Although professional development is an important means of improving both teachers' skills and student outcomes, there is a dearth of high quality empirical research on the efficacy of such efforts. The efficacy of the Challenging Behavior Process was assessed using a mixed method approach which included the use of pre-, post-, and follow-up…

This study examined the impact of Positive Behavior Support (PBS) on office discipline referrals (Category 1), suspensions (Category 2), and absence of infractions (Category 3) in an urban public elementary school in New Jersey. A sample of 267 second, third, fourth, and fifth grade students provided the data for the research. A chi-square…

Teachers' ratings of problem behaviors are gathered as a matter of course in psychological evaluations of children. Teacher ratings are weighted heavily in the results of educational evaluations (Frick et al., 2010). With such heavy emphasis on teacher behavioral ratings, it is important to understand the extent to which conflict between…

This study examined subtypes of nonsocial play and their relation to psychosocial adjustment in Malaysian preschool children (N = 141, 72 boys, M age = 4.65 years). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a three-factor model that distinguished social reticence, solitary-active play, and solitary-passive play fit the data reasonably well, and…

Background: The Behavior Problems Inventory-01 (BPI-01) is an informant-based behaviour rating instrument for intellectual disabilities (ID) with 49 items and three sub-scales: "Self-injurious Behavior," "Stereotyped Behavior" and "Aggressive/Destructive Behavior." The Behavior Problems Inventory-Short Form (BPI-S) is…

According to a recent evolutionary life history model of development proposed by Ellis, Figueredo, Brumbach, and Schlomer (2009), growing up in harsh versus unpredictable environments should have unique effects on life history strategies in adulthood. Using data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, we tested how harshness…

This study examined the efficacy of a program for parents of young adolescents combining behavioral family intervention with acceptance-based strategies. 180 parents were randomly allocated to a 6-session group ABCD Parenting Young Adolescent Program or wait-list condition. Completer analysis indicated parents in the intervention reported…

This study examined the co-occurrence of subtypes of substance use and bullying behaviors using latent class analysis and evaluated latent class differences in demographic characteristics, peer and parental influences. Self-reported questionnaire data were collected from a nationally representative sample (N = 7508) of 6-10th grade adolescents in…

This study examines whether a school-based preventive intervention for children with aggressive behavior affects children's academic outcomes when it is implemented by school counselors in a dissemination field trial. The Coping Power program targets empirical risk factors for aggressive behavior and focuses primarily on teaching social and…

Students with disabilities who engage in high rates of challenging behaviors require educators who employ function-based thinking and have a particular sensitivity to the wide range of factors that influence student behavior. In essence, educators working with special needs students need to know what makes their instruction "special"; they must…

This study investigated the relationship between structural language skills, and communication skills, adaptive behavior, and emotional and behavior problems in pre-school children with autism. Participants were aged 3-5 years with autism (n = 27), and two comparison groups of children with developmental delay without autism (n = 12) and typically…

Behavioral and mental health outcomes have been associated with experiencing high levels of stress. Yet, little is known about the link between the nature of stressors, their accumulation over time, and the risk for externalizing and internalizing outcomes. Compared to the general population, African Americans are exposed to a disproportionate…

Background: Irritability is a subdimension of ODD, which predicts mainly to internalizing disorders, and to a lesser extent, conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits. Given that youth with similar dispositions as the irritable types--as well as youth high in callous-unemotional (CU) traits--have both been reported to experience high levels…

We compared the effects of escape extinction (EE) plus noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) with sensory integration therapy as treatment for the feeding problems of 2 children. Results indicated that EE plus NCR was more effective in increasing acceptance, decreasing inappropriate behavior, and increasing amount consumed relative to sensory…

This article explores the notion of connoisseurship as a framework for learning about adolescents' lives and literacies and developing relationships in literacy classrooms. Drawing upon data from a two-year qualitative study of the collaborative inquiries of a community of student English teachers, the author examines inquiry projects written for…