The United States has a higher child mortality rate than most other industrialized countries, but most childhood injuries, although called "accidents," are the result of predictable and preventable behavior. This book demonstrates how teachers, parents, and caregivers can provide and maintain safe environments while teaching children how to avoid…

This practicum identified an inability of staff to facilitate play among students with diverse abilities in an inclusive preschool setting, and presented staff training projects to improve such facilitative skills. Because the staff lacked knowledge regarding play characteristics, functions, and categories needed to provide necessary interventions…

This project involved a program for improving student behavior. The targeted population consisted of second and third grade students in a rural community located west of Chicago, Illinois. Data indicated that behavior problems were disrupting instructional time and students' involvement in learning. The evidence for the existence of the problem…

In response to increasing concern about the mental health of young children, the field of play therapy is expanding rapidly. This book explains the principles of Adlerian therapy and offers step-by-step instructions on how to integrate these concepts and techniques into the practice of play therapy. Ideas are presented on how to build an…

This paper reports on an educational program designed to teach parents about the role of television in their children's lives and to increase use of a family video lending library intended to enhance alertness in students, decrease aggressive behavior, and educate parents. Interviews with professionals and a parent survey indicated that there was…

Father-daughter incest is more traumatic than any other type of child-sexual molestation. This study examines some of the factors which may lead to father-daughter incest. The author divided 40 Caucasian couples into three groups: (1) clinical incest group; (2) clinical non-incest group (to control for clinical status); and (3) non-clinical group.…

Achievement in most academic areas depends on reading. This study examines the relationship between play therapy and reading. Twenty-four first graders from two North Louisiana schools, who were repeating first grade and who had scored lowest on the Gates MacGinite Reading Test (GMRT) and the Stanford Reading Achievement Test the previous year,…

This study collected data on 112 disadvantaged preschoolers in central Indiana to determine predictors of preacademic competence at the end of the Head Start year. Parents were interviewed to assess home educational environment, parenting dimensions, and daily stress factors. Teacher ratings of children's behavior, social skills, and competence in…

The study described in this report was intended to provide researchers with comprehensive, longitudinal baseline data on average children and their families. The study focused on positive growth and development by identifying a national sample of children and families for researchers to study. The children were examined in five main areas: (1)…

This book describes the emergence and early development of pretend play in its sociocultural context. It traces the development of pretend play in nine children growing up within educated, middle-class European-American families. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the social and cultural aspects of pretend play. Chapter 2 describes the children and…

This study investigated the relationship between picture book reading and 15-­month-­old toddlers' behaviors with photographs and books. During a pretest, 15-­month-­olds were presented with one photograph every 15 seconds (i.e., eight photographs in total). Immediately after the pretest, toddlers and their teachers read several short picture…

"Data Trends" reports present summaries of research on mental health services for children and adolescents and their families. The article summarized in this "Data Trends" examines the equivalence of the BPI [Behavior Problem Index] across a sample of African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White children drawn from the…

Policies and proposals to promote marriage have been in the public eye for several years, driven by concern over the large percentages of U.S. children growing up with only one parent. This brief reviews the research evidence on the effects of family structure on children, as well as key trends in family structure over the last few decades. The…

This book presents options for early childhood educators to consider as they make decisions concerning how best to foster the development of children's social competence. The book maintains that social competence is most likely to be acquired and strengthened in an atmosphere of warmest acceptance, respect, and deep faith in the child's capacity…

Substantial numbers of children and adolescents experience symptoms of sadness, dysphoria, and other characteristics associated with depression. The nature of depression in children and adolescents has presented challenges in identification and definition. This chapter reviews research on depression in children and adolescents. Three current…