A Multitrait–Multimethod Analysis of the Construct Validity of Child Anxiety Disorders in a Clinical Sample

The present study examines the construct validity of separation anxiety disorder (SAD), social phobia (SoP), panic disorder (PD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in a clinical sample of children. Participants were 174 children, 6 to 17 years old (94 boys) who had undergone a diagnostic evaluation at a university hospital based clinic. Parent and child ratings of symptom severity were assessed using the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC). Diagnostician ratings were obtained from the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Children and Parents (ADIS: C/P). Discriminant and convergent validity were assessed using confirmatory factor analytic techniques to test a multitrait–multimethod model. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the current classification of these child anxiety disorders. The disorders demonstrated statistical independence from each other (discriminant validity of traits), the model fit better when the anxiety syndromes were specified than when no specific syndromes were specified (convergent validity), and the methods of assessment yielded distinguishable, unique types of information about child anxiety (discriminant validity of methods). Using a multi-informant approach, these findings support the distinctions between childhood anxiety disorders as delineated in the current classification system, suggesting that disagreement between informants in psychometric studies of child anxiety measures is not due to poor construct validity of these anxiety syndromes

Selective Chemical Vapor Deposition

Selective area deposition has received much attention in IC technology in the past forty years. Its advantage in IC technology is that one saves a mask and a full sequence of lithography, etching, resist removal and cleaning. In Selective Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) the selectivity is obtained by the different chemical behavior of reactants with different surfaces. The advantage of selective CVD is the self-alignment with respect to the previous pattern, which allows for tight design-rules in this phase of the IC production. Selective epitaxial Silicon deposition was investigated in the sixties of the last century. Later selective Tungsten, selective epitaxial SiGe, selective IH-V and II-VI compounds and recently selective deposition of Copper became intensively researched subjects. In these cases of selective deposition one etches a window in a dielectric to the substrate and then deposits the required layer. Due to nucleation matters it starts to grow immediately on the substrate material whereas the nucleation on the dielectric is retarded. However, in nature one never gets advantages for free. Selectivity loss, reaction with the substrate material, facetting, lateral overgrowth on the dielectric and pattern-density dependency are major problems

Sex Laws and Sexuality Rights in Comparative and Global Perspectives

This article seeks to explain the emergence of a new field of study oriented toward sex laws and sexuality rights in comparative and global perspectives. We argue that this field comes into focus because of three changes in the social context: the introductions of sexuality into sex, of human rights into national laws, and of global into comparative perspectives. Each turn of the social kaleidoscope generates new objects of and rationales for scholarly analysis, along with new ways and reasons to think about existing objects of analysis. Together, these contextual changes inaugurate the global study of sexuality rights and invigorate the comparative study of sex laws. Theoretical shifts accompany the empirical developments. Phenomenological approaches arise alongside their realist counterparts. The consolidation of this new field of study is important not only on academic grounds: It suggests the dynamics of a wider field of policy and practice. © 2013 by Annual Reviews

Financial Capability in Children: Effects of Participation in a School-Based Financial Education and Savings Program

Financial capability, Financial education, Financial services, Young children, Saving, College savings,

Effects of Stimulant Medication, Incentives, and Event Rate on Reaction Time Variability in Children With ADHD

This study examined the effects of methylphenidate (MPH) on reaction time (RT) variability in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Using a broad battery of computerized tasks, and both conventional and ex-Gaussian indicators of RT variability, in addition to within-task manipulations of incentive and event rate (ER), this study comprehensively examined the breadth, specificity, and possible moderators of effects of MPH on RT variability. A total of 93 children with ADHD completed a 4-week within-subject, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial of MPH to identify an optimal dosage. Children were then randomly assigned to receive either their optimal MPH dose or placebo after which they completed five neuropsychological tasks, each allowing trial-by-trial assessment of RTs. Stimulant effects on RT variability were observed on both measures of the total RT distribution (ie, coefficient of variation) as well as on an ex-Gaussian measure examining the exponential portion of the RT distribution (ie, τ). There was minimal, if any, effect of MPH on performance accuracy or RT speed. Within-task incentive and ER manipulations did not appreciably affect stimulant effects across the tasks. The pattern of significant and pervasive effects of MPH on RT variability, and few effects of MPH on accuracy and RT speed suggest that MPH primarily affects RT variability. Given the magnitude and breadth of effects of MPH on RT variability as well as the apparent specificity of these effects of MPH on RT variability indicators, future research should focus on neurophysiological correlates of effects of MPH on RT variability in an effort to better define MPH pharmacodynamics