Suchergebnisse

Die Vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft trägt den Vergleich als ihr wesentliches Merkmal bereits im Namen. Die AutorInnen präsentieren aktuelle methodologische Perspektiven und Methodenzugänge der Vergleichenden Erziehungswissenschaft. Darüber hinaus tragen besondere Aspekte aus anderen komparatistischen Disziplinen zu einer Erweiterung des methodologischen Diskurses bei. Dabei geht es um die Frage, wie der Vergleich als wissenschaftliches Verfahren zu fassen ist. Wie vergleicht man? Wo liegen fachliche, gesellschaftliche und methodologische Herausforderungen des Vergleichs? Auf welchen Ebenen findet ein Vergleich legitimerweise statt? Was lässt sich aus dem Dialog mit anderen komparatistischen Wissenschaften für die Methodik und Methodologie des Vergleichs lernen? Ausgewiesene Expertinnen und Experten geben Antworten und bieten Positionierungen für die Perspektiven einer Disziplin.

Besonders in diesem Beitrag wird die Notwendigkeit deutlich, sich bei Programmen zur Verbesserung der bildungsbezogenen Chancen an den komplexen Realitäten der Schüler zu orientieren. Die Autorinnen zeigen anhand einer qualitativen Befragung von Schülern in einem Stadtrandviertel der peruanischen Stadt Cusco eine differenzierte und auch widersprüchliche Kontextbeschreibung seitens der Schüler und Eltern, welche sie den viel reduzierteren Forderungen entsprechender NGOs gegenüber stellen. Sie plädieren für eine Kontextualisierung im Rahmen von politischen Initiativen und internationalen Studien, die nicht einseitig ist sowie Eltern und Lernende einbezieht. (DIPF/Orig.) ; International discussions on school development tend to ascribe different types of educational shortcomings to a lack of adaptation to specific contexts. It is, however, quite unclear what contextualization may imply. As a first step in the search for context definitions and contextual needs, this article offers different approaches: historical, theoretical and empirical perspectives are taken. With a special focus on Peru, document analysis shows the actual use of the word "contextual" in reformatory approaches of Peruvian NGOs. Moreover, results of a current empirical study are presented to show how adults in a Peruvian suburb define their own contextual necessities and thus fundamentally question existing concepts, particularly concerning their unilinearity. A final discussion of the possibilities of wider concepts and their reception in research and school development may help to refocus international approaches. (DIPF/Orig.)

Twin studies described a strongly heritable component of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents. However, findings varied considerably between studies. In addition, ADHD presents with a high rate of comorbid disorders and associated psychopathology. Therefore, this literature review reports findings from population-based twin studies regarding the influence of subtypes, assessment instruments, rater effects, sex differences, and comorbidity rates on ADHD heritability estimates. In addition, genetic effects on the persistence of ADHD are discussed. By reviewing relevant factors influencing heritability estimates more homogeneous subtypes relevant for molecular genetic studies can be elicited. A systematic search of population-based twin studies in ADHD was performed, using the databases PubMed and PsycInfo. Results of family studies were added in case insufficient or contradictory findings were obtained in twin studies. Heritability estimates were strongly influenced by rater effects and assessment instruments. Inattentive and hyperactive–impulsive symptoms were likely influenced by common as well as specific genetic risk factors. Besides persistent ADHD, ADHD accompanied by symptoms of conduct or antisocial personality disorder might be another strongly genetically determined subtype, however, family environmental risk factors have also been established for this pattern of comorbidity.

Twin and family studies in autistic disorders (AD) have elucidated a high heritability of AD. In this literature review, we will present an overview on molecular genetic studies in AD and highlight the most recent findings of an increased rate of copy number variations in AD. An extensive literature search in the PubMed database was performed to obtain English published articles on genetic findings in autism. Results of linkage, (genome wide) association and cytogenetic studies are presented, and putative aetiopathological pathways are discussed. Implications of the different genetic findings for genetic counselling and genetic testing at present will be described. The article ends with a prospectus on future directions.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are heterogeneous disorders presenting with increased rates of anxiety. The adenosine A2A receptor gene (ADORA2A) is associated with panic disorder and is located on chromosome 22q11.23. Its gene product, the adenosine A2A receptor, is strongly expressed in the caudate nucleus, which also is involved in ASD. As autistic symptoms are increased in individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, and large 22q11.2 deletions and duplications have been observed in ASD individuals, in this study, 98 individuals with ASD and 234 control individuals were genotyped for eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms in ADORA2A. Nominal association with the disorder was observed for rs2236624-CC, and phenotypic variability in ASD symptoms was influenced by rs3761422, rs5751876 and rs35320474. In addition, association of ADORA2A variants with anxiety was replicated for individuals with ASD. Findings point toward a possible mediating role of ADORA2A variants on phenotypic expression in ASD that need to be replicated in a larger sample.

The results leading to this publication have received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 777394 for the project AIMS-2-TRIALS. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA and AUTISM SPEAKS, Autistica, SFARI. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results. Any views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the funders.

The results leading to this publication have received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 777394 for the project AIMS-2-TRIALS. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA and AUTISM SPEAKS, Autistica, SFARI. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results. Any views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the funders.

The 14-3-3 protein family are molecular chaperones involved in several biological functions and neurological diseases. We previously pinpointed YWHAZ (encoding 14-3-3) as a candidate gene for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through a whole-exome sequencing study, which identified a frameshift variant within the gene (c.659-660insT, p.L220Ffs*18). Here, we explored the contribution of the seven human 14-3-3 family members in ASD and other psychiatric disorders by investigating the: (i) functional impact of the 14-3-3 mutation p.L220Ffs*18 by assessing solubility, target binding and dimerization; (ii) contribution of common risk variants in 14-3-3 genes to ASD and additional psychiatric disorders; (iii) burden of rare variants in ASD and schizophrenia; and iv) 14-3-3 gene expression using ASD and schizophrenia transcriptomic data. We found that the mutant 14-3-3 protein had decreased solubility and lost its ability to form heterodimers and bind to its target tyrosine hydroxylase. Gene-based analyses using publicly available datasets revealed that common variants in YWHAE contribute to schizophrenia (p = 6.6 107), whereas ultra-rare variants were found enriched in ASD across the 14-3-3 genes (p = 0.017) and in schizophrenia for YWHAZ (meta-p = 0.017). Furthermore, expression of 14-3-3 genes was altered in post-mortem brains of ASD and schizophrenia patients. Our study supports a role for the 14-3-3 family in ASD and schizophrenia ; Fundació La Marató de TV3 (092010), Fundación Alicia Koplowitz, AGAUR (2017SGR738, 2017SGR1497), the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad with FEDER funds (SAF2015-68341-R, SAF2017-87629-R, RTI2018-100968-B-I00) and the Australian National Medical and Health Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant 1063960 and 1066177, and Program Grant 1037196. The research leading to these results also received funding from the European Union H2020 Program (H2020/2014-2020) under grant agreements 667302 (CoCA) and 643051 (MiND). B. Torrico was supported by AGAUR (Generalitat de Catalunya), E. Antón-Galindo by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spanish Government), N. Fernàndez-Castillo by the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER) and L. Pineda-Cirera by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (FPU15/ 03867). C. Toma was supported by the European Union (Marie Curie, PIEF-GA-2009-254930) and currently is a recipient of a 'Ramón y Cajal' fellowship (RyC2018-024106-I) from the Spanish MINECO

Little is known about use of early interventions for autism spectrum disorder in Europe. Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder aged 7 years or younger (N = 1680) were recruited through parent organisations in 18 European countries and completed an online survey about the interventions their child received. There was considerable variation in use of interventions, and in some countries more than 20% of children received no intervention at all. The most frequently reported interventions were speech and language therapy (64%) and behavioural, developmental and relationship-based interventions (55%). In some parts of Europe, use of behavioural, developmental and relationship-based interventions was associated with higher parental educational level and time passed since diagnosis, rather than with child characteristics. These findings highlight the need to monitor use of intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder in Europe in order to contrast inequalities. ; Funding Agencies|COST Action - European Science Foundation [BM1004]; Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking [115300]; European Union; EFPIA

The results leading to this publication have received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 777394 for the project AIMS-2-TRIALS. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA and AUTISM SPEAKS, Autistica, SFARI. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results. Any views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the funders.