A study investigated the impact of rhythmic entrainment on an 11-year-old girl with autism who engaged in head jerking and screaming. Rhythmic entrainment intervention was more effective when she exhibited behavior that resulted from a moderate level of stress and less effective when stressors were more severe. (CR)

Examines the response of children in the Golan Heights to the ambiguous situation during the continuing peace talks between Israel and Syria concerning a possible evacuation of the region's settlers. Results suggest that social support, defensiveness, religion, and living in smaller settlements predicted better coping, whereas less social support…

Investigated the role of community violence and poverty in the psychological difficulties of South African children residing in black townships. Mothers' ratings of their 6-year-olds confirmed community danger as a risk factor for anxiety, depression, aggression, and low affability in children. Lower socioeconomic status was unrelated to…

Evaluated an intervention designed to improve behavioral and mental health outcomes among adolescents and their parents with AIDS. Participants completed intervention or standard care programs. Results indicated that intervention adolescents had significantly lower levels of emotional distress, behavior problems, conduct problems, and…

This article proposes guided reading of biographies as a counseling strategy through which middle and high school educators may assist gifted females in gaining helpful insights to deal with problems they face. Biographies of gifted females are highlighted, as well as ways teachers and counselors might use such an approach. (Contains references.)…

Examines the influence of a home-based asthma health education program on parental coping and quality of life. Families (N=40) with children under 11 received either health education sessions or a booklet representing the traditional approach to care. Results suggest the use of a one-time, home-based intervention to assist families caring for…

Describes the goals and content of the Berlin education program for parents and children with atopic dermatitis (AD). Program included six group sessions concerning medical, nutritional, and psychological issues. Program aimed to contribute towards a comprehensive, family-oriented management of childhood AD. Data showed the program had a positive…

Two experienced elementary principals leading challenging suburban schools believe principals' greatest responsibility is helping others. To survive, principals should maintain a sense of humor, grow thicker skin, regard parents as potential allies, team with staff and respect their individual talents, hire the best teachers, and act in students'…

A psychologist reflects on the lessons learned in working with children with autism, their families, and their schools: there is no way to predict child development, no child and no family go untouched by the diagnosis, and the feelings that parents have related to an initial diagnosis change over time. (CR)

Narratives of three graduate and five undergraduate black women reentering education were analyzed using black feminist thought. They faced issues involving power relations based on race, gender, and class that are usually ignored in studies of reentry students. They used strategies of silence, negotiation, and resistance. (SK)

This article offers an abbreviated curriculum to help middle school students learn to use humorous strategies to cope with stress. An introductory discussion reviews the literature on coping and the benefits of humor. Outlined for the curriculum are student goals, unit concepts and generalizations, differentiated learner objectives, differentiated…

Examined the personal, situational, and contextual correlates of coping in 315 adolescents. Found that adolescents who used more approach-coping responses were older, more active, and appraised stressful events as controllable and as challenges, whereas adolescents who used more avoidance coping were easily distressed, had more chronic stressors,…

Mothers of 6 cohorts of infants at ages 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 months were interviewed to determine their children's responses to potentially stressful daily events. Found older infants and temperamentally more difficult infants experienced more events and reacted with distress to a greater proportion of the events than did younger infants and…

Examined female child welfare workers' perceptions of their work. Found that despite positive aspects, subjects felt that their work had adversely affected their physical and mental health; they used a variety of problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies to cope. Findings posed implications for intervention strategies and the appropriateness…

The second in a two-part series providing a mental skills curriculum for instruction in physical education and youth sport settings follows up on the first part, which included lesson plans for introducing children to mental skills. This part provides lesson plans for helping children relax and manage anger or stress, develop facilitative…