Presents research from a recently completed study investigating the relationship between college-age offsprings' perceptions of several dimensions of interparental conflict and indicants of adjustment. Analysis revealed that frequency of interparental conflict was the most important predictor of depression, externalizing behavior problems, and…

Social interaction skills are an important part of leisure behavior. Many people with disabilities and/or illness lack adequate social interaction skills and require direct intervention. The article provides a background and explanation of social competence and a listing of commercially available resources for social skills intervention. (SM)

Examines the advice being given to today's college graduating classes in commencement speeches and compares it to that given in early premodern society. It shows how the old advice centered on basic skills and virtues that empowered youth to create an independent and worthy life, but today, youth are mostly getting adults' guilty conscience and…

Contrasts prevailing attitudes with new research that presents a new portrayal of young children's social disposition: children are social and sensitive to the needs of others and take other viewpoints into consideration, aggression is a rare form of conflict resolution, and children negotiate and compromise with peers in the absence of adults at…

This study examined response to treatment with methylphenidate (Ritalin) across 6 measures of cognitive, academic, and social functioning in 71 boys (ages 7-11) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Response ranged from 18 percent to 71 percent across the six measures, suggesting that classifying a child as a responder to methylphenidate…

Twenty-five adolescents with behavioral disorders in residential treatment participated in a 10-week aggression replacement training program. Comparison with 14 controls indicated that treatment affected participants' social skills knowledge but did not impact their observable behavior. (Author/JDD)

Weaknesses in traditional forms of social-emotional curriculum development are identified. In the Data Based Curriculum Project, teachers submit, on a standard reporting form, interventions they have found to be effective in changing student behavior, and forms are duplicated, distributed to each participant, and filed by behavior label. (JDD)

The need for interpersonal skills among educational administrators was examined. Educational administration graduate students were found similar to the general population in attending, empathy, respect, and concreteness. After training of school administrators in interpersonal skills and group management, assessments indicated significant,…

A study with about 280 Southern Illinois University senior medical students found that standardized patients felt male and female examinees generally performed equally well with respect to interpersonal and communication skills, except for female examinees' higher performance in personal manner. Patient gender was not an influence. (Author/MSE)

Relay centers (telephone communication facilities that provide operators to relay messages between people who use regular telephones and those who use Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf) can be turned into learning resources. For example, students' relay calling can build language and social skills, and students can make classroom…

Evaluated effects of procedure to teach appropriate social responses to adolescents with severe disabilities by employing ABA withdrawal design, replicated twice with two students, and AB design with third student. Results showed increases in correct responding and decreases in echolalia following intervention. Generalization of appropriate…

Various client-centered, dynamic, and cognitive/behavioral counseling approaches are suggested for development of greater social awareness and competence, more positive self-esteem, and a more cohesive sense of self in learning-disabled adolescents and adults. Individual case vignettes are offered to explain both the rationale and strategies of…

This study demonstrated the application of mediated learning experience to language assessment of primarily Puerto Rican and African-American children (n=50) in three Head Start classes. Results support the hypothesis that a task matching young children's socialization better differentiates between nondisabled and language-disordered children than…

Adolescents with nonverbal learning disabilities are characterized by poor fine graphomotor skills, poor organization, and inaccurate perceptions of social situations. Effective remedial interventions include training students in study skills, writing skills, organizational skills, and social skills, and in ways to plan, risk, and act on their own…

Maintains that, because social development begins in the early years, it is appropriate for early childhood programs to include periodic formal and informal assessments of children's progress in the acquisition of social competence. A checklist of social attributes for teachers to use in examining children is provided. (BB)