Background: The development of communication, speech and language follows three stages (development of the parent--child relationship, interactions and actual speech and language acquisition). Children born with cleft lip and/or palate are at increased risk of communicative problems while parents may be going through an emotionally difficult time.…

Recognizing and appropriately responding to others' emotional expressions is important for children's moral and social development. Impairments in the emotion recognition of individuals high on Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits are thought to explain their reduced empathic responding, interpersonal problems, and persistent antisocial behaviour. The…

This study examines the unique challenges of raising gifted children, focusing on two child-related risk factors for parental stress: cognitive asynchrony and stress management abilities. Path analysis revealed that poor stress management in children is associated with greater parental stress, as measured by the Difficult Child (DC) and…

We examined whether different parent- and teacher-related factors had an effect on at-risk children's reading development during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventy Grade 1 English-speaking Canadian children (28 females, 42 males; M[subscript age] = 6.60, SD = 0.46) who were at-risk for reading difficulties were administered…

Although there is robust evidence of the benefits of attachment-based parenting interventions, limited research has examined their impact on dyadic mutuality and toddler behavior problems. Given the central question in prevention research of what works for whom, and the documented relation of maternal psychological risk to parenting and…

Research has identified antecedents to flourishing--high levels of social, emotional, and psychological health--in adolescence and adulthood but few studies have attended to flourishing in childhood. Moreover, although there has been great interest in how environmental effects on mental illness vary by temperament, little attention has been…

Parents' recognition of adolescents' emotional distress is a significant determinant of early detection and treatment of mental disorders. However, there is dearth of research exploring parent-adolescent agreement regarding adolescents' emotional distress. This cross-sectional, school-based study compared parents' proxy reports and self-reports of…

Universal and selective preventive interventions targeting youth behavioral problems have shown crossover effects on suicide risk, the second leading cause of death among youth. However, the mechanisms that explain this long-term unanticipated benefit are understudied and unclear. The current study examines the crossover effects of PROSPER, a…

This study examined the impact of the Head Start Research-based, Developmentally Informed (REDI) preschool intervention on high school outcomes and explored longitudinal mediation. 356 children (58% White, 25% Black, 17% Latinx; 54% female, 46% male; M[subscript age] = 4.49 years) were recruited from Head Start classrooms which were randomized to…

Previous research in clinical, community, and school settings has demonstrated positive outcomes for the Secret Agent Society (SAS) social skills training program. This is designed to help children on the autism spectrum become more aware of emotions in themselves and others and to 'problem-solve' complex social scenarios. Parents play a key role…

There has been a heightened awareness of an increased risk of suicidality among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) due to high rates of suicidal ideation (SI) in this population (11-66%). The current study investigated the rate of parent-endorsed SI and associated clinical features in 48 youths with ASD (Age; M: 12.97 years, SD:…

This article's objectives encompassed investigating the factors influencing early romantic relationships among high school students, analyzing the repercussions of such relationships on these students, and proposing policy interventions to address the issue. The research involved a sample of 26 participants, including students with romantic…

Hope has a powerful influence on individuals, especially those battling critical illness. The problem is the Make-A-Wish wish-granting experience was never designed to improve the health care of children being granted a wish; thus, hope was a mere by-product of the wish experience. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to…

When compared to one another, multiple informants' reports of adolescent internalizing problems often reveal low convergence. This creates challenges in the delivery of clinical services, particularly for severe outcomes linked to internalizing problems, namely suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Clinicians would benefit from methods that facilitate…

This study aimed to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)-based parenting program for parents of autistic children. A pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted, with 40 parents randomly assigned to either the eight-session ACT-based parenting program or usual…