The communist regime in Romania destroyed civil society by breeding suspicion and distrust. Viata, an adventure education program in a depressed coal mining region, assists social redevelopment by providing youth with free, positive experiences of self-efficacy and interconnectedness within the larger web of community. (TD)

In response to a paper on risk and resilience models in learning disabilities research, this article supports the original author's clarification of conceptual inconsistencies and emphasizes two mediating factors within the third wave of resilience research: the critical role of emotions and the importance of reciprocity in relations with both…

A study of the effects of assertiveness training to enhance the social/assertiveness skills of 36 adolescents with visual impairments found that parents, the students, teachers, and observers judged the adolescents' social skills differently. However, the training did have some specific effect on increasing assertiveness. (Contains references.)…

In this study, 11 parents shared their beliefs that emotional intelligence and character play critical roles in the social and emotional development of their children with disabilities. Although the parents agree academic performance is important, they also want their children to develop moral and interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. (Contains…

Presents ways adults can support children's emotional competence development in preschool and elementary school through helping them express thoughts, feelings, and opinions verbally and in writing. Suggestions include a game to help children learn to infer feelings and a "comfort corner" for children having social/emotional difficulties. Includes…

Mothers and caregivers of 28 preschoolers were trained to facilitate children's play. Play training of adults was shown to be an effective mechanism for enhancing preschoolers' verbal cognition. Training of mothers and caregivers was more effective than training of caregivers only. (CB)

Using ethnographic research, data were gathered from 22 deaf adults, aged 55 to 84. Results indicated the educational programs they attended as children had ramifications throughout their lives, affecting their development of adaptive strategies, particularly their peer-based society and lifetime friendships which maximized sociability. (Author/DB)

This field study suggests that preschoolers' social play should be viewed as a developmentally expanding repertoire of skills and that the performance of the skills is a function of the expectations of the preschool environment (school philosophy and practice). Subjects were 54 Canadian preschoolers, aged 4 and 5. (IAH)

Considers two questions which adolescents must ask of themselves and the world as they grow up: how to separate from other people and how to connect with them. Concludes that as writers and readers people act separately, but through the books, people connect. (MG)

Examines second-order factors that emerge from the results of the High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ) when given to Zimbabwean male students. Determines that the nonemergence of the personality factor of independence lends support to the notion that this factor is lacking among adolescents, while providing evidence of cross-cultural…

Analyzes 500 drawings by 258 Hong Kong Chinese and English children (ages 7-11) in order to assess intellectual, social, and emotional development. Found that, irrespective of race or culture, the drawings were symbolic and that similarities were more apparent than differences. Also found that as development proceeded, symbolism was increasingly…

Bilingualism has been defined predominantly in linguistic dimensions despite the fact that bilingualism is correlated with a number of nonlinguistic social parameters; the linguistic handle is inadequate as the single focus of educational intervention. Suggests directions for future research. (Author/BJV)

Students (n=63) who entered college by age 14 supplied data on the number and ages of friends, time spent together, and degree of shared intimacy. By junior year, early entrants appeared to have established relations with older students of breadth and depth equivalent to those already existing with agemates. (Author/JDD)

Examined academic and behavioral problems as a function of two dimensions by which rejection may vary over time: chronicity and temporal proximity. Suggests that all levels of rejection were associated with greater absenteeism from school, and more chronic and proximal experiences of rejection were associated with elevated externalizing behavior…

Maintains that teachers often ask groups of pupils to undertake computer tasks with the understanding that positive benefits will result within the social context of learning. Reports on a study of the impact of social skills training on two fifth-grade British classes. (CFR)