A model for teaching children skills to strengthen emotional self-regulation is introduced, informed by the developmental concept of scaffolding. Adult modeling/instruction, role-play and in vivo coaching are tailored to children's level of understanding and skill to promote use of skills in real life contexts. Two-hundred twenty-six…

Background: Escalation of youth violence within a large geographic school-complex area in southeastern rural Hawaii became a major problem in 2006. How cultural forces impact the problem was an impetus to examine youth violence from perspectives of adults and children in rural communities. Gathering these data was an essential first step toward…

This study examined the effects yielded from the implementation of assessment-based behavior support plans on the engagement and problem behavior of three young children with behavioral challenges in a community early childhood program. A concurrent multiple-baseline design across children with generalization probes was used with data collected…

Parent training is consistently highlighted as one of the most effective means of preventing delinquency and treating young children with conduct problems, and it has proven to be one of the most cost-effective interventions for doing so. There is, however, far less evidence supporting the efficacy of parent-training programs with adolescents and…

Background: Few empirical studies have compared quality and outcomes for residents with intellectual disability across intentional communities such as those organised by the Camphill communities in Ireland. Method: Using a multi-element research protocol developed for an earlier large study, data were gathered about the characteristics of N = 29…

Much controversy exists regarding the effectiveness of residential treatment. Recently, emerging research has demonstrated that community-based residential treatment has more positive long-term outcomes for youth. This article describes a community-based program that was implemented at a residential treatment agency serving youth. Targeted…

This study explored five years of results from participants in the Project DATA Comprehensive Treatment Model (CTM) which provided intensive early intervention services to young students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Data from up to 69 preschool students were utilized in determining pre-/post-program performance on a variety of outcome…

The following multiple baseline case series examines school refusal behavior in 4 male adolescents. School refusal symptom presentation was ascertained utilizing a functional analysis from the School Refusal Assessment Scale (Kearney, 2002). For the majority of cases, treatment was conducted within a 15-session intensive format over a 3-week…

The effectiveness of a behavioral skills training package that consisted of modeling, rehearsal, and feedback was evaluated to increase correct implementation of guided compliance by caregivers of 3 children who exhibited noncompliance. Results showed that the training package improved performance of guided compliance. Generalization probes…

First Step to Success is a multicomponent behavioral program for at-risk children who show signs of antisocial behavior at the point of school entry. The program incorporates behavioral intervention techniques, including praise and feedback, positive reinforcement, social skills training, teacher and parent collaboration, and time-out/response…

Challenging behaviours in young children impact upon schools and families and can lead to more serious challenges in adolescence and adulthood. In the last decade, there has been an increasing trend towards the development of early intervention and prevention programs that serve to draw on child competencies to ameliorate some of the factors that…

Background: Low levels of literacy and high levels of behaviour problems in middle childhood often co-occur. These persistent difficulties pose a risk to academic and social development, leading to social exclusion in adulthood. Although parent-training programmes have been shown to be effective in enabling parents to support their children's…

Located on 350 majestically wooded acres in southern Michigan, Montcalm School for Boys is a therapeutic boarding school with a pedigree that goes back nearly a century. Built on the tenets of Starr Commonwealth, a nationally recognized organization for the treatment of troubled youth, "Outside In" is Montcalm School's private innovative…

Perhaps one of the fastest ways to improve the quality of out-of-school time programs would be to replace practices that individuals know do not work with practices that appear to be more effective. In this brief, the authors highlight lessons from an expanding body of knowledge about specific program practices that should be avoided or minimized…

Background: Parenting programs have been shown to work when delivered to motivated ethnic majority parents in demonstration projects, but comparatively little is known about their impact when delivered to high-risk, multi-ethnic populations by routine local services. Methods: The Primary Age Learning Skills (PALS) trial was a randomized controlled…