Examined the association of neighborhood characteristics on competencies of Canadian preschoolers. Found that verbal ability positively related to residing in neighborhoods with affluent residents and negatively to residing in neighborhoods with poor residents and in neighborhoods with low cohesion, even after controlling for family SES. Behavior…

This study examined behavioral adjustment in 22 siblings of children with autism. Mothers rated these children as having more behavior problems and fewer prosocial behaviors than a normative sample. Analysis of variables revealed that male siblings and children younger than the autistic sibling engaged in fewer prosocial behaviors. Psychological…

Argues that a thorough understanding of factors that influence aggression in children cannot be achieved without including behavior genetic studies that allow examination of the effects of shared versus non-shared environment, as well as genes, on aggressive behaviors. Details the growing body of evidence on the genetic effects on aggression.…

Study demonstrates a method for integrating in-class and out-of-class procedures to assess and treat an adaptive behavior deficit. Assessment and teaching procedures were implemented outside the classroom in a multiple baseline design across students, followed by generalization programming in the classroom. All students generalized correct…

This article describes a "Quiet Room" project for students with social, emotional, and behavioral problems at a British primary school. The Quiet Room was designed to provide a nurturing environment away from the classroom in which a child's emotional needs can be explored on a one-to-one basis. Benefits for children, parents, and…

Reports on the evaluation of the Earlscourt Girls Connection, a program for young girls with conduct problems. Analyses of behavioral change according to primary caregivers' ratings were conducted comparing admission scores with 6-month and 12-month follow-up. At follow-up, the girls were rated as lower on the total score for externalizing…

Discusses the nature of substance use during adolescence and the causal factors which contribute to it. Emphasis is placed on parent and family factors that are associated with substance use. Research findings indicate consistent intervention effects on children's problem behaviors, and on potential mediating processes such as parenting behaviors…

Thirty-four staff providing services to people with intellectual disabilities completed the Challenging Behaviour Attribution Scale with respect to a specific client before, during, and after completing a course in assessment and intervention for challenging behavior. Significantly more staff attributed challenging behavior to negative…

Studied behavioral problems that 19 Scottish adoptive families experienced with their adopted children. Also studied families' experiences with, views on, and suggestions for postadoption services. Discusses implications for adoption practices. (BG)

This article reviews the literature on acceptability of various treatments with children having disabilities. Treatment acceptability is defined and instruments used in its assessment reviewed. Also discussed are analogue and clinical research methodology as well as the treatments and problem behaviors evaluated in the literature. Extension to…

The article examines issues related to establishing a rationale for the use of early childhood rating scales and to selecting a rating scale using such criteria as user needs, user friendliness, scale format, score interpretation, reliability, and validity. Methods of establishing the validity of a rating scale are suggested. (Author/DB)

Compared psychological functioning and behavior of 46 sexually abused girls (ages 6-14) with that of 46 nonabused girls matched on age, race, family income, and family constellation. Found that sexually abused children demonstrated heightened sexual preoccupation and behavior problems, lower cognitive abilities and school achievement, and more…

Comparison of the relative effectiveness of part versus whole teaching strategies for students (N=24) with moderate and severe mental retardation found positive (but not significant) effects favoring the part method. Students taught by the part method exhibited less excess behavior than did students taught by the whole method. (Author/DB)

Describes the life and contributions of Ben Cohn, a pioneer in the application of group counseling to acting-out underachieving adolescents. The article includes an interview with Cohn. (TE)

Teachers used a nonexclusionary time-out package emphasizing ongoing participation to treat inappropriate social behaviors in 4 classrooms of roughly 16 preschool children each. Behavior improved in terms of several measures including direct observation. Opinions of treatment acceptability from a survey of 210 lay people were also found to support…