Examines the literature on the relationship between educational deficit and various risk and protective factors: history of abuse or neglect, foster placement, child age, and environmental conditions. Findings suggest interventions with preschoolers that focus on strengthening children's socioemotional competencies and differentiate between needs…

Dyad interactions of three kindergartners with deafness or hearing impairment were analyzed. Results suggest that subjects were less successful at initiations than nondisabled children, but the success of the initiations may depend on number of children involved, accompaniment of actions and/or gestures with spoken or signed communication, and…

Surveys the literature on the importance of social skills acquisition. Cites factors that influence social competence formation, including parental characteristics and quality of preschool care or interventions. Suggests that students lacking social competence risk peer rejection, academic failure, and later social and emotional problems. Includes…

Relationships were examined between measures of shyness and self-esteem for 53 preschool children. Shyness was negatively related to a self-esteem rating and to a measure of the child's expectations of self-efficacy in performing motor tasks. Continued attention to early shyness in empirical, theoretical, and practical work is suggested. (Author)

Discusses the effects of gender segregation, which emerges in early childhood, on later adolescent and adult relationships. Suggests that communication and power relations in male-female relationships are likely to be influenced by gender differences in social norms. Provides recommendations for parents and teachers interested in encouraging…

Suggests that models of parenting style, such as Baumrind's popular model, are insensitive to variations in parenting resulting from characteristics of the different situations in which the parenting is expressed. Argues that considering parenting in context adds greater specificity to the model and enhances the potential for predicting child…

Cooperative learning groups were used to integrate two students with autism into a fourth-grade social studies class. Academic performance, academic engagement, peer interactions, and social and behavioral skills were assessed. Benefits were noted both for the target students and their peers for academic outcomes and social interactions. (SW)

Addresses difficulties that campers with attention deficit disorder experience at camp, including respecting the personal space and belongings of other campers and sustaining attention during play activities. Stresses the importance of communication among the child's physician, the camp staff, the camper, and parents concerning medications and…

Children ages 3 to 5 were tested for their cognitive style (field dependence independence) and their play behaviors were observed and recorded. Results suggest that recognition of distinct play elements that have strong relationships with cognitive style can motivate and guide the development of optimal environments for young children's play and…

Examined adolescents' verbal and nonverbal behavior in 30 female-male dyads. All behaviors were coded. Analysis of videotaped interactions revealed more similarities between girls and boys than differences, although gender distinctions were evident in speaking time and in smiling. Results focus on developmental and contextual accounts of…

Examined several hypotheses concerning heavy drinking and marital violence. Subjects, 320 married and cohabiting men who participated in a nationally representative study of alcohol consumption, completed scales assessing hostility, self-consciousness, marital satisfaction, and the Alcohol Dependence Scale. Results indicated that alcohol use was…

Presents two studies that examined the component structure of the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) in unmarried college students. In Study 1, analyses revealed a four-component solution. For Study 2, the samples' component solution was consistent with those found in earlier studies of the CTS with married samples. Implications are discussed. (RJM)

Views school readiness as an ideological issue affecting American society and dominated by middle-class white values, which results in different treatment for middle-class students and "deficient students." Advocates moving away from a two-tiered system of education and toward a more democratic form of schooling that recognizes multiple…

Offers strategies to help camp counselors identify and effectively communicate their job skills (particularly interpersonal skills) to future employers. Addresses how to present one's skills through a resume, cover letter, and job interview. Discusses the employment value of camp experiences. Includes sample resume. (LP)

Home observations recorded how 33-month-old younger siblings act as third-party interveners in family disputes. Disputes usually involved house rules when mother was absent. Children who supported elder siblings had more harmonious sibling relationships than those who did not support their siblings. Results demonstrate ways in which children are…