Close relationships among children and adolescents are ordinarily considered to encompass friendliness and fun. Recent studies, however, reveal that many friendships have dark sides consisting of competitiveness, hostility, and conflict. Relationships based on aversion and antipathy may turn out to have major developmental implications, but more…

One in five children living in the United States is an immigrant or a child of an immigrant, and 62% of these children are Latino. Through qualitative methods, this study identifies ways that Latino immigrant parents with adolescent children cope with their new environment and how that environment shapes their parenting practices. Two primary…

In this article, the author presents the 12 benefits of playing as a reference and guide for teachers in helping young children develop their cognitive skills, motor ability, socio-emotional, and academic development during play time. The following 12 benefits are described: (1) Play Enhances Bodily Gracefulness; (2) Play Promotes Social Skills;…

This study was designed to examine whether teacher training facilitates greater conflict resolution strategies and whether conflict resolution training leads to prosocial solutions by preschoolers who are at risk for conflict and violence in their environments. Head Start teachers were trained in a 40-hour college-level course. Teachers were…

The Comprehensive Services Program of Palm Beach County, Florida, was an ambitious and innovative effort to improve the school readiness of low-income children in Palm Beach County by identifying needs early and providing early intervention services to support physical, cognitive, and emotional health and development. Services were delivered to…

This "Call to Action" serves as a reminder that underage drinking has serious social costs and tragic consequences, demonstrating the importance of prevention. Underage alcohol use is not inevitable, and schools, parents, and other adults are not powerless to stop it. The latest research demonstrates a compelling need to address alcohol use early,…

This report describes findings on the quality of the More at Four Program and the outcomes for children during pre-k from two program years: 2003-2004 (year 3) and 2005-2006 (year 5). Separate results for the 2005-2006 cohort are presented to provide a picture of the program in its most recent year of operation as well as results from the 2…

In a world shaped by global competition, preschool education programs play an increasingly vital role in child development and school readiness. There is growing awareness that early learning's impacts persist across children's life spans, affecting educational achievement, adult earning and even crime and delinquency. Preschool education is…

In this paper we evaluate the labour market value of basic skills in the UK, focusing on the wage and employment returns to having better literacy and numeracy skills. We draw on literacy and numeracy assessments undertaken by all cohort members of the UK 1970 British Cohort Study. The data used are very rich and allow us to account for potential…

Success by Ten is a proposed program designed to help every child achieve success in school by age ten. It calls for a major expansion and intensification of Head Start and Early Head Start, so that every disadvantaged child has the opportunity to enroll in a high-quality program of education and care during the first five years of his or her…

Background: Prevalence data are of interest to health professionals and educators to assist in the planning of service delivery, allow for the calculation of the level of impact of intervention, and allow for the consideration of the boundaries between typical development and impairment. Aims: To determine the prevalence of children with…

Adolescent substance abuse is a major public health concern. It is associated with an increased incidence of various psychiatric disorders like depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorders and the relationship between mental and behavioral disorders and the substance use problems seems…

Emotional maltreatment tends to be overshadowed in research and in practice by other forms of maltreatment that present more obvious and explicit evidence and appear to require a more urgent response. This article aims to explore a growing body of research pointing to: (a) ways in which emotional maltreatment may adversely impact upon a child's…

Significant mental health problems can and do occur in young children. In some cases, these problems can have serious consequences for early learning, social competence, and lifelong health. Furthermore, the foundations of many mental health problems that endure through adulthood are established early in life through the interaction of genetic…

The purpose of "Focus" is to provide coverage of poverty-related research, events, and issues, and to acquaint a large audience with the work of the Institute for Research on Poverty by means of short essays on selected pieces of research. This issue features articles drawn from four of the conference papers presented at the September 2007 IRP…