This study examined the role of low social preference in relation to subsequent depressive symptoms, with particular attention to prior depressive symptoms, prior and concurrent aggression, mutual friendships, and peer victimization. Italian children (N = 288) were followed from grade 6 through grade 8, and American children (N = 585) were…

This study evaluates the impact of a school-based intervention program on aggressive behavior among junior high school students in Japan. One hundred and four seventh-graders were enrolled in the program and completed Time 1, Time 2, and Time 3 surveys. The program was implemented in two classes between Time 1 and Time 2 surveys (the first…

Child health and well-being are intrinsically important and also contribute to a healthy, productive adolescence and adulthood. Parents can play an important role in helping their children acquire or strengthen the behaviors, skills, attitudes, and motivation that promote physical and mental health and overall well-being in childhood, adolescence…

With passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1990, autism was recognized as a distinct special education category. Subsequently, there has been a steady increase in the number of students qualified in the schools to receive special education services under this category. There are a number of questions as to the types of…

In South Africa little research has been conducted into bullying and particularly into South African educators' experiences of school bullying. In an attempt to address this hiatus in the literature on bullying, I report on an investigation into Free State educators' experiences and recognition of school bullying. The research instrument was an…

Highly practical and accessible, this is an indispensable resource for any mental health practitioner working with adolescents at risk for violent behavior. Presented is a comprehensive framework for evaluating justice-involved youth or those whose behavior in school, therapy sessions, or other contexts raises concern about violence. Detailed case…

To date there are more than one dozen studies that validate the use of Social Stories[TM] as an effective behavioral intervention. Many of these studies focused on decreasing inappropriate behaviors (e.g., aggression, screaming, and grabbing toys), and most combined Social Stories with another intervention. The present study used a multiple…

Participants in this study were 66 British toddlers who were observed at home with familiar peers on two occasions, six months apart. The majority of toddlers spoke to their peers, with short sequences of conversation emerging after the age of 24 months. The use of possessive pronouns emerged between 18 and 24 months of age and consolidated over…

This study investigated the relationship between preschool children's social-cognitive abilities (theory of mind and social information processing; SIP) and their observed physical and relational aggressive behaviour. Children with more advanced social-cognitive abilities engaged in fewer acts of physical aggression; however, much of the ability…

We examined whether mother-child discrepancies in perceived child behavior problems relate to dysfunctional interactions between mother and child and stress in the mother. Participants included 239 children (6-16 years old; 58 girls, 181 boys) referred for oppositional, aggressive, and antisocial behavior, and their mothers. Mother-child…

We explored relationships between violent behaviors and perceived life satisfaction among 2,138 middle school students in a southern state using the CDC Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (MSYRBS) and the Brief Multidimensional Student Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS). Logistic regression analyses and multivariate models constructed…

Background: Despite findings that parent depression increases children's risk for internalizing and externalizing problems, little is known about other factors that combine with parent depression to contribute to behavior problems. Methods: As part of a longitudinal, interdisciplinary study on childhood-onset depression (COD), we examined the…

Occasions where children oppose each other have been claimed to convey intellectual benefits through their association with justification and resolution. They have been claimed to promote social rejection through their association with aggression. Because it is inconceivable that intellectual benefits imply social costs, either the relation…

This study investigated the entry behavior and temperamental characteristics of aggressive/rejected and nonaggressive/popular kindergarten and first-grade children. An analog entry situation was used to assess children's entry skills. Aggressive/rejected children had more difficulty than nonaggressive/popular children delivering their entry bids…

Interventions that mobilize the parents to coach and reinforce their children's social skills have been shown to improve children's social functioning and decrease inappropriate social behaviors in the home and at school. However, few studies have examined whether these treatment outcomes can be successfully transferred from the research to the…