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…

Background: Alternative (or continuation) high schools are institutions designed for students at risk for not graduating due to behavioral, educational, or medical problems. The present study explored the relationship between negative substance use consequences (eg, having trouble at school or work) and noncondom use in this at-risk population and…

Poverty is a well-established risk factor for behavior problems, yet our understanding of putative family mediators during early childhood (i.e., before age 5 years) is limited. The present study investigated whether the association between poverty and behavior problems during early childhood is mediated simultaneously by perceived parenting,…

Emotional and behavioral regulation has been linked to coping and enhancement motives and associated with different patterns of alcohol use and problems. The current studies examined emotional instability, urgency, and internal drinking motives as predictors of alcohol dependence symptoms as well as the likelihood and severity of "Diagnostic…

In the present investigation we focused on 2 broad sets of questions: Do parental overreactivity, laxness, and corporal punishment show evidence of normative change in early to middle childhood? Are persistently elevated child conduct problems (CPs) associated with deviations from normative changes in, as well as high initial levels of, discipline…

The purpose of the current investigation was to develop and provide initial validation of the "Social and Academic Behavior Risk Screener" (SABRS). Research was conducted in southeast elementary schools with 54 teacher and 243 student participants. An initial item pool was created through review of developmental research on the…

This study used data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, a multilevel, longitudinal study of children sampled from 80 diverse neighborhoods, to explore associations among changes in neighborhood poverty from 1990 to 2000 and changes in youth's internalizing problems and property and violent offenses over 6 years (N =…

This study focused on characteristics of the family environment that may mediate the relationship between disaster exposure and the presence of symptoms that met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for symptom count and duration for an internalizing disorder in children and youth. We also explored how parental history of mental health problems may moderate…

This study, based on an ecological perspective, examined the relation of perceived neighborhood violence, child misbehavior, parental attitudes to aggressive discipline tactics, and the actual use of aggressive discipline tactics. Research questions were: To what extent is perceived neighborhood violence associated with aggressive discipline by…

Comparisons of results from descriptive and functional analyses of problem behavior generally have shown poor correspondence. Most descriptive analyses have focused on relations between consequent events and behavior, and it has been noted that attention is a common consequence for problem behavior even though it may not be a functional…

The current research examines how social goals and perceptions of what is needed for social status at school relate to school misbehavior and substance use among rural adolescents (N = 683). Results indicate that social goals and perceptions of social status have differential links to problem behaviors depending upon adolescents' achievement.…

This study examined the longitudinal link between clique membership status and the development of psychopathology in 451 children followed annually from age 9 to 12 years. Classroom clique membership status was identified through social network analysis, and internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed using peer nominations. Controlling…

Students who engage in high-risk behaviors, including early initiation of sexual intercourse, alcohol use, marijuana use, tobacco use, and externalizing behavior are vulnerable to a broad range of adverse outcomes as adults. Latent class analysis was used to determine whether varying patterns of risk behavior existed for 212 urban African-American…

The childhood behavior problem as assessed by teachers of over 11,000 boys and girls who were born in 1958 and were part of the British National Child Development Study is reviewed to determine a link between these behaviors and mortality by the age of 46. It is found that childhood behavior problem is linked to long-term mortality beyond…

Loss of previously established behaviors in early childhood constitutes a markedly atypical developmental trajectory. It is found almost uniquely in autism and its cause is currently unknown (Baird et al., 2008). We present an artificial neural network model of developmental regression, exploring the hypothesis that regression is caused by…