Study investigated the effectiveness of Parenting Adolescents Wisely, a brief interactive laserdisc parent training program. Compared to the control group, mothers who used the program reported increased knowledge of adaptive parenting practices at a one-month follow-up as well as significantly lower frequencies of child problem behaviors at one…

The impact of a training program to help staff prevent and effectively manage aggressive behavior was assessed with 109 staff members who worked in services for persons with developmental disabilities. Instruction in distraction, defusion, and nonaggressive physical intervention strategies was provided. The training significantly improved…

Addresses behavior problems commonly encountered in classroom management. Discusses concerns such as getting children to listen, making classroom rules, controlling an out-of-control child, getting children to share, using stickers, alleviating conflicts between parents and teachers' style and practice, solving transition time problems, addressing…

Focuses on school-based triggers for disruptive and hurtful bullying behavior. Reviews playground design, patterns of children's access to and use of playgrounds, mode of teacher supervision, and the role of the school in early intervention as these factors relate to the dynamics of playground behavior. (DLH)

Examined relation between fathers' and children's communicative skills and child behavior problems early and late in the Head Start school year. Found that the structural models for externalizing and internalizing behavior confirmed the hypothesis that father communication was linked to child communication skills and child communication was linked…

Behaviors that constitute violence include threatening behavior, verbal or written threats, harassment, verbal abuse, vandalism, theft, arguments, and physical attacks. Describes 14 policy actions that camp management can take to prevent violence, 20 warning signs of violence, how violence impacts camps, and 5 tips for creating a safe camp. (TD)

A middle-school teacher turned principal believes that classroom discipline problems stem from problems teachers are having with instruction. This article explains how to devise focusing activities, organize faculty study groups and turn discipline referrals into mini-writing workshops. Helping teachers is better than blaming them. (MLH)

A study examined idiosyncratic environment-behavior relations associated with increased levels of problem behavior of a child with mental retardation and a typical child. Results indicated that idiosyncratic antecedent stimuli set the occasion for occurrences of problem behavior and that the behavior persisted in the absence of social…

Evaluation of a 16-session group intervention for reducing inappropriately expressed anger (as aggression) in 25 individuals with intellectual disabilities found a reduction in expressed anger and measured levels of depression. Reductions in expressed anger were maintained at 6 and 12 months follow-up, although scores on the depression scale…

Examines the impact of a campaign-related video aimed at discouraging various forms of sexual intimidation. Results based on 198 students revealed several Communication x Sex interactions, suggesting that certain messages may inadvertently foster boys' positive evaluations of macho behavior, strengthening their ideas that coerced sex can be…

A study of three children (ages 2-3) with developmental delays used functional analyses and concurrent-schedule assessments to identify the behavioral functions of problem behavior that occurred in the presence of multiple maintaining stimuli. The assessments identified preference between reinforcers, and successful treatments were based on these…

This response to an article by Reiss and Havercamp (1997) that suggested that sensitivity theory offers a basis from which to assess and treat challenging behavior by people with development disabilities, critiques sensitivity theory, outlines the tenets of behavior analysis, and describes development and use of functional assessment. (Author/CR)

A study of 1,015 children with behavior problems investigated the impact of a child's emotional and behavioral problems on the family. Families of youth who first used mental health services when they were ages 10-15 showed significantly higher rates and levels of family impact than families of youth who did not enter services. (Author/CR)

A study involving three individuals (ages 13-20) with developmental disabilities and problem behaviors examined the influential role that unanticipated idiosyncratic stimulus variables play in affecting the outcome of a functional analysis. Guidelines are discussed concerning when to suspect that idiosyncratic stimuli might be acting to influence…

Examines the comparative validity of a parent-report scale and a self-report scale, both designed to assess behavioral and emotional problems. Results, based on 111 children in regular education classrooms, indicate that parent reports were more sensitive to overt behavioral problems, whereas self-reports were sensitive to mood disturbances and…