Counselors utilize many strategies, techniques, and tools when building a therapeutic alliance or addressing children's issues. Due to the serious nature of discussing problems or perhaps because of the fear of seeming insensitive, counselors often overlook humor as a means to enhance therapy. Whether deliberate or spontaneous, humor can add…

A literature review on macaque monkeys finds that peer rearing of young macaques and rearing of young macaques by mothers that are undergoing variable foraging conditions result in emotional and neurophysiological disturbance. Certain genotypes contribute to resilience to this disturbance. The findings have implications to child mental health and…

Threat-related selective attention was found to predict the success of the treatment of childhood anxiety disorders through administering a pictorial dot-probe task to 131 children with anxiety disorders prior to cognitive behavioral therapy. The diagnostic status of the subjects was evaluated with a semistructured clinical interview at both pre-…

Objectives: To outline the prevalence and disparities of inattention and hyperactivity among school-aged urban minority youth, causal pathways through which inattention and hyperactivity adversely affects academic achievement, and proven or promising approaches for schools to address these problems. Methods: Literature review. Results:…

With whom do parents discuss medical and behavioral child-rearing questions? In a telephone survey of 167 parents (49 fathers and 118 mothers) in the southern United States, the authors found that mothers express a clear preference for their own mother's advice as opposed to that of their mother-in-law. Fathers are less likely to consult any…

Childhood-onset schizophrenia is an exceedingly rare mental illness whose complex, multifaceted behavioral presentation can disrupt child development and raise diagnostic and treatment difficulties for attending clinicians. The disorder, affecting one in 30,000 children, shares the same diagnostic criteria and symptoms as its adult counterpart,…

The tragedy of 9/11 is perhaps the most significant event so far in the 21st century. Ten years later, the vast majority of elementary school students have no personal connection with the original events, yet all live in a world that has been and continues to be affected by 9/11. How can teachers introduce young students to the events of that…

Objective: This study examined differences in treatment rates for substance use disorders (SUD) among adolescents of white, black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander race/ethnicity. Method: Eight years of cross-sectional data (2001-2008) were pooled from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health…

There is strong consensus in California and in the country around the notions of equal opportunity for all children, and giving kids a chance of having it better than their parents. The reality in California is that most families lack the means and resources to provide their children with the basic building blocks of a productive life in the 21st…

The effects environmental factors have on shaping the health of individuals, including children's mental health as they are unable to cope with social challenges are discussed.

Federal officials have proposed a plan to stop reimbursements for some of the services schools provide to Medicaid-eligible students, a move long predicted--and dreaded--by local educators. The policy changes were announced recently by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.…

For 20 years, Advocates for Children of New Jersey has published the Newark Kids Count Data Book, a one-stop source for child well-being data on our state's largest city. Newark Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, food insecurity, child health,…

Children eagerly anticipate summertime--it gives them a break from the school year routine and can be filled with fun and games. Parents want their children to be safe, to learn new skills and explore their interests. Employed parents want all of these things for their kids, along with childcare that will allow them to work free from worries about…

Each school day, 55 million children and 7 million adults--that's 20% of the total U.S. population and 98% of all children--spend their workdays inside school buildings. Unfortunately, too many of the nation's 125,000 public and private K-12 schools are "unhealthy" buildings that can harm their health and hinder learning. Today, clear…

In 2002, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched Children's Futures, a multiyear community-change initiative to improve the well-being of children in Trenton, New Jersey, through a broad range of activities and services, from parenting programs to efforts to improve health and childcare. This report examines programmatic achievements and…