The "Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills" (PEERS®) is an intervention targeting social skills for autistic adolescents and those with other social challenges. The efficacy of the PEERS® on adolescents has been extensively explored but the program has not been validated in Italy. In the present study, we adapted…

Executive functioning (EF) is an overarching term that encompasses a wide range of neuropsychological processes including inhibition, set shifting, cognitive flexibility, organization, planning, self-monitoring, working memory, following rules, emotional control, and self-regulation that enable physical, cognitive, and emotional self-control.…

The relations of executive functions (EF), effortful control (EC), social skills, and externalizing behaviors were examined based on performance measures and rating scales collected from parents and teachers of kindergarten students. Externalizing problems encompass the most prevalent mental health disorders for children at the kindergarten age.…

Pre-kindergarten (pre-k) is thought to have both direct and indirect effects on children's outcomes in early elementary school. Direct pre-k effects consistently include moderate to large gains in academic skills and sometimes include increases in problem behaviors that affect acquisition of skills in school. Indirect pre-k effects assume that…

Social Stories (also known as social narratives) help individuals participate in and understand social situations. This scoping review identifies and synthesizes social narrative research targeting behavior change in individuals with ASD. Using the following questions as a guide: (a) What is the scope of social narrative interventions used for…

Sleep is important for child development. Sleep problems in early childhood are associated with negative outcomes across numerous domains, including executive control, internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, and social competence (Astill et al., 2012; Hysing et al., 2016; Spruyt et al., 2019). Little research has focused on moderators…

Early childhood adversity, particularly poverty, can be a source of chronic stress that contributes to emotion dysregulation at the start of formal schooling. Children's reactivity to novel challenges in the classroom is associated with externalizing behavior and subsequent difficulties developing academic and social emotional skills (Blair &…

Performance-based measures of children's executive functions (EFs) do not capture children's application of these skills during everyday emotionally-laden and socially-mediated interactions. The current study demonstrates the value of using assessor report of self-regulation behaviors (inhibitory control and positive affect/engagement) in addition…

Executive functions (EFs) are foundational for the development of cognitive and social capacities critical for school readiness. The importance of promoting EF skills prior to school entry is increasing recognized but few preschool classroom-based interventions specifically target EF skills. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness…

As children with autism spectrum disorder become adults, social participation continues to be an area of need. Within creative arts, there is a growing body of literature about the use of theatre arts, improvisational theatre, and improvisational techniques as a way to address social participation for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. The…

Ivymount Social Cognition Instructional Project (IvySCIP) supports teachers and related service providers to implement data-driven social and emotional learning (SEL) instruction for their kindergarten through 5th grade students with social cognition challenges, especially those with high functioning autism spectrum disorders (HF-ASD). Based on…

This study tested child characteristics (temperamental executive control and negative reactivity) and maternal characteristics (parenting behaviors and maternal depressive symptoms) as predictors of a mother's emotion-related socialization behaviors (ERSBs). Further, parenting behaviors and ERSBs were examined as predictors of children's emotion…

The present study examined gender differences in kindergarten students' ability for behavioural self-regulation and executive function in East Japan. One hundred and eleven 5-year-old children were assessed on behavioural self-regulation, inhibitory, and working memory tasks (direct measurement). Children's responses to the teacher's instructions…

Traditional definitions of school readiness have focused primarily on the skills, knowledge and abilities children need for educational success. However, these definitions have evolved in recent years to encompass a multidimensional view, adding physical and mental health, social and emotional skills, executive functioning and self-regulation, and…

Many children with autism spectrum disorder display challenging behaviors. These behaviors are not limited to those with cognitive and/or language impairments. The Collaborative and Proactive Solutions framework proposes that challenging behaviors result from an incompatibility between environmental demands and a child's "lagging…