Birthdate Effects on School Performance and Adjustment: A Longitudinal Study

In search of the optimal therapy for congenital hypothyroidism

To determine whether youth in Alberta who had completed suicide were more likely to be younger than their classmates on entering grade 1 (that is, showed a relative age effect). Records were obtained for all deaths by suicide by individuals under the age of 20 years in Alberta during the years 1979-1992. The relative age of each of these persons was determined by comparing his or her month of birth to the birth months of the appropriate school-grade cohort. A disproportionate number of the subjects were born in the second half of the "school eligibility year," indicating a higher probability that those who completed suicide were younger than their classmates. Previous research indicates that relative age is strongly related to school performance and success in sports. The present study demonstrates that the relative age effect is also a factor in youth suicide. It is suggested that the higher incidence of youth suicide in the group of relatively younger school children may have resulted from poorer school performance, which in turn led to lowered confidence and self esteem. Past research suggests that these conditions may predispose children to hopelessness and depression, which are often thought to be essential components of suicide. Research aimed at neutralizing the negative effects of relative age should have important personal and social consequences.

Relationship Between Age of School Entry and Behaviour Problems Recent studies demonstrated that children who are relatively young within a school year show more behaviour problems, are at greater risk of being diagnosed with attention- eficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and treated with stimulants compared to their older classmates. In this paper we examine the association of age at school entry and behavioural problems for a German sample of elementary school children, who were enrolled in 2009 (N = 928). We used teacher ratings on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) as well as the prevalence of ADHD diagnosis and medication. Our analyses showed that those children with a relatively younger age at school entry were judged more hyperactive than their older peers when sex was controlled for. After stratifying for sex, the effect of age at school entry on hyperactivity was now only significant for boys. No association with age at school entry could be found for the other SDQ-subscales as well as for ADHD diagnosis and medication. Although we could only partially demonstrate a significant relationship between age at school entry and behavioral problems in German elementary school-children, understanding these associations may help to consider children´s maturity differences when evaluating the child´s behavior.

BACKGROUND:The issues of the age effect (the theory of the age influence) have been shown in sport sciences since the 1980s.The theory of age effect works on the assumption that athletes born in the beginning of a calendar year are, particularly in children's and junior age, more successful than athletes born in the end of the year.This fact has been proved by a number of research studies, mainly in ice hockey, soccer, and tennis but also in other sports.OBJECTIVE: The submitted contribution is aimed at verifying of the age effect in junior tennis.The research objective was to find out the distribution of birth date frequencies in a population of tennis players' in individual months, quarters, and half-years in the observed period 2007-2011 and to check the significance of differences.METHODS: The research was conducted on male tennis players aged 13-14 (N = 239), participants of the World Junior Tennis Finals.From the methodological point of view, it was an intentional selection.The birth dates of individual tennis players were taken from official materials of the ITF, the research data were processed using Microsoft Excel.The personal data were processed with the approval of players and the hosting organization (ITF).RESULTS: Testing of the hypothesis on the significance of differences in the distribution of frequencies between individual quarters (Q1-Q4) has proved statistically relevant differences between Q1 and Q3, Q1 and Q4, Q2 and Q3, and Q2 and Q4; a statistically relevant difference has been also found in the distribution of frequencies between the first and second half of the year.On the basis of the results of the presented research, the age effect in the studied population of junior male tennis players can be regarded as significant.CONCLUSIONS: The results of the analysis of the research data confirm the conclusions of similar studies in other sports and prove that in the population of elite junior players, participants of WJTF 2007-2011, there is a pronounced dominance of players born in the first and second quarters, i.e. in the first half-year.The mentioned conclusions show the necessity of reflecting the age effect in sports practice as it can influence sports performance, especially at the junior level.

Purpose The unpredictable disease course of childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE) and its neuropsychiatric and cognitive symptoms can negatively impact quality of life at a time of major social, psychological and cognitive development. Quality of life (QoL) is multidimensional construct that describes a person’s self perception of physical, emotional, social and school/vocational functioning. Our purpose was to examine four health-related QoL domains (i.e., physical, emotional, social and school functioning) and depressive symptoms in adolescents with recently diagnosed cSLE from a patient and parent perspective, and to evaluate for associations between the QoL domains and depression. Methods A preliminary sample of twenty cSLE subjects (Mean Age 14.9 ± 2.3 years, 75% female) and their parents completed standardized questionnaires assessing quality of life (PedsQL) and depression (Children’s Depression Inventory, CDI) as part of an observational research study of neurocognitive function in cSLE patients within 18 months from diagnosis of cSLE. Correlations and repeated measures ANOVA were used to examine parent-youth agreement and associations between QoL domains and depressive symptoms. PedsQL scaled scores were calculated for each domain, with higher scores representing greater health-related QoL (range 0 - 100). Results Both cSLE subjects and their parents reported lower QoL scores in the adolescent’s physical, emotional and school functioning as compared to social functioning, which remained relatively less affected (mean scaled scores 67.0, 61.7, 63.9 and 82.6 respectively, p<.001). Mean CDI scores were within the normal range, with 3 subjects (15%) scoring in the depressive symptom range. Depressive symptoms were strongly correlated with the emotional difficulties domain for both the cSLE self-report (r =- 0.73, p<.01) and for the parent report (r = -0.84, p<.01). Similarly, depressive symptoms were correlated with the physical challenges domain for both cSLE self-report (r = -0.61, p< .05) and parent report (r = -0.50, p<.05), and their reported problems at school (r =- 0.61,p <. 01). Conclusion In this preliminary report we found that cSLE affects not only physical functioning domain of QoL early on, but also the domains of emotional and school functioning, within months of diagnosis. Not surprisingly, symptoms of depression were associated with multiple aspects of quality of life, including emotional, school and physical functioning. Further study will examine for associations of QoL with neurocognitive function.

In this era of increased accountability of public schools, standardized testing has been selected as a primary tool for assessing school performance. Since 1999 the state of California has used a summary measure of student test scores, the Academic Performance Index (API), to rank all public schools and has attached rewards and sanctions to the results. Analysis of 2 years of API scores for two large urban districts using variables measuring student socioeconomic status, teacher training and experience, and school characteristics provides strong evidence that this measure of school performance is largely driven by the socioeconomic conditions of the school. Teacher training and experience also have positive effects on school performance.

Background: Although constipation is a common childhood problem, its global burden was still quite unknown because data from many regions in the world were missing, Lebanon being one of them. This study mainly aimed to assess the effect of constipation on behavioral changes (physical, emotional, social, and school functioning). It was also destined to determine the difference in quality of life between constipated and non-constipated children and to provide the public health community with a study to identify the need of early management. Methods: A cross sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted by Lebanese University students in 86 children half of whom were constipated. Recruitment took place at Rafic Hariri University Hospital. Results: A statistically significant difference was noted between constipated and nonconstipated children in physical functioning (mean score for non-constipated patients = 75.99; mean score for constipated = 46.44; (P-value &lt; 0.002). Non constipated children also had significantly higher (P-value &lt; 0.001) Emotional Health Summary Score (65.62; 17.71), Social Health Summary Score (75; 18.87), School Health Summary Score (71.58; 14.93), Psychosocial Health Summary Score (71.08; 12.19) than constipated children. Furthermore, the overall PedsQL total scale was significantly higher (P-value &lt; 0.001) in non-constipated children (72.9; 12.45) compared to the constipated (50.86; 11.23). Conclusion: This study showed lower overall QOL in children with constipation, as well as impaired school, social, physical, and emotional functioning. This study shows the importance of evaluating and tackling all the components of wellbeing by pediatricians.

To verify whether relative age effects (RAEs) occur among young male and female Swiss Alpine skiers of different age groups and performance levels. In addition, the efficacy of normalizing performance in physical tests to height and body mass to attenuate RAEs eventually present was tested. The Swiss Ski Power Test consists of anthropometric measures and physical tests for coordination and speed, endurance, and strength and has been used since 2004 to evaluate 11- to 19-y-old Swiss competitive Alpine skiers. The authors analyzed the distribution of 6996 tests performed by 1438 male and 1031 female Alpine skiers between 2004 and 2011 according to the athletes' respective relative age quartiles. Differences in anthropometric measures and performance in physical tests according to quartile were assessed, and the possibility of attenuating eventual RAEs on performance by normalization of results to height and body mass was tested. RAEs were found among all female and male age groups, with no differences between age groups. While performance level did not affect RAE for male skiers, it influenced RAE among female skiers. RAEs also influenced results in all physical tests except upper-limb strength. Normalization of results to body mass attenuated most RAEs identified. Small RAEs are present among young Swiss competitive Alpine skiers and should be taken into account in training and selection settings to prevent the waste of possible future talents. When ranking junior athletes according to their performance in physical tests, normalization of results to body mass decreases the bias caused by RAEs.

Mindfulness-based programs and school adjustment: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The paper addresses the issue of the «relative age effect» influence on the selection and multi-year training of young athletes that is currently relevant for many team sports. It is shown that trainers recruiting the members for junior and youth teams prefer children who were born in the first half of a calendar year and are more physically fit than their younger peers. This trend is completely absent in the adult sport world thus indicating a transient nature and the negative effects of those advantages that are achieved when the «relative age effect» is used in the process of competitive activity. There were a much larger number of players born in the first and second trimesters of a calendar year in the cadet and youth basketball teams of different age groups. This trend is maintained up to the level of high performance sport.

Objectiveː our purpose was a) to describe the Relative Age Effect occurrence in Brazilian elite youth soccer players; b) to identify the association between Relative Age Effect and technical skills and c) to examine how Relative Age Effect can affect Physical Fitness.&#x0D; Method: Eighty-one Brazilian elite soccer players from three age-group teams (U-15, U-17 and U-20) were classified by birth quartiles according to their date of birth. Relative Age Effect was determined when there was a statistically significant difference between players who were born in BQ1 (January through March) to the other birth quartiles (Chi-Square). The association between Relative Age Effect and Technical Rankings was verified by the correlation. The partial correlation controlled for date of birth and for maturity offset was also performed. Relative Age Effect on Physical Fitness was verified by the variance (ANOVA) of its components on each team’s birth quartiles.&#x0D; Results: Players born in BQ1 were the most selected in U-15 (60%) and U-17 (35%) teams, but not in U-20 (25%). A low to moderate (Rho = 0.04 to 0.53) correlation was found between birth quartiles and Technical Rankings, while date of birth and maturation (partial correlation) effects were identified in the U-15 team. Although birth quartiles do not affect Physical Fitness (ANOVA), it may favour some Physical Fitness components (p &lt; 0.05).&#x0D; Conclusions: The greater risk of Relative Age Effect in younger teams is due to the greater emphasis on technical skills. When date of birth and maturation are controlled for, the association between Technical Rankings and birth quartiles is reduced. There was no evidence that Relative Age Effect affected the players’ game performance.

The view that children's self-concepts influence their school adjustment and behavior is widely accepted, but the strength of the influence and the contribution of specific self-concept dimensions to children's nonacademic performance in school are uncertain. This issue is important in view of evidence that behavior problems are acute among minority children in inner-city public schools. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between specific self-concept dimensions and school adjustment in three areas: (a) general classroom behavior, (b) group participation, and (c) attitude toward authority, as assessed by teachers. The sample consisted of 142 American middle-school children who attended four inner-city public schools. The results showed that significant bivariate correlations existed between each self-concept dimension on the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and the three behavioral domains studied. Stepwise multiple regression procedures also indicated strong individual and combined predictive power among the self-concept dimensions.

This paper provides evidence of the effect of age at school entry on college admission and earnings. It does so by exploiting a number of features in the application process to one of the major flagship universities in Brazil. By comparing applicants with different ages at school entry depending on whether they were born on December 31 or on January 1, our estimates show that applicants who delayed first-grade enrollment present higher aptitude test scores and probability of admission. Our results further suggest that advantaged applicants also earn more early in their careers. JEL Classification: I21, J24

Relative age effects in soccer are typified by an overrepresentation of players born earlier in the selection year. Examinations of relative age effects remain limited in female players and developing soccer nations. The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of sex, age, nation, playing position, and playing status in international level soccer players under Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf). The sample consisted of a total of 1,959 active soccer players from 24 soccer nations that competed in recent Concacaf Championships. Results indicated an evident relative age effect in male [p < 0.05] but not female [p = 0.81] players. Male players were over‐represented by players born in the first quartile for the U17 [p < 0.01] level, however, this over‐representation did not transfer to the U20 or senior levels. No relative age effects were observed at any level for female players. A large proportion of nations demonstrated relative age effects in male, but not female samples. Relative age effects were shown for players participating at age group level, but not those ‘playing-up’. Results from this study highlight the continued disparity in relative age effects prevalence between male and female players raises further questions regarding the value of selecting relatively older players to metrics of success, transition, and selection for senior international soccer. This information can be used to advance talent identification and development in Concacaf nations.

The purpose of the present study was to examine relations between self-perceptions of competence and social, behavioural, and school adjustment in Brazilian, Canadian, Chinese, and Italian children. Self-perception data were collected through children’s self-reports. Information about social behaviours, peer acceptance, and school achievement was obtained from peer assessments and teacher ratings. Multi-group analyses revealed similar patterns of relations between self-perceptions in scholastic and general self-worth domains and social and school performance in the four samples. However, the relations between self-perceptions of social competence and shyness and academic achievement were different across these samples. Self-perceptions of social competence was negatively associated with shyness in Brazilian, Canadian, and Italian children, but not in the Chinese children, and positively associated with academic achievement in Canadian and Chinese children, but not in Brazilian and Italian children. Similarities and differences in the patterns of relations between self-perceptions and social and school adjustment across cultures indicate that the self system may be a culture-general as well as culture-specific phenomenon.