The prevailing paradigm for understanding the causes and correction of learning and related behavior problems is seen as over-emphasizing person variables. It is suggested that an interactional model would be more in keeping with contemporary psychological theorizing and available data. Implications of understanding causal determinants in…

Thos paper discusses myths about adolescent psychopathology, including the beliefs that psychopathology is a normal state in adolescence; that adolescents grow out of their psychopathology; and that with regard to psychopathology, adolescents are either like adults or like children. Key features of adolescent development are summarized, the life…

The paper focuses on the role of decision making to develop social skills in adolescents with learning or behavior problems and describes a project to implement such a decision making model. The paper begins by tracing some of the crucial issues of adolescence and then describes the Adolescent Issues Project which has produced a curriculum…

This paper presents an overview and rationale for a systematic, multidimensional, theory-driven model of consultation for the school psychologist based on the Teacher Variance approach. Teacher Variance, a combination of five theoretical approaches to preventing, diagnosing, and remediating misbehavior, suggests a solution for the treatment of…

Three approaches (other than behavioral) for the management of behavior problems in special education are described. Values clarification (attributed to S. G. Simon) is described as a preventative approach emphasizing the student's role in managing him- or herself. Proponents of this approach view many behavior problems as arising from the absence…

A substantial body of data and a number of reviews of the literature on risk encouraged this attempt to construct a theoretically consistent approach to research on risk. Much of the research can be seen as attempting to estimate the probability that development will be compromised for groups of infants born under different circumstances. Linear…

Noting that current conceptualizations of children's externalizing behavior problems suggest that impulsivity underlies diverse behavior problems and may contribute to peer rejection, this study examined the association between impulsivity and peer status. The study also assessed the unique contribution of aggression and impulsivity in predicting…

This document begins by providing a brief historical overview of past attempts at classification, assessment, and treatment of students with school refusal behaviors. Limitations of traditional classification strategies are explored. Recent accomplishments with this population are then discussed, including the development of the School Refusal…

This report defines school refusal behavior as the refusal to attend school or difficulties going to school or remaining in school for the entire day, and sees school refusal as a significant problem that may occur in 8% of all school-aged children. It discusses difficulties of previous classification and assessment strategies for students who…

The document examines the roles of peer relations and parent monitoring in increasing children's risk of developing a deviant network of friends. Subjects were approximately 200 boys and their families. Boys were assessed in school and interviewed when 9-10 years old and when 11-12 years old. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the…

This paper describes the development of the fourth and latest version of the Teacher Variance Inventory-IV (TVI-IV). It was designed to improve the psychometric properties of the TVI and explore other characteristics that enable the TVI to be used for teacher consultation. The TVI-IV is a self-report measure based on Teacher Variance theory, a…

This essay asserts that clinical conceptualizations of emotion that stress its disruptive influences and functional models of emotion that emphasize its adaptive aspects can be integrated into a developmental psychopathology framework. Under certain conditions, emotion regulation may develop dysregulatory aspects that can become a characteristic…

An important and well-documented finding in the peer relations literature is that there is an association between children's peer relations and their later social development. Two models have been proposed for the predictive link between early peer relations and later adjustment: incidental and causal. Although findings have supported an…

Problem behaviors during adolescence can include substance use, low educational achievement, delinquent or conduct-disordered behavior, and indiscriminant, precocious, or risky sexual behavior. Despite the dissimilarities of these behaviors, some researchers believe that such actions share common underlying causes, which can be explained by the…

The conceptualizations of morphogenic processes suggested by systems theorists provide a useful framework for describing growth and development in complex adaptive self-directing organisms. These processes involve changes in (1) a system's structure, state, or functioning; (2) discontinuities in development; and (3) at least two kinds of…