In the present pilot study we examined how a school-wide intervention model, "Positive behavior, interactions and learning environment in school" (Norwegian acronym: PALS) contributed to risk reduction in immigrant students through the promotion of social competence. The aims of the PALS project were to promote social competence through…

School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) has been identified as an effective and efficient method to teach students prosocial skills. It requires both effective behavior support practices and systems that will support these changes, including data-based decision making among the school leadership team. There are many practical and systemic…

Objective: To assess Internet use, abuse, and dependence. Participants: 411 undergraduate students. Results: Ninety percent of participants reported daily Internet use. Approximately half of the sample met criteria for Internet abuse, and one-quarter met criteria for Internet dependence. Men and women did not differ on the mean amount of time…

HIV-infected mothers face the challenging decision of whether to disclose their serostatus to their children. From the perspective of both mother and child, we explored the process of disclosure, providing descriptive information and examining the relationships among disclosure, demographic variables, and child adjustment. Participants were 23…

Children with antisocial, aggressive and disruptive behaviour problems are among the most frequent referrals to mental health services. These young people and their families present with a range of adverse contextual factors and can prove challenging to engage. We examined the characteristics of children with conduct problems, treatment…

Saida, a 16-year-old girl in Bermuda, attended a special alternative high school program for students with serious behavior problems. She had been receiving special education for her behavioral problems since the age of 5. Saida regularly used profanity in response to teacher directives, particularly in social studies class. A functional…

Transition from secondary education to adulthood represents a period during which adolescents with disabilities face multiple responsibilities and changing roles that include establishing independence, attending postsecondary education or training, developing social networks, choosing a career, participating in their communities, and managing…

Objective: There is a dearth of cross-cultural research on hyperactivity. This article aims to quantify the prevalence of hyperactivity in schoolboys residing in an Arab/Islamic country, Oman. Method: 1,502 Omani schoolboys from eight randomly selected schools representing the urban population of Oman were screened for various indices of…

An important and well-documented finding in the peer relations literature is that there is an association between children's peer relations and their later social development. Two models have been proposed for the predictive link between early peer relations and later adjustment: incidental and causal. Although findings have supported an…

This study examined individual parent personality dynamics and partner-as-parent ratings as each relate to child problem behaviors and competencies. Subjects were 30 Caucasian heterosexual couples with 6-year-old children. Data were collected with the Adult/Adolescent Type A Behavior Scale (AATABS), Parenting Alliance, Child Behavior Checklist…

To deal with behavior problems and create safe environments, schools increasingly have adopted social control practices. These include discipline and classroom management practices that analysts see as blaming the victim and modeling behavior that fosters, rather than counters, the development of negative values. To move beyond overreliance on…

Constituting a secondary preventive intervention, 61 low SES preschool children attending four inner-city day care centers were provided a program of social skills building exercises. In contrast to primary preventive efforts that focus on a central concern, secondary prevention attends to potentially serious concomitant issues. In this study the…

This study examined the influence of the family environment, day care in the infant's first year, and the fit between child characteristics and the caregiving context as correlates of children's social behavior. Subjects were 39 Caucasian infants and their mothers and caregivers. Mothers and caregivers were asked to rate children's behavior on a…

The Positive Adolescents Choices Training (PACT) program is a culturally sensitive social skills training program developed specifically for African American youth to reduce their disproportionate risk for becoming victims or perpetrators of violence. The cognitive-behavioral group training approach equips students with specific social skills to…

This study replicated a social skills training program previously designed to eliminate verbally aggressive behavior in six institutionalized elderly, by substituting physical acts of aggression for verbal ones. The treatment package consisted of instructions, modeling, role playing, and feedback. Dependent measures included confirmed incidents of…