Teachers completed the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire for Children for 148 preschool children in South African townships, and children drew pictures of personal experiences. Findings indicated that children exposed to violence suffered posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and that, though their drawings showed severe emotional…

This paper reviews the limited research on children and war and concludes that the dynamic interaction among five processes within an ecological framework is most important: (1) the child's psychobiological makeup, (2) disruption of the family unit, (3) breakdown of community, (4) ameliorating effects of culture, and (5) the intensity, suddenness,…

Notes that, although students with severe emotional disturbances present challenge to school psychologists, many school psychologists have only limited hands-on experience with this population. Describes project to train school psychology students at preservice level in intervention techniques especially applicable to children and youth with…

Addresses the various issues associated with friendship and conversational skills in youth with externalizing and internalizing behavior disorders. The need for assessment techniques and intervention programs to encompass measures and training strategies targeting conversational skills and the type and nature of the dyadic relationship are…

Discusses major advances and issues in social-skills research with adolescents, including efforts to facilitate treatment adherence, social validity, and generalization of interventions. Directions for further improvement of social-skills intervention technology are also discussed. (Author/CR)

Analyzes an interview with an adult male prisoner who was labeled as "maladjusted" in school. Discussion of the concept of "maladjustment," models of learning, and consequences of assessment is followed by excerpts from the interview which show the negative effects of this label on the child's developing identity and general outlook. (DB)

Preliminary results from the Health Care Reform Tracking Project's baseline survey and site visits to 10 states show that managed care has generally improved access to health care for children, but it has made it more difficult for youths with serious emotional disorders, and uninsured children, to obtain care. (SLD)

A study examined the records of 99 non-adjudicated students with severe emotional and/or behavior disorders (EBD), 49 of whom were placed in regular schools and 50 who were in segregated schools. Results indicated that students served in regular schools were identified as severely behaviorally disordered at an earlier age. (CR)

This article is a collection of tips, hints, and practices which have been found effective in teaching students with emotional and behavioral disorders and in enabling teachers to work with these students more productively. Topics addressed include preventing violence, teaching cooperation, teaching compensatory behaviors, teaching social skills,…

Identifies ways in which practices and attitudes work against the prevention of emotional and behavioral disorders in students. These include an overriding concern for labels and stigma, objections to a medical model and failure-driven services, a preference for false negatives over false positives, proposals for a "paradigm shift," and statements…

Three groups of third-grade students classified as either Externals (n=30), Internalizers (n=55), or Controls (n=96) were contrasted on 19 measures in social and academic domains. Results indicate large differences between externalizing and internalizing groups compared with controls; however, both externalizing and internalizing groups had…

Discusses some difficulties that may be anticipated in facilitating teachers' use of functional-assessment procedures. Strategies are suggested for promoting acceptance of the functional-assessment process and for providing training and technical assistance to support its appropriate implementation. (CR)

A study of 144 English children who had been sexually abused investigated risk factors for the development of psychological disturbance in sexually abused children. Results found age, gender, abuse, and perpetrator characteristics did not show strong effects initially. Children involved in criminal proceedings were at particular risk. (Author/CR)

This article describes the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS), a measure designed to identify the emotional and behavioral strengths of children and adolescents. The 52-item BERS assesses five areas: interpersonal strength, family involvement, intrapersonal strength, school functioning, and affective strength. A case study of a…

This introductory column on books and software concerned with special education technology presents an article by JuHye Yook on the software design process. It discusses the rationale for developing new software for students with reading disabilities, the design and development process, and analysis of the software design. Software use by two…