This study examined the effectiveness of a culturally adapted Strengthening Families Program (SFP) for Latinos to reduce risks for alcohol and drug use in children. Latino families, predominantly Puerto Rican, with a 9- to 12-year-old child and a parent(s) with a substance abuse problem participated in the study. Pre- and post-tests were conducted…

Relations among parental depressive symptoms, overt and covert marital conflict, and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms were examined in a community sample of 235 couples and their children. Families were assessed once yearly for three years, starting when children were in kindergarten. Parents completed measures of depressive symptoms…

Background: Psychological mechanisms may help to explain the variance observed in parental psychological adjustment in parents of children with intellectual disability (ID). In this study, parental locus of control and its role in relation to maternal psychological well-being was explored. Method: Questionnaires were sent to 91 mothers of children…

Balancing the roles of parent and partner is challenging for most people and may be especially challenging when extra time and effort are required in the parenting role. The current research compared 25 couples whose children have autism spectrum disorders (ASD) with 20 couples whose children do not have developmental disorders. Comparisons were…

Background: Kinship theory suggests that genomic imprinting could account for phenotypic behaviors that increase (in the case of Angelman syndrome) or decrease (for Prader-Willi syndrome) the drive to access social resources (adult contact) depending on the imprinting parent-of-origin. Difficult to manage behaviors, such as aggression that is…

Examined relationship between visual organization, perceptual closure, and compulsive-like behaviors in 3- to 6-year-olds. Found that children's performance on visual organization and perceptual-closure tasks were significantly related to compulsive-like behaviors reported by parents, and these associations were mediated by mental age. Results…

Examined temporal relations between maternal mood and disruptive child behaviour using daily assessments of 30 mother-child dyads carried out over 8 consecutive weeks (623 pooled observations). Pooled time-series analyses showed synchronous fluctuation in child behaviour and maternal distress. Time-lagged models showed temporal relations between…

In attempts to make assessments less threatening, children are sometimes asked to respond to questions about another child rather than about themselves. Little is known about how this manipulation of response format (self versus other) might influence children's responses. This study compared responses of 58 younger (5-7 years) and 68 older (8-11…

In this article, the author invokes Michel Foucault's analysis of panopticism to understand the performance of mothering in the suburban playground. The mothers in the ring of park benches symbolize the suggestion of surveillance, which Foucault describes as the technology of disciplinary power under liberal ideals of governance. However, the…

"Child Care Health Connections" is a bimonthly newsletter published by the California Childcare Health Program (CCHP), a community-based program of the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, Department of Family Health Care Nursing. The goals of the newsletter are to promote and support a healthy and safe environment…

This article reviews research conducted on social comparison processes in the classroom since Festinger proposed his theory of social comparison. It covers the theoretical framework of social comparison theory, and it is organized around the following themes: motives for social comparison, dimensions of social comparison, direction of social…

Confirmatory factor analysis with robust weighted least squares estimation of the 103 dichotomously scored items of the Child Behavior Checklist/6-18 (T. M. Achenbach & L. A. Rescorla, 2001) in a sample of 516 girls adopted from China (ages 6.0-15.7 years; M = 8.2, SD = 1.9) indicated that the fit of the 8-factor model was good…

Consistent with a holistic perspective emphasizing the integration of multiple individual characteristics within child systems, it was hypothesized that subgroups of anxious solitary (AS) children characterized by agreeableness, behavioral normality, attention-seeking-immaturity, and externalizing behaviors would demonstrate heterogeneity in peer…

Abuse, neglect, or both often result in removing children from their homes and placing them in foster care. As a result of these experiences, many children learn unhealthy behaviors. These "behavioral challenges" often lead to a cycle of multiple placement disruptions and progressively more restrictive placements. The philosophy,…

Descriptive and ecobehavioral analyses were used to explore the daily activity contexts in classroom settings reflecting two distinct models of early childhood education. Activity context, social configurations, teacher behavior, and child behavior were explored, with specific consideration given to peer verbal behavior as an indicator of social…