Sensitive parenting is important for promoting the parent-child relationship and children’s emotional, cognitive, and social development. Parental factors related to sensitive parenting are...Show moreSensitive parenting is important for promoting the parent-child relationship and children’s emotional, cognitive, and social development. Parental factors related to sensitive parenting are depression and parental self-efficacy. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between depression and sensitive parenting, and whether parental self-efficacy mediates this association. Participants were 17 Dutch mothers and 4 Dutch fathers of children aged 3-5 years. Parents played 5-10 minutes with their child during two measurement moments, while the researcher was present through a Microsoft Teams connection. A video of the playing was recorded. In between the two measurement moments, parents completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression-questionnaire (CES-D) and the Me as a Parent-questionnaire (MaaP). Afterwards, the video recordings were encoded according to the Ainsworth sensitivity scale. Only the relation between depression and sensitivity was significant, where depression was positively related to sensitivity. There was no indication found for a mediational role of parental self-efficacy in the relation between depression and sensitivity. Explanatory theories, limitations and practical implications were discussed. Future research will have to show which other factors can explain these unexpected findings.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
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Both youth with a substance use disorder (SUD) and youth who have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) show heightened vulnerability to psychopathology. We aimed to quantify the risk of...Show moreBoth youth with a substance use disorder (SUD) and youth who have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) show heightened vulnerability to psychopathology. We aimed to quantify the risk of comorbid disorders in SUD youth with ACE-history. Additionally, we aimed to examine relations between ACEs, overall household experience, and general distress. We used cross-sectional YIT-study data from interviews with Dutch youth (aged 16-22) upon SUD treatment entry for cannabis, alcohol, or stimulant use. We measured ACE-types experienced up until 15 years of age, past-year DSM-5 disorders, general distress (DASS-21), and overall household experience rating. Logistic regressions quantified relations between ACE sum score and anxiety, depressive, behavior, and any disorder. Higher ACE sum scores related to increased risks for a(n) anxiety (OR = 1.12, highest odds = 2.84; χ2(1) = 6.71, p < .010; Nagelkerke R2 = 0.2), depressive (OR = 1.21, highest odds = 5.43; χ2(1) = 18.11, p < .001; Nagelkerke R2 = 0.6), behavior (OR = 1.20, highest odds = 5.24; χ2(1) = 17.41, p < .001; Nagelkerke R2 = 0.6), and any (OR = 1.25, highest odds = 7.58; χ2(1) = 17.26, p < .001; Nagelkerke R2 = 0.7) disorder. Exploratory analyses revealed that frequency of parental fighting, being hit/abused, getting belittled, emotional neglect, physical neglect, insufficient household income, long parental sickness, and overall household experience positively related to DASS-21. In a hierarchical regression analysis with all ACEs and overall household experience, only emotional neglect related to DASS-21 (B = 3.68, t(373) = 2.41, p = .017). Overall household experience did not improve the model (F(12) = 3.51, p < .001; R2change < .001). In hierarchical regression analyses containing ACE sum score and overall household experience, overall household experience was not uniquely related to DASS-21 (t = -0.22, p = .824; R2change < .01). In conclusion, ACEs relate to comorbid disorders in SUD youth. Our exploratory research suggests that ACE frequency might influence this relation, while overall household experience does not further explain this relation. Further research should investigate which ACE measures (a.o., type, frequency) strongly relate to SUDs and psychopathology and examine improved treatment options.Show less
Research shows that many students don’t have enough reading comprehension to understand texts. One way of improving students’ reading comprehension could be by providing feedback to students while...Show moreResearch shows that many students don’t have enough reading comprehension to understand texts. One way of improving students’ reading comprehension could be by providing feedback to students while they answer questions about a text. To use feedback efficiently in the future, it’s important to know how elaborate effective feedback should be. Considering this, the current study examined the relation between feedback and the use of reading strategies in general, and for the use of reading strategies while reading a text. Moreover, the relation between the amount of information provided in the feedback and the use of reading strategies was examined. Experimental data of 97 participants aged 10 and 11 years (52.6% boys, M = 10.45, SD = 0.52) was collected using questionnaires, namely the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory and the Task-Specific Strategy Self-Report. Participants were pre- and post-tested and had three intervention sessions. They were randomly assigned to a condition, namely no feedback, short feedback, or elaborate feedback. During the intervention sessions, participants had to read a text, and answer questions about the text. Depending on their condition, they either received feedback or not. If they did, the amount of information in the feedback differed. Every session ended with a questionnaire. Using SPSS, two repeated measures ANOVA were completed. According to the results, there was no relation between feedback and the use of reading strategies. Furthermore, no differences were found for the different amounts of information in feedback and the use of reading strategies. The biggest limitation of the current study was the lack of a motivational component in the used intervention. Therefore, future research should use motivation as part of the intervention to investigate if feedback could help in improving the use of reading strategies for youth aged 10 to 11.Show less
Mental health problems such as anxiety and depression among young people are a growing public health problem worldwide. To address this effectively, it’s important to understand to what extend...Show moreMental health problems such as anxiety and depression among young people are a growing public health problem worldwide. To address this effectively, it’s important to understand to what extend factors such as academic stress, parental expectations and family well-being influence the development of anxiety and mood disorders. Relatively little is known about the anxiety and worry experienced by early adolescent children and the extent to which this is culture dependent. The present study sought insight in the worries of children aged 10-12 years from Western and non-Western cultural backgrounds. In addition, the extent to which internalizing symptoms are related to achievement anxiety, parental expectations and family well-being was examined. This was done by interviewing 74 Indian children (M = 10.92 ; SD = 0.75) and 69 Dutch (M = 11.17 ; SD = 0.92) children using the Cultural Formulation Interview. In addition, the amount of internalizing complaints and family welfare were determined using RCADS and FASIII. Results showed that children from India more often experienced achievement-oriented anxiety than Dutch children, and that this was associated with a greater amount of internalizing symptoms. The parental expectations that Indian children experienced were often achievement-oriented expectations regarding school or future profession, whereas the parental expectations of Dutch children were more often focused on being able to show responsibility for tasks. This might be explained by the values transmitted from parent to child within individualistic and collectivistic culture. Evidence exists that cultural values remain present when families from collectivist cultures move to a country with a more individualistic culture. It is therefore extremely important to be aware of these cross-cultural differences within mental health care, as well as education, when dealing with adolescents with anxiety and mood problems.Show less
There is increasing evidence for the negative effect of external aid programs on public health. Accordingly, it is essential to research how donors could effectively allocate their aid. It is...Show moreThere is increasing evidence for the negative effect of external aid programs on public health. Accordingly, it is essential to research how donors could effectively allocate their aid. It is established that institution-building in the health sector is crucial for enhancing public health, for example by fostering accountability and transparency. Aid that is spent on institution-building is expected to have a positive effect on public health. However, there is no empirical evidence for that, and therefore, this research contributes to the existing literature by answering the following research question: What is the effect of aid targeting institution building in the health sector on public health outcomes? Several linear regressions are performed to test the effect of Official Development Assistance for institution-building in the health sector on infant mortality, life expectancy, and immunization rates. The overall research findings show a positive, but small and insignificant relationship between health institutional aid and public health.Show less
There is evidence to suggest that child post traumatic symptoms (PTSD) develop within the family system where psychopathology exist. Existing literature indicates that parent and child PTSD are...Show moreThere is evidence to suggest that child post traumatic symptoms (PTSD) develop within the family system where psychopathology exist. Existing literature indicates that parent and child PTSD are associated with each other. The present study aimed to examine the relation between PTSD-symptoms from parents and PTSD-symptoms from their children and whether boys or girls would experience more PTSD-symptoms with a sample of Dutch families (N = 1017). Additionally, it was examined whether quality of life (QoL) would influence this relationship. Mothers, fathers and children completed a questionnaire on trauma symptoms. The same children did also complete a questionnaire on QoL. The PTSD-symptoms from parents and their children were significant related. Furthermore, was there no significant difference between boys or girls in experiencing PTSD-symptoms. The addition of QoL to the relation between PTSD-symptoms from parents and children did not generate a significant result either, the relation became not stronger or weaker. It is possible that there were no significant results due the fact that PTSD is a complex disorder. The relation between PTSD-symptoms from parents and their children is influenced by multiple factors and this may have an impact on the results. It would be beneficial if future research would examine these factors.Show less
In deze scriptie wordt de relatie tussen het eeuwenoude Pyrronistisch Scepticisme en gemoedsrust onderzocht. Aan de hand van Sextus Empiricus worden we meegenomen in de zoektocht naar ataraxia....Show moreIn deze scriptie wordt de relatie tussen het eeuwenoude Pyrronistisch Scepticisme en gemoedsrust onderzocht. Aan de hand van Sextus Empiricus worden we meegenomen in de zoektocht naar ataraxia. Ataraxia oftewel gemoedsrust, is een staat waarin men vrij is van zorgen en angsten. Volgens Sextus is het bereiken van gemoedsrust niet alleen een therapeutische vaardigheid, maar ook een manier van leven. Deze Pyrronistische manier van leven houdt in dat overtuigingen ten aanzien van non-evidente zaken worden opgeschort om zo gemoedsrust te bereiken. In dit onderzoek is onderzocht of de filosofie van het Pyrronisme ons kan helpen in ons dagelijks leven met onze angsten en stress. Om Pyrronisme te meten is er een vragenlijst opgesteld met non-evidente stellingen (NE-Q). Voor het meten van angst is de GAD-7 gebruikt en voor het meten van stress is de PSS gebruikt. De eerste hypothese was dat sterkere overtuigingen een negatieve relatie hebben met gemoedsrust. De tweede hypothese was dat de relatie tussen sterkere overtuigingen en gemoedsrust verzwakt wanneer men aan mindfulness doet. De hoofdrelatie was niet significant met zowel de GAD-7 als de PSS als afhankelijke variabele. Ook was de moderatieanalyse in beider gevallen niet significant. Wel bleek bij verdere visuele inspectie dat het doen van mindfulness leidde tot meer angst en stress, in tegenstelling tot wanneer men niet aan mindfulness deed. Dit onderzoek wijst uit dat de filosofische stroming van het Pyrronisme als psychotherapie niet toepasbaar is voor de behandeling van angsten en stress in de hedendaagse tijd. Ook kan geconcludeerd worden dat mindfulness de relatie tussen het hebben van sterkere overtuigingen en gemoedsrust niet beïnvloedt.Show less
The International Monetary Fund has often been criticised on account of its tendency to be lenient in loan conditionality to certain countries that it considers important. This research seeks to...Show moreThe International Monetary Fund has often been criticised on account of its tendency to be lenient in loan conditionality to certain countries that it considers important. This research seeks to narrow in on the effect of economic importance from the perspective of western donor states on IMF loan efficacy. Apart from providing a gap in the research, this topic is deemed important because of its value for developmental economics and upcoming issues in that field. Moreover, the results allow concrete policy decisions to be made. Employing a bivariate and multiple linear regression analysis, this paper seeks to answer the question what is the effect of the perceived economic importance of states for western actors on the efficacy of loans by the IMF? In foreshadowing results, this paper finds that a higher economic importance, and high rates of accountability and corruption, lead to a lower efficacy of IMF loans. It is argued that this is the case because of the moral hazard issue, time-inconsistency problem, and the structure of the IMF. The model does however lack full robustness.Show less
This research focused on analysing the behaviour of ethnic leaders in autocratic ethnofederal regimes during changing economic situations of economic growth and contraction and in changing...Show moreThis research focused on analysing the behaviour of ethnic leaders in autocratic ethnofederal regimes during changing economic situations of economic growth and contraction and in changing political landscape of democratization and autocratization. More specifically, the focus was on the Russian Federation and its two ethnic republics: Republic Sakha and the Republic of Chuvashia. The cases were picked to represent a wealthy and a poor region of Russia. The analysis was conducted through qualitative content analysis of primary sourced speeches and secondary sourced interpretations of speeches given by ethnic elites such as heads of the republic, other political figures, or important business elites. The analysis was organized into two periods of democratization 1997-2000 and autocratization 2008-2011, and 4 sub-periods: 1997-1998 and 2008-2009 (economic contraction periods), and 1999-2000 and 2010-2011 (economic growth periods). The results found that Sakha as the wealthier republic is generally more secessionist during periods of economic contraction during both democratization and autocratization. Support was also found for the expectation that ethnic elites will prove more secessionist during democratization periods.Show less
Abstract The primary goal of this study was to investigate the effect of personal interest on reading comprehension. All eighteen participants received three texts that fit their personal interests...Show moreAbstract The primary goal of this study was to investigate the effect of personal interest on reading comprehension. All eighteen participants received three texts that fit their personal interests (high interest condition) and three texts that did not (low interest condition). After the participants read the texts, their reading comprehension was measured using two types of text questions. In addition, a measure of overall reading motivation was obtained. By differentiating between literal and bridging questions, the current study aimed to get insights into the underlying cognitive processes of reading comprehension. Repeated Measures ANOVA’ s did not show a significant effect of personal interest on reading comprehension, nor when using literal or bridging questions as outcome variables. There was neither an interaction-effect of overall reading motivation. The lack of significant results could be explained by a ceiling effect. An exploratory analysis showed significant chi-square relationship between personal interest and prior knowledge. Overall, we concluded that the study should be repeated with younger participants before final conclusions can be drawn. To get deeper understanding of the underlying cognitive processes, future research should also incorporate on-line measurements of reading comprehension. Abstract (Nederlands) Het voornaamste doel van de huidige studie was om de invloed van persoonlijke interesse op tekstbegrip te onderzoeken. Alle achttien participanten kregen drie teksten toegewezen over onderwerpen die bij hun persoonlijke voorkeur pasten (hoge interesse conditie) en drie onderwerpen die dat niet deden (lage interesse conditie). Na het lezen werd tekstbegrip met twee type tekstvragen gemeten en aanvullend werd een meting gedaan van de algemene leesmotivatie. Door onderscheid te maken tussen letterlijke en overbruggende tekstvragen werd voorzichtig beoogd inzicht te verkrijgen in onderliggende begripsprocessen. Repeated measures ANOVA ’s liet en geen significant effect zien van persoonlijke interesse op het tekstbegrip, ook niet met letterlijke- of overbruggende vragen als uitkomstvariabelen. Er was ook geen interactie-effect met algemene leesmotivatie. Het uitblijven van een effect zou verklaard kunnen worden door een plafondeffect. Met een exploratieve chi-kwadraattoets werd wel een significant resultaat gevonden wat suggereerde dat de mate van voorkennis samenhangt met persoonlijke interesse. Geconcludeerd werd dat de huidige studie zou moeten worden herhaald met jongere participanten voordat sluitende conclusies kunnen worden getrokken. Om dieper inzicht te verkrijgen in onderliggende begripsprocessen, zijn vervolgstudies nodig waarbij ook daadwerkelijk een meting tijdens het lezen wordt gedaan.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
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This thesis is part of a multi-lab eye-tracking project investigating implicit Theory of Mind (ToM) in toddlers and adults (ManyBabies2). Given the recent number of unsuccessful replications in...Show moreThis thesis is part of a multi-lab eye-tracking project investigating implicit Theory of Mind (ToM) in toddlers and adults (ManyBabies2). Given the recent number of unsuccessful replications in this field, the focus of this thesis lies in investigating the impact of methodological considerations regarding data quality on the obtained results. Specifically, this thesis addresses differences in eye-tracking data quality (accuracy, precision, and data loss) between toddlers and adults. Further, it examines how differences in data quality (precision and data loss) affect the dependent variables in an anticipatory looking (AL) task to measure ToM, and whether the results of the AL task change by adjusting the parameters of a standard fixation classification algorithm (i.e., the Tobii I-VT filter) to account for low data quality. A total of 16 adults and 16 toddlers (N = 32) participated in the ManyBabies2 study at the Leiden University lab. The AL task included two test trials with an ignorance and knowledge condition, during which participants’ looking behavior (first look and proportion differential looking score [DLS]) was measured. The results showed a significant difference in average data quality between toddlers and adults, with toddlers having lower accuracy and precision and higher data loss than adults. Moreover, the results indicated that data loss significantly affects proportion DLS in the ignorance and knowledge condition. However, no differences in AL looking behavior were found between the Tobii I-VT default and adjusted parameters. The findings of this thesis emphasize the need for consistent reporting of data quality. Future research should conduct larger-scale studies to validate and expand upon the findings in this thesis, and focus on refining the fixation classification algorithm parameters of the Tobii I-VT filter to adjust for differences in data quality.Show less
This thesis examines how brain drain can be problematized in light of relational egalitarianism. This approach views the existing economy as that of joint production as it relies heavily on mutual...Show moreThis thesis examines how brain drain can be problematized in light of relational egalitarianism. This approach views the existing economy as that of joint production as it relies heavily on mutual dependency between citizens. Here, it aims to find whether the moral duty citizens hold towards one another can legitimately place restrictions on freedom of movement in the case of brain drain. Through taking relational egalitarianism to its normative furthests, it becomes clear that the right to exit can legitimately be constricted.Show less
