Does stroke impair academic achievement in children? The role of metacognition in math and spelling outcomes following pediatric stroke

Introduction: Current research suggests that pediatric stroke is associated with a reduction in intellectual functioning. However, less is known about academic achievement and the contribution of specific executive functions to math and literacy in this population. The current study investigates behavioral ratings of executive functioning and their relationship to math and spelling performance in children with a history of unilateral arterial ischemic stroke.

Method: Thirty-two pediatric patients with stroke (M_age = 9.5 ± 2.7 years) and 32 demographically equivalent, healthy controls were tested on standardized measures of arithmetic, spelling, and intelligence. Executive functioning data were collected via standardized parent questionnaire.

Results: Relative to controls, stroke participants demonstrated significantly poorer functioning in math, spelling, metacognition, and behavioral-regulation. Pencil and paper arithmetic was particularly challenging for the stroke group, with 40% of patients reaching levels of clinical impairment. Hierarchical regression in stroke participants further revealed that metacognition was a robust predictor of academic deficits. Stroke occurring in later childhood and affecting cortical and subcortical brain regions also presented as potential clinical risk factors.

Conclusions: Children with stroke were especially vulnerable to math achievement deficits. Metacognition made a substantial contribution to academic achievement abilities among stroke patients, and results underscore the importance of early metacognitive skills in the completion of schoolwork. Results also emphasize that pediatric stroke patients are a heterogeneous group with regard to functioning and that there is value in examining standard score distributions of clinical participant samples.     

Cross-cultural invariance of the Academic Expectations Stress Inventory: Adolescent samples from Canada and Singapore

We provide further evidence for the two-factor structure of the 9-item Academic Expectations Stress Inventory (AESI) using confirmatory factor analysis on a sample of 289 Canadian adolescents and 310 Singaporean adolescents. Examination of measurement invariance tests the assumption that the model underlying a set of scores is directly comparable across groups. This study also examined the cross-cultural validity of the AESI using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis across both the Canadian and Singaporean adolescent samples. The results suggested cross-cultural invariance of form, factor loadings, and factor variances and covariances of the AESI across both samples. Evidence of AESI's convergent and discriminant validity was also reported. Findings from t-tests revealed that Singaporean adolescents reported a significantly higher level of academic stress arising from self expectations, other expectations, and overall academic stress, compared to Canadian adolescents. Also, a larger cross-cultural effect was associated with academic stress arising from other expectations compared with academic stress arising from self expectations.     

对《诸病源候论》毒邪症状界定的分析

《诸病源侯论》论毒邪篇幅之多,明目之清,发前人所未发,打破传统束缚,注重临床实际。如其提出毒邪判断要以阴阳为纲;毒邪向内为病重,向外为病轻;赤白为轻,青紫黑为重;过肘膝为重,以及伤肠胃心肝脾肾均有不同的症状特征,提示了六淫从化于毒,毒邪与六淫有不同表现等问题,值得一读。     

论《金匮要略》基本学术思想及辨病与辨证——从《脏腑经络先后病脉证第一》谈起

研究《金匮要略》的重点应该放在对于各种疾病的辨证论治上，而不是某些证或某些方。这里涉及到如何看待病与证以及辨病与辨证的关系。以《金匮要略》的基本学术思想立论，从四个方面阐述了在整体论思想指导下的辨证论治体系，首先注重的是病；辨证方法的确立是由在发病学上具有不同性质特点的疾病所决定的；四诊所得的各种临床信息是为了辨病然后辨证；只有正确把握病与证的关系，才有可能真正理解和掌握“治未病”的实质。     

《中国学术期刊全文数据库网络版》在医院局域网上的使用

介绍了中国学术期刊全文数据库在医院局域网的使用，为医院图书馆更好地发挥电子期刊数据库的作用提供借鉴。     

Academic Achievement of Children with Epilepsy

The academic achievement scores of 122 children with epilepsy were examined in relation to demographic and clinical seizure variables. As a group, these children were making less academic progress than expected for their age and IQ level. Academic deficiencies were greatest in arithmetic, followed by spelling, reading, comprehension, and word recognition. Results of the multiple regression analyses indicated a modest combined predictive significance of the demographic and clinical seizure variables for academic performance. In addition, the magnitude of these relationships varied by academic area. Among the individual variables examined the strongest correlates of academic performance were age of the child, age of seizure onset, lifetime total seizure frequency, and presence of multiple seizures (absence and tonic-clonic). These results are discussed in relation to developing an understanding of the factors which underlie academic vulnerability in children with epilepsy.     

中学生学业能力倾向测验的初步编制

目的：编制一个适用于中学生的学业能力倾向测验。方法：采用理论与工作分析相结合的编制策略而成的中学生学业能力倾向测验包括A、B两个复本，均由三个分量表含七个分测验组成，分别测量语文．数理及图形等能力。研究样本由河北省石家庄市1424名中学生组成，并对其中468人分别进行信效度检验。结果：①各分测验原始分基本随年级升高而增长；②各分测验难度在0．46～0．54。鉴别指数在0.38～0．52；③各分量表及总分的重测相关系数在0．68～0．92，α系数在0．64～0．89．G系数在0．64～0．92；④探索性因素分析表明各分测验对基本能力因子均有中度以上的负荷，抽取的三个因子解释了总方差的72．18％(A式)和73．53％(B式)；⑤测验分数与长一鞍团体智力测验、与教师评价均呈显著正相关。测验分数在不同年级之间存在显著差异。学习成绩的回归分析可见，测验分数与考试成绩显著正相关，语文及数理分量表进入考试总成绩的回归方程。结论：中学生学业能力倾向测验的条目质量及信效度符合心理测量学的基本要求。     

The Genetic Basis of Academic Achievement on the Queensland Core Skills Test and its Shared Genetic Variance with IQ

First, this study examined genetic and environmental sources of variation in performance on a standardised test of academic achievement, the Queensland Core Skills Test (QCST) (Queensland Studies Authority, 2003a). Second, it assessed the genetic correlation among the QCST score and Verbal and Performance IQ measures using the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB), [Jackson, D. N. (1984) Multidimensional Aptitude Battery manual. Port Huron, MI:Research Psychologist Press, Inc.]. Participants were 256 monozygotic twin pairs and 326 dizygotic twin pairs aged from 15 to 18 years (mean 17 years ± 0.4 [SD]) when achievement tested, and from 15 to 22 years (mean 16 years ± 0.4 [SD]) when IQ tested. Univariate analysis indicated a heritability for the QCST of 0.72. Adjustment to this estimate due to truncate selection (downward adjustment) and positive phenotypic assortative mating (upward adjustment) suggested a heritability of 0.76 The phenotypic (0.81) and genetic (0.91) correlations between the QCST and Verbal IQ (VIQ) were significantly stronger than the phenotypic (0.57) and genetic (0.64) correlations between the QCST and Performance IQ (PIQ). The findings suggest that individual variation in QCST performance is largely due to genetic factors and that common environmental effects may be substantially accounted for by phenotypic assortative mating. Covariance between academic achievement on the QCST and psychometric IQ (particularly VIQ) is to a large extent due to common genetic influences.