Findings support the pattern of independent, additive effects of individual family stressors. There was no evidence that the effects of poor parenting, overt interparental conflict, and family economic hardship exacerbate one another, or that the converse serve as buffers. This model explains more variance in externalizing problem behavior for…

Discusses ways for middle schools to meet the needs of homosexual students, particularly discussing problems these students face with suicide, substance abuse, sexual activity, family, harassment and violence. Considers counseling and curriculum issues and ways to make schools safe and inviting learning environments. Includes a brief resource list…

Examines the association between different measures of academic performance and psychological adjustment for a sample of under-researched Asian/Pacific Islander adolescents from Hawaii. Results support the use of the actual quantification of academic performance (i.e. cumulative grade point average or self reported evaluation) in predicting…

Discusses the lack of literature examining the learning and personal characteristics of students identified as having an emotional/behavioral disability who concurrently exhibit gifted and talented behaviors. This article seeks to develop a profile in the aforementioned population to aid in the identification of, and programming for, individuals…

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 were used to examine factors, such as family and neighborhood environment, associated with carrying a handgun among adolescent males. As expected, results indicated males were more likely than their peers to carry handguns if they engaged in other problematic behaviors, had witnessed someone…

This study posits a relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Impulsive Buying Tendency (IBT). A survey of 574 adolescents found that high-EI adolescents manifested less impulsive behavior than did low-EI adolescents, and high-IBT adolescents were more likely to engage in more impulsive buying behavior than were low-IBT adolescents.…

This study assessed gender differences in cognitive variables as an explanation for gender differences in depression and behavior problems; 856 adolescents (491 females and 365 males), aged 14-17, completed the Irrational Beliefs Scale for Adolescents, the Social Problem Solving Inventory--Revised Short Form, the adolescent version of the Burnett…

Many interventions for children's behavior problems successfully utilize a group format for social skills training, providing opportunities for practice and performance feedback from peers. Recent studies however, suggest that grouping aggressive children together may reduce intervention effectiveness or even increase risk. The present study…

Functional communication training (FCT) is a widely used treatment for individuals with developmental disabilities who exhibit severe behavior problems. One inherent challenge of employing FCT as a treatment in the community is that reinforcement for appropriate communication cannot always be immediate or even possible in some circumstances. Of…

Objective:: The purpose was to identify different operational definitions of maltreatment severity, and then to examine their predictive validity. Method:: Children and their primary caregivers participating in a consortium of ongoing longitudinal studies were interviewed when they were approximately 4 and 8 years of age to assess behavior…

In the current study, we examined the utility of a procedure consisting of noncontingent reinforcement with and without response cost in the treatment of inappropriate vocalizations maintained by automatic reinforcement. Results are discussed in terms of examining the variables that contribute to the effectiveness of response cost as treatment for…

Homophily, a term used to describe the tendency to associate with similar others, serves as a basis for attraction among children. The converse may also be true. Dissimilarity appears to contribute to dislike. In one of the only published studies to examine homophily and its converse, D. W. Nangle, C. A. Erdley, and J. A. Gold (1996) found that…

The Behavioral Approach System (BAS) and Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) are widely studied components of Gray's sensitivity to reinforcement model. There is growing interest in integrating the BAS and BIS into models of risk for psychopathology, however, few measures assess BAS and BIS functioning in children. We adapted a questionnaire…

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is the process of identifying the events in the environment that consistently precede and follow challenging behavior. The use of FBA has increased significantly following the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1997, which mandated FBAs be conducted when children with…

We used functional communication training to teach Bob, a 10-year-old student with autism and severe language delays, to reject items by touching an icon. Our initial assessment revealed that Bob's behaviours serving a rejecting function consisted of pushing away, yelling, bear hugging-grabbing, and leaving. We used prompting, differential…