Describes a model for helping parents address their child's sexually inappropriate behavior. The model focuses on: supporting parents and facilitating their ability to accept their child's sexual problems, processing their affective and cognitive reactions, and devising a plan to help parents talk directly with their child about the sexually…

This paper investigates some characteristics of families with disruptive children and depressed mothers, and compares the observed behaviors of disruptive children of depressed and non-depressed mothers. Differences observed suggest that, while children of depressed mothers employed a similar range of disruptive behaviors to other disruptive…

Reviews the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC), a broadband assessment tool. The BASC is designed to measure the behaviors and self-perceptions of children across both maladaptive and adaptive behavior. Each of the five main BASC components is described and evaluated. Concludes that the BASC is a comprehensive and psychometrically…

A study compared the sandplay behavior and pictures of 26 children (ages 10-11) who had experienced sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse and 26 typical children. The children who had experienced abuse had difficulty staying within the boundary of the sandbox, displayed more regressed play, and presented more disorganized pictures. (Author/CR)

Examined preschoolers' beliefs about relationships between effort, interest, and recall; assessed actual effort and recall under different interest levels. Found that children believed recall increases with effort and interest, and that interest influences effort. Children's actual interest influenced effort, but effort was unrelated to recall.…

Interviews with 13 occupational therapists who provide school-based services identified three themes: (1) reframing children's behavior, often with sensory integration theory; (2) supporting the child's psychosocial core and self-image; and (3) collaborating with team members, including parents, to help children achieve life goals. (SK)

A study compared the effects of choice and assignment of preferred/nonpreferred tasks to three students (ages 11-13) with moderate intellectual impairments and challenging behavior in a classroom setting. Results indicate individual participant data were idiosyncratic and choice making failed to produce superior effects for any of the…

Two studies examined whether sustained attention during object exploration reflects more active cognitive processing than do other attention components. One study suggested that length of infants' examining is related to the amount of information to be processed. The other showed infants were less distractible during examining, suggesting that…

This study, based on a socio-constructivist approach, seeks to help children to develop the cognitive processes of decentration and anticipation. Analysis focuses on observation of children's behavior while playing ball in a group and then on the graphic representation of the actions drawn by the children after each play session. (Author/JKP)

Provides classroom techniques to help children develop the skill to pull back from turmoil or stress, evaluate their emotional states, redirect their energy, and find peace in their minds. Activities described include relaxation and breathing games, as well as calming physical activities. (HTH)

Examined the rough-and-tumble play and gender of preferred playmates in three- to eight-year olds with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)--hypothesized to masculinize behaviors that show sex differences--and in unaffected three- to eight-year-old relatives. Found that CAH girls did not exhibit increased levels of masculine behavior when compared…

Examined effects of a reduced-scale play environment on the temporal aspects of complex play behavior. Children playing with playdough in a 7 x 5 x 5-foot structure began complex play more quickly, played in longer segments, and spent slightly more time in complex play than when in full-size conditions, suggesting that scale-reduced environments…

Young children scream throughout their days and for different reasons. They may be hurt, frustrated or simply tired; caregivers can detect the cause of the scream. Several strategies are available for dealing with screamers; the most important approach is respecting the child by acknowledging the emotions behind the scream and helping the child…

Examined whether the mastery-oriented and helpless motivational patterns would be identified in Korean American kindergartners, and whether these patterns would be associated with general beliefs about goodness/badness. Found that Korean American children revealed more vulnerabilities in the face of negative feedback and they had more global,…

Presents a historical overview of the pragmatic and multidisciplinary field of child psychopathology, its origins, evolving trends, and future directions as a supplement to the 1998 edition of Ollendick and Hersen's "Handbook of Child Psychopathology." Follows with a detailed review and evaluation of the handbook, with general…