Teaching youths who affiliate with a gang can be a daunting task. Risk factors for gang membership often compound across life domains and affect pro-social connectedness, cause feelings of marginalization, and hinder life-skill development. Sports and physical activities that are structured within a positive youth-development framework provide an…

In recent years, self-regulation has emerged as a foundational skill for academic success and well-being. Unfortunately, many children enter kindergarten without the self-regulation skills necessary to succeed. Children from high-risk backgrounds (e.g., low-income) are particularly vulnerable for difficulties in self-regulation development. Given…

Neoliberal ideology frames the discourse of the current political rhetoric of education as an economic investment in the preparation of students to compete in a global economy. These discourses that emanate from policymakers shape the construct of schooling and control the trajectory of education in the US. As education policy becomes centralized,…

This dissertation consists of four chapters. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the self-determination literature documenting the importance of promoting the self-determination of transition and secondary age students with disabilities, as well as a summary of research examining the self-determination of students with disabilities across…

This study uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) to analyze competencies that children need to master by the end of elementary school, the extent to which they are doing so, what might be done to improve their performance, and how this might affect their ultimate ability to earn a living…

While powerful gender inequalities remain in American society, women have made substantial gains and now largely surpass men in one crucial arena: education. Women now outperform men academically at all levels of school, and are more likely to obtain college degrees and enroll in graduate school. What accounts for this enormous reversal in the…

This study explored individual, family, and peer predictors of involvement and psychological investment in fights among Samoan youth. Participants were 310 adolescents ages 13 through 19 living in Samoa. MANCOVAs compared those involved in fights with those not, and those more investing in fighting with those less invested. In terms of individual…

This paper explores the importance of self-regulation and the role of feedback in encouraging such regulation from social cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives. The effects and value of various influences within the social and cultural environment are reviewed. In the context of inviting schools, thought is presented to the issue of how the…

In this article, the authors describe a set of skills and competencies that young children can learn in preschool classrooms (as well as at home). They begin by describing the experiences of Teacher Anita and Director Mary, and the challenges they face with Bobby and with several other children whose behavior creates problems in the classroom. The…

This study examined a comprehensive screening model within children attending Head Start programs from urban (n = 232) and rural (n = 231) communities. The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA; LeBuffe & Naglieri, 1999) was used to measure social-emotional protective factors (i.e., Total Protective Factors [TPF]) and risk factors (i.e.,…

Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) are often overweight or obese because of their delayed satiety response. Three individuals with PWS participated in a long-term, multicomponent mindfulness-based health wellness program to reduce their obesity by changing their lifestyles. The components included (a) physical exercise, (b) food…

Prosocial behavior and aggression among children and adolescents are important indicators of social and interpersonal competence. The goal of this study was to investigate whether there are different prototypes among African American adolescents that can help explain prosocial and aggressive (relational and overt) behaviors. Also of interest was…

Parent-reported reactions to children's negative emotions and child negative emotionality were investigated as correlates of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Children (N = 107) and their parents participated in a short-term longitudinal study of social development. Mothers and fathers independently completed questionnaires assessing…

Emotion regulation is a key social skill and children who fail to master it are at risk for clinical disorders. Specific styles of emotion regulation have been associated with particular patterns of prefrontal activation. We investigated whether anxious aggressive children would reveal a different pattern of cortical activation than non-anxious…

Research Findings: This observational study of preschoolers (N = 140) in their classrooms (N = 41) examined variation in teacher "orienting" (defined as explanations and demonstrations about the procedures and rationale behind activities, including center projects, to the whole group or to individual children) and associations between…