Drawing on social learning and structural family theories, this study examined connections between young adolescents' experiences with their parents and their best friends. Findings revealed links between European American boys' experiences with their fathers and their best friends and between the nature of the parent-adolescent hierarchy and both…

Examined the relationship between a host of family characteristics and indicators of adolescent competence in 107 eighth and ninth graders in Orissa state, India. Families of more socially competent students tended to be verbally and emotionally expressive, and democratic with respect to discipline, input, and decision making. (SLD)

Assistant principals are jacks-of-all-trades who must be ready for anything. Successful vice-principals build positive relationships, know their role, are good listeners, discover where to get help, maintain their composure, respect parents' feelings, commit to excellence, and learn how to handle stress. (MLH)

Focuses on sociolinguistic competence--the ability to produce and understand the appropriate remark at the appropriate time--particularly language variability and how teachers often deal with it in instruction. Highlights linguistic variables, teacher-talk characteristics, and rate of speech. (Author/VWL)

Effective superintendents recognize three key management precepts and their hidden rules. Administrators should avoid mixing emotion and logic, attending to detractors' emotional needs before presenting a differing viewpoint. They should be graceful under pressure, expect the unexpected, and build coalitions gradually, mindful of all community…

This article reviews experiments that do not demonstrate the existence of setting events and some that include appropriate procedures for investigating setting events. It considers setting events to be a fourth term of an operant, and suggests that precise measurement and control of the three-term contingency is necessary. (Author/CR)

Forty-eight mothers were asked to instruct their preterm and full-term 24-month-old children to sort blocks according to size and color. Dyads were observed for their ability to find a mutual and stable instructional relationship. Children later identified as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were in dyads marked by significantly…

This article explains the operational conceptualizations of emotional intelligence, the benefits of emotional intelligence, and consequences of ignoring emotional intelligence. The roles of general and special educators in developing such intelligence in students with behavior problems are discussed, and an inclusive model for building emotional…

Studied the mechanisms by which social competence may be associated with substance use during early adolescence in a sample of 1,568 rural junior high school students. Structural equation modeling indicated that social competence had a direct protective association with substance use. Discusses mediating factors. (SLD)

This article reviews research conducted by the author and colleagues over a 27-year period on enhancement of peer-related social skills in young children with behavioral disorders or autism. It argues that a logical positivist approach has yielded significant quality-of-life benefits to participants while effectively challenging many outdated…

Surveyed urban high school seniors regarding the balance between civility and incivility. Students were more polite than rude toward teachers (though they cursed frequently); more polite toward teachers than students; much more likely to curse around students than teachers; and, in their own opinions, capable of being polite or crude. Cursing at…

With data from 444 civil service employees, a model was developed to weight individual and occupational characteristics in order to assign employees to interpersonal or technical skills training. Age, gender, education, management level, and job tenure were significant variables associated with each type of training. (Contains 56 references.) (SK)

Assessed friendships among Head Start preschoolers. Found that older children were more likely than younger children to participate in a reciprocated friendship, and reciprocated dyads were more likely to be same-gender than were nonreciprocated dyads. Reciprocated friends interacted more frequently and looked at each other more than…

Assessed the effects of an intervention conducted within a sport context on the pro-social and antisocial behaviors of adolescent males with disruptive behavior disorders. Data from participant videotapes and interviews and therapist surveys indicated the intervention might have had a limited effect on adolescents' pro-social behavior, though it…

Study examined factors associated with symptoms of depression in female adolescents. Specifically, the relationship between theoretically related measures-separation-individuation; interpersonal concerns; attachment style; parental representations-and symptoms of depression was investigated. The model developed explained interrelationships of…