Background: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have problems acquiring language, affecting their communicative participation, social--emotional functioning (SEF) and quality of life (QoL). Aims: To investigate whether communicative participation mediates the relation between language and SEF and QoL. Methods & Procedures: In a…

Previous research by Williams, Siegel and Mazefsky (2018) investigated the relationship between verbal abilities and problem behaviors using data from the Autism Inpatient Collection (AIC). This research found a weak and inconsistent association between verbal abilities and problem behavior severity; however, adapting/coping scores were…

Background: Pivotal response treatment (PRT) is suggested to be an effective treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Objectives: We aimed to compile evidence examining the effectiveness of PRT on social communication, social interaction, and repetitive behavior for children with ASD. Methods: We performed a systematic and…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the longitudinal, bidirectional relations between receptive and expressive Spanish and English language and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in a sample of 97 preschool children from Spanish-speaking, homes who were enrolled in a U.S. Head Start program. Eight cross-lagged path…

Purpose: Cross-informant ratings are considered best practice for assessing children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, informant disagreement often occurs, which can pose significant challenges to various aspects of clinical services. This study explored the degree of parent and speech-language pathologist (SLP) agreement on ratings of…

The main goal of this research was to describe the type and level of parents' concerns about child development and behaviour according to the PEDS test (Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status). The sample included 289 parents of children from three to seven years of age, from two preschool institutions in Serbia. A significantly high…

The purpose of this study is to examine the bidirectional relationship between children's language development and challenging behaviors as well as the moderating roles of gender and race/ethnicity. We conducted a number of structural equation modeling analyses with a national representative sample (N = 2,462) of Head Start children from the 2014…

We examined the relations between language skills and behavior problems and whether social skills mediated these relations among preschool children enrolled in Head Start programs. Participants included 242 preschool children and their parents in Head Start programs. Over a 2-year period, parents and teachers reported children's behavior problems…

Purpose: Children with poor language tend to have worse psychosocial outcomes compared to their typically developing peers. The most common explanations for such adversities focus on developmental psychological processes whereby poor language triggers psychosocial difficulties. Here, we investigate the possibility of shared biological effects by…

The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal, bidirectional relationship between language skills and behavior problems in a sample of 194 preschool children enrolled in Head Start programs. Children were individually assessed using the "Preschool Language Scale-5," and teachers completed the "Child Behavior…

Naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention is an emerging class of interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder. The present article is a meta-analysis of outcomes of group-design studies (n = 27) testing interventions using naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention strategies. Small, significant positive effects…

This study examined the relations between problem behaviors and early learning outcomes among 138 children in dual-language pre-K programs who were identified at the beginning of the school year to be at risk for difficulties in early language and literacy development. Children's expressive and receptive vocabulary, listening comprehension, and…

Research suggests that children with behavioural difficulties exhibit "positive illusory bias" (PIB), in which they overestimate their competencies leading to a perception of self that is more positive than the perceptions held by their peers, parents or teachers. However, research to date has focused on children of elementary school age…

Research Findings: Children from immigrant families are more likely than children of native parents to start school with fewer of the academic skills that are important for long-term success, although evidence on behavioral skills is mixed. Center-based early education and care (EEC) programs, which have been linked to improvements in academic…

A community sample of 192 parents reported on their children's restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) at mean ages 15 months (N = 138), 26 months (N = 191), and 77 months (N = 125) using the Repetitive Behavior Questionnaire-2 (RBQ-2). Consistent with previous factor analytic research, 2 factors were found at each age: 1 comprising repetitive…