Interviews with 46 adults with mental retardation in Flanders, Belgium, found there was no one type of relational-sexual experience, but common to all was the absence of support for building relationships and for coping with ensuing relational difficulties. Structural, organizational, and attitudinal barriers appeared to shape perceptionsof…

Examined whether the quality and content of everyday parent-child conversations about negative emotions differed from everyday talk about positive emotions. Found that children and parents talked about past emotions, causes of emotions, and connections between emotions and other mental states at higher rates during conversations about negative…

This article offers an overview of the development of practical approaches to professional development that, by deepening teachers' insight into emotional and social factors in children's learning, have been shown to supersede the need to exclude the disaffected. It discusses moving towards a more nurturing connective school culture. (Contains…

Fifty two-year-olds and fifty three-year-olds from low-income families were observed in 10 urban day care centers. Child-teacher interactions were coded as positive or negative. Boys engaged and elicited more negative behaviors than did girls. It is concluded that providers should not reinforce negative behaviors in children who are emotionally…

Assessed the differential effects of academic versus socioemotional focuses in kindergartens. Subjects were 307 predominately African-American children in 86 inner-city classrooms. Found a detrimental impact of an overly academic focus in kindergarten on young boys' development and school achievement. Although girls were developmentally more ready…

The functions of solitary media use in the daily emotional lives of adolescents are discussed, suggesting that solitary television watching and music listening give adolescents an opportunity to explore and cultivate a newly discovered private self. Solitary media experiences provide an important context for dealing with stress and negative…

This review examines research done on affection behaviors of children with visual and hearing impairments. A social interaction perspective is utilized, and areas for further empirical investigation are identified. (DB)

Today's students lack sufficient opportunities to practice caring or be rewarded for caring behavior. A caring culture in schools requires not radical restructuring of policies, curricula, and systems but subtle changes in attitudes and scope. Educators must consider students within their social and developmental contexts, redefine the teacher's…

Examined the relationship between childhood loneliness and insecure-ambivalent attachment in infancy. As predicted, the most loneliness in early childhood was reported by children classified insecure-ambivalent in infancy. Possible explanations center on the contribution of attachment to peer relationships, internal working models, and child…

Weaknesses in traditional forms of social-emotional curriculum development are identified. In the Data Based Curriculum Project, teachers submit, on a standard reporting form, interventions they have found to be effective in changing student behavior, and forms are duplicated, distributed to each participant, and filed by behavior label. (JDD)

This paper describes programs such as Resolving Conflict Creatively which teach "emotional literacy." The program is a basic curriculum that teaches students how to handle their emotions, settle disagreements, and demonstrate caring for others. Evidence of the curriculum's effectiveness in mediating disputes and reducing tensions is cited. (JDD)

Investigated relationship of educational level and marital status of parents, number of children in family, and family stability to social, emotional, and academic development of college-bound high school sophomores (n=52). Found significant differences in autonomy, initiative, ego integrity, guilt, isolation, academic interest, study methods,…

Argues that the higher incidence of depression among adolescent females is due to the interaction of two factors: (1) girls enter early adolescence with a style of responding to frustration and distress that is less efficacious and action oriented than boys; and (2) girls begin to face certain uncontrollable stressors in early adolescence to a…

Examined the relationship between depression rates, IQ, knowledge of the finality of death, exposure to suicidal behavior and knowledge of suicide methods. Found that the effect of these factors differed between suicidal and nonsuicidal psychiatrically hospitalized children and developmentally delayed adolescents. Also found that the factors had…

Describes the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual characteristics of young adolescents and discusses the ways that middle education can meet their unique needs. Urges educators to consider the impact of peer pressure, manage classes and individuals fairly and consistently, and ensure that students do not feel left out. Discusses…