This study examined long-term mediating effects of the "smalltalk" parenting intervention on children's effortful control at school age (7.5 years; 2016-2018). In 2010-2012, parents (96% female) of toddlers (N = 1201; aged 12-36 months; 52% female) were randomly assigned to either: standard playgroup, "smalltalk" playgroup…

JASP-EMT, the combined Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT) and Joint Attention, Structured Play, and Emotion Regulation (JASPER) interventions, has been found to be effective for promoting social communication in young children with autism (Kasari et al. in J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 53(6):635-646, 2014). The current study examined the effects…

Background: Parent-child interaction is essential in the development of attentional control (AC ) and executive functioning (EF ). Educating parents in AC and EF development may help them to respond more adaptively to their child's developmental needs. Aim: This study aimed to investigate whether parents can be educated to improve interactions…

Current research has reported the beneficial effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on general domains of cognition and behavior among children. The present study is the first meta-analysis with controlled studies investigating the pre-post change effects of MBIs on two widely experienced behaviors in childhood education, namely…

Naturalistic developmental behavioural interventions are promising approaches for young children with, or suspected of having, autism spectrum disorder. Joint attention, symbolic play, engagement and regulation intervention (JASPER) is a well-researched naturalistic developmental behavioural intervention but, to date, no reviews have specifically…

Early childhood education programs, and particularly those designed to reduce gaps in school readiness between children in poverty and their more affluent peers, have increasingly addressed children's self-regulatory abilities -- their ability to manage behaviors, emotions, and cognitive processes. Although self-regulation is typically defined in…

This study investigated the use of a playful, narrative, vignette-based method, called Story Magician's Play Time (SMPT), in supporting children's social-emotional reasoning and in helping children practice their social skills. We set out to examine (a) in what ways children use SMPT sessions to explore social interaction situations and to…

Background/Context: Childhood trauma can increase preschooler's risk for behavioral problems, poor student-teacher relationships, and expulsion (Loomis, 2020; Zeng et al., 2019). Efforts have been undertaken to address the gaps in knowledge and confidence of ECE teachers by integrating trauma-informed approaches into ECE settings, who by virtue of…

Prevention and amelioration of the myriad effects of toxic stress on child development is a significant public health concern. Scalable programmes to address this concern are lacking. Attachment Vitamins (AV) is a novel universal prevention programme for parents of young children that is trauma-informed and addresses toxic stress within a…

Two-year, play-based, full-day kindergarten (FDK) has been shown to have long-term academic and self-regulation benefits for young children. This article addresses the question of whether FDK has particular benefits for children who may be at risk for placement in special education. Participants included 592 kindergarten children in their second…

Developmental approaches to autism treatment aim to establish strong interpersonal relationships through joint play. These approaches have emerging empirical support; however, there is a need for further research documenting the procedures and demonstrating their effectiveness. This pilot study evaluated changes in parent behavior and child autism…

Self regulation has been identified as essential to school success. However, for a variety of reasons, its development may be compromised in children and youth who are deafblind. A single-case multiple baseline study of a child who was deafblind examined the effects of three groups of evidence-based interventions on variables thought to be…

This pilot study investigated the efficacy of Qigong Sensory Training, a parent-implemented tactile intervention, in improving sensory processing and self-regulation in children with or at-risk for autism who were enrolled in early intervention. A pretest-posttest, single-subject design was implemented with three families. After 5 months, atypical…

Transitional kindergarten--the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for California children born between September 2 and December 2--is intended to better prepare young five-year-olds for kindergarten and ensure a strong start to their educational career. The goal of this study was to measure the success of the program by determining the…

Transitional kindergarten--the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for California children born between September 2 and December 2--is intended to better prepare young five-year-olds for Kindergarten and ensure a strong start to their educational career. The goal of this study was to measure the success of the program by determining the…