Assessed impact of an antipoverty program on family functioning and developmental outcomes for preschool- and school-aged children. Found that the New Hope program had strong positive effects on boys' academic achievement, classroom behavior, positive social behavior, and problem behaviors, and on boys' expectations for advanced education and…

Children's challenging behavior is a way of getting their needs met. Understanding that function can help camp staff to deal effectively with challenging behavior. The physical or social environment can be manipulated to promote desired behaviors, but transgressions require positive, educational, and realistic responses. Helping campers meet their…

A Spanish teacher successfully sued a student she claimed terrorized her, after school administrators ignored her complaints. Nearly 11% of teachers experience verbal and physical abuse by students. Although some states are stiffening penalties against violent students, educators' best recourse is to publicize the problem, devise policies, and…

Low predictability (ability to identify what events will be happening in the future, when, with whom, for how long, and with what outcomes) may be associated with increased problem behavior among children with disabilities. This paper describes strategies for assessing stability and predictability in a school or community context, and using the…

Reliability analysis of the Motivation Assessment Scale was conducted on subscales completed by staff members working with 47 institutionalized adults with severe to profound mental retardation and self-injurious behavior problems. Internal consistency was found to be superior to interrater reliability. The instrument's internal consistency…

Evaluates a selection of school- and community-based programs (n=25) advocated in educational, psychological, and psychiatric journals over the past 5 years. While the programs reviewed support the likelihood that such interventions may be helpful, definitive conclusions that can be generalized to average high school students are still lacking.…

Antecedent conditions involving instructor's task demands and social comments were evaluated for three students with severe disabilities who exhibited problem behavior. An instructor emitted high rates of social comments and gradually faded in task demands. Social validity assessments indicated that substantial improvements were perceived in…

A study compared psychosocial functioning in 20 male adolescents with Asperger syndrome and 20 with severe conduct disorder. Results found those with Asperger syndrome had severe impairments in practical social functioning despite good cognitive ability and lack of significant early language delay, and high levels of anxiety and obsessional…

This meta analysis reviewed 30 studies comparing child-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for antisocial behavior. Results showed that child-based CBT interventions had a small to moderate effect in decreasing antisocial behavior. Future research directions, including the integration of individual training into group therapy and the…

Classroom density may be a more important planning consideration than size. The lower middle range for human social distance is 7 feet--not met in most classrooms containing 20 to 25 students. Students need ample space, since crowding causes behavior problems and increased maintenance costs. (Contains 10 references.) (MLH)

This commentary uses self-injurious behavior to illustrate the approach of the functional analysis of behavior as a guide to rational treatment strategies for individuals with autism, and to show that the characteristics of the clinical presentations can provide clues for underlying mechanisms that can be used for research and treatment. (Contains…

Defines school bullying and discusses the history of the interest and research in this area. Reviews the findings regarding the nature of bullying and school-based interventions. (JPB)

Describes the successful outcomes of a behavioral support and crisis-response demonstration project in Minnesota that was designed to prevent the institutionalization of individuals with developmental disabilities who displayed behavior problems. Results indicate the outreach support kept individuals out of institutions and did so cost…

Highly recommends Rutter et al.'s work as an important review of the major research findings on adolescent problem behavior. Describes the structure of the book, summarizing each chapter. Cites as the strength of the book its concern with interdisciplinary explanations, historical trends, and international variations. (SD)

A longitudinal study of 249 English children in out-of-home care demonstrated that improving the stability of placements is more likely if agencies can identify which children move frequently and why. Findings showed that the majority of moves were planned transitions from one temporary placement to another. Behavioral difficulties and absence of…