Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between the characteristics of the home learning environment (HLE) and students' academic attainments in secondary school in England at age 14 and 16. Design/methodology/approach-This research study uses multilevel statistical models to investigate the strength and significance of relationships between various measures of the HLE at ages three, six, 11 and 14, and students' academic attainment in secondary school. Findings-Multilevel models show that early years HLE and specific dimensions of later HLE are positive predictors of students' later academic attainment at age 14 and 16, when the influence of various individual, family and neighbourhood characteristics are controlled. Originality/value-The paper presents unique findings on the role of the HLE in shaping students' academic success at secondary school, including a range of measures of the HLE obtained at different ages. The results show that the early years HLE measured at age three continues to show effects on later attainment, over and beyond the effects of later HLE and other significant influences such as family socioeconomic status and parents' qualification levels.

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This study explores how various measures of home learning environment (HLE) collected at different ages are related to each other and explores associations when the effects of significant child and family characteristics are controlled for. Different age appropriate measures of the HLE were constructed at ages 3, 7, 11, and 14. The measures were derived from parents' reports (3, 7, and 11), but at age 14 both adolescents' self-reports and parents' questionnaires responses were used. Multilevel models tested the effects of earlier measures of HLE on later measures, while the same set of individual and family characteristics were controlled. The early years HLE measure was a significant predictor of later measures of HLE across different phases of education (primary and secondary school). The strength of the relationships between different HLE measures depended on the time lag between measurements but also on the nature of the activities covered in each dimension.

This article examines the link between culture and divorce attitudes using country-level data of the International Social Survey Programme 1994. Outside of examining the favorability of attitudes, we distinguish different types of attitudes based on whether the consequences of marital dissolution on children were considered when evaluating the acceptability of divorce. Testing competing hypotheses derived from attitude research and crosscultural psychology, we demonstrate that (a) individualist societies exhibit more favorable divorce attitudes than collectivist societies but that (b) there is a curvilinear relationship between culture and type of divorce attitude, such that highly individualist and highly collectivist societies are similar with regard to the structure of prevailing divorce attitudes. The discussion focuses on the broader meanings of endorsing certain types of divorce attitudes in individualist and collectivist cultures.

The use of systematic client feedback tools are known to enhance outcomes in adults psychotherapy clients, but their effects with children have yet to be adequately tested. Hence, we piloted a cluster randomised controlled trial of the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS) with children aged 7-11 years old; comparing play-based counselling with, and without, the use of this tool. Ten UK 'primary' schools were randomly allocated to either the intervention or control condition. Data were available for 38 children in total: 20 girls and 18 boys, of predominantly a white ethnic origin (mean age = 8.5 years). Clinical outcomes were the total difficulties scores on the teacher and parent completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Fifty percent of the schools left the trial between initial recruitment and end of data collection, but participant dropout was low and recruitment rates were satisfactory. Participants in the PCOMS condition showed significantly greater reductions in parent completed total difficulties than those in the control condition, with small to moderate effect sizes on all outcomes in favour of PCOMS. Overall, our design appeared feasible, but needs to ensure adequate school retention and counsellor adherence.