The broad objective of the study was to understand better anxiety among adolescents in Kolkata city, India. Specifically, the study compared anxiety across gender, school type, socio-economic background and mothers’ employment status. The study also examined adolescents’ perceptions of quality time with their parents. A group of 460 adolescents (220 boys and 240 girls), aged 13-17 years were recruited to participate in the study via a multi-stage sampling technique. The data were collected using a self-report semi-structured questionnaire and a standardized psychological test, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results show that anxiety was prevalent in the sample with 20.1% of boys and 17.9% of girls found to be suffering from high anxiety. More boys were anxious than girls (p<0.01). Adolescents from Bengali medium schools were more anxious than adolescents from English medium schools (p<0.01). Adolescents belonging to the middle class (middle socio-economic group) suffered more anxiety than those from both high and low socio-economic groups (p<0.01). Adolescents with working mothers were found to be more anxious (p<0.01). Results also show that a substantial proportion of the adolescents perceived they did not receive quality time from fathers (32.1%) and mothers (21.3%). A large number of them also did not feel comfortable to share their personal issues with their parents (60.0% for fathers and 40.0% for mothers).

The relationship between obstetrician attitudes and patient outcomes from intrapartum care was examined. Obstetrician attitudes were assessed utilizing a newly-designed pilot 35-item obstetrician attitude questionnaire (OAQ). Twelve obstetricians completed the OAQ, who provided intra-partum care to 4,149 women. Outcome measures included delivery mode and intrapartum asphyxia. Analysis was carried out using logistic regression. A number of OAQ items were significantly associated with outcome. The significance of some of these items may be explained by past clinical experience and attitudes toward certain aspects of clinical care including acceptable intervention rates and risk of patient harm associated with certain procedures. However, the importance of other attitudes was less predictable including an increased incidence of normal delivery associated with a stronger belief in the art of clinical practice (not the evidence-based nature of practice), openness to considering the wishes of the woman in labour was associated with less neonatal asphyxia, and attitudes toward the impact of sleep deprivation on decision making were associated with intervention rates. In conclusion, obstetrician attitudes appear to have a significant impact on maternal and neonatal outcomes from intrapartum care. Clinical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed, and further development of the OAQ is recommended.

Ecological systems theory assumes that child development is the consequence of ongoing reciprocal and spiraling interactions between the child and his/her microsystem (immediate home, school, and community environments). The increasing presence of digital technologies in children’s immediate environments suggests the need for the proposed theoretical techno-microsystem. The ecological techno-microsystem situates the developing child in the context of Internet use in home, school, and community environments. Preliminary validation of the ecological techno-microsystem requires description of children’s uses of the Internet across three environments and comprehensive measures of child development. Ninety-one children (37 males and 54 females; mean age 10.7 years) completed rating scales of their Internet use. Additionally, parents and teachers completed rating scales of child social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. Significant correlations between specific uses of the Internet in specific contexts and specific measures of child development support the theoretical utility of the ecological techno-microsystem. The developmental consequences of Internet use varied as a function of elements of the microsystem (e.g., home and school characteristics) and elements of the technology (e.g., instant messaging versus email).

The transition to primary school is an important time for both children and parents. The aim of this randomized controlled study was to assess the effectiveness of a Transition to Primary School Parent Program in strengthening parent knowledge and confidence to manage the transition process, increasing parent involvement in their children’s learning, and improving child adjustment to starting school. Participants were 576 parents from 21 primary schools in Victoria, Australia. Results revealed that parents who received the intervention reported higher parental self-efficacy to help their children make the transition to school than parents in the control condition (i.e., routine transition practices provided by the school). These parents also reported greater parent involvement at school during the children’s first term at school than parents in the control condition. There were no differences between the intervention and control groups on parent and teacher report of children’s adjustment to school. This research is an important step towards developing empirically supported school transition programs focusing on parents.

Student motivation during adolescence has become an increasingly important issue for educators and researchers. Using a goal theory perspective, researchers have investigated a range of goals (including achievement goals, social goals and future goals) that influence students’ desire to achieve at school. The present study examines the range of goals pursued by adolescents (N=195) from two secondary schools and investigates the achievement goals that are important to their motivation. The results show that future goals have a critical impact on students’ motivation and that students pursue multiple and related goals in learning situations. Implications for future research are discussed.