Despite public recognition of the hazards of 21st birthday drinking, there is little empirical information concerning its prevalence, severity, and risk factors. Data from a sample of 2,518 college students suggest that 21st birthday drinking poses an extreme danger: (a) 4 of every 5 participants (83%) reported drinking to celebrate, (b) birthday…

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) involves exaggerated or excessive worry about threatening and non-threatening stimuli coupled with impairing rituals believed to reduce anxiety. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are characterized by impairment in social and communicative activities as well as restricted and repetitive behaviors. Approximately 2%…

A supportive peer group management program for behaviorally disordered students is described. Children learn to confront one another about problems in a helpful, structured way. A generic problem list based on actual classroom experiences is composed of such elements as aggravation, hurting, lying, and disrespect for self and others. Children are…

Behavioral systems family counseling is reviewed. A project to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment program is described. Results of treatment for ten participating families are compared with a control group and discussed. (MT)

Excessive use of six obscene words by two adolescents in a resource classroom was reduced using social reinforcement of low rates of behavior and a response cost procedure. Both procedures were effective in reducing swearing in both students and produced short-term maintenance of effects. (Author/CL)

When the effectiveness and mortality-morbidity of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are compared with those of drug therapies, it appears that ECT is an effective and preferred treatment strategy. It remains underutilized as a modality of suicide prevention. Addresses controversies that presently limit the use of this treatment. (Author/ABB)

The article presents the position of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders regarding replacing the term "seriously emotionally disturbed" with "behaviorally disordered." The rationale for such a change is outlined and concerns about it are answered. (CL)

Presents findings on relationship of childhood firestarting and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-III) diagnosis in representative sample of child psychiatric outpatients (N=204). Childhood firesetting and DSM-III diagnosis of conduct disorder were strongly related; they showed significant interaction with lessened…

An analysis of articles in the first 10 volumes of Behavioral Disorders indicated that a large number of articles addressed functioning of elementary aged students. Less widely described were preschool, autistic, or schizophrenic-like students. A consistently increasing linear trend was found in percentage of databased articles and of higher…

Results of a study involving five elementary behavior disordered students indicated that both silent reading of and listening to systematic previewed procedures were related to higher performance levels than when no previewing was provided. In addition, the listening procedure was differentially related to higher rates of words read correctly than…

Upon reading vignettes portraying a student's sibling as behavior disordered (BD), 64 special education teachers were asked to recommend placement for the student. Ss indicated that a BD placement was more appropriate for the student with a disturbed sibling than for an identically described student with a nonhandicapped sibling. (CL)

A problem-solving conference used in self-contained classes for behavior disordered high schoolers is intended to provide a structure for handling conflicts and disagreements. Conferences may be called by students or staff members and are designed to produce workable plans of action. The approach develops interdependence, trust, and…

Previous methods of classifying motives for firesetting into categories such as "revenge" and "excitement" have been criticized for their failure to reflect the heterogeneity of firesetting. In this study, 17 young firesetters were interviewed. In keeping with previous studies, six distinct groups emerged. Implications for…

Decreased serotonin function has consistently been shown to be highly correlated with impulsive aggression across a number of different experimental paradigms. Such lowered serotonergic indices appear to correlate with the dimension of aggression dyscontrol and/or impulsivity rather than with psychiatric diagnostic categories per se. Implications…

This commentary critiques two papers by Curt Sandman, pointing out interpretive problems in models explaining self-injurious behavior in terms of opioids. Withdrawal effects are emphasized as an alternative to hypotheses asserting congenital opioid excess as a cause of sensory depression or an addiction to a relative excess of opioid activity in…