Associations between self-esteem and abuse of alcohol and psychoactive substances have been documented in empirical studies involving high school and college students. No research exists that addresses whether this association generalizes to adult homeless substance users. The current study uses secondary data analysis methodology to evaluate an…

This study randomly assigned 200 parents to mediation (facilitated by master's-level social workers) or to pretrial conferences (guided by judges) to examine the effects of the dispute resolution methods on the attitudes of parents in child dependency disputes. The study also examined theories from the psychology of justice and trust literature…

This study evaluated a multi-level intervention with primary and secondary levels of support with 210 at-risk students. Findings suggest that a multi-level intervention program containing literacy and behavioral components can improve reading achievement of students, regardless of level of risk. However, statistically significant changes on…

This paper presents an example of using evaluation as a tool for encouraging democratic participation in the development of professional learning and course delivery. The new professional role of Connexions Personal Adviser (CPA) is being clarified and developed through participation of CPAs on a new national training programme, the Diploma for…

To further develop tailored interventions, their working mechanisms must be identified. In the present study, three tailored messages that each contained one potential working mechanism--personalization, adaptation or feedback--were compared with a standard information condition. Two hundred and two students who smoked tobacco daily were randomly…

In New Zealand, the introduction of a new health and physical education curriculum, coupled with extraordinary levels of lay and professional concern about children's health (as recorded by the Adolescent Health Research Group in 2003) has contributed to a reconceptualisation of health education practices in schools. Policy and professional…

Objective: Adolescents' functional impairment has become increasingly important as a criterion for diagnosis and service eligibility as well as a target of therapeutic intervention in mental health settings. This study examines three critical issues in measuring functioning: 1) agreement between parent and adolescent reports of functioning, 2)…

The focus of this research review is to determine what factors increase the likelihood that positive individual and systemic changes occur for children and adolescents following discharge from residential treatment. Residential treatment outcome studies from 1993 to 2003 that fulfilled predetermined criteria were located through 4 on-line…

The Center for Family Research has implemented the first family-community preventive intervention program designed specifically for rural African American families and youths. Basic information garnered during a decade of research in rural African American communities formed the theoretical and empirical foundations for the program, which focuses…

This article provides an introduction and overview of sensory integration theory as it is used in occupational therapy practice for children with developmental disabilities. This review of the theoretical tenets of the theory, its historical foundations, and early research provides the reader with a basis for exploring current uses and…

The literature on the importance of early identification and early intervention for children with developmental disabilities such as autism continues to grow. The increased prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders has fostered research efforts on the development and validation of autism-specific screening instruments for use with young children.…

Screening and prereferral are not required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; however, many educators recognize that implementation of prereferral interventions is a measure of best practices. The authors address the need to establish a family-centered approach within the prereferral process in order to promote early and…

This paper reports a study that used a quasi-experimental design to examine if a career intervention designed to increase self-knowledge enabled self-discovery or self-construction, determined by the structure of the personality inventory used. This study, situated within the theoretical model of Markus's research in self-schemata (1977), used…

The present study examined child and maternal predictors of children's social competence in preschool. One hundred ten mothers and their preschool-aged children participated. Mothers completed parent reports of child temperament and self-regulation, and self-reports of maternal separation anxiety. Mothers' interactional style was coded from…

Prenatal cocaine exposure is an indicator for adverse developmental outcomes. To prevent developmental disabilities, an early intervention program for children birth to 3 years was developed that included three groups: center-based, home-based, and primary care comparison. The intervention was implemented across 10 years and data were collected on…