Children Of Social Class Research Articles

The problem of limited diversity in qualitative comparative analysis: A discussion of two proposed solutions

I use data from the 1980 survey of the British 1970 Birth Cohort Study (BCS70; N = 1,890) and the case-based, set theoretic method qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to assess to what extent maternal interest in education is sufficient for high attainment in mathematics for 1890 cases. Specifically, I examine whether maternal interest is sufficient only for children of certain social classes and a particular sex. I use QCA because it assumes that ‘multiple conjunctural causation’ is at work rather than an average effect of one variable across all cases (Ragin, 2000, p. 104). This allows us to explore which combinations of factors – or configurations – consistently achieve the outcome and, hence, account for factors whose effects are a function of other factors in the configuration (Cooper & Glaesser, 2008). During the analysis, I encounter limited diversity in the data and explore two approaches that claim to allow the analysis to continue even when limited diversity is present. In the first of these analyses, the counterfactual method, the researcher uses existing theory to check the plausibility of results where there is limited empirical support. In the second approach, the two-stage method, a preliminary analysis is performed and, based on those results, factors are removed from the model and, hence, the complexity of the model is reduced. I argue, here, that the counterfactual method is preferable to the two-stage method because the two-stage method might distort findings and make them overly simplistic. I then demonstrate the difference in results when the two approaches are applied to these same data.

SWIMMING POOL ATTENDANCE AND RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS AT 1 YEAR: RESULTS FROM THE INMA BIRTH COHORT IN SPAIN

Background and Aims: Infant swimming pool attendance has been associated with increased respiratory diseases, but results are inconsistent. The aim was to assess the relationship between swimming pool attendance and several respiratory, atopic symptoms and infections during the first year of life. Methods: Four birth cohorts from different regions in Spain taking part of the INMA project were used. Data was collected by standard questionnaire at 12-14 months of age on frequency of swimming (indoor and outdoor swimming pools in winter and summer) and having had the following symptoms: bronchiolitis, bronchitis, low respiratory track infection (LRTI), cough, wheezing, atopic eczema, otitis. Birth season, small for gestational age, breastfeeding, day care attendance, maternal age, education, social class and atopy were considered as potential confounders. Odds ratios and 95% confidence interval (OR 95%CI) were calculated by logistic regression. Results: 2,644 children were included (855 from Valencia, 494 from Asturias, 638 from Guipuzcoa and 657 from Sabadell). Swimming pool attendance during the 1st year of age occurred among 42% of children, with a median cumulated duration of 720 minutes (Interquartile range = 210-1800). Swimming was more common among children in higher social classes with mid-aged mothers, day care attendants and those who breastfed or were born in autumn and winter. Prevalences of symptoms were 16% bronchiolitis, 14% bronchitis, 12% cough, 19% eczema, 33% LRTI, 32% wheezing and 31% otitis. Preliminary results showed no association between swimming pool attendance and symptoms. Compared to non-swimming pool attendants, children who attended swimming pools had the following adjusted OR (95%CI): bronchiolitis=1.04 (0.81-1.34), bronchitis=1.17 (0.91-1.51), wheezing=1.04 (0.86-1.25), respiratory infection=1.09 (0.91-1.32), cough=1.01 (0.78-1.31), eczema=1.03 (0.82-1.28), otitis=1.00 (0.83-1.21). Conclusions: Results showed lack of association between swimming pool attendance and respiratory symptoms during the first year of life in Spain. Further analyses considering the type of swimming pool are planned.

Second-Class Citizens in the Making

Despite the guarantees stemming from the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, children of different social classes in Chile are accorded differential protection of their basic human rights. Two cases of police violence in Santiago de Chile in 2001—a political protest demonstration by high-school students and a raid on a shelter for street children accused of kidnapping—highlight these discrepancies. Both cases received wide media attention, but the representations of the children involved were not the same. Whereas the students received the support of the media and the public for their political action, the street children were treated as criminals. The differences suggest that perceived social status determines the value assigned by society to the two categories of children and consequently the rights and protections they enjoy. In the process, the street children are being turned into second-class citizens. Restructuring of the government's approach to dealing with them is imperative.

Impacts of dental pain on daily activities of adolescents aged 14–15 years and their families

Objective. To assess the prevalence and severity of dental pain on the daily lives of adolescents and their families in Brazil, and, in terms of socio-economic status, whether there are differences in the prevalence of impacts. Material and Methods. In a cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 14 to 15-year-olds in Brazil, the prevalence and severity of dental pain, and how dental pain affects daily functioning, were assessed using a child-related questionnaire. A family-related questionnaire included questions on a child pain inventory and the pain-related impacts on the daily lives of the child's family members. Results. 14.5% of children reported high impact levels on their daily lives related to dental pain, the more so among girls than among boys, i.e. 16.7% compared to 11.6%. Significantly more impacts occurred in lower socio-economic class children than in higher, i.e. 19.7% versus 7.8%. The prevalence of impacts among children who reported dental pain (n=354) was high; 64.7% reporting that concentration at school was affected, 55.6% that home activities were affected, and 51.4% that leisure activities were affected. There was a significant relationship between impacts of dental pain on children and families. Overall prevalence of impacts on children's families was 15.2%. The most frequent family dimensions affected were: in carrying out normal household activities (19.7%) and in visiting friends and relatives (17.7%). Emotional stability was the most frequent psychological activity dimension affected (14.1%); 9.6% of parents were woken up as a result of their child's dental pain on an average of 3.7 nights per week. Conclusions. Dental pain has considerable impact on the daily lives of adolescents and their families in Brazil. There are many more dental pain-related impacts in girls and in lower social class children.

A Comparison of Dental Caries Levels in Two Communities with Different Oral Health Prevention Strategies Stratified in Different Social Classes

To compare dental caries levels of schoolchildren stratified in different social classes whose domestic water supply had been fluoridated since birth (Dublin) with those living in an area where fluoridated salt was available (Freiburg). A representative, random sample of twelve-year-old children was examined and dental caries was recorded using World Health Organization criteria. A total of 699 twelve-year-old children were examined, 377 were children in Dublin and 322 in Freiburg. In Dublin the mean decayed, missing, and filled permanent teeth (DMFT) was 0.80 and in Freiburg it was 0.69. An examination of the distribution of the DMFT score revealed that its distribution is highly positively skewed. For this reason this study provides summary analyses based on medians and inter-quartile range and nonparametric rank sum tests. In both cities caries levels of children in social class 1 (highest) were considerably lower when compared with the other social classes regardless of the fluoride intervention model used. The caries levels showed a reduced disparity between children in social class 2 (medium) and 3 (lowest) in Dublin compared with those in social class 2 and 3 in Freiburg. The evidence from this study confirmed that water fluoridation has reduced the gap in dental caries experience between medium and lower social classes in Dublin compared with the greater difference in caries experience between the equivalent social classes in Freiburg. The results from this study established the important role of salt fluoridation where water fluoridation is not feasible.

Television viewing and exposure to food-related commercials among European school children, associations with fruit and vegetable intake: a cross sectional study

BackgroundFruit and vegetable intake is low among European children and exposure to TV is negatively associated with the intake of fruit and vegetables. The aim of the present study was to explore exposure to food commercials on TV in nine European countries. Associations between such exposure and intake of fruit and vegetables and possible mediating effects of attitudes toward and liking of fruit and vegetables were assessed.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was performed in nine European countries, i.e. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, from October-December 2003, as a part of the Pro Children study. Data on usual intake of fruit and vegetables, and related correlates were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire among 11-year-old school children (mean age 11.4 (sd = 0.48), 50.2% boys). Complete data was available for 13,035 children. Differences in exposure to TV ads between countries, gender and social class were explored by analysis of variance. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to test associations between exposure to TV ads and intake and to assess mediating effects.ResultsThe large majority of children in all nine countries report recent exposure to a number of TV ads for food, and they were more often exposed to ads for unhealthy food than for fruit and vegetables (mean of 2.2 (sd = 1.0) unhealthy ads vs. mean of 1.7 (sd = 1.0) healthy ads; p < 0.001). Boys reported somewhat higher TV viewing than girls did (2.5 (sd = 1.7) vs. 2.2 (sd = 1.6) hours per day; p < 0.001), and children from lower social classes reported higher TV viewing than higher social class children did (2.4 (sd = 1.7) vs. 2.0 (sd = 1.5); p < 0.001). Across all countries, exposure to TV ads for healthy foods was positively associated (r = 0.09–0.16) with reported fruit and vegetable intake. This association was in part mediated by attitudes toward and liking of fruit and vegetables.ConclusionExposure to TV ads for fruit and vegetables appear to be associated with fruit and vegetable consumption among European school children. This relationship is in part mediated through cognitive factors such as attitudes and preferences concerning fruit and vegetables.

The social patterning of fat and lean mass in a contemporary cohort of children

Studies of the social patterning of obesity in children using body mass index have reported inconsistent results. We explored the association of social class with fat mass and lean mass in a contemporary cohort of children measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. We observed a clear social gradient of fat mass (with children of higher social class having a lower fat mass), but no gradient in lean mass or trunk fat mass. Our data show that inequalities in adiposity are present in primary school children and suggest that social inequalities in childhood obesity may have been underestimated in previous studies.

Stadskinderen: verschillende generaties over de dagelijkse strijd om de ruimte (City Children: The Daily Struggle for Space by Different Generations)

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 15 No. 1 (2005) ISSN: 1546-2250 Stadskinderen: verschillende generaties over de dagelijkse strijd om de ruimte (City Children: The Daily Struggle for Space by Different Generations) Bouw, Carolien and Karsten, Lia (2004). Amsterdam: Aksant; 211 pages. $€ 15.00 (US$ 21.00). ISBN 9052601682. Photo Gallery This noteworthy study examines children’s access to and use of urban public space across several generations. It uses this historical perspective to describe what has changed between roughly the 1950s and the present, at the same time that it identifies variations and similarities between children of different social classes and ethnic backgrounds. Although the research was undertaken in Amsterdam and the book published in Dutch, its findings should be of wider interest. Interviews and observations, carried out in a three-site comparison, show children on the losing end of a constant struggle over public space. However, the study also makes clear that the outcomes of this struggle are not uniform, but vary as a function of children’s differential access to compensatory factors and resources in their family and neighborhood. The authors argue that families with children are an important form of urban social capital and, based on 421 their research results, the authors offer various recommendations in support of child-friendly cities. The book is organized into ten chapters. The first chapter sets the stage for the research through a brief review of several key issues faced by children living in Dutch cities in general and Amsterdam in particular. It notes a trend of outmigration by families, but points out that the capital city remains the living environment for a large number of families with children. Most of them fall into three main categories: wealthy households, dual-earner households, and immigrant households that cannot afford life in the suburbs or towns near Amsterdam. Despite their diversity, parents in these households share a responsibility of providing their children with safe environments that support healthy development. Their ability to do so is increasingly challenged by threats to the amount and the quality of public space available. The authors suggest that the focus of their analysis on children’s everyday lives serves as a magnifying glass that exposes urban development dynamics at work in the city at large, although this is not a point that is further developed. The authors detail the methodological aspects of the study in Chapter Two, which first describes the selection of three streets (the units of analysis), according to four criteria: All streets were (1) developed before World War II (to allow for a comparison across generations); and (2) inhabited by a minimum of 20 elementary school age children. In addition, the researchers selected with a view to variation between streets in terms of (3) ethnic composition; and (4) social class. Illustrated by photos , the everyday lives of the children residing in the three selected streets take place in very different physical environments. The second part of this chapter reviews methods of data collection, including reviews of past research and media coverage; study of archival and census data; observation of the use of public spaces; and interviews with the children, their parents, current neighbors and former street residents. There is also discussion of validity 422 threats (e.g., an inclination on the part of the grown ups to romanticize the past). Subsequent chapters provide a wealth of information on children’s use of space (indoors and outdoors—chapter 3) and time (programmed and unprogrammed—chapter 4); the tension between needs for adventure and safety (chapter 5) and, relatedly, needs for independent mobility vs. physical boundaries and supervision (chapter 6); questions of social integration in an ethically heterogeneous neighborhood (chapter 7); parents’ evaluations of their street, neighborhood and city as a place to raise children (chapter 8); followed by a summary chapter and a concluding chapter that offers recommendations for supporting the needs of children and their families in cities. Children under 13 make up 14 percent of Amsterdam’s population as they do in the three streets in this study (13 percent, 14 percent and 14 percent, respectively). Like many western cities, Amsterdam has lost population in recent decades. Today, there are also fewer children...

Socio-economic differences in cardiovascular disease and physical activity: stereotypes and reality.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is patterned by socio-economic status, being more common in lower social classes. Since physical inactivity is a risk factor for CVD it might be assumed that it is more common in lower social classes. We examine major recent UK population surveys and show that this assumption is incorrect; although higher social class adults engage in more formal sports activities, they are less likely to engage in other (e.g. occupational) activities. Lower social class children are more likely to engage in sports and active play. We also show that although Scotland has higher rates of CVD than England, it does not have higher prevalences of all CVD risk factors.

School Health: A New Awakening Needed

This study was designed to observe the pattern of health problems and prevalence of audio-visual disability in two selected private nursery and primary schools attended by middle to high - income social class children. To also compare their Body Mass Index (BMI) with the BMI growth chart 2000 of the United States of America. From the study the most common clinical problem was Acute Respiratory Infection, which was seen in 5.46% of the studied population. Allergy, in the form of allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis, dermatitis and bronchial asthma constituted 18.49% of the studied population. Analysis of their BMI showed that they were not overweight or obese and compared favourably with children from developed nations. Nig. Qt. J. Hosp. Med. Vol.12(1-4) 2002: 34-39

Art and medicine 1: Health Hazards by Dr Jane Jackson

Paintings with a moral or educational theme were popular in the Victorian era—for example, works by George Frederick Watts and the pre-Raphaelites (notably William Holman Hunt). Art as the road to salvation went out of style in the 20th century, but the power of art to illustrate social wrongs or to promote healthy behaviours may be due for a revival. In the 2003 exhibition by the Medical Art Society, entries for the Brooke Epidemiology Art Prize, awarded by the Section of Epidemiology and Public Health, included Health Hazards by Dr Jane Jackson. Her prize-winning interpretation of the theme ‘inequalities’ was based on the Government review Tackling Health Inequalities (2002). We see a deceptively calm interior, brightly coloured in the original, which ‘becomes tragical if rightly read’, as the Victorian art critic John Ruskin observed of one of Hunt’s moral works. The room is a bizarre combination of cooker, cupboards, easy chair and deep-piled rug, with children and a mirror in the background portraying accidents about to happen, including a fire. Residential fire deaths for children are fifteen times more common in children from social class V than in those from social class I: children in social class V have also a five times greater risk of accidental death than their peers in social class I. All the figures in the picture are obese—a problem increasing more rapidly in lower socio-economic groups. The adults are heedless of the chubby children with their dangerous playthings, while the possibly drunk parent slumps indolently to one side. Granny teeters unsteadily towards us, a reminder that falls cause the largest numbers of fatal injuries in older people (62%), as well as disability. While all may turn out well in this surreal family scene, the statistics predict otherwise. An image of our times, Jane Jackson’s painting echoes past attempts to show links between health, behaviour and the environment.​environment. Figure 1

Socioeconomic and ethnic group differences in self reported health status and use of health services by children and young people in England: cross sectional study

Objectives: To examine whether self reported health status and use of health services varies in children of different social class and ethnic group.Design: Cross sectional study from the 1999 health...

A case‐control study of risk factors for asthma in New Zealand children

As in other English-speaking countries, asthma is a major and increasing health problem in New Zealand. This study examined the risk factors for asthma in children aged 7-9. Cases and controls were randomly selected from participants in the Wellington arm of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). Cases were children with a previous diagnosis of asthma and current medication use (n=233), and controls were children with no history of wheezing and no diagnosis of asthma (n=241). After controlling for confounders, factors significantly associated with asthma were maternal (OR=3.36, 95% CI 1.88-5.99) and paternal asthma (OR-2.67, 95% CI 1.42-5.02), and male sex (OR=1.81, 95% CI 1.17-2.81). Children from social classes 5 and 6 or with unemployed parents (OR=2.32, 95% CI 1.22-4.44) were significantly more likely to have asthma than children in social classes 1 and 2. There was no significant association between having polio vaccination (OR=2.48, 95% CI 0.83-7.41), hepatitis B vaccination (OR=0.66, 95% CI 0.42-1.04) or measles/mumps/rubella vaccination (OR=1.43, 95% CI 0.85-2.41) and asthma. This study has confirmed the associations of family history and lower socio-economic status with current asthma in 7-9 year old children. The role of vaccinations requires further research.

Efeito da prática de alimentação infantil e de fatores associados sobre a ocorrência da cárie dental em pré-escolares de 18 a 48 meses

Este estudo foi realizado objetivando estudar o efeito das práticas de alimentação infantil e de fatores associados sobre a ocorrência de cárie dental. Para isso, determinou-se o ceo-d e o ceo-s em 156 crianças de 18 a 48 meses e foi aplicado às mães um questionário incluindo perguntas sobre a ocupação do pai, nível educacional da mãe, higiene bucal, época de erupção do dente e sobre práticas de alimentação infantil. Os dados obtidos foram analisados através dos testes X2 e Mann-Whitney U. A média do ceo-s foi 3,4 com 40% das crianças livres de cáries, sendo que 36 e 24% tinham um ceo-d maior que 0 e 4, respectivamente. Notou-se que 72% das crianças eram alimentadas ao seio, 17% apenas com mamadeira e 10% pelos dois meios. Das crianças alimentadas apenas com mamadeira 70% apresentaram cárie. A cárie de mamadeira foi observada em 20% das crianças, sendo que 77% destas tinham sido alimentadas por mais de 12 meses. As crianças, cujos pais eram profissionais com terceiro grau de escolaridade, tiveram significativamente menos cárie do que aquelas de pais com nível técnico ou pais operários. A prevalência de cárie na faixa etária estudada foi relativamente alta. As crianças com cárie de mamadeira tenderam a manter seus hábitos de aleitamento por mais de 12 meses, sendo que o uso de mamadeira açucarada estava presente em 100% dos casos.

Trends in intentional injury deaths in children and teenagers (1980-1995).

The aim of the study was to describe patterns and trends in intentional injury death rates in children and teenagers. Analyses were carried out on data from the Office of National Statistics on all intentional injury deaths in people aged 0 to 19 years, in England and Wales, from 1980 to 1995. Trends in death rates were examined using Poisson regression modelling, and class-specific death rates were estimated using the Registrar General's Standard Classification of Occupations. Between 1980 and 1995, there has been a substantial fall in the unintentional injury death rate, but no reduction in the intentional injury death rate. Intentional injuries made up 13 per cent of injury and poisoning deaths in 1980, and 25 per cent of such deaths in 1995. Each year in England and Wales an average of 335 children and teenagers die as a result of homicide, suicide and injuries of undetermined intent. Older teenagers (15-19 years) account for 70 per cent of intentional injury deaths, children 0-4 years account for 18 per cent, and children 5-15 years account for 12 per cent. Of the 5361 intentional injury deaths, 45 per cent were classified as injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted, 35 per cent were classified as suicide, and 20 per cent were classified as homicide. With the exception of suicide, there are steep social class gradients for each category of intentional injury. The homicide rate for children in social class V is 17 times that for children in social class I. For all intentional injury, homicide, suicide and injuries of undetermined intent, the relative risk of death for manual vs. non-manual was higher for the four year period 1992-1995 than in the four year period 1980-1983. Intentional injury is responsible for an average of 335 deaths of children and teenagers each year in England and Wales. Unlike for unintentional injury, there has been no reduction in death rates from intentional injury, which now accounts for 25 per cent of all injury deaths. There is a steep social class gradient in intentional injury death rates, which has widened over the period 1980-1995.

Ophthalmic Eponyms From the Mayo Clinic

Ophthalmic Eponyms From the Mayo Clinic

Does the decline in child injury mortality vary by social class? A comparison of class specific mortality in 1981 and 1991

To examine whether the decline in child injury death rates between 1981 and 1991 varied by social class. Comparison of class specific child injury death rates for 1979, 1980, 1982, and 1983, with those for the four years 1989-92. England and Wales. Children aged 0-15 years. Death rates from injury and poisoning. Death rates from injury and poisoning have fallen for children in all social classes. The decline for children in social classes IV and V (21% and 2% respectively), however, is smaller than that for children in social classes I and II (32% and 37%). As a result of the differential decline in injury death rates, socioeconomic mortality differentials have increased. In the four years 1979-80 and 1982-83 the injury death rate for children in social class V was 3.5 times that of children in social class I. For the four years 1989-92 the injury death rate for children in social class V was 5.0 times that of children in social class I. Poisson regression modelling showed that the trend in the decline in death rates across the social classes was unlikely to have arisen by chance alone. Socioeconomic inequalities in child injury death rates have increased. If these gradients persist, the Health of the Nation's target is likely to be met for children in the non-manual social classes but not for those in the manual social classes.

The health repercussions of Government transport policies

A couple of hours into the late shift in Accident and Emergency (A & E) a boy is brought in, conscious but struggling for breath. He has been hit by a car, his lungs crushed by the wheels and his leg broken. Myriad images stay locked in my mind. A resuscitation room filled with people, the fraught, tense atmosphere. Anguished faces of parents, the primary survey and monitoring, oxygen, fluids and IV lines, running to fetch blood bags, chest drains. Then catheterisation, secondary survey, and all the time frightened eyes: ‘Mummy I don’t want to die. I’m getting so tired...’ The boy died in Intensive Care early the next morning following surgery to try to salvage his lungs. The best efforts of the A & E, Orthopaedic, Thoracic, Paediatric and ITU teams working through the night had not been enough to save his life. The damage had been too severe. He was 9 years old. It is now a number of months since that afternoon, but its impact stays with me. It has thrown into focus many issues surrounding road safety, particularly those of accident prevention, leading inevitably to fundamental questions concerning priorities and philosophies in current transport policy and the way they structure people’s lives with inescapable consequences for their health. Road traffic accidents are the largest single cause of accidental death. The statistics show that more than 5000 people are killed by road vehicles each year in the UK with many more injured, often seriously (Department of Transport 1991). While this number is in itself shocking, it is the vulnerability of pedestrian children, with those from social classes IV and V at the highest risk, which is particularly unacceptable. Road traffic accidents account for a quarter of all deaths of schoolchildren and two thirds of all accidental deaths (Department of Transport 1991). It is striking that pedestrians and cyclists together account for 1 in 3 of all fatal and serious road injuries, although they account only for about 1 in 14 of all road users (Quick 1991). While total road traflic accident rates (including pedestrian) have remained fairly constant for 60 years, pedestrian activity has in fact markedly declined over the past decade, indicating a proportional rise in pedestrian victims (Hillman et al 1990). Children obviously make up a substantial portion of the pedestrian population and are therefore inevitably at greater risk. But inequalities in the health damaging effects of road transport are not limited to age alone. Mortality ratios for road traffic accidents involving children aged 1-15 show steep social class gradients, with the ratio increasing dramatically from social class I to V for most types of road user, and particularly for pedestrians. Children in Social Class V are nearly 3 times as likely to be involved in a fatal accident than those in Class I; and well over 4 times as likely to be involved in a fatal accident if pedestrian (Preston 1992). Why have roads become so much more dangerous for children? The obvious answer is that there has been a significant increase in the number of cars. However, this is only part of the problem. Government transport policy has been to build more, bigger and faster roads at the expense of subsidised public transport which studies have shown as a relatively safer form of transport (Department of Transport 1990; Public Health Alliance 1991). The introduction of compulsory safety belts, child car restraints, and the progressive incorporation of new safety features like cages and impact balloons has significantly improved the lot of the car user. As driving becomes ever more desirable and safer, so remaining a pedestrian becomes yet more and more hazardous. People in the lower income brackets, who cannot afford access to a car and who cannot therefore ferry their children to and from school and social functions, are most at risk. Only 2% of children from families headed by an unskilled worker will be driven to school, in contrast to 36% of those in families headed by professionals (Birmingham Public Health Alliance, 1991). Whether living in urban or rural areas, it is the poorer classes that are always hit the hardest. In the inner city, the place where children in the lower classes frequently live, traffic is denser, there are fewer safe places to play, and pedestrian casualties are higher -7 times greater in most urban counties than in rural ones according to Birmingham PHA (1991). On the other hand,

Growing up in Uppsala: the "new morbidity" in the adolescent period. A longitudinal epidemiological study based on school data and some external sources.

The study comprised all 1805 children, most born in 1967, who were in grade 9 of the compulsory school in Uppsala in the spring of 1983 (cross-sectional population) and all 1723 children born in 1967 and resident in Uppsala at ages 10 and 15 years (longitudinal population). The aims were (1) to describe and analyse a normal population of 9th graders in social, medical, educational and psychological respects, (2) to assess relationships between risk level at 10 years, school-identified difficulties at 15 years and psychosocial problems up to age 18, (3) to assess relationships between intervention in school at 15 years and psychosocial problems up to 18 years. Ten-year data had been collected through teacher interviews and analysis of school health records in grade 3. Fifteen-year data were collected through interviews with school health staff and analysis of school health records in grade 9. School marks were gathered at the end of grade 9. Psychosocial problems up to 18 years were assessed on the basis of all registered contacts with official institutions outside school (authorities for care of the handicapped, Department of Child Psychiatry, social agencies, legal authorities). CROSS-SECTIONAL POPULATION. Children older than the grade norm and children of lower social class manifested a more problematic school adjustment and had lower mean marks than younger children and those of higher social classes. Twenty-five per cent of the population had entries in official registers up to age 18, indicating psychosocial problems. Social conditions were related both to the learning process and to psychological health. Educational and psychological problems were mutually correlated. Social problems increased the risk of a number of medical conditions. There were certain relationships between medical and educational problems as well as between medical and psychological problems. LONGITUDINAL POPULATION. Both 10- and 15-year data, particularly the latter, contributed independently to the prediction of psychosocial problems up to age 18. There was a considerably increased risk of psychosocial problems if there had been numerous school difficulties at age 15. Children who had been offered intervention in school at 15 years did not escape psychosocial problems up to 18 years more frequently than children without interventions. In fact, the contrary was the case: with more interventions, the frequencies of psychosocial problems up to age 18 increased.

Eczema risk increases with social class.

Eczema is more prevalent in children of social classes I and II than in lower social classes, London researchers report.