The author surveyed 788 undergraduates at a large public university (overall response rate 54%) to (1) estimate the proportion of college students who cease engaging in a pattern of episodic heavy drinking (EHD) and (2) identify individual and contextual factors associated with early cessation. He used a staging algorithm to classify respondents…

Objective: To evaluate an intervention aimed at increasing family physical activity and parent education about diet and activity for kindergarten students and issues related to their children's BMI. Methods: A randomized, controlled trial design was used to assess intervention impact in parental report of child diet and physical activity, and step…

Introduction: Depression is frequently unrecognized and undertreated. Therefore, there is a need to increase the knowledge and skills of primary care physicians regarding management of depression. The aim of this study was to determine if a brief educational intervention can affect family physicians' knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of…

Participation in a health promotion program for 192 overweight and obese adults with mental retardation was associated with behavior change resulting in reduction of body mass index--BMI (weight in kg, divided by height in meters, squared) by the end of the program. We analyzed the mediating and intermediate factors contributing to weight…

Although many psychopharmacologic treatments and behavioral or cognitive behavioral interventions have been established as evidence-based practices, they have seldom been directly compared to one another as to outcome in children with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). In this paper, we present findings from 6 recent randomized clinical…

Previous research has shown that stimulus preference assessments based on caregiver-opinion did not coincide with results of a more systematic method of assessing reinforcing value unless stimuli that were assessed to represent preferences were also preferred on paired stimulus presentation format, and that the relative preference based on the…

When you examine your assumptions about teaching and learning, you may find the barriers to greater achievement aren't what you thought they were. You can learn to be a better leader and understand how one individual can make a difference if you choose to recognize that change begins with you.

The question of what to do with aggressive students has plagued schools since mandatory attendance laws were passed. At the present time, many practitioners are using tactics for aggressive students that may not effectively remediate the problem, and research and practice do not seem to be in harmony regarding disciplinary options for aggressive…

In a recent randomized field trial, Ellickson et al. found the Project ALERT drug prevention curriculum curbed alcohol misuse and tobacco and marijuana use among eighth-grade adolescents. This article reports effects among ninth-grade at-risk adolescents. Comparisons between at-risk girls in ALERT Plus schools (basic curriculum extended to ninth…

This article makes the case that current conceptions of sexual health literacy have limited relevance to the Ugandan context because they assume that knowledge of unsafe sexual practices will lead to changes in behavior and lifestyle. Drawing on a longitudinal case study with 15 Ugandan schoolgirls in rural Uganda from August 2004 to September…

A study was conducted to determine whether long-term residential therapeutic wilderness programming best serves males or females. The Hope Center Wilderness Programs in east Texas use a reality therapy-based peer group culture. Forty emotionally disturbed and juvenile delinquent youths were surveyed, 20 of each gender. On an 11-item questionnaire,…

The effects of teaching mothers to imitate their young children during play sessions were studied with children (18 to 36 months old) who exhibited developmental delays in cognition, gross/fine motor skills, speech/language, self-help, and social skills. Mothers were taught to imitate, through providing a description of verbal and nonverbal…

Practical suggestions are offered for parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for managing the behavior of their children through the use of positive and negative consequences. Suggestions focus on the child getting up in the morning, getting ready for school, homework, chores, dinner time, free time, bed time,…

A program was developed to improve auditory and visual stimulation and responsiveness for seven elementary school students (ages 6-7) who had severe/profound mental retardation and multiple disabilities. After initial observation, consultation, and assessment of the students, the 12-week intervention program involved auditory, tactile, and visual…

This book presents group activities that use metaphors to enhance learning for participants in adventure-based programs. The first chapter provides an overview of approaches to facilitating adventure experiences, including letting the experience speak for itself, speaking for the experience, debriefing the experience, directly frontloading the…