Much research has been done on the negative effects of divorce on children. Future research should focus on how positive family functioning and support systems can facilitate the development of social, emotional, and intellectual competence in children in single parent families. (Author/GC)

Defines health education and its role in a comprehensive school health program, stressing the role of teachers in health education. For each of four health care content areas (community resources, personal health and hygiene, primary health care, social development), gives a brief lesson plan including concept objectives, content, and activities.…

Discusses foreign language methodologies since World War Two and critiques their objective, of forming near-native speakers. Some less restrictive alternatives are suggested favoring acceptance of diversity and encouraging the social development of the learners. (AMH)

Promotes the effort to amplify the concept of guidance to help children solve social problems. Defines guidance, traces the guidance tradition in early childhood education, examines the present trend toward guidance, explains what guidance is not, and illustrates key practices in classrooms where teachers use guidance. (Author)

Examines new studies of family-level dynamics that explain individual variability in early socioemotional development. Shows that family processes help explain unique variance in conceptually related measures of child development. Reviews studies showing prospective links between family processes during infancy and behavior at age 4, and…

To counter the claim that the values inherent in outdoor education are supported only by weak unsubstantiated assumptions, 14 empirical research projects are described that show that outdoor education has a positive influence on personal and social development and environmental awareness. (TD)

Presents a comparison between service learning and composition, suggesting that both lead toward action and engagement with the social world while presenting possibilities for growth and failure. Describes a first-time service learning participant's experience with a second grader to explain the complicated and constrained position of the service…

Examined relations between children's temperament, ability overestimation, and accidental injuries. Found that watching peer failure on physical tasks was related to conservative ability judgments for same task. Surgency/Undercontrol was related to 6-year-olds' judgment accuracy and to 8-year-olds' decision times. Ability overestimation was…

Research on the communication, language, social, and emotional development of people with autism is reviewed, concerning individuals who either are nonspeaking/limited speaking or use speech as their primary mode of linguistic communication. Research needs for longitudinal studies, investigation of early developmental patterns, and subgroup…

Using a sample of 445 female and 260 male college students, this study investigated the experience and expression of anger and gender, gender role characteristics, and several mental health variables. Gender did not uniquely contribute to the prediction of any of the mental health variables, nor did it moderate the relationships of these variables…

During the 1930s, a worldwide depression created a fear of communism and a "law-and-order" mentality. The 1990s, by contrast, are marked by a social void in which guilt is ascribed to no one. As recent TV commercials show, dispensing reasonable consequences in response to negative actions is viewed as socially backward. Too often,…

Addresses barriers to family and community self-sufficiency. Asserts social workers need to understand the worldviews and values underlying political definitions of self-sufficiency to have a greater influence on social policy. Describes a more appropriate definition of self-sufficiency. Illustrates its usefulness with an example of community…

As state legislators, school boards, and the public at large become more receptive, home-schoolers are gaining access to more resources, including those at public schools. Researchers disagree over home schooling's effects on academic achievement and social development. Home schooling could be an important resource for studying how children learn…

A study involving 639 Chinese gifted students (grades 4-12) found that intense emotional involvement, perfectionism, unchallenging schoolwork, multipotentiality, and parental expectations were relatively common adjustment problems. Poor interpersonal relationships were not. Results also indicated that conventional intelligence increased…

This study modeled physical and psychosocial aspects of home environment and personal characteristics in a cumulative risk heuristic. Found that elevated cumulative risk was associated with heightened cardiovascular and neuroendocrine parameters, increased deposition of body fat, and higher summary index of total allostatic load. Replicated…