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The current retrospective cross-sectional study included 175 Colombian caregivers of children ranging between 24 and 59 months old (M=47.08, SD=7.08) enrolled in childcare centers located in the Caribbean region. 58% of the children are male, and all of them belong to low-income families. Breastfeeding duration ranged between children’s 0 to 37 months old (M=10.84, SD=8.48); 64 of them had exclusive breastfeeding for during their first 6 months (i.e., no fed with bottle). Results showed that the variance of Food Responsiveness explained by the model was 2% (R2=.02, F(3,161)=1.081, p=.359). Breastfeeding duration did not significantly predict Food Responsiveness (β=-.004, p=.219), as well as age (β=.004, p=.346) and gender (β=.056, p=.354) did not significantly explain the dependent variable. Likewise, Satiety Responsiveness variance was not explained by duration of breastfeeding (β=.002, p=.548), age (β=.003, p=.489), and gender (β=.040, p=.561). Overall, the explained variance was less than 1% (R2=.008, F(3,161)= .428, p=.733). Breastfeeding duration does not significantly change the child’s likelihood of being unhealthy (β=-.010, p=.616), while being male and getting older increase the odds of being healthy. Future directions and limitations are discussed.

IntroductionMixed methods research intervention studies integrate quantitative evaluation approaches, such as randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs, with qualitative research to evaluate the effectiveness, efficacy, or other results of an intervention or program. These types of studies, which have attracted growing attention in recent years, enhance the scope and rigor of the evaluation. While various frameworks that summarize the justifications for carrying out these types of studies and provide implementation guidance have been published in the last few years in the health sciences, we do not know whether such frameworks have been properly implemented in the social and educational sciences. This review examined the methodological features and reporting practices of mixed methods intervention studies aimed at increasing young people’s interest in STEM.MethodsA systematic search was carried out in APA PsycNET, ERIC, ProQuest, Scopus, and Web of Science, and a hand search in 20 journals. We included peer-reviewed English-language articles that reported intervention studies with a quantitative component measuring outcomes specific to increasing secondary school students’ interest in STEM fields, a qualitative component conducted before, during, or after the quantitative component, and evidence of integration of both components. Qualitative content analysis and ideal-type analysis were used to synthesize the findings.ResultsWe found 34 studies; the majority published in the last ten years. Several patterns of mixed methods application were described in these studies, illustrating the unique insights that can be gained by employing this methodology. The reporting quality of the included studies was generally adequate, especially regarding the justification for using a mixed methods intervention design and the integration of the quantitative and qualitative components. Nonetheless, a few reporting issues were observed, such as a lack of detail in the presentation of the mixed methods design, an inadequate description of the qualitative sampling and analysis techniques, and the absence of joint displays for representing integration.DiscussionAuthors must pay attention to these issues to ensure that the insights obtained by the use of mixed methods research are effectively communicated.

Autonomy is conceptualized as the need for agency, self-actualization, and independence. Nowadays, financial independence and academic achievement for young populations may be considered as key aspects in the transition to adulthood in response to some contextual demands of different cultural environments. By means of a multi-level model, the present study aims to determine the influence and contribution of factors at individual level (e.g., sex, age, socioeconomic status, family financial support, awarded scholarships, personal finance, student loans) and school level (e.g., program quality, online programs, face to face programs) on the academic achievement of young higher education Colombian students. Data come from the scores of the national standardized academic achievement test administered in 2018 in Colombia. The sample included 234,386 students enrolled in 3,389 higher education institutions in Colombia. After controlling the effects of program quality, and the student’s previous academic abilities and socio-economic conditions, results showed that students with scholarships had higher scores than financially dependent students (those who had student loans) and financially independent students (those who self-funded their studies or who worked during the week) who had low scores in the national standardized academic achievement test.

La educación es un derecho universal. Los Estados deben garantizar para sus ciudadanos una educación de calidad para todos sin diferencia de sexo, raza, condición social, cultural, entre otros. Desde la educación, particularmente desde la educación formal, se deben generar espacios que contribuyan a este ideal de reducir las brechas y posibilitar la inclusión de todos los individuos. La evaluación se constituye en un elemento curricular que, según la visión de quienes la organizan, puede servir para este fin o para excluir. De hecho, los resultados de las pruebas estandarizadas para la medición del éxito escolar son un escenario riesgoso desde el punto de vista del proceso de homogeneización o exclusión de la diversidad y pluralidad del ser humano. Por ello, este artículo presenta una reflexión sobre la situación internacional y nacional de Colombia alrededor de las pruebas estandarizadas desde una perspectiva inclusiva. Se realiza una revisión de literatura en la que se puntualiza la relación entre los resultados de las pruebas estandarizadas ante la calidad de la educación educativa y, finalmente, se presentan recomendaciones y futuras orientaciones sobre la toma de decisiones e implementación de políticas.

Recent growth and institutionalization in the field of mixed methods research has provided fertile ground for a wide range of thoughtful criticism of how this research approach has been developed and conceptualized by some members of the mixed methods community. This criticism reflects the increasing maturity of the field as well as the different theoretical perspectives and methodological practices of researchers in different disciplines. While debates addressing these criticisms are likely to lead to valuable insights, no empirical studies have been carried out to date that have investigated researchers' critical views on the development and conceptualization of mixed methods research. This study examines the criticisms of the mixed methods field raised by a cross-national sample of researchers in education, nursing, psychology, and sociology. We carried out a secondary analysis of semi-structured interviews with 42 researchers and identified 11 different criticisms, which we classified in four domains: essence of mixed methods, philosophy, procedures, and politics. The criticisms related to the procedures domain were equally distributed among the four disciplines, while those related to the essence, philosophy and politics domains were more common among sociologists. Based on our findings, we argue that the divergence of views on foundational issues in this field reflects researchers' affiliation to different communities of practice, each having its own principles, values, and interests. We suggest that a greater awareness of this divergence of perspectives could help researchers establish effective collaboration and anticipate potential challenges when working with researchers having different methodological approaches.

The parent-child relationship is a cornerstone of early childhood development and one-way early childhood programs can have a positive influence on early development is to adopt programmatic features to enhance this relationship. Research supports these conclusions in both U.S. and cross-cultural contexts, even though assumptions about parenting and the parent-child relationship may differ across cultures. However, for true understanding of cultural differences, it is important to have comparable measures across cultures. The purpose of the study is to assess measurement invariance of the two constructs of the Child-parent Relationship Scale using data gathered in programs serving low-income preschool children in the U.S.(n = 4,450) and Turkey (n = 592) from 2014 to 2015. Using Single-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the original factor structures of the Turkish and the English versions were tested. Besides, Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis provided evidence for configural, metric, scalar invariance, strict factorial invariance or error variance invariance and construct level invariance across the two versions. Only configural invariance was established, which showed an agreement for the existence of an underlying theoretical construct for each subscale (Conflict and Closeness) of the Turkish and the English versions. However, item CPRS 4 was a non-significant item for Conflict in the Turkish version that affected the possibility to conduct further analyses. Findings encourage researchers to propose and assess cultural and linguistic adaptations for the Child-parent Relationship Scale before cross-cultural comparisons related to family relationships.

While the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Very Short Form of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ-VSF) have been assessed in the US and Europe in samples composed of middle- and high-income parents with high levels of education, no studies have tested the instrument in low-income Spanish-speaking populations living in low- and middle-income countries. To fill this gap, our cross-sectional study assessed the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the CBQ-VSF version in a sample of 315 low-income and low-educated parents with preschool children living in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. While our findings revealed problems that were similar to those identified in previous assessments of the CBQ-VSF Spanish version, they also showed unique problems related to the sociodemographic characteristics of our sample, containing many individuals with a low income and low educational level. Most of the participants gave extreme responses, resulting in a notable kurtosis and skewness of the data. This article describes how we addressed these problems by dichotomizing the variables into binary categories. Additionally, it demonstrates that merely translating the CBQ-VSF is insufficient to be able to capture many of the underlying latent constructs associated with low-income and low-educated Latino/Hispanic populations.