Evaluated was the effectiveness of four treatment procedures in reducing self-injurious behaviors (handbiting and headstriking) of 22 nonverbal severely mentally retarded children, approximately 10 years old. Among results were that contingent restraint was more effective in reducing behavior below baseline levels than positive reinforcement,…

Middle school principals should seek to alleviate the frustration of teachers, make efforts to help parents understand preadolescents' development, assist students in their total development, and work at developing a supportive educational climate. (MLF)

Curriculum developers should consider middle level learners' needs for intellectual growth and individual attention and their needs to understand themselves and know others. (MLF)

Social information-processing patterns in 9- through 12-year olds at least partially supported 3 hypotheses: only reactive-aggressive children would demonstrate hostile biases in their attributions of intentions in provocation situations; only proactive-aggressive children would evaluate aggression in positive ways; and proactive-aggressive…

Research has shown that students respond more favorably to drug prevention programs when they see their culture and themselves represented in the prevention message. Describes development of the keepin' it R.E.A.L. curriculum, focusing on the methods used to ensure cultural grounding. Reviews literature on cultural approaches in prevention,…

Assessed children's adjustment at clinic intake and six months later, and sampled children's saliva before and after a conflict-oriented parent-child interaction. Increases in salivary cortisol predicted children's internalizing problem behaviors and anxiety disorders at follow-up. High adrenocortical reactivity at intake and follow-up was…

Twelve hearing and 12 hearing-impaired mothers were videotaped during work and play tasks with their hearing daughters, aged 8-12. Significant differences observed among 11 interaction patterns included less verbal interaction, more nonverbal interaction, and fewer maternal questions between hearing-impaired mothers and their daughters than…

The feasibility of an intensified integrated camping experience for three children with and five children without severe disabilities was evaluated, as was the impact of integrated programing on camp staff attitudes. Following the two-week program, disabled children demonstrated improvements in targeted skills, nondisabled campers increased their…

Studied whether there were differences between using anatomically correct dolls, drawings, or verbal descriptions in the accuracy and completeness of sexual abuse information using girls (N=45) ages 9 to 10. Determined children in group using either dolls or drawings obtained more correct responses than those in the verbal group, but the…

Investigated whether earliest school recollections (ESRs) diagnostic approach can reveal current attitude toward being mainstreamed of violent and assaultive youth. Examined current student behavior assessments of violent and assaultive youth (n=60) who previously attended specialized day-treatment facility to determine mainstreaming success.…

Evaluates research methodology of investigations of suicidal preadolescent and adolescent psychiatric inpatients and discusses studies of suicidal preadolescents and adolescents who were admitted to medical inpatient facilities. Considers research designs of studies in relation to whether they include components that will make it possible for…

Describes the progress of a therapy group for four sexually abused children aged 8-12 years. Details the program evaluation procedure and insights gained from the experience. (RJC)

Summarizes results of a study of parents and young adolescents and argues that economic recessions affect children by conditioning their aspirations, straining their relations with their parents, and limiting the quality of the education they receive. (PCB)

Scores on the Cognitive Laterality Battery for 57 boys, aged 9-11, indicated that both urban and rural-remote Alaska Native boys had significantly higher visuospatial abilities than verbal-sequential abilities, but the reverse was true for urban Alaskan White boys. Contains 34 references. (SV)

Investigated relationship between age and understanding of death among 20 Muslim girls aged 7 and 8 and 20 Muslim girls aged 9 and 10. Girls completed biographical inventory, classification and conservation tasks, and death understanding questionnaire. Found significant differences in children's understanding of life in hereafter and ideas…