Assessment of Identity and Quality of Life in Diabetic and Renal Transplant Adolescents in Comparison to Healthy Adolescents

Identity development represents a central task of adolescence. Identity achievement is characterized by a coherent sense of who one is following a period of exploration and can help navigate the challenges of adulthood. This study examined identity within a quality of life (QOL) context in 85 adolescents with a renal transplant or with Type 1 diabetes in comparison to 90 healthy controls. Results revealed significant differences in ideological identity, with patients showing higher levels of diffusion and controls showing higher levels of foreclosure. No differences with respect to interpersonal identity, QOL, perceived control over the QOL domains, and perceived opportunities for growth and development were found. Future research should assess identity and QOL over a longer period of time to determine whether differences between chronically ill and healthy young adults can be detected.     

ON TESTING THE COMMONALITY OF CONSTRUCTS IN SUPPLIED GRIDS

The repertory grid technique has long been the empirical tool of choice for research based on personal construct theory (Kelly, 1955). In some situations, respondents are asked to evaluate a set of elements with respect to a fixed or supplied repertoire of constructs, and an assumption is made that respondents will employ these constructs similarly. This situation is thus equivalent to the semantic differential technique. In the repertory grid context it is justified through the commonality of construing corollary of personal construct theory. This is an assumption that can be tested, although it seems to have attracted little attention in the past. Here a criterion for commonality of a construct is proposed, namely that of the data conforming to a unidimensional scaling model, and a simple method of testing this is illustrated.     

A longitudinal intergenerational analysis of executive functions during early childhood

Despite the importance of executive function (EF) in both clinical and educational contexts, the aetiology of individual differences in early childhood EF remains poorly understood. This study provides the first longitudinal intergenerational analysis of mother–child EF associations during early childhood. A group of children and their mothers (n = 62) completed age‐appropriate EF tasks. Mother and child EFs were modestly correlated by 24 months of age, and this association was stable through 48 months. Importantly, maternal–child EF associations were still robust after controlling for verbal ability (potential indicator of verbal/crystallized intelligence) and maternal education (correlate of socio‐economic status and verbal intelligence). Potential implications of these findings as well as underlying mechanisms of the maternal–child EF association (gene–environment interplay) are discussed.     

Time and temperature a reply to Green and Simpson

The arguments are examined that reanalysis of the data in Bell (1975) leads to a rejection of his conclusions. The author maintains that the specific hypothesis that a metabolic pacemaker controls time estimation is not supported by his data.     

Home advantage in the Six Nations Rugby Union tournament

This study examined whether home advantage occurred in the Six Nations Rugby Union tournament. Data were gathered using the final championship standings from the tournament's inception in 2000 to the recently completed 2007 season. Home advantage for each championship season was defined as the number of points won by teams playing at home, expressed as a percentage of all points gained either at home or away. An analysis of home advantage for each of eight seasons of competition ranged from 53% (2005) to 70% (2006). There was an overall statistically significant home advantage of 61% for 120 matches played in the Six Nations tournament between 2000 and 2007. Also analysed were the percentage of points won at home by each country. Again, evidence supported home advantage amongst all competing nations regardless of the team's quality.