A remarkable finding in recent research in psychopathology is that not every child is equally susceptible to interventions. Research showed that genetic differences, and in particular a... Show moreA remarkable finding in recent research in psychopathology is that not every child is equally susceptible to interventions. Research showed that genetic differences, and in particular a dopamine-related gene, DRD4, predict who will benefit from interventions, and who will not. In the project "What Works for Whom", this theory was tested, on a large-scale, in the field of early literacy. More than 180 schools spread over the Netherlands were involved in the experiments. We tested the hypothesis that children who were carrier of the DRD4 7-repeat allele, were more receptive to digital educational interventions; one program aimed at understanding the alphabetic principle, and the other program included digital storybooks with animated illustrations. Results for the book reading program were in line with the differential susceptibility theory. The carriers of the DRD4 7-repeat allele, about one-third of the children, benefitted extra from digital storybooks and outperformed their non-carrier peers. For non-carriers the digital books added nothing to the experience children already had with book reading in school and at home. For carriers of the DRD4 7-repeat allele the digital storybooks are a new essential in the curriculum in kindergarten. Show less
Child labour can stand in the way of linguistic development and mental health of Indian youth. "We looked at the linguistic development and mental health of children from different social classes... Show moreChild labour can stand in the way of linguistic development and mental health of Indian youth. "We looked at the linguistic development and mental health of children from different social classes in the context of child labour, sleep and academic activities. We saw that children with lower socioeconomic status devote more time to work and sleep and less time to academic tasks than their peers with a higher status," "What we found is that child labor provides a strong explanation for both poorer language development and mental health in lower SES-children. We discovered that the relationship between the linguistic results and academic time is stronger in children with lower socioeconomic status, suggesting that especially these children would benefit if they could invest more time in school and less in other work." This research is the only time-use study conducted in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is also the only Indian study that uses the time spending methodology with youth represented from a very diverse range of socio-economic classes, including minimally literate school-going youth. Until now we knew little about this, because this group is difficult to reach. Show less
When trying to understand texts, readers engage in various cognitive processes. If all goes well, the engagement in these cognitive processes during reading results in the construction of a... Show moreWhen trying to understand texts, readers engage in various cognitive processes. If all goes well, the engagement in these cognitive processes during reading results in the construction of a coherent mental representation of the text, the essence of successful reading comprehension. To construct such a representation, readers need to monitor the coherence of the text and of their emerging mental representation of what the text is about. The central aim of the empirical studies described is to examine coherence-monitoring processes across development by measuring reader’s ability to detect coherence breaks during reading of narratives. The first part of this dissertation consists of three empirical studies (chapter 2-4). The first study examined whether good and poor comprehenders at age 8-9 and 10-11 detected coherence-breaks during and/or after reading. The second study builds on the first study by examining the protracted development of coherence monitoring in an adolescent population (ages 10-22) using the same task under more challenging circumstances. The third study explored the neural correlates of coherence-break detection in young adults in an fMRI study. The second part of this dissertation consists of two conceptual chapters in which the results are summarized and discussed in a broader theoretical perspective (chapter 5-6). Show less
The group of individuals with mild to borderline intellectual disability (MID) is heterogeneous with regard to their characteristics, the problems they encounter and the support they need. The... Show moreThe group of individuals with mild to borderline intellectual disability (MID) is heterogeneous with regard to their characteristics, the problems they encounter and the support they need. The diversity of the problems and the diffuse spectrum of support programs aggravate the process to identify the correct type of support. The objective of this thesis is to identify whether it is possible and clinically relevant to differentiate clinical profiles within the MBID population that relate to specific support programs. Also the initially recommended support is compared with the provided support and the satisfaction with the received support is studied. The study included 73 individuals aged 6 to 36 years within five institutions for people with MBID in the Netherlands. The findings demonstrate that four multidimensional clinical profiles of functioning could be differentiated, based on the actual levels of intellectual and adaptive functioning and the presence of behavioural problems and psychopathology. Moreover, two profiles could also be differentiated according to their pathways to care, and the behavioural, educational and social-environmental characteristics in their history. These two clinical profiles were also related to specific support programs. The comparison of initially recommended and provided support revealed serious shortcomings in the provision of support. Show less
In dit proefschrift worden drie verschillende studies beschreven naar de socialisatie en selectie van leeftijdsgenoten. Hierbij is onderzocht op basis van welke kenmerken leerlingen elkaar... Show moreIn dit proefschrift worden drie verschillende studies beschreven naar de socialisatie en selectie van leeftijdsgenoten. Hierbij is onderzocht op basis van welke kenmerken leerlingen elkaar selecteren als vrienden of groepsgenoten, en op welke kenmerken ze elkaar socialiseren. Voor het onderzoek hebben we sociale netwerk technieken (ERGM en SIENA) gebruikt. Uit de resultaten van de eerste studie (bij 296 basisschoolleerlingen uit groep 8) bleek dat etnische achtergrond van leerlingen een rol speelt bij de selectie van zowel vrienden als 'sociale interactie partners', die niet per sé tot de vrienden horen. Uit de andere twee studies (bij 542 middelbare schoolleerlingen uit 2e klassen ) bleek dat leerlingen elkaar niet selecteren als vrienden op basis van schoolprestaties. Ze bleken elkaar daarentegen wel te beïnvloeden, als het gaat om prestaties op de vakken Engels en Nederlands, en niet als het gaat om prestaties voor wiskunde. Vrienden werden tevens niet geselecteerd op basis van internaliserend probleemgedrag, maar wel op basis van externaliserend probleemgedrag: leerlingen met vergelijkbaar probleemgedrag zochten elkaar op als vrienden. Leerlingen trokken zich niet terug en werden niet vermeden op basis van hun probleemgedrag, en socialiserden elkaar niet m.b.t. internaliserend probleemgedrag. Wel bleken vrienden elkaar te socialiseren in termen van externaliserend probleemgedrag. Show less
The reading motivation of the majority of students declines in the upper half of primary school, which implies a risk for aliteracy: Students can read but, due to lack of practice, their skills... Show moreThe reading motivation of the majority of students declines in the upper half of primary school, which implies a risk for aliteracy: Students can read but, due to lack of practice, their skills remain underdeveloped (Chapter 2). In this thesis we have explored causes and solutions for this important issue. A potential cause is that due to an accumulation of negative reading experiences, students acquire negative emotions about reading. Findings in chapter 3 show that anxiety about reading exists, in particular among low performing students. This anxiety likely contributes to a loss of interest in reading. In chapter 4 we reported on an experiment that tested whether the availability of reading materials make a difference. Students from schools with an enriched school library were more motivated to read, read more often and were better readers than students from schools without an enriched school library. Finally, in Chapter 5 we examined the potential of digital guidance during students__ reading. We found that particularly a susceptible group (carriers of the DRD4 7-repeat allele) benefits from external support during reading. These students show increased learning and even outperform their less susceptible peers when support is provided. Show less
