inhibit the successful implementation of the developed strategy, we use K-Means Clustering to determine the different perspectives of different groups of employees (managers, senior engineers, junior engineers, technical and administrative support personnel) which may contribute to the understanding of social dynamics of decision making within the company. 4-cluster and 5-cluster analysis results indicate the need for further study on the dynamics of cluster membership.


Author(s):  
Dingxi Qiu ◽  
Edward C. Malthouse

Cluster analysis is a set of statistical models and algorithms that attempt to find “natural groupings” of sampling units (e.g., customers, survey respondents, plant or animal species) based on measurements. The observable measurements are sometimes called manifest variables and cluster membership is called a latent variable. It is assumed that each sampling unit comes from one of K clusters or classes, but the cluster identifier cannot be observed directly and can only be inferred from the manifest variables. See Bartholomew and Knott (1999) and Everitt, Landau and Leese (2001) for a broader survey of existing methods for cluster analysis. Many applications in science, engineering, social science, and industry require grouping observations into “types.” Identifying typologies is challenging, especially when the responses (manifest variables) are categorical. The classical approach to cluster analysis on those data is to apply the latent class analysis (LCA) methodology, where the manifest variables are assumed to be independent conditional on the cluster identity. For example, Aitkin, Anderson and Hinde (1981) classified 468 teachers into clusters according to their binary responses to 38 teaching style questions. This basic assumption in classical LCA is often violated and seems to have been made out of convenience rather than it being reasonable for a wide range of situations. For example, in the teaching styles study two questions are “Do you usually allow your pupils to move around the classroom?” and “Do you usually allow your pupils to talk to one another?” These questions are mostly likely correlated even within a class.


1991 ◽  
Vol 118 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Beiter ◽  
Gary Ingersoll ◽  
Judith Ganser ◽  
Donald P. Orr

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