Psychosocial competencies; such as prosocial behaviors, compliance with authority, attention regulation, independence, and emotional regulation; play a crucial role in child development. Higher levels of these competencies in childhood are linked to fewer behavior problems, while deficits in these competencies can predict future problem behaviors.…

The current study involved the development, scaling, and validation of a new, brief, strength-based measure of children's ecological support, as rated by their parents. The scaling and validation of the Child and Youth Ecological Assets Scale--Parent Form (C-YEAS-P) took place through two studies. The first study involved 500 parents who were…

Social-emotional learning (SEL) programs are a popular tool used in schools to increase children's competencies across multiple domains, including emotion knowledge and social interaction. Children with appropriate social-emotional skills tend to experience more positive peer relationships, fewer problem behaviors, and improvements in school…

As academic standards for incoming kindergarten students at Morris Early Childhood Center (MECC), in the Milford School District, increase, a significant obstacle to student achievement has emerged. The deficiency of social and emotional skills among MECC students has increasingly impeded school staff from focusing on instruction due to the…

Persistent challenging behaviors in early childhood education has shown to be an increasing problem for rural ABC school district. Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory indicates that children learn behavior expectations by imitating others receiving positive consequences and through social norming. ABC school district is in a state that does…

The relations of executive functions (EF), effortful control (EC), social skills, and externalizing behaviors were examined based on performance measures and rating scales collected from parents and teachers of kindergarten students. Externalizing problems encompass the most prevalent mental health disorders for children at the kindergarten age.…

Because there are immediate and long-term implications when preschool children exhibit challenging behavior in the classroom, it is crucial to prevent and address challenging behavior as early as possible. Social and emotional teaching strategies have been shown to reduce challenging behavior of preschoolers and increase social and emotional…

Adolescence can be a very challenging time for students. Students are not all equipped with the social-emotional skills to successfully navigate middle school into young adulthood. Students display adverse behaviors, such as peer physical aggression, peer verbal aggression, and defiance to adults. Students are not demonstrating problem-solving…

Students attending disciplinary alternative schools are an at-risk population in need of social emotional learning interventions to learn how to better manage their behavior, build healthy relationships, improve their decision-making skills, and, thereby, be socially and academically successful. Using multiple methods within-case study, the…

This study was an attempt to understand how hypercompetitive graduate college students with ambivalent attachment style described their experience of interpersonal relationships. College graduate students have a higher rate of competitiveness than undergraduate students and others. This competitive nature can lead to positive interpersonal…

Substance use disorders are considered externalizing disorders, defined by anti-social and impulsive behavior, as opposed to internalizing disorders, defined by anxious and depressive thinking; however, that strict binary is increasingly untenable. In this dissertation, I evaluate the co-development of internalizing and externalizing symptoms…

This study sought to evaluate the school-based counseling services that were provided to 95 students as part of the Children First counseling program. The primary evaluation question focused on the effectiveness of the program in positively impacting traditionally underserved populations in the following domains: increasing social skills,…

School psychologists are expected to engage in crisis-related work in the school setting and to participate on crisis teams. Research has indicated that school psychologists are meeting this charge and are involved in crisis planning, prevention, and intervention. However, most of the research examining the role of the school psychologist in…

The first manuscript consisted of a systematic and quality review of studies that used telehealth to support caregivers of children exhibiting challenging behaviors. A summary of training components, procedural fidelity, social validity, and evidence of impact was reported. While there exists a great deal of information on remote implementation of…

Currently, the rate of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is growing and further research is needed to understand what evidence-based practices are effective for this population. To contribute further to the already existing literature, the three studies expand on previous reviews and studies by adding information on whom these…