This paper first reviews four classes of habit disorders in children: motor and vocal tics, nervous habits, stuttering, and Tourette's disorder. It then describes the habit reversal procedure and reviews the literature on its use and variations to treat each of the four classes of habit disorders. Emphasis is on simplified versions of the original…

Child and adolescent consultation outcomes studies published between 1986 and 1997 were reviewed to determine effect size for different models; client, consultee, and system variables; and age and gender of clients. Behavioral consultations produced large positive effects on clients and consultees. Organizational development consultation yielded…

Explored the specific behavior of therapists contributing to a child client's perception of a therapeutic alliance with youth (n = 56) who received a manualized cognitive-behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders. The first 3 sessions were coded for 11 therapist behaviors hypothesized to predict ratings of alliance. Child, therapist, and observer…

Social Stories are an extensively used intervention to address behaviour difficulties of children on the autistic spectrum. This article summarizes what Social Stories are and sets out to determine whether there is any relevant literature demonstrating the effectiveness of this intervention. Whilst the existing literature suggests positive…

Obesity prevalence has doubled among adults and overweight has tripled among children since 1980. This article discusses behavioral approaches to the obesity epidemic, focusing on recent environmental changes, the resulting behaviors, and possible solutions. Over the last 4 decades, time spent in sedentary activities, the consumption of fast food,…

Evidence-based practices (EBPs) are the basis on which teachers and other service providers are required to design educational programs for learners with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). As part of their work with the National Professional Development Center (NPDC) on ASD, researchers developed a process for reviewing the research literature and…

Analysis of the psychotic speech of a nine-year-old autistic boy suggested that psychotic speech (intelligible but out of context phrases) was maintained through escape from task demands and that teaching an appropriate equivalent phrase ("Help me") reduced the frequency of psychotic speech. (Author/DB)

Compared the effectiveness of live versus videotape delivery of a behavioral treatment package for enuresis. Outcome was superior for the live delivery. Pretreatment measures of family and child psychosocial adjustment failed to predict treatment response. Film delivery resulted in higher confidence in children of their parents, but lower…

A review of the conceptual and methodological considerations in assessment and treatment of children's fears and phobias is presented. Areas discussed include the definitional problems in the field, analogue and clinical research, experimental research methods, and criteria for the evaluation of outcome in fear and phobia research. (Author/DWH)

Describes four experiments conducted using a children's storybook and related games designed to help overcome fear of the dark. These materials incorporate behavior modification principles of fear reduction, including modeling, counterconditioning, shaping and hierarchical approach. Overall, the materials were found to be therapeutic,…

Reviews the types of elective mutism and proposes common characteristics of elective mutists' families. Examines the potential for a redefinition of the term "elective mutism." Concludes that family dynamics are an integral part of the problem and need to be considered in a comprehensive treatment plan. (BH)

Encourages an expansion of the counselor's role through an evaluation of the efficacy of certain cognitive training procedures in teaching young children skills for interpersonal problem solving. (Author)

Investigated behavioral intervention to control child distress during invasive cancer treatment. Children (n=23) requiring physical restraint to complete venipuncture were alternately assigned to behavioral intervention or attention control condition. Observed child distress, parent-rated child distress, and parent ratings of own distress were…

Parents (n=58) rated the acceptability of behavioral treatments recommended to them for their children's behavior problems and completed an attribution measure. Results indicated that a significant, negative correlation exists between physical attribution ratings and acceptability ratings of behavioral treatments, with the magnitude of the…

This paper reviews literature-based techniques of intervention with posttraumatic stress disorder in children, including such techniques as crisis intervention, in vitro flooding, communication training, physical mastery, perspective taking, elimination of self-blame, and self-calming. (JDD)