A reliable autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis can occur as early as 18 months; however, the average age at diagnosis in the United States is over 2 years later. While there are numerous well-known barriers to seeking an ASD diagnosis, no research has examined if separation between a child's biological parents affects timing of ASD diagnosis…

An extensive literature links language problems with behavioral difficulties and academic underachievement. Although less extensive, emerging literature suggests that temperament, Positive Affectivity (PA) in particular, contributes to language development. Thus, the present study was focused on PA related temperament dimensions in infancy as…

The current study evaluated bidirectional associations between mother and father positive parenting and child effortful control. Data were drawn from 220 families when children were 3, 4, 5, and 6 years old. Parenting and effortful control were assessed when the child was 3, 4, and 5 years old. These variables were used to statistically predict…

High and stable levels of aggression and the presence of aggressive behaviour in multiple settings according to different informants are risk factors for later problems. However, these two factors have not been investigated in early childhood. The present study investigates trajectories of parent-reported child aggression from 1.5 up to 6 years of…

Both Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) and divorce are very prevalent in western societies, and they may occur together. AD/HD is generally viewed as a neurobiological disorder, which has led to a commonly held belief that social-environmental factors play little role in the symptom profile of children diagnosed with the disorder.…

This study examines the role of abuse-specific maternal support in the association between parent depressive symptoms and child externalizing problems in a sample of children with a history of sexual abuse. In total, 106 mother-child dyads were studied. The association between maternal depressive symptoms and child delinquency behaviors was found…

Gender differences in student achievement have been widely studied. Considering the long-term effects of externalising behaviour problems on children's later academic performance, it can be conjectured that gender disparities in student achievement may be rooted in developmental characteristics in early childhood. As an effort towards contributing…

We used data from a randomized clinical trial to examine the degree to which relationship quality predicted outcomes for aggressive children in two different mentoring programs. Data were available for 145 aggressive children in Grades 2 and 3. Children were blocked by school and randomly assigned to PrimeTime (n = 75) or Lunch Buddy (n = 70)…

It is generally accepted that Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) results from a dysfunction of the central nervous system, which has led to a commonly held belief that environmental factors play little role in the behavioural problems of children identified as having ADHD. Therefore, the two studies reported in this article…

Behavioural sleep problems (childhood insomnias) can cause distress for both parents and children. This paper reports a model describing predictors of high sleep problem scores in a representative population-based random sample survey of non-Aboriginal singleton children born in 1995 and 1996 (1085 girls and 1129 boys) in Western Australia.…