Quality of life is important for the development and evaluation of interventions for autistic people. It is a multidimensional concept, anchored in a sociocultural context and based on a person's subjective assessment of their life. The aim of this study is to examine whether the determinants of perceived quality of life vary by country (or…

We explored the relationships between social contexts and factors that promoted and inhibited curriculum change at two universities. Thirty interviews were analysed using a general inductive approach to identify factors and forces in three social contexts (lecturer, departmental, and institutional). Curriculum change was characterised by six…

Objectives: To examine evidence from studies exploring the relationship between childhood obesity and educational attainment. Design: A systematic review of secondary analyses and observational studies published in English after 1997 examining attainment as measured by grade point average or other validated measure, in children aged 6 to 16 years,…

This study evaluated the impact of two metalinguistic factors, English derivational awareness and English-Spanish cognate awareness, and the impact of two sociocultural factors, maternal education and children's length of residence in Canada, on English Language Learners (ELLs)' vocabulary knowledge. The participants of the study were 89…

Researchers have found important differences among population sub-groups when considering their "determinants of physical activity". The health of Francophones and Northern Ontario residents in Canada has been assessed as relatively poorer than the general population. Understanding the determinants of physical activity in these…

Background: Physical aggression is an important issue in North American populations. The importance of students' social environments in the occurrence of physical aggression requires focused study. In this study, reports of physical aggression were examined in relation to social environment factors among national samples of students from Canada…

Using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the size of the literacy achievement gap between 15-year-old students from two-parent and those from single-mother households were compared across 18 industrialized nations. This study found that cross-national differences exist in the association between single motherhood…

In the early nineteenth century, governments began to develop specialized educational programs--kindergartens and infant or nursery schools--to give children a head start in life. These programs hinged on new visions of childhood that originated in England and Europe, but what happened when they were transported to the colonies? This book unwinds…

The main aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of why students abandon their studies, or perform less well than expected given their high school grades, and to develop predictive models that can help identify those students most at-risk at the time they enter college. This will allow teachers and those responsible for student…

The relationship between student dropout and high school grades, demographic factors and psychosocial variables was examined for 40 682 full-time Dawson College students. Overall, low high school grades and older age were the best predictors of dropout. Male students, who generally had lower grades than females, were more likely to drop out than…

Investigating the role and characterization of the American Indian as depicted in the Western comic book, a study was conducted wherein 44 comics containing at least two Indians were randomly selected from a list of 207 for analyzation. Utilizing three outside readers (a Canadian nurse, housewife, and Indian student), modified procedures of…

Investigated rates of birth, divorce, marriage, and unemployment for subgroups in Canada and the United States and their effects on suicide rates. In Canada, domestic integration and the economy predicted youth suicide rates more accurately than they did adult rates. The United States had less variation in predictors for age groups. (RJM)

One initial and two follow-up experiments were conducted to test social comparison predictions regarding influence processes related to risk taking in groups. Subjects were 137 male and female college students. (MP)

This study investigated the attitudes, beliefs, and behavior of Canadian and American children in terms of television viewing of sports, preference for professional or amateur sport models, and proportion of violent to nonviolent television viewing. The written opinionnaire items used in the research determined: 1) demographic information on…

A study found native French-speaking and native English-speaking university students had similar writing skill levels and error patterns despite their position as language-minority or language-majority members of society. It is concluded that language competency is not necessarily linked to language difficulty or to the position of the language.…