Assesses protocol for conducting a functional analysis of maintaining variables for children with selective mutism. A parent was trained in and later applied various behavior strategies designed to increase speech in an eight-year-old girl with selective mutism. Parent and child ratings of treatment were positive. Presents implications for future…

Reviews recent attachment-related studies of early aggression. Longitudinal attachment studies indicate that risk factors identified in cross-sectional studies of aggressive school-age children, such as family adversity, parental hostility, parental depression, and child cognitive deficits, are already evident in infancy and predictive of later…

Examined relationship between paternal roles and 3-year olds' well-being in low income, African-American families. Found that children's cognition, receptive language, behavior, and home environment were not related to father presence. Controlled for maternal age, education, and parenting satisfaction; found that paternal roles related to indices…

Explores fears and phobias of childhood from a behavioral perspective. Maintains that many childhood fears are mild, age-specific, and transitory, whereas others persist beyond normal developmental limits. Maintains that severe school phobia is difficult to manage. Notes that reports of successful behavioral treatments of fears/phobias are rare in…

Suggests that parents resolve disagreements about parenting and child behavior by: (1) listening to discover each other's normal way; (2) negotiating to find three alternatives to get unstuck; and (3) prioritizing to close the deal and reach a mutually agreeable solution. (DLH)

Despite increasing interest in the effects of parenting stress on children and families, many questions remain regarding the nature of parenting stress and the mechanism through which stress exerts its influence across time. In this study, cumulative parenting stress was assessed across the preschool period in a sample of 125 typically developing…

Young children develop social and emotional competence through interactions with others in the two major contexts in which they spend time: home and preschool. This study examined whether parenting stress in the home context is related to the children's behaviour while in preschool. Previous research has suggested that parenting stress negatively…

There is a distinction between girls and boys regarding the manifestation of sex-appropriate behaviour from an early age. There is evidence that boys and girls play and are reared differently, and also are reinforced differently to manifest behaviours regarded as playful. The purpose of this study was to identify if there were differences between…

Responding to serious behaviour problems requires new practice answers and emphases. Best practice principles and a developmental perspective indicate that the family should be the focus of preventative work. The Incredible Years parent training series is described as an important example of an empirically-supported programme that is presently…

The Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form (NCBRF) is a behavior rating scale designed for children and adolescents with mental retardation. The purpose of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of the NCBRF in a sample of 330 children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Parent and teacher ratings were independently…

The aims of the present study were to describe variations in the early course of development in autism by utilizing an in-depth parent interview that incorporated techniques to improve accuracy of parent recall, and to examine the relation between variations in early developmental course in autism and behavioral outcome at 3-4 years of age. The…

This article evaluates the efficacy of the Oregon model of Parent Management Training (PMTO) in the stepfamily context. Sixty-seven of 110 participants in the Marriage and Parenting in Stepfamilies (MAPS) program received a PMTO-based intervention. Participants in the randomly assigned experimental group displayed a large effect in benefits to…

Close relationships among children and adolescents are ordinarily considered to encompass friendliness and fun. Recent studies, however, reveal that many friendships have dark sides consisting of competitiveness, hostility, and conflict. Relationships based on aversion and antipathy may turn out to have major developmental implications, but more…

A pre-postassessment, single-subject, pilot study was implemented, testing the hypothesis that positive behavior support (PBS) would improve family quality-of-life outcomes by reducing parental stress and challenging behaviors of preschool children who are culturally and linguistically diverse and reside in urban, disadvantaged communities. Six…

This multimethod, prospective study examined the nature of pathways between interparental hostility and withdrawal, parental emotional unavailability, and subsequent changes in children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and school adjustment difficulties over a 3-year period in a sample of 210 mothers, fathers, and 6-year-old children.…