The first purpose of this article is to present research on specific child (e.g., temperament), family (e.g., family adversity), and transactional characteristics that have been documented to contribute to the manifestation of externalizing disorders in children. The second purpose is to present screening and intervention strategies school…

Tested model of gender's moderating effects on behavior problems among early adolescents. Found that increasing girls' internalizing symptoms were partly explained by greater stability in girls' interpersonal vulnerabilities and greater magnitude in coefficients linking girls' relationships with parents and peers and internalizing problems. Boys'…

Investigated effects of divorce and family relations on young children's development in ethnically diverse low-income families. Found that soon-to-be-divorced families demonstrated higher rates of preschool-age behavior problems, and already-divorced families showed similar trends. Parental conflict and behavior problems accounted for pre-divorce…

Related children's experience in after-school programs to first grade performance. Found that staff positivity was associated with fewer boys' behavior problems, whereas staff negativity was related to boys' poorer reading/math grades. Program flexibility was associated with better boys' social skills. More frequent negative peer interactions in…

Integrating the arts into daily instruction can enhance at-risk students' learning of academic subjects. To overcome learning barriers, students need a talent or skill (like role playing) that takes them to a new environment, and they need a dedicated mentor to provide emotional support while they are still learning. (MLH)

This paper reports on assessment and treatment of food refusal for four inpatient boys (ages 2,3,3, and 9) receiving tube feedings. It used a contingency contacting procedure extended by a component analysis. Data suggest that food refusal appeared to be maintained primarily by negative reinforcement contingencies. Caregiver responses indicated a…

Our purpose in this report is to evaluate scientifically that body of literature relating the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) upon neurobehavioral, health-related, and cognitive deficits in neonates, developing infants, children, and adults. The data derive from seven cohorts: six cohorts of mothers…

This article reports on the findings of a questionnaire survey of 142 educational psychologists from England and Wales on their approach to the assessment of children with learning and behavioural problems. Participants were asked to report on the frequency with which they used a variety of approaches to assessment, including interviews with…

This case control study examined the relationship between psychopathological profiles and self reported suicide attempts among rural adolescents of China. Cases consisted of 142 adolescents who reported a suicide attempt in the past 6 months in a questionnaire survey (n = 1,365). An equal number of adolescents without reporting a suicide attempt,…

Childhood temperament and family environment have been shown to predict internalizing and externalizing behavior; however, less is known about how temperament and family environment interact to predict changes in problem behavior. We conducted latent growth curve modeling on a sample assessed at ages 5, 7, 10, 14, and 17 (N = 337). Externalizing…

Research shows that established emotional and behavioral problems predict chronic and pervasive troubles across the life span. Attempts to ameliorate children's emotional and behavioral problems have resulted in limited success. The failure to systematically elicit and include caregiver and teacher perspectives in effective interventions is…

Background: Models of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggest developmental influences may feed into components of the disorder separately from associated disruptive behavior problems. We investigated this in terms of key personality/temperament traits of Reactive and Effortful Control, Resiliency, and Emotionality. Methods: A…

This study explored how the histories of young people entering residential treatment in New York State varied depending upon the age and gender of the residents. Specifically, we asked whether children who were admitted to residential treatment centers (RTCs) under 12 years of age had a different set of characteristics than young persons who were…

In addition to cognitive disability, fragile X syndrome (FXS) is associated with behavioral problems that are often functionally limiting. There are few controlled trials to guide treatment; however, available information does suggest that medications can be quite helpful for a number of categories of behavioral disturbance in FXS. Specifically,…

Due to the relatively late age of clinical diagnosis of autism, the early brain pathology of children with autism has remained largely unstudied. The increased use of retrospective measures such as head circumference, along with a surge of MRI studies of toddlers with autism, have opened a whole new area of research and discovery. Recent studies…