Potential hazards and dangers of using the token economy approach to behavior change with head injured individuals are identified and it is suggested that the injured person's active awareness of reinforcement contingencies may sometimes be deleterious. (DB)

The article describes Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD), a screening procedure for identifying elementary students at risk for serious behavior disorders. Teacher judgment is the primary information source for the first two screening stages and direct behavioral observations for the third. Results of a year-long SSBD study are…

A 15-lesson social problem-solving training program was developed and implemented with 25 severely disturbed children (ages 7-12). Trained children generated significantly more alternative solutions at posttesting than did matched control youngsters. Gains in the overall number of solutions generated were not accompanied by improvement in the…

Performed factor analysis of 12 subtests of Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability using 286 conduct disordered male adolescents. Analysis yielded three factors: primary verbal ability factor, secondary reasoning factor, and secondary numerical processing factor. Results suggest cautious use of Cognitive Factor cluster scores for diagnosis…

Childhood and adolescent antisocial behavior has been identified as a precursor of alcoholism. Research suggests that substantial numbers of abusers meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for antisocial personality disorder and depression, behaviors symptomatic, respectively, of a disregard for society's rules and of…

Compared child outpatients with diagnoses for both conduct disorder (CD) and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADD/H) with children with CD but no ADD/H. Children with both CD and ADD/H exhibited more physical aggression and a greater variety and severity of antisocial behaviors despite their younger age at time of referral than did…

A conceptual process for organizing behavior management systems for emotionally disturbed or behaviorally disordered youth is described, along with its basis in ecological theory. The three phases of developing policy, gathering information, and developing the management plan are applied to five areas: setting, services, relationships, curricula,…

A two-phase functional analysis of a profoundly retarded 19-year-old male's pica behavior resulted in an effective staff-implemented treatment consisting of limited staff-client interaction and removal of a protective helmet which had previously been prescribed to help control pica. (Author/JW)

The article summarizes research on relationships between low (below metal poisoning) metal exposure and childhood behavior disorders. Symptoms, assessment techniques (hair analysis), and environmental and dietary factors that may increase the risk of metal pollutant exposure are described. School programs emphasizing education and the role of…

Results of a survey of 730 teachers of the behaviorally disordered indicated that 70 percent used timeout procedures as a behavior management strategy, that teachers of younger children used the technique more frequently, and that physical and verbal aggression were the behaviors most frequently resulting in timeout. (Author/DB)

Investigates the relative effects of different combinations of feedback on the time-on-task behavior of two behavior-disordered students. The relationship between academic engaged behavior and performance, assessed by measures of amount completed and accuracy, was also analyzed. Results show that the provision of feedback was most effective in…

The academic performance of 1,480 behaviorally disordered and learning disabled children (grades 1-3) was compared. Results indicated that differences in academic performance between behaviorally disordered and learning disabled students were trivial. The two groups did not differ in factor structure of achievement test performance, nor in…

Critical issues such as unbiased assessment and expected incidence of students with emotional and behavior disorders are addressed in terms of such issues as unbiased assessment. Recommended practices are described in terms of a five-step process to aid in determining eligibility and making placement decisions. (CL)

Addresses the crisis associated with adolescent affective disorders and probes potential genetics, environmental, and physiological factors. Reviews case examples of depression, eating disorders, and suicide among youths. States clinical implications and advocates early diagnosis and treatment. (ML)

School personnel can have a vital role in the early detection and treatment of anorexia nervosa and bulimia by understanding certain signs and symptoms. This article provides specific information about early detection, approaches to use when confronting the student, and methods to facilitate treatment. (Author/DF)