Young children who display disruptive behaviors are at risk for negative outcomes in later development such as school dropout, early pregnancy, and unemployment (Bradshaw, Schaeffer, Petras, & Ialongo, 2010). For this reason, it is imperative parents of children with disruptive behaviors seek early intervention to reduce problem behaviors and prevent negative effects (Breitenstein, Hill, & Gross, 2009). Parent behavioral training interventions are effective for reducing problem behaviors in young children. Attrition from parent training interventions, however, is a common problem that reduces positive outcomes for children with challenging behaviors (Kazdin, Holland, & Crowley, 1997; Prinz & Miller, 1994). Barriers to treatment, such as negative perceptions toward treatment, can influence parents’ attendance (Kazdin et al., 1997) and behavioral outcomes for children (Brestan, Jacobs, Rayfield, & Eyberg, 1999). This study (N = 139) examined relationships of parents’ attendance and perceptions of a behavioral parent training intervention, the empirically supported Helping Our Toddlers Developing Our Children’s Skills, or HOT DOCS (Armstrong, Lilly, & Curtiss, 2006). Regression analyses were conducted to test relationships between parent perceptions of treatment effectiveness, attendance, and child behavior ratings, and whether attendance mediated the relationship between parent perceptions of treatment and ratings of child behavior. No significant relationships were found between these variables, and no mediating relationship of attendance between parent perceptions and child behavior ratings was found. Results for this study may indicate factors other than parent perceptions are important to predict attendance or change in behavior ratings. Ethical considerations and limitations of this study are also discussed.

This dissertation studies different social aspects of terrorists and terrorist organizations in an effort to better deal with terrorism, especially in the long run. The researcher, who also worked as a Police Captain at Turkish National Police Anti-Terrorism Department, seeks solutions to today's global problem by studying both literature and a Delphi examination of a survey of 1070 imprisoned terrorists. The research questions include questions such as "What are the reasons behind terrorism?", "Why does terrorism occur?", "What ideologies provide the framework for terrorist violence?, "Why do some individuals become terrorists and others do not?" and "Under what conditions will terrorists end their violence?" The results of the study presents the complexity of the terrorism problem as a social experience and impossibility of a single solution or remedy for the global problem of terrorism. The researcher through his examination of the findings of the data, presented that terrorism is a social phenomenon with criminal consequences that needs to be dealt by means of two dimensional approaches. The first is the social dimension of terrorism and the second is the criminal dimension of terrorism. Based on this, the researcher constructed a conceptual model which addresses both of these dimensions under the titles of long-term solutions and short-term solutions. The long-term solutions deal with the social aspects of terrorism under the title of Proactive Approach to Terrorism and the short-term solutions deal with the criminal aspects of terrorism under the title of The Immediate Fight against Terrorism. The researcher constructed this model because there seems to be a tendency of not asking the question of "Why does terrorism occur?" Instead, the focus is usually on dealing with the consequences of terrorism and future terrorist threats. While it is essential that the governments need to provide the finest security measures for their societies, at the same time they need to address the reasons behind terrorism. This research, from stated perspective, offered a conceptual model to address both aspects of terrorism for a more complete fight against today's most painful problem.

The effects of two positive reinforcement procedures were evaluated to increase contact with, proximity to, and acceptance of new foods in a young child with autism. During baseline, two groups of six food items were presented. One group was intervened on. The first condition involved a changing criterion contingency and social attention as a consequence. The second involved a shaping contingency and access to videos as a consequence. The types of contact emitted, the amount of time spent contacting the food, and two affect topographies were measured. The second procedure resulted in increased duration and variety of contact, and increases of both affect topographies. Results are discussed in the context of food selectivity in autism, programming goals, and balancing intervention efficacy and restrictiveness.

Two groups of students were compared to determine the impact of early intervention at the Early Childhood School on academic outcomes in later elementary school years for both math and reading. Students who were determined to be disadvantaged in some way, either by income, limited English proficiency, or having been identified as needing specialized instruction and who attended an early intervention program, prior to kindergarten, were compared to a similar group who did not attend the intervention program. Scores on district level assessments in math and reading were tracked for both groups of students through the third grade. Scores on high stakes standardized testing of the students in third grade were also analyzed. Results indicated that students in the control group outperformed students in the treatment group on the majority of district level assessments. However, the opposite was true for high stakes testing where the treatment group outperformed the control group on a consistent basis. These results were consistent, regardless of the nature of the disadvantage. Students who attended the prekindergarten program at the Early Childhood School had higher scores on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam than disadvantaged students who did not attend. Since this was not the case for district level assessments, it is recommended that the district revisit their local assessments and testing administration practices. It is also recommended that this cohort of students continue to be studied to see of the outcomes last beyond the third grade.

Assessing self-efficacy in families of children with hearing concerns through an audiological early intervention training. Abigail Lesley, B.S., Karee Diem, B.S., and Marcy Hite, Au.D., Ph.D., Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN. For children with hearing loss, spoken language outcomes are best when children have optimal auditory access through the consistent use of appropriately fitted hearing devices and are exposed to a rich linguistic environment. Parents can play a large role in facilitating their children’s use of hearing devices and supporting their language development. The purpose of this study was to improve of parent self-efficacy, increase family knowledge on language outcomes, and increase consistent use of amplification by providing an educational workshop to families with children identified with hearing loss and/or hearing concerns. The hypothesis of this study was to see an enhancement of self-efficacy skills within parent participants to empower and grow confidence in their ability to optimize their child’s amplification use and linguistic exposure. Participants were educated on the impact of hearing loss and/or hearing concerns on language development, importance of language exposure, use and care of amplification for families that utilize hearing technology, and empowerment to establish consistent device use. Assessment of self-efficacy skills in parents were measured through a pre- and post-survey distributed to participants. Survey and study were modeled after Ambrose et al., 2020 using the Scale of Parent Involvement and Self-Efficacy-Revised (SPISE-R). It queries parents about their child’s hearing device use and their perceptions of their own beliefs, knowledge, confidence, and actions pertaining to supporting their child’s auditory access and spoken language development. Ambrose et al., 2020 found the SPISE-R to be a promising tool for use in early intervention to better understand parents’ strengths and needs pertaining to supporting their young child’s auditory access and spoken language development. A total of nine parents were in attendance of the educational workshop conducted with only three participants completing both the pre- and post-survey. An analysis using a paired samples t-test revealed no statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-survey across all categories assessed within the SPISE-R apart from one question within the ‘Confidence’ category. Parents were found to have a significantly worse score between pre- and post-survey responses in the ‘Confidence’ category for the following question “If applicable, Put and keep my child’s hearing device(s) on him/her”. The overall mean significantly decreased between the pre- and post-survey, indicating less confidence with this skill. It should be noted, limited parent responses impacted the statistical analysis performed. Although the overall findings were not statistically significant, moving forward, data findings will be used to appropriately adjust the audiological early intervention training to improve self-efficacy skills of parents.

We present an evidence-based review of post-trauma interventions used to prevent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Literature search of PubMed from 1988 to March 2016 using keywords “Early Intervention AND Prevention of PTSD” yielded 142 articles, of which 52 intervention studies and 6 meta-analyses were included in our review. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy and modified prolonged exposure delivered within weeks of a potentially traumatic event for people showing signs of distress have the most evidence in the treatment of acute stress and early PTSD symptoms, and the prevention of PTSD. Even though several pharmacological agents have been tried, only hydrocortisone prior to high-risk surgery, severe traumatic injury, or during acute sepsis has adequate evidence for effectiveness in the reduction of acute stress symptoms and prevention of PTSD. There is an urgent need to determine the best targets for interventions after trauma to accelerate recovery and prevent PTSD.

Depression represents a serious mental health problem that affects the lives of many children. Depression is frequently cited as the most recurrent emotional problem facing younger populations. Left untreated, depression can have several negative ramifications on later adjustment, including suicide, substance use, academic and social difficulties, low self-esteem, and an increased risk for other mental health problems. The search for effective treatments for depression has extended into several arenas. Schools play an important role in the lives of children and provide an ideal setting for early detection and remediation of depression at every stage. Schools are increasingly being encouraged to offer preventative mental health services to deal with emotional issues that may often go unnoticed until a crisis situation. However, there remain a small number of studies that have investigated the impact of school-based preventative interventions for depression. For this reason, a school-based, primary prevention study was conducted. The current study utilized an interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral model that was incorporated into the health education curriculum of the school. The sample included four fifth-grade classes in a rural school district. The study was conducted using a quasi-experimental design similar to a Solomon four-group design with two intervention and two control classes. The intervention was a total of eight 50-minute sessions. The subjects were assessed using a variety of self-report, sociometric, and rating-scale instruments. The results of the study suggest that social skills were statistically significantly impacted by the intervention, and moderate standardized mean difference effect sizes (ES) of .51 and .48 were found. Depressive symptom reduction was less pronounced. Additional findings indicate that the children did in fact learn the principles conveyed throughout the intervention, including methods of alleviating depressive symptomatology and social skills relevant for fifth-grade children. The results are discussed in the context of primary prevention models in other areas of mental health.

Early intervention programs for handicapped preschool children may have long-term implications for the children and their families. Economic eva luations of these programs have been conducted to measure costs and bene fit s, but parental wi l lingness-to-pay has been overlooked in these analyses. Parental willingness-to-pay, as a measure of consumer surplus, could complete the measure of benefits and provide both policymakers and practitioners with useful information for decisionmaking. In this study, the impli cations of eliciting willingness-to-pay responses for an early intervention program for handicapped preschoolers are discussed. A survey technique, known as the contingent valuation method (CVM) , is applied to program to empirically estimate wil lin gness-to-pay for the total program and for particular components of the program. Also investigated are the implications of using a rationality test in the survey to determine if consumer responses are in accordance with assumptions for rational consumer behavior. Results indicate relatively high willingness-to-pay for the program as whole, but low value is associated with program components. This implies that parents may value these programs more for the respite rather than specialized services offered. Results of the rationality test support the hypothesis that such a measure is necessary in survey designs of this nature.

The current study examined the level of participation by families who have Vlll been involved between 1 and 3 years with the Community-Family Partnership (CFP) project. The CFP project is 1 of 34 Comprehensive Child Development Projects funded by the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families through the Head Start Bureau. The CFP makes available comprehensive, on-going services to enrolled families. Twenty-six families were identified as the Low Participation Group . Twenty-three families were identified as the High Participation Group. Children from each group were tested using the Battelle Developmental Inventory on a yearly basis. Results of a repeated measures ANOV A indicated that children of families with high participation had better child BDI scores than children of families with low participation. No difference was found in the economic status of these families. Multiple regression analyses were conducted using family demographic characteristics and other measures to create a profile of an actively participating family.

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