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Abstract. We present a probit latent state model for dichotomous items with one latent state variable for each occasion of measurement and one latent item-effect variable for each item, except for a reference item. All latent variables are well defined in terms of conditional probabilities. The model offers the possibility to include explanatory variables for the latent states as well as for the latent item-effect variables. We illustrate the model by a data example with the life satisfaction scale of the Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI-R; Fahrenberg, Hampel, & Selg, 1984 ) assessed at three time points. Allowing for item-effect variables improves model fit considerably and enhances our knowledge about the items. In some applications, this model opens new ways to investigate differential item functioning, and in others it allows to study response styles.

The present study examined 4- to 5-year-old British children's diurnal cortisol activity during their first year of school. The children's cortisol was measured before enrollment (baseline), upon enrollment, and both 3 and 6 months after enrollment. On each day, cortisol was sampled four times, providing information about the diurnal amount of cortisol secreted (AUCG). Mixed-effect models were constructed to examine the way children's cortisol fluctuated over the course of the school year. Physiological activity was greater 3 months after enrollment, suggesting that some children reacted more to the challenge of school later than they did initially. Implications and suggestions for transitional practices and future research are discussed.

The Student Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is widely used for research in kindergarten and school. The increasing number of applications inside and outside of the U.S. stresses the need to investigate STRS properties, accordingly. The present study used the STRS in German-speaking countries, examining whether (a) the original factor structure is appropriate for a German version, (b) whether applications of a German STRS are invariant across contexts (kindergarten, first and second grade) as well as gender, and (c) whether construct and criterion validity are met. The original STRS was translated into German and filled out by 368 kindergarten and 503 elementary school teachers in Germany and Austria. Observations in kindergartens, student reports in schools, and teacher reports of students' characteristics served as validity criteria. Results of confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) did not confirm the original STRS factor structure. Subsequent exploratory factor analyses on training samples resulted in significant item reductions, followed by further CFAs on validation samples. The bootstrapped results yielded an adjusted three-factor model with subscales indicating satisfying alphas and invariance across context and gender. Construct and criterion validity were met for all subscales of the German STRS based on various criteria from both, observations and reports. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attachment in middle childhood increasingly attracts the interest of developmental psychologists and clinicians. Recent studies using attachment narratives elicited by story stems reported gender-specific aspects of attachment development, potentially evoked by developmental tasks during this period of the life span. There is evidence that children with risk factors present more insecure and disorganized attachment narratives compared to children without risk. Yet, there is little research concerning the joint effects of gender, risk, and age for attachment classifications. The paper presents a pooled analysis of 22 samples (eight risk samples) including 887 children (411 girls), aged between 4.5 and 8.5 years who were assessed with the same "German Attachment Story Completion Procedure" (GASCP). Girls were 1.8 times more likely to present secure and 0.4 times less likely to present disorganized narratives compared to boys when controlling for risk status and age. Children from risk samples were more likely (odd ratio 5.4) to display disorganized and less likely to show a secure attachment (odd ratio 0.3) compared to those from no-risk samples in multilevel logistic regressions. Remarkably, the effect of risk was not moderated by age and gender, and gender effects were not moderated by age.

The present study involved 105 German students at the end of their first semester in elementary school in order to explore the stress that students may experience within the school environment, and how the relationship with the teacher buffers or exacerbates the stress. Student-teacher relationships were explored on both classroom and individual interaction levels. Classrooms were described by external observers in terms of teachers' support and classroom organization. Teachers reported on the relationships with their students regarding closeness, conflict, and dependency, which determined four specific patterns of student-teacher relationships. Furthermore, saliva samples were taken on a Monday and a Friday of the same week (four times each day) to display diurnal cortisol profiles. These profiles were later evaluated by means of slopes and intercepts, reflecting students' daily stress regulation. Comparisons between Monday and Friday profiles of the same student served as an estimate for the stress regulation throughout the week. Finally, associations between the profiles and the specific relationship patterns provided information on significant environmental conditions for students' stress. Students in non-supportive, as compared to supportive, classrooms had flatter cortisol profiles, suggesting that classrooms of low quality hindered sufficient down-regulation of cortisol levels at both the beginning and the end of the week. Moreover, students with conflict-loaded relationships with their teachers were less able to appropriately down-regulate stress (especially on Fridays) than students with proximal-balanced relationships, showing the most optimal cortisol profiles.

This chapter focuses on infants’ and toddlers’ experiences of the social and physical world as they occur in their everyday lives in child care. Our study of daily life in child care began by selecting a methodology that would capture the child’s day in its entirety. The approach we chose was time-use diary (TUD), a research method most typically used in the social sciences (Gershuny J, Sullivan O, Eur Sociol Rev 14(1):69–85, 1998) to record a person’s activities as they naturally and sequentially occur in daily life. In designing a TUD for infant-toddler child care, we aimed to collect a detailed, complete and accurate estimate of the time children spent in different activities and interactions with educators and other children across the entire day. A process of continuous observation was developed to record ‘what the child is doing’, ‘where the child is’ and ‘who the child is with’. TUDs were collected in child care centres and family day care homes for 25 children who ranged in age from 5 to 24 months. By applying different analytical tools to the data, we were able to calculate summary totals for the amount of time children spent in different activities or with different people, as well as producing visual patterns to depict how children’s use of time changed across the day.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the implementation of a neonatal pain and sedation protocol at 2 ICUs. METHODS: The intervention started with the evaluation of local practice, problems, and staff satisfaction. We then developed and implemented the Vienna Protocol for Neonatal Pain and Sedation. The protocol included well-defined strategies for both nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic interventions based on regular assessment of a translated version of the Neonatal Pain Agitation and Sedation Scale and titration of analgesic and sedative therapy according to aim scores. Health care staff was trained in the assessment by using a video-based tutorial and bedside teaching. In addition, we performed reevaluation, retraining, and random quality checks. Frequency and quality of assessments, pharmacologic therapy, duration of mechanical ventilation, and outcome were compared between baseline (12 months before implementation) and 12 months after implementation. RESULTS: Cumulative median (interquartile range) opiate dose (baseline dose of 1.4 [0.5–5.9] mg/kg versus intervention group dose of 2.7 [0.4–57] mg/kg morphine equivalents; P = .002), pharmacologic interventions per episode of continuous sedation/analgesia (4 [2–10] vs 6 [2–13]; P = .005), and overall staff satisfaction (physicians: 31% vs 89%; P < .001; nurses: 17% vs 55%; P < .001) increased after implementation. Time on mechanical ventilation, length of stay at the ICU, and adverse outcomes were similar before and after implementation. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a neonatal pain and sedation protocol at 2 ICUs resulted in an increase in opiate prescription, pharmacologic interventions, and staff satisfaction without affecting time on mechanical ventilation, length of intensive care stay, and adverse outcomes.

Background and objectives We retrospectively compared short-term and neurodevelopmental outcome of very low birth weight infants (VLBWI) before (n = 84) and after implementation (n = 69) of a protocol for the management of neonatal pain and sedation. Methods Opiate exposure, time on mechanical ventilation, inotropic support, details on nutritional aspects, and growth were compared between baseline and after protocol implementation. Infants were evaluated at 12 months corrected age using standardised neurologic examination and Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II. Results Cumulative mean ± SD opiate dose (baseline dose of 14 ± 39 mg/kg vs. intervention group dose of 84 ± 222 mg/kg morphine equivalents; p Conclusions Implementation of a neonatal pain and sedation protocol results in an increase in opiate prescription without affecting short-term outcome and neurodevelopmental performance of VLBWI at 12 months corrected age.