Describes a collaborative, multidisciplinary developmental follow-up program for infants and toddlers who have been in out-of-home care. The program builds on the community-based family support model described in the Family to Family Foster Care Reform Initiative. Highlights the children's health and developmental status and program effectiveness.…

Examines the effects of poverty on parenting, noting the work of the Kennedy Center at Peabody College and discussing parenting as a process, how parents are influenced by poverty, how parenting in poverty influences children's development, how children are directly and indirectly influenced by poverty, and factors that mediate the debilitating…

Three studies obtained teacher-reported prevalence rates for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavior disorders using the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria; compared rates with the prevalence for DSM-III-R and DSM-III within the same population of elementary students; examined the…

Examined the effects of a three-year tobacco education curriculum, which included five lessons per year, on urban elementary students' knowledge, attitudes, and intentions. Pretesting and posttesting of experimental and control students indicated that experimental students' posttest knowledge and attitude scores were significantly higher than…

Examined relationship between school-related stress, social support, and somatic complaints among Norwegian adolescents. Found that students with high levels of school-related stress had a higher odds ratio for weekly headache, abdominal pain, backache, dizziness, and coexisting somatic complaints. For social support, associations were weaker, but…

Uses data from the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2000 to describe state- and district-level policy support and coordination and state- and district-level policies regarding school environment, injury prevention, and substance use and violence prevention, noting school-level policies and practices in those areas, policies to inform…

Quality physical education classes are an important avenue for teaching children about lifetime fitness participation. Specific fitness information and habits can be taught as part of physical education classes. Physical education, however, should not be the only source of physical activity for children. Children need opportunities to participate…

The aim of the review of D.V. Cicchetti, A.S. Kaufman, and S.S. Sparrow (funded by the General Electric Company; this issue) is to "evaluate [the] literature relating the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) upon neurobehavioral, health-related, and cognitive deficits in neonates, developing infants,…

This invited response to the paper by D.V. Cicchetti, A.S. Kaufman, and S.S. Sparrow (CKS), and the responses by the investigative teams of the studies criticized by them, addresses specific errors of logic and interpretation by CKS, and integrates comments made by the study investigators. CKS provide a flawed analysis of the literature on the…

Inter-agency collaboration, service coordination, and the creation of successful partnerships among parents, teachers, and human services professionals continues to be a challenge for the development of responsive community-based systems of care for at-risk youth and their families. We explore how one inner-city neighborhood struggles to create…

We assessed parent satisfaction with children's mental health services with a new instrument: The Youth Services Survey for Families (YSSF). The Dillman method was used to administer the survey to a random sample of 1,500 parents of Medicaid youth from Kentucky's 14 community mental health centers (CMHCs). The response rate was 37% (n = 534…

Background: Functional impairment is a key feature of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) of childhood. Aim: To compare impairment, illness attitudes and coping mechanisms in childhood CFS and in other paediatric disorders. Method: Participants were 28 children and adolescents with CFS, 30 with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and 27 with emotional…

In the United States, the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) in children and adolescents has been increasing at an alarming rate. Early recognition and intervention can delay the onset of type 2 DM and prevent the long-term complications. School nurses have an essential role in implementing the American Diabetes Association (ADA)…

Nutritional needs for peak athletic performance include sufficient calorie intake, adequate hydration, and attention to timing of meals. Student athletes and their advisors often are misinformed or have misconceptions about sports nutrition. This paper identifies nutritional needs of young athletes, reviews common misconceptions, and examines the…

The paper discusses the utility of constructing causal models in focus groups. This was experienced as a complement to an in-depth ethnographic research on the differing perceptions of caretakers and health professionals on child's growth and development in Peru and Bolivia. The rational, advantages, difficulties and necessary adaptations of…