The present study used hierarchical linear modeling to examine predictors of students' emotional and behavioral difficulties in preschool classrooms. Specifically, the study examined (a) the link between teachers' perceptions of their own emotional intelligence and students' emotional and behavioral difficulties, (b) the link between teachers'…

Research Findings: Despite it being a widely accepted measure of social, emotional, and behavioral problems among children and young people, the factor structure underlying the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is contested. Recent research has suggested a need to consider methodological bias in the SDQ, associated with the positive…

High-quality early childhood education is a vital experience for young children with and without disabilities. Social and communication experiences in the context of play represent a core curriculum that sets a foundation for later learning and participation. Using a new self-report instrument, this article describes data collected in a…

Objectives: The effects of iPod-based visual activity schedules with embedded video models (video-enhanced activity schedules) on the academic skills and challenging behavior of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were evaluated. Methods: A multiple baseline design across three target skills was used with two participants, ages 9 and 11,…

We examined children's task engagement during a challenging puzzle task in the presence of their primary caregivers by using a representative sample of rural children from six high-poverty counties across two states. Weighted longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to identify a task engagement factor…

As the prevalence of children diagnosed with autism continues to rise, the need for high quality parent coaching practices to ensure generalization of skills targeting in early intervention services is pronounced. This mixed methods study investigated the results of implementation of a parent coaching treatment package developed in alignment with…

In this study, we investigated the contribution of inhibition and maternal socialisation of children's fear to observed emotion regulation during a fear induction. Fifty-three parent-child dyads (M[subscript age]?=?3.76 years) participated. Parents completed a series of questionnaires, and parent-child dyads were observed during a fear…

The parent-teacher agreement has become an important issue of children's psychological assessment. However, the amount of research available for preschool children is small and mainly based on one index of agreement with samples of modest size/representativeness. This study examined parent-teacher agreement (correlations) and discrepancies (t…

This research study focused on the use of a garden group counseling intervention to address the self-esteem of children with emotional and behavioral problems. The researchers found higher self-esteem among participants (N = 31) following the gardening group. Additionally, participants discussed feeling calm and happy and learning to working…

Background: Despite small- and wide-scale prevention efforts to curb obesity, the percentage of children classified as overweight and obese has remained relatively consistent in the last decade. As school personnel are increasingly pressured to enhance student performance, many educators use food as a reward to motivate and reinforce positive…

Background: Recent studies have suggested that teachers' psychological attributes can be an indicator of teacher quality (Rimm-Kaufman and Hamre in "Dev Psychol" 45(4):958-972. doi: 10.1037/a0015861 , 2010), and teachers' child-centered beliefs have been associated with children's academic achievement (Burchinal and Cryer in "Early…

In educational contexts there are few topics that receive as much attention from adults as children's behaviour that is seen as challenging. Challenging behaviour has been a topic in many disciplines, such as education, child psychiatry, psychology and special education. Along with the definition of challenging behaviour, we can read about social…

Background: The Autism Detection in Early Childhood (ADEC) is a clinician-administered, Level 2 screening tool. A retrospective file audit was used to investigate its clinical effectiveness. Method: Toddlers referred to an Australian child development service between 2008 and 2010 (N = 53, M age = 32.2 months) were screened with the ADEC. Their…

We conducted a randomized controlled potential efficacy trial to examine effects of two variants of the Tools for Teachers (TfT) professional development (PD) intervention on preschool teachers' implementation of embedded instruction practices and children's developmental and learning outcomes. Thirty-six preschool teachers recruited from three…

One-quarter of the Head Start population has a mother who participated in the program as a child. This study uses experimental Head Start Impact Study (HSIS) data on 3- and 4-year-olds (N = 2,849) to describe multigenerational Head Start families and their program experiences. In sharp contrast to full-sample HSIS findings, Head Start has large,…