Beyond correlational studies exploring the benefits of nature exposure, there have been studies assessing interventions that aim to improve nature connection in children and adolescents. A feeling of connection with nature or 'nature connectedness' describes our attitude towards nature, primarily reflecting the emotional, cognitive, and…

Motor stereotypies are frequently reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder, but determinants of stereotypies remain poorly understood. In this study, a randomized sample of children with diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder was investigated to identify the prevalence and determinants of stereotypies. A total of 134 children who…

Purpose: Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is the process of engaging in negatively valenced and habitual thought patterns. RNT is strongly associated with mental health conditions and often affects quality of life. This study explored RNT in older school-age children and adolescents who stutter to quantify the relationship between RNT and…

Background: Children and adolescents in residential care have more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) than those living in any other type of care. However, there is scant research on risk factors accounting for this accumulation. Objective: To establish the prevalence of ACEs in child residential care and to explore predictors of accumulation…

This study quantified changes in self-reported sexual orientation from adolescence to early adulthood, and whether childhood gender nonconformity (GNC) predicted sexual orientation changes. Youth (2,678 boys and 3,359 girls; 96.09% ethnically White) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were included. Self-reported…

Self-harm is purportedly common in autistic individuals, but under-researched, particularly in younger samples and those "without" intellectual disability. This study aimed to describe prevalence, profile and correlates of self-harm in autistic individuals without impairments in adaptive functioning. Parents of autistic participants (n =…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring intellectual disabilities experience substantial challenges in accessing needed supports. This research aimed to understand the prevalence and factors associated with food insecurity among families of children with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring intellectual disabilities.…

Background: Congenital hearing loss is the most common birth anomaly, typically influencing speech and language development, with potential for later academic, social and employment impacts. Yet, surprisingly, the nuances of how speech is affected have not been well examined with regards to the subtypes of speech-sound disorder (SSD). Nor have the…

Introduction: Challenging behaviors are common in individuals with developmental disabilities and pose significant challenges to their well-being and that of their families and communities. Method: We explored the occurrence and predictors of self-injurious behavior and aggressive/destructive behavior in 372 Canadian youths (aged 4-20 years) with…

Background: School-based health centers (SBHC) can address unmet mental health needs. Little is known about how students seek care from different providers at SBHCs. We describe and compare how students' SBHC visits differ for students seen by mental health providers (MH group) relative to students seen only by primary care providers (PC group).…

Establishing causal links when experiments are not feasible is an important challenge for psychology researchers. The question of whether parents' spanking causes children's externalizing behavior problems poses such a challenge because randomized experiments of spanking are unethical, and correlational studies cannot rule out potential selection…

Self-injury is common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however few studies have investigated correlates of self-injury or the putative associations with self-restraint. Questionnaire data on self-injury, self-restraint, health conditions, overactivity/impulsivity and repetitive/restricted behavior were collected on 208 children and 216 adults…

A number of studies suggested that the rates of depression in Euro-American populations are higher among caregivers of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than typically developing children. There is a dearth of studies in this field among non-Western populations. This study attempts to explore the depressive symptoms'…

This paper shares the results of an exploratory study that measured the change in Executive Function (EF) skills of At-Risk third-grade students with varying Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) before and after an Arts-Integration (AI) program. Student EF skills were measured using the Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS) and a statistically…

Background: Efforts to increase the evidence base in speech and language therapy are often limited by methodological factors that have restricted the strength of the evidence to the lower levels of the evidence hierarchy. Where higher graded studies, such as randomized controlled trials, have been carried out, it has sometimes been difficult to…