We examined maternal and paternal perceptions of social competence in children and adolescents. One hundred forty-seven parents rated scenarios depicting children who varied in age, gender, and social competence. Parents also completed questionnaires assessing the amount of time they spend with their own children, their gender identity, their…

The links between changes in sibling conflict and intimacy and changes in perceived peer social competence and depression symptoms were examined from middle childhood through adolescence. Participants were mothers, fathers and first- and second-born siblings from 197 White, working/middle class, two-parent families. Peer competence peaked in …

Humor is a highly regarded attribute and often forms the basis of childhood friendships. As much humor is visual, children with visual impairment are particularly vulnerable to missing out on this type of development. Recent research indicates that children can be taught to develop their sense of humor. Therefore, children with visual impairment…

More than a decade ago, Asperger syndrome (AS) was added to the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-4th Edition" (DSM-IV) (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1994). Although there is much debate over the differentiation between high-functioning autism (HFA) and AS, social skills deficits are a hallmark of both disorders (Klin, 2000). These…

Play is, by definition, internally motivated, flexible, spontaneous and voluntary. Yet some researchers claim to have taught children with autism to play using behavioural interventions that are heavily structured, repetitive and make use of external reinforcements. In the current systematic review, we examine the extent to which these claims are…

This experiment examined the effects of epistemic vs. relational conflicts on the relationship with a partner. Students participated to a fictitious computer-mediated interaction about a text with a bogus partner who introduced either an epistemic conflict (a conflict that referred to the content of the text), or a relational conflict (a conflict…

A sample of 341 5 1/2-year-old children participating in an ongoing longitudinal study was the focus of a study on the relation between cardiac vagal regulation and peer status. To assess cardiac vagal regulation, resting measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and RSA change (suppression) to 3 cognitively and emotionally challenging tasks…

This 2-year study assessed program-level differences in after-school program (ASP) engagement in relation to child competencies (effectance motivation, social competence, school grades) and program quality and content. Participants were 141 children (M age = 8.4 years) who attended 9 ASPs in an urban, disadvantaged city in the United States.…

Evidence indicates that after-school programs are beneficial to children in the elementary school years, especially when they target more than just problem behaviors, but also focus on a wide range of positive developmental outcomes such as critical thinking, self-awareness and self-confidence (Catalano et al., 2002). The most effective programs…

This dissertation explored the relationships among three variables: meaning, moral reasoning, and diversity competencies. The relationships were examined to attempt explaining two central themes: professional citizenship and otherness leadership. A sampling of graduate students from business and education colleges at a Midwestern public…

Children and youth who reside in economically disadvantaged households and in low-resource, urban neighborhoods are more likely to lose ground in math and reading over the summer than their higher-income peers. Although summer learning programs are a promising strategy for narrowing this achievement gap, surveys indicate that only 25 to 36 percent…

This article provides an overview of each of seven programs evaluated as part of the Social and Character Development Research Program (SACD), a federally-funded multiprogram evaluation project. It further examines the theoretical underpinnings, the teaching strategies employed, the content delivered, modifications made to the implementation or…

Two music programs were developed specifically to meet therapeutic objectives for newly arrived immigrant and refugee students and for adolescent boys in a residential care facility. The author's observations justify further research to establish whether music can support and nurture the social, physical and mental wellbeing of young people,…

The author investigated the role of individual characteristics (self-esteem, social anxiety, and self-reported classroom participation) and peer reactions (peer-perceived shyness, peer nominations) in classroom loneliness in a sample of 704 preadolescent boys (360) and girls (344). It was hypothesized that classroom participation functions as a…

Dr. Pete Anderson, a clinician and professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, entered the life of Anna and her family two years ago. Anna was referred to him because of his clinical research and expertise in pediatric oncology and multimodality therapies. Anna had been diagnosed with metastatic Ewing's Sarcoma, a form of bone…