"Data Trends" reports present summaries of research on mental health services for children and adolescents and their families. The article summarized in this "Data Trends" addresses the experiences of families across the United States with regard to parent-child contact when the children are placed out of their home for the…

Many studies have shown that media violence has an effect on children's subsequent aggression. This study expands upon previous research in three directions: (1) by examining several subtypes of aggression (verbal, relational, and physical); (2) by measuring media violence exposure across three types of media (television, movies/videos, and video…

This book highlights the natural challenges in teaching and provides the kind of skills and understandings that are essential to be a professional teacher. It provides accessible, realistic, honest and practical ways to address the natural challenges inherent in a multi-task profession like teaching. Each chapter addresses an essential facet of…

Eleven years ago, FPG Child Development Institute (FPG) launched a longitudinal study of a little known form of mental retardation known as fragile X syndrome (FXS). The Carolina Fragile X Project has since grown into a multidisciplinary team studying diverse aspects of the condition, ranging from early identification to school performance. The…

Children adopted when they are older come with histories, fully formed personalities, and intense anger over what they have lost. Drawing on stories of families who have adopted older children, as well as research, interviews with professionals, and opinions of adults who were adopted as children, this book explores the joys and challenges of…

This report describes a program for improving adolescent social skills in order to reduce inappropriate behavioral choices in the classroom setting. The targeted population consisted of third, fifth, and sixth grade students expanding from lower to middle class communities. The lack of social skills in their learning environment was recorded…

One of the best predictors of aggression among schoolchildren is their social environment and relationships with peer and teachers. This study investigated the association between classroom climate and level of classroom aggression. The study population comprised over 9,000 fifth and sixth graders in 97 schools and 360 classrooms in Israel. It was…

Noting that when adolescents select friends, they are creating a relationship context that will be an important source of influence, this study examined the criteria adolescents use when choosing friends. Adolescents in grades 7 and 10 were interviewed about the criteria they used when selecting friends, particularly the importance they placed…

The Center for Child and Family Policy was established at Duke University on July 1, 1999, following several years of planning by faculty members representing numerous disciplines and the full campus. The Center was approved as a university-wide Center for an initial five year period. The Center's mission was initially framed broadly to bring…

For many students in the 1990s, school is no longer a safe environment in which they feel free to learn. This brief is intended to dispel myths about peer sexual harassment and clarify the new realities of the phenomenon in schools. The brief also conveys the message that school administrators have a duty to foster a school environment based on…

This study focused on peer influences on dating, assessing the impact of peer attitudes about dating on the individual's affiliative system and examining the relationship between problem behavior and dating experiences. The study's final goal was to assess the relationship between the importance of affiliative activities and the extent of dating.…

Three issues of this newsletter include articles on and news items related to deaf-blindness. Articles include the following: "Research-to-Practice: Bridging the Gap between Research and Demonstration Projects and Practical Needs of Parents and Educators" (Harvey Mar and Nancy Sall); "Syndromes, Behavior, and Educational Intervention" (J. P. M.…

This digest reviews and summarizes what is known about effective school-wide behavioral management systems. Emphasis in such systems is on consistency throughout the building and across classrooms with the entire staff, both professional and nonprofessional, uniformly implementing common strategies. Common features of school-wide behavioral…

Taking a sometimes unconventional view of parent-child and family matters, this book contends that the facts of family living do matter--but not to the all-or-nothing degree advocated by some experts. The book disputes many well established beliefs about the importance of family life and maintains that as the sacredness of family relationships is…

This cross-cultural study was designed to overcome some limitations of previous research by not only inquiring into general attitudes toward physical punishment, but also by obtaining information concerning the context (for example, situation, type of misbehavior, and form of physical punishment). A cross-cultural comparison was made of attitudes…