Three male primary students were issued a daily report card rating their disruptive behavior. Parents were asked to praise positive reports and ignore negative reports. Results showed that the intervention was effective in reducing inappropriate behaviors while increasing assignment completion. Ratings by parents, teachers, peers, and subjects…

Examined relationships between ethnicity and identity status and between identity status and behavior problems, social competence, and self-esteem among White, Black, Puerto Rican, and Filipino high school students (N=330). Found no significant ethnic differences in the relationships of identity status to behavior problems, social competence, or…

Evaluated effectiveness of school-based social skills program. Middle school children (N=34) selected for behavior problems were assigned to social skills training or to a no-treatment control group. Assessed change by teacher, parent, and self-report measures. Findings suggest significant improvement in social activity and parental report of…

Reviews evolving conceptions of hyperactivity and attention deficits. The cognitive and social difficulties of hyperactive children may be better understood in terms of motivational and self-regulatory processes than as deficiencies in basic information processing. Discusses the role of stimulant medication. (Author/BJV)

Reviews the literature on the role of family distress in the treatment of children's behavior disorders. Describes a system for integrating marital- and child-focused treatments and makes suggestions for improving the design of studies assessing the impact of contextual factors on parent-child interaction. (FMW)

Ten elementary school teachers received inservice training on use of praise. Following the training, the average rate of both specific praise and "outside circle" praise rose, and remained high a year later. Changes in student behaviors included a decrease in disruptive behavior and an increase in work completion. (Author/JDD)

A study of the relationship between presence or absence of sleep deprivation, allergy symptoms, and the rate and function of problem behavior in three adolescents with moderate to profound mental retardation found that problem behavior was negatively reinforced by escape from instruction, and both allergy symptoms and sleep deprivation influenced…

Examined the extent to which age at adoption affects the behavioral and emotional adjustment of adoptees. Also examined whether gender, race, and age at assessment interact with age at adoption to influence adoptee adjustment. Confirmed observations made by practitioners and researchers that as age of adoption increases, behavioral and emotional…

Examined effects of participation in school-based helper program on adolescents' self-image, attitudes, and behaviors. Seventh-grade students (n=171) were divided into 2 groups, 1 required to engage in volunteer helping activities. Gender-specific results showed that boys in helper program showed positive changes in self-esteem relative to other…

Functional analyses of problem behaviors were performed with three individuals with severe intellectual disabilities. Results indicated that the problem behaviors were maintained either when the behavior resulted in escape from difficult tasks or when the behavior resulted in access to preferred items. Training in functionally equivalent…

The behavior management recommendations outlined in England and Wales' Elton Report are applied to schools for children with emotional/behavioral difficulties, especially Inglesea School. Inglesea School uses the principles of assertive discipline, which communicates specific behavioral expectations to students and rewards children for choosing to…

Examined the relationships among parents' stress, parents' work overload, and adolescent problem behavior. Adolescents in dual-earner families reported on parent-adolescent relations and their own problem behavior. Their parents provided reports of work overload, levels of stress, and parent-adolescent relations. Findings indicated…

This paper reviews studies that have used instructional variables as nonaversive interventions for problem behaviors of individuals with severe disabilities. These include student choice of task, task variation, pace of instruction, interspersal of high probability tasks, partial versus whole task training, decreasing task difficulty, and a…

Explains why play is an important tool for understanding and diagnosing children's problems, outlining signals for concern in children's play. Focuses on three areas of play where deviations can be observed: thematic content, style of play, and social interactions in play. Suggests strategies for dealing with these deviations, examining the role…

Direct observation and sequential analytic techniques were used to analyze rates, antecedents, and predictive sequences of aggressive behavior for 28 elementary school-aged children with emotional/behavioral disorders. Results indicated that low rates of positive social interactions characterized the daily classroom ecology of students displaying…