The purposes of the present study were to examine the growth trajectories of children's social skills from kindergarten through sixth grade, and to investigate the roles of early behavior problems and teacher-child relationships in children's social skill development, using data from phases I, II, and III of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and…

In this study, farm worker children (N = 40) in 2nd and 5th grade were interviewed about (a) their conceptions and judgments of pesticide exposure and (b) their reasoning about the moral standing of nature. First, results showed that all participants negatively judged pesticide exposure based on moral obligatory criteria. Yet, most children…

This study examined dimensions of psychological disengagement as predictors of achievement and teacher-rated behavioral engagement over the course of a school year among a sample of 111 African American and Latino children in 1st-5th grades at an urban elementary school. In addition, classroom and school contextual factors were investigated as…

A recent meta-analysis found that across studies individual differences in aspects of children's emotionality predict social status [Dougherty, L.R., (2006). Children's emotionality and social status: a meta-analytic review. Social Development, 15, 394-417.]. In the present study we extended these findings by examining the emotion of interest and…

664 relatively low achieving first grade children were recruited into a longitudinal study. Measures of peer academic reputation (PAR), peer acceptance, teacher-rated academic engagement and achievement, and reading and math achievement were obtained in Year 2, when the majority of students were in second grade, and 1 year later. Measures of…

In an attempt to minimize the adverse effects of television violence, the authors implemented a classroom-based intervention with 496 children in 32 classrooms (grades 1 to 4). The intervention consisted of 28 brief lessons conducted by university staff over the course of 7 months. Participants were individually interviewed prior to the…

In an effort to minimize the harmful effects of violent TV, a yearlong intervention was undertaken with children in Grades 1 through 3 (N = 177). The classroom-based intervention consisted of 31 brief lessons that emphasized the many ways in which television distorts violence. As hypothesized, the intervention resulted in a reduction in children's…

The impact of school-based Tae Kwon Do training on self-regulatory abilities was examined. A self-regulation framework including three domains (cognitive, affective, and physical) was presented. Children (N = 207) from kindergarten through Grade 5 were randomly assigned by homeroom class to either the intervention (martial arts) group or a…