Three peer caregivers with moderate mental retardation worked to improve the occupation level of a passive man with profound mental retardation. The peer caregivers carried out meaningful activities with the trainee for 15-minute periods. The trainee received social reinforcement; the caregivers received tangible reinforcement. Use of multiple…

A cross-validation study is reported in which personality and cognitive ability variables were evaluated as predictors of 2 separate performance criteria for 450 Master of Business Administration students. Personality variables are found to be related to academic success when characteristic modes of behavior play a role in academic performance.…

Girls who had been sexually abused (n=68) or had alleged being sexually abused (n=68) exhibited sleep problems, fearfulness, emotional and behavioral changes, concentration problems, and sexual curiosity and knowledge. Girls known to have been abused were more self-conscious, fearful of being left alone, and had more nightmares than the allegedly…

Of 100 child psychiatric inpatients (ages 6-12), those who reported externalizing their anger rated their families significantly lower on accord and reported poorer social support, whereas children who reported holding in their anger rated their families higher on pride and cohesiveness and reported more available social support. (Author/JDD)

Examination of staff responses to problem behaviors in three community-based group homes found that staff tended to rely heavily on verbal approaches to address problem behavior of people with intellectual disability, using other strategies only when the initial response failed. Findings suggest that staff behavior is negatively reinforced by the…

A national survey of 81 master's programs in social work investigated the situations or behaviors that led them to develop policies for nonacademic student termination. Results are presented concerning the most common problem behaviors reported and analysis of the programs' policy and procedure documents. Recommendations are made based on these…

Describes how adventure therapy can be adapted to help individuals suffering from bulimia develop effective coping mechanisms, increase self-esteem, and gain appreciation for their bodies. Goal is for participants to recognize compulsive behavior in relation to their attitudes and to understand underlying processes that lead to those behaviors and…

Seventy-five 4-, 6-, and 8-year olds participated in a study examining the relationship between children's awareness and use of strategies for self-control. Knowledge of strategies was more highly correlated with process than with performance, and the relationship between knowledge about strategies and actual performance increased with age. (AA)

Results of an analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) with 440 classrooms and 10,000 students over 4 years indicated that D.A.R.E. participation resulted in greater self-esteem, stronger institutional bonds, and endorsement of fewer risky behaviors. Program effects counteracted the negative effects…

A fluency therapy process for adolescents who stutter is described and illustrated by a case history that applies a four-stage process for structuring, targeting, adjusting, and regulating behaviors. The affective, behavioral, and cognitive components of fluency are considered, along with behavior techniques for eliciting a feeling of fluency…

A random telephone survey of 1,004 households in the Washington, DC, area found that alcohol use and alcohol-impaired driving, in particular, were seen as a serious problem by over 80% of the respondents. Strong support was found for legal sanctions against underage alcohol use. (SLD)

This paper summarizes brief functional assessments of 79 cases of people with developmental disabilities and self-injurious, aggressive, stereotypic, or other aberrant behavior. Outcomes were evaluated across three variables: (1) referring topography, (2) control over behavior, and (3) the identified maintaining conditions for aberrant behavior.…

This study of elementary-level students compared behavioral patterns of 27 children showing a low nonverbal/high verbal (LNV) intelligence test profile and 38 children with a low verbal/high nonverbal (LV) profile. Results confirmed earlier findings that LNV children are perceived by teachers as significantly poorer than LV children in many…

This study shadowed and interviewed eight high school principals to identify and describe how these administrators' actions influenced teachers' quality of working life. Principals positively influenced the respect accorded teachers, teacher participation in decisions affecting their work, professional collaboration and interaction, use of skills…

This study compared the clinical efficacy of a dopaminergic antagonist (amisulpride) and a dopaminergic agonist (bromocriptine) with 9 children (ages 4-13) with autism and probable severe mental retardation. The amisulpride acted preferentially on specific autism symptoms and the bromocriptine on motor hyperactivity and attention symptoms.…