We used longitudinal data from a birth cohort study, the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, to investigate the links between Head Start and school readiness in a large and diverse sample of urban children at age 5 (N = 2,803; 18 cities). We found that Head Start attendance was associated with enhanced cognitive ability and social…

Children with high levels of aggressive behavior and conduct problems create major management problems in school settings and interfere with the learning environment of their classmates and with their own academic achievement. A contextual social-cognitive model can provide a framework for understanding risk factors involved in the development and…

This study examined family and cultural influences on adjustment among 90 low-income Latino middle school children (46% girls; average age = 11.38, SD = 0.66) and their primary caregivers (93% female; average age = 36.12, SD = 6.13). All participants identified as Hispanic/Latino, with 75% of families identifying as Mexican-origin Latino, and 77%…

Child care subsidies are an important part of federal and state efforts to move welfare recipients into employment. One of the criticisms of the current subsidy system, however, is that it overemphasizes work and does little to encourage parents to purchase high-quality child care. Consequently, there are reasons to be concerned about the…

The management of a large number of children in a nonclassroom or common setting (e.g., gymnasium, auditorium) can present a challenge to school staff. This article describes a set of commonsense solutions that were implemented with 400 elementary students in a before-school common setting. The solutions are described and the results of the…

In addition to explaining challenging behaviour by way of behaviour analytic, functional analyses, challenging behaviour is increasingly explained by way of psychiatric symptomatology. According to some researchers, the two approaches complement each other, as psychiatric symptomatology may form a motivational basis for the individual's response…

Background: Some behavioral features of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) are associated with the major genetic subtypes of this disorder. While most agree that those with maternal uniparental disomy (UPD) have a distinctive cognitive and psychiatric profile, findings are more controversial regarding possible differences among persons who vary in…

Functional analysis suggested that the problem behavior of an 8-year-old girl with autism was maintained by escape from demands and access to edible items. Noncontingent delivery of an edible item was sufficient to increase compliance and reduce the rate of problem behavior without the use of escape extinction in a demand context. Leaner and…

Prison populations have been identified as having elevated levels of problem gambling prevalence, and screening for problem gambling may provide an opportunity to identify and address a behavior that may otherwise lead to re-offending. A problem gambling screen for this purpose would need to be brief, simple to score, and be able to be…

Current prescribing preferences among relevant experts regarding the use of psychotropic medication for the management of behavior problems in adults with intellectual disabilities in the absence of a diagnosed psychiatric illness was defined. We used a questionnaire design to synthesize the preferences of a large group, namely, clinical…

Asperger syndrome (AS) is characterized by social deficits and restricted interests in the absence of mental retardation and language delay. However, it is unclear to what extent the social deficits of AS differ from those of traditional autism. To address this issue, 58 subjects with AS were compared with 39 subjects with autism. Social deficits…

This manual is designed for those working with conduct boards composed of students and/or faculty. This manual serves two purposes: (1) To provide the Adviser and/or trainer(s) with guidelines, philosophy, and information so as to better structure your conduct board program (or to create one); and (2) To serve as an actual model for a manual for a…

Most of the literature has examined linear associations, yielding findings that higher quality is better and lower quality is worse (Vandell, 2004), but identification of thresholds in the association between quality and child outcomes has been a goal of researchers and policy makers for several reasons. A primary goal has been to identify levels…

This paper presents a novel school-based intervention programme for children with chronic and severe emotional and behavioural difficulties. The main aim of the programme is to reduce conduct problems and to increase prosocial behaviours. The ultimate aim of such a programme is to help pupils with severe and chronic conduct problems back on track…

This bestselling book has been used in schools across the country to establish efficient and cost-effective systems of Tier II positive behavior support. The Behavior Education Program (BEP) was developed for the approximately 10-15% of students who fail to meet schoolwide disciplinary expectations but do not yet require intensive, individualized…