This column summarizes recent ERIC documents and journal articles, and highlights some World Wide Web resources, that discuss issues related to the problem of children biting in preschool. (Contains 13 annotated summaries.) (SD)

Examined how children behave differently with friends and non-friends. Engaged 123 triads of target children, friends, and unacquainted peers in free-play and planning tasks. Found that children behaved more positively but also exhibited more negative behavior with friends than with non-friends. (KK)

Studies whether parental monitoring differs across two-parent biological families, stepmother families, and stepfather families. Two-parent biological families were hypothesized to have higher levels of monitoring than stepparent families. Controlling for demographic differences, two-parent biological families showed higher levels of monitoring…

Parent training is often used to treat non-compliance and social problems in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The current study directly examines changes in hyperactivity and inattentiveness in 3 girls whose parents participated in a parent training intervention. Findings suggest that parent training programs may narrowly focus on overt…

Compares compliance rates to two sets of commands derived from research in child noncompliance: easy motor commands and difficult motor commands. Results show a clear difference in the natural rates of compliance to different types of one-step commands, suggesting that even subtle differences in commands affect response rates. (LKS)

Many agencies provide parent training to groups for whom spanking as a response to timeout escape is not an option. An alternative was developed, the "two-chair hold" technique, which showed some success in decreasing timeout escape and improving overall behavior. Discusses clinical issues regarding use of this technique. (LKS)

Examined playground use of six- to 12-year-olds with behavior problems. Found that play structures encouraged solitary motor activity and that social play concentrated in areas without equipment. Children with better social skills played in more playground areas than aggressive or withdrawn children. Negative moods were related to playing in…

Reviews developmental sexual behavior of young children; intense preoccupation with sex is the most universal indicator of sexual abuse in children. School counselors are called upon to play a critical and unique role, including setting standards of practice for recording, referring, and coordinating cases. (Author/JDM)

Discusses the best ways to deal with campers' homesickness and ways to prevent its onset. A definition of homesickness is given, and physical and behavioral characteristics of homesick campers are listed. Preventive measures include ice-breakers, establishing ground rules, and keeping campers busy. Setting goals with the camper and giving some…

Examined 4- and 5-year-old preschoolers' responses to hypothetical scenarios in which their mothers and preschool teachers issued opposing commands. Found that children's responses were affected by different factors depending on where the questioning took place: at home or at their child care centers. (JPB)

Examined associations between mothers' and trained observers' Attachment Q-Set (AQS) sorts for preschoolers and assessed mother-observer concordance in relation to observers' confidence about how representative the behavior they witnessed was of the domain of AQS items. Found that mothers' and observers' sorts were significantly intercorrelated;…

Assessed behavior and emotion regulation strategies of developmentally delayed and nondelayed young boys. Compared to nondelayed children, delayed children were equally able to understand others' play themes but were more intrusive in their entry attempts; appeared to have less effective emotion regulation strategies for coping with entry failure;…

Addresses the concept of "play as a child's work," from the viewpoints of Montessori, Freud, and Piaget. Contends that children's play: (1) like adult play, may be individual or social; (2) has immediate value for the child as a way of expressing feelings; and (3) is a healthy counterpoise to work. (SD)

Objective: The percentage of children with clinical levels of internalizing and externalizing problems before and after maternal death from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome was contrasted with two comparison groups: children whose mothers were human immunodeficiency virus infected but continued to live and children whose mothers were not…

Objective: To examine the association of psychiatric symptoms with migraine and tension-type headache in children. Method: A questionnaire completed by 1,135 Finnish children in the sixth grade identified 154 children with migraine, 138 with tension-type headache, and 407 children who were headache-free. Seventy children were randomly selected…