A growing literature points to the importance of children's relationships with their teachers as a factor influencing attitudinal, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of school adjustment. However, such data may be confounded when the same teacher rates school adjustment as well as relationship quality. The present study sought to address this…

The Children-of-Twins design was used to test whether associations between marital conflict frequency and conduct problems can be replicated within the children of discordant twin pairs. A sample of 2,051 children (age 14-39 years) of 1,045 twins was used to estimate the genetic and environmental influences on marital conflict and determine…

This study examined both the frequency and type of noncompliant behavior in 14 boys with co-occurring Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant (OD) behavior, 24 boys with only ADHD, and 33 nonproblem boys. Mothers rated boys' noncompliant behavior on the Response Style Questionnaire (RSQ) and observers coded…

Children with autism are able to show secure attachment behaviours to their parents/caregivers. Most studies on attachment in children with autism used a (modified) Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) to examine attachment security. An advantage of the Attachment Q-Sort (AQS) over the SSP is that it can be attuned to the secure-base behaviour of…

Parents are the key to improving youth sports for everyone. This self-test is provided to see if they are doing all they can to keep their children active in sports and receiving the benefits of sports participation. A list of resources is included.

Children (n=28) who were given books as babies and followed up at age 3 were compared to 29 who received no books. The treatment group had substantially greater participation in eight early literacy activities. Controls were more passive, less interested, and less able to sustain concentration. (SK)

A parent-report questionnaire, the Child Routines Inventory (CRI), was administered to 1,492 parents with children between 8 and 72 months of age. Results indicated that frequency of compulsive-like behaviors is more common among 2-, 3- and 4-year olds than among children younger than 1 year or over 4 years of age. Findings are relevant to a…

Based on observation of 94 kindergartners and preschoolers for 3 months, this study examined changes in preschoolers' tendencies to play alone as a function of dispositional negative emotional intensity (DNEI) and changes in expressed negative emotions. Findings indicated higher emotional intensity, increased solitary play, and decreased…

Identified behaviors young children associate with friendship and compared those behaviors to what adults in an enduring friendship recall about beginnings of their friendships. Findings support past research that children's understanding of friendship evolves from concrete, behavioral relationships based on sharing material goods and pleasurable…

Explores adults' judgments of competent and dysfunctional children's behavioral adjustment based solely on children's physical appearance. Results, based on adults rating 12 photographs of preschoolers, indicate that dysfunctional children were easily distinguished from their competent peers. Dysfunctional children were rated as less attractive,…

Prosocial behavior requires both conceptual and motivational components. A full account of the development of prosocial behavior requires attention to the acquisition of both theory of mind and the tendency to organize action toward the interests of others and the future self. (Contains 2 tables.)

Parents need to remember that crying is the first method of communication for children younger than 5 or 6. It is their way of getting attention. While it isn't easy for new parents to interpret their baby's cries, most learn to distinguish the "I am hungry--feed me" cry from the "My tummy hurts" or the "I am just fussy and bored" cry. This…

This article explores the legacy of Adlerian approaches to behaviour. Mike Blamires offers an opportunity to consider the impact of Adler's premise that education is fundamentally about encouragement and the promotion of democratic principles. In so doing he challenges us to interrogate the term "behaviour management", and its current use by…

Mounting evidence concerning obsessive-compulsive disorders points to abnormal functioning of the orbitofrontal cortices. First, patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) perform poorly on tasks that rely on response suppression/motor inhibition functions mediated by the orbitofrontal cortex relative to both normal and clinical controls.…

A 1"-grader entered the health room at Wayside Elementary School in Potomac, Md., with an odd complaint."I feel bloated," the boy reported to Diane Arkin, a health aide.Arkin, trying to keep a straight face, asked the 6-year-old, "What does bloated feel like?"He thought for a second. "It feels like I'm 51 ."(Source: Bulletin, Montgomery County,…