Effective strategies to address communication and behavior challenges are critical in early intervention programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) on vocal mands and aggressive behavior displayed by a child with autism in China. One 4-year-old boy with autism participated…

Background: Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more likely to engage in problem behaviours than peers with typical development. The purpose of this study was to provide descriptive and qualitative information about problem behaviours in children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and how families respond to these…

The purpose of the study was to assess early literacy skills and examine the presence and stability of challenging behaviors across the critical threshold of the kindergarten school year. Students' (n = 337) literacy performance (letter sound fluency, word attack, and phonological awareness) and challenging behaviors (teacher ratings of…

The present study examined the relations between financial entitlement and adolescent gratitude, prosocial behavior, and aggression; and the mediating role of sympathy. The sample consisted of 321 children (160 boys, M[subscript age at Time 2] = 12.29, SD = 1.02) from Times 2, 3, and 4 of the Flourishing Families Project. Adolescents reported on…

There is a consensus that the crises children encounter during the transition period might impact negatively on children's learning and development. However, from cultural-historical perspective, qualitative leap in development can hardly be achieved without crises. This paper, drawing upon cultural-historical theory as the framework and by using…

Previous research is not conclusive in detailing the prevalence of challenging behaviour and its correlates in children with intellectual disabilities in school settings in particular. In the current study, an amended version of the Behaviour Problems Inventory -- Short Form was used to collect data from a sample of 321 students in a special…

The aim of this study was to investigate the association of callous-unemotional traits, hostile attribution bias, and relational victimization experiences among 228 Greek preadolescent students attending the last two primary school grades. No significant gender differences were found. Correlations showed positive associations among relational…

Data from the Autism Inpatient Collection was used to examine the relationship between problem behaviors and verbal ability, which have generally, though not universally, been highly associated. In a comparison of 169 minimally-verbal and 177 fluently-verbal 4 to 20-year-old psychiatric inpatients with ASD, the severity of self-injurious behavior,…

Background: Shame has been found to relate to several psychopathologies, but the way the individual copes with experiences of shame may determine specific expressions of psychopathology, making it essential to rigorously address such coping styles. Objective: This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a Portuguese version of the Compass…

This study investigated the structure and concurrent validity of the Beliefs About Fighting Scale (BAFS). Participants were 2,118 students from three urban middle schools who completed measures of their beliefs, frequency of physical aggression, victimization, and nonviolent intentions. Ratings of students' frequency of physical aggression,…

Introduction: This article describes the development of an Aggression and Restriction Observation Checklist (AROC) for use in residential and in-patient services for adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). The AROC was developed in collaboration between researchers and frontline staff. It assesses self-, person-, and object-directed aggressive…

To date, the phenotypic significance of EEG abnormalities in patients with ASD is unclear. In a population affected by ASD we aimed to evaluate: the phenotypic characteristics; the prevalence of EEG abnormalities; the potential correlations between EEG abnormalities and behavioral and cognitive variables. Sixty-nine patients with ASD underwent…

Restraint and seclusion are crisis or emergency responses, which should only be used in extreme situations (e.g., a student engaging in repeated forceful physical aggression toward self or others) when risk of serious and imminent physical harm or injury is high and when an emergency response may reduce that risk. Restraint and seclusion are not…

Therapeutic alliance is associated with treatment outcomes across a diverse range of intervention models and clinical populations. Likewise, the perceived quality of working alliance in adult psychotherapy has been a consistent predictor of engagement, while research with children is limited. This study draws from a sample of 180 children who were…

Background: Evocative gene-environment correlation (rGE) describes a process through which children's heritable characteristics influence their rearing environments. The current study examined if heritable influences on parenting and children's behavioral outcomes operate through child negative emotionality. Method: Using data from the Early…