The Child Behavior Rating Form (CBRF) was adapted for use with children having mental retardation and was named the Nisonger CBRF. Independent factor analyses of parent and teacher ratings for 369 children produced 2 Social Competence subscales and 6 Problem Behavior subscales. Internal consistency was generally high and parent-teacher agreement…

Using interview data from 241 single African American mothers and their seventh- and eighth-grade children, this study tested a model of how 2 economic stressors, maternal unemployment and work interruption, influenced adolescent socioemotional functioning. Found that current unemployment, but not past work interruption, contributed to depressive…

Outlines strategies for dealing with campers who have difficult behavior and includes examples in which camp staff were unaware of a camper's emotional or behavior problem. Case studies involve a camper with a learning disability and a camper who had been sexually abused by a teacher. Includes guidelines for establishing behavior agreements. (LP)

Discusses research and theory of play in children's development and factors reducing the amount of play time children experience. Surveyed teachers' attitudes toward play, and provision of play for children in grades one through six. Teachers from rural areas provided more play time than teachers from suburban areas, who in turn provided more play…

Details a study evaluating the construct and concurrent validity of a modified version of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS), a teacher-rating instrument of interactive play behaviors of preschool children. Use and further study of developmentally appropriate social competencies for African-American Head Start children are discussed.…

Examines the emotional development of preschoolers, including the issues of emotional expression, emotional understanding, regulation of emotions, developmental significance, and the role of the caregiver-child relationship. Finds that caregivers influence the emotional development of children as they model, coach, and respond to children.…

Summarizes the main debate points on the issue and nature of bullies and bullying, and clarifies unresolved issues concerning the nature and limits of social competence values. Argues that variations in children's emotion processes may underlie some individual differences that have been found in empathy, social information processing, and reactive…

Highlights the strengths of the Halberstadt et al. contribution to the literature on social-emotional development. Discusses three issues relating to their model: (1) the inseparability of cognitive representation in both emotional and social functioning; (2) the role played by context; and (3) the significance of goals in any construct involving…

Questions the rising incidence of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) diagnosis in the United States. Suggests that AD/HD is a socially constructed phenomenon rather than biologically based. Urges educators, medical personnel, and parents to take a holistic view of each child, with a serious examination of the wide range of causation…

With an increasing array of problems affecting children in the home, schools are facing a vast array of behavioral and emotional concerns affecting childhood behavior. Yet, many school-based mental health professionals lack the knowledge to provide direct interventions. This article examines contemporary problems facing families, considers the…

Examines the influence of family educational practices on the interaction and communication competencies of 4-year-old children. Shows that sociocultural contexts interact with family educational concepts and practices to influence the development of self-representations and the capacity for oral and written communication. Finds that specific…

Discusses the following six strategies for using positive discipline in the classroom: (1) develop appropriate limits; (2) teach expected behavior; (3) give cues for expected behaviors; (4) redirect behavior; (5) change situations by increasing options; and (6) change situations by decreasing options. Contrasts different caregiving styles and…

Objectives:: To understand the features of child abuse/neglect (CA/N) allegations in cases with emotional maltreatment (EMT) allegations, as well as the features of the EMT allegations themselves, and to describe any associations of EMT with distinct impairments of children's behavior, emotion and functioning. Method:: The sample consisted of 806…

This article reports the results of an in-depth, descriptive study of long-term welfare recipients. A random sample of 284 respondents, all of whom had received public assistance for at least 36 months, were interviewed. Results illustrate personal barriers to self-sufficiency, including physical health problems that prevent work, severe domestic…

Sixty-four Japanese mothers of 3- to 6-year-olds were interviewed concerning their conceptions of children's areas of personal control. Mothers granted children choices regarding recreational activities, clothes, and friends to foster autonomy and competence, but they set limits around daily routines, recreational activities, and interpersonal…