There is a critical need for evidence-based, broadband behavioral, and ASD screening measures for use in pediatric and early educational settings to ensure that young children at risk for developing social-emotional disorders and/or ASD are provided with early intervention services to optimize long-term outcomes. The BITSEA is a 42-item screener…

Peer-to-peer bullying negatively impacts over 20% of school-aged children annually. While much literature exists on bullying on school premises, peer-to-peer bullying outside of the classroom is still relatively understudied. Despite states' implementation of antibullying legislation, peer-to-peer bullying has continued in schools and other areas…

This Solution-Finding Report provides information, requested by Tara Zuber with the Great Lakes Comprehensive Center (GLCC) at American Institutes for Research (AIR), for resources with evidence-based practices that look at the social and emotional causes that impact the lack of student learning and engagement, for GLCC's Early Warning Signs work.…

This study examined the technical adequacy of office discipline referrals (ODRs) received early in the school year for predicting total ODRs received by the end of the year. The sample included 401,852 students from 593 public middle schools (serving Grades 6 to 8) in the United States in the 2009-2010 school year. The results showed that ODRs…

Adolescence and early adulthood is a time when peer groups become increasingly influential in the lives of young people. Youths exposed to deviant peers risk susceptibility to externalizing behaviors and related psychopathology. In addition to environmental correlates of deviant peer affiliation, a growing body of evidence has suggested that…

James is 14 years old. Tall, handsome, funny, athletic, attuned to others, he is one of the popular, high-status students in his large freshman class. He can also be remarkably caring and attentive with his close friends. But James has a dark side. Sometimes he uses his social skills to manipulate others, and he draws a bright line between those…

Children must be empowered to find their unique path to personal pride and respect. The concept of empowering youth is widely touted but often misunderstood and underutilized. Young people cannot fully develop their strengths and independence without being empowered to take charge of their lives. The polar opposite of coercion, empowerment is…

Repetitive behavior is a key characteristic of autism spectrum disorders. Our aim was to investigate the hypothesis that this abnormal behavioral repetition results from a tendency to over-rely on habits at the expense of flexible, goal-directed action. Twenty-four children with autism spectrum disorders and 24 age- and gender-matched controls…

Few research studies have explored how the level of a child's behavior problems leads to psychological distress in parents of children with autism. The authors explored whether psychological acceptance and mindfulness mediated this relationship between child behavior and parental distress. Seventy-one mothers and 39 fathers of children with…

Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) show high rates of challenging behavior (CB). The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the factors underlying CB in an adult, clinical ID sample (n = 203). Low levels of emotional development (ED), as measured by the "Scheme of Appraisal of ED," predicted overall CB, specifically…

The purpose of this cross-cultural study is to investigate elementary teachers' beliefs and inter-cultural perspectives in classroom management (instructional environment and behavior management) for students in public schools of the U.S. and Korea. The results supported that the two groups of teachers showed similar beliefs in instructional…

The prevalence of autism and related disorders, now categorized under the common thread of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is increasing, with one in 88 children being diagnosed each year. With this increase in prevalence comes an urgent need for interventions that will address the behavioral and learning challenges faced by children with ASD in…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between teacher-implemented screening measures used to identify social, emotional, and behavioral risk. To this end, 5 screening options were evaluated: (a) Direct Behavior Rating-Single Item Scales (DBR-SIS), (b) Social Skills Improvement System-Performance Screening Guide (SSiS), (c)…

Special education professionals and teachers of students with autism face many behavioral and instructional challenges. In addition to teaching content to a demanding population, teachers are often faced with particular circumscribed and special interests that often take up time and divert attention from the students. It is an educators job to…

The decision to intentionally withhold truthful information, or deception, is a key component of moral development and may be a precursor to more serious anti-social tendencies. Two factors, executive function (EF) and temperamental fear are each thought to influence childhood deception. Few studies, however, have explored deception in relation to…