This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the Building Friendships project, which developed, implemented, evaluated, and disseminated an intervention to improve the social integration of students with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The project used an ongoing, informal team approach to bring together and mobilize key people in a…

This report presents findings from the Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study, a 5-year, ongoing longitudinal study examining the effects of child care in 4 states. The report focuses on the emergence of the quality of children's early relationships with their teachers in childcare as an important predictor of their social relations with peers as they…

This workbook is designed to help children learn about Asperger Syndrome and high functioning autism and to help parents talk with their children about autism's profound effects. Chapter 1 introduces the term autism and explains the techniques used in the workbook. Following chapters each focus on an important aspect of life: ways of thinking, the…

This document presents discussions of current research and activities by experts in early intervention and behavior disorders. It offers a range of evidence-based strategies, procedures, and models appropriate for prevention and early intervention programs with young children at risk for emotional and/or behavioral disorders. Following an…

Disorganized attachment relationships were first formally identified on the basis of the anomalous behavior of some infants during laboratory separations and reunions with the parent. This book presents new research and theory on the topic of attachment disorganization, an area of investigation that is of increasing importance in the study of…

This study is the fifth assessment in an 18-year longitudinal study begun in 1986 to follow a group of Montessori students who attended the Franciscan Montessori Earth School in Portland, Oregon. Participating were 45 students with an average age of 18 years, about half of whom were in high school and half in college. Students completed an online…

This paper reports on models that clarify the meaning of trends in 8th grade smoking in one of America's most rural and least densely populated states. It is based on cross-sectional analysis of data collected in the "Kansas Communities That Care Survey" from 1995 to 1999. The analysis of trends data is presented in table form utilizing…

This document describes research pertaining to adolescent females' perceptions of sexual desire. It analyzes 30 interviews of girls, 15-18 years old, who are juniors in suburban and urban high schools. The key finding was identified as the dilemma of desire. Girls responded to the dilemma in three ways: simply not feeling the desire, resisting…

Examined the role of mainstream pupils in the integration of students with special education needs (SEN), based on accounts from both groups. Found that mainstream pupils control the experiences of pupils with SEN in both positive and negative ways. Results suggest ways schools might guide mainstream pupils' understanding of disability and promote…

Investigates Chinese students' interaction styles and reactions to peer response groups in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) composition classes. Interviews with Chinese-speaking and Spanish-speaking students were audiotaped and examined by researchers. Analysis of these tapes indicated that the Chinese students' main objective of group harmony…

Administered an anonymous questionnaire to pregnant adolescents living at a residential facility in a southwestern city while they were in the process of deciding whether to keep their infant or place it for adoption. Found that contextual variables influenced the choice of placing for adoption, including family background and interaction…

The role of self-perceptions in peer selection was examined among seventh-graders and third-graders. Findings indicated that when evaluations (supposedly of unfamiliar peers) related to specific competence domains, seventh-graders preferred positive peers to negative peers, whereas third-graders selected peers who viewed them as they viewed…

This longitudinal study examined relations between sociometric status and school adjustment among middle school students. Findings indicated that sixth-grade sociometric status predicted eighth-grade adjustment when controlling for initial adjustment. Compared to average status students, controversial status students had lower classroom grades,…

This study explored judgments and reasoning of Chinese 13- to 18-year-olds regarding making decisions involving children in peer, family, and school contexts. Findings indicated that judgments and reasoning about decision-making varied by social context and by the decision under consideration. Evaluations of procedures became more differentiated…

Discusses the need of young adolescents to belong to their own culture wherein they can attain peer status and achievement. Presents a project in Castle Hill School (Pittsburgh) as an example of helping urban young adolescents to build a culture of achievement. Emphasizes the importance of this culture for young adolescents who cannot separate…