Disciplinary exclusion, particularly school expulsion, presents a significant challenge to school-age children and their families. Although the impacts of disciplinary exclusion from school on children are well-known, less is known about how this phenomenon affects their parents. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to…

Children with Developmental Delay (DD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience challenging behaviors, including noncompliance, that impact individual and family functioning across settings. Due to developmental risk, parenting has emerged as being especially instrumental within this population, with positive parenting practices directly…

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…

Young children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at increased risk of developing persistent mental health and behavior problems. While the link between parenting behavior and the development of problem behavior is well understood in this population, there is a need for examination of key parent factors that affect parenting…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a parent-training program on parenting practices and children's misconduct in a predominately low performing school in the Northeastern region of the United States. The study included 26 parents of children in kindergarten through third grade. The participants were predominately African…

Many children with autism display externalizing behavior due to challenges they face in the areas of communication, social skills and repetitive behavior or restricted interests. Parents have reported that it is difficult to know how to address these behaviors. Parent training programs have been found to increase parents' skills and decrease child…

The evidence-based parent training intervention known as Parent Management Training-the Oregon Model (PMTO) is one particularly well-supported treatment approach for addressing child behavioral problems. Yet, there remains a need to further examine how this intervention promotes change. The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory…

A survey instrument, the Test of Psychosocial Adaptation, originally developed for use with teachers in Greece, was given to 298 Greek parents in Athens and several rural areas. One hundred and five respondents indicated that their children exhibit learning and/or social-emotional learning difficulties. Parents rated higher externalizing behaviors…

Guided by Bioecological Systems Theory and Schema Theory, I investigated mothers' perceptions regarding the emotional development of their preschool children. Researchers acknowledge mothers' contributing role in influencing children's behavioral displays of emotion, but there is a dearth in the literature on mothers. emotion-related behaviors,…