Addresses limitations of previous normative studies on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) and the Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory (SESBI). Presents two studies that provide normative information on the ECBI for 2- to 17-year-old children and adolescents and on the SESBI for kindergarten through 6th grade children. Clinicians and…

This article describes functional communication training (FCT) with students who have autism. FCT involves teaching alternative communication strategies to replace problem behaviors. The article reviews the conditions under which this intervention is successful and compares the method with other behavioral approaches. It concludes that functional…

Presents a model of treatment in which a family therapist is partnered with a community member whom is called a community resource specialist (CRS). Reports on an evaluation of the model in the treatment of adolescents with behavioral problems. (Contains 11 references.) (Author/GCP)

Multiple correlates and determinants of antisocial behavior within the home, community, and school are reviewed. A variety of contextual factors and setting events within the schools are found to be major contributors to antisocial behavior, and some of these factors are identified within the home. Increased attention to these setting events is…

The relations between young children's salivary cortisol level, patterns of behavior problems, and social behavior were explored in this study of 29 preschool-aged children with emerging behavior problems. Decreases in salivary cortisol during a play session with unfamiliar teachers and peers were associated with concurrent and subsequent…

Using reports by mothers about their 1- to 10-year-old children's behavior and, years later, by these same children, now parents themselves, of their 2-year-old children's behavior, assessed six behavior variables that reflected two higher-order behavioral patterns. Found stability across generations in the "inhibited" but not the…

Examined attachment's relation to multiple domains of psychosocial functioning in 131 moderately at-risk adolescents. Found that security displayed in adolescents' organization of discourse about attachment experiences was related to competence with peers, lower levels of internalizing behaviors, and lower levels of deviant behaviors.…

Compares the effects of a token reinforcement and a response cost intervention in reducing the disruptive behavior of four preschool children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Results show that both interventions were effective; teachers rated both highly acceptable with a preference for response cost. Implications for future research…

Parents of 78 young people with Down syndrome, age 17 to 24 years, were asked whether their offspring had ever used private speech (talking out loud to themselves). Results confirm the universality of private speech and its developmental pattern. No association was found between private speech and behavior problems, communication difficulties or…

This study examined the comparative validity of rating scale, structured interview, descriptive observation, and experimental functional analysis approaches to the assessment of the problem behaviors of three young children with autism. The results indicated good agreement across indirect and direct methods. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

A study investigated the use of different interventions for 151 individuals with mental retardation in residential care: Individualized Habilitation Plan objectives concerning challenging behavior, one-to-one crisis intervention in the preceding 30 days, and behavior management professional services in the preceding 6 months. Externalized…

Parenting stress was found to be greater in families that adopted children who had been institutionalized for eight months or more in a Romanian orphanage than those in two comparison groups. Aspects of child behavior and family factors which contributed to stress, and implications for special needs adoptions are discussed. (Author/EMK)

A study involving 21 individuals with mental retardation found functional communication training (FCT) with extinction was effective in reducing problem behavior in the majority of cases; however, when demand or delay-to-reinforcement fading was added, treatment efficacy decreased. FCT with punishment resulted in a reduction in problem behavior…

Compared the problems and coping strategies of 231 adolescents (mean age, 15 years) from rural mid-south alternative and non-alternative schools. Results indicated that, overall, alternative school students tend to respond to given problems by using more negative coping strategies than do non-alternative school students. (SLD)

Parents of 601 children and adolescents with mental retardation rated their children on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC). Factor analysis revealed a factor structure similar to the original ABC but without the inappropriate speech factor. Analysis of subject variables revealed main effects for gender, age, and classroom assignment…