Thesis advisor: Eric Dearing / Increasing evidence indicates that exposure to poverty in early childhood may undermine neural growth that is critical to developing executive functions (EF) and, in turn, emotional and behavioral regulation (Blair et al. 2011; Kim et al., 2013; Raver et al., 2013). There is, however, also increasing evidence indicating that high-quality Early Childhood Education (ECE) (a) buffers children from risks associated with early exposure to poverty and (b) supports healthy socio-emotional development (Bierman et al., 2008; Raver, 2002; Yoshikawa et al., 2013). One line of this intervention work has focused on two-generation programs that pair high-quality ECE with supports for parents that are designed to improve parenting and the home environment. Although evidence on two-generation programs is mixed (Grindal et al., 2016; Neville et al., 2013), it is clear that much of the risk of poverty is relayed to children through their homes, and parenting is among the most critical influences on child emotional and behavioral self-regulation in infancy and early childhood (Bradley & Corwyn, 2004; Calkins & Johnson, 1998; Calkins et al., 1998). The present study builds on existing theoretical and empirical prior work indicating that children’s EF skills are important precursors to emotional and behavioral regulation that may be best promoted when addressed in both classroom and home contexts. Specifically, the present study uses a randomized design to evaluate the effects of classroom-based activities that target children’s executive functioning and the value added by training parents to better support their children’s EFs. Children were evaluated pre- and post-intervention on EF skills and prosocial and adaptive problem-solving behavior. In general, few significant effects of either the child training or the added parent component were evident. These findings are discussed with special attention to the fact that fidelity of implementation of the classroom and parent trainings was low, with less than half of teachers incorporating games at least once a week and only 13 percent of parents attending the trainings. In addition, implications for future empirical work as well as policy and practice are discussed with special attention given to further inquiry into the malleability of EF. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

There have been many studies on teaching behavior analytic skills to parents for addressing problem behavior exhibited by their children. However, very few studies have addressed the issue of teaching parents to conduct a functional assessment and design a treatment for the problem behavior. The present study utilized behavioral skills training to teach parents how to conduct ABC recording, write a summary statement based on the data collected, and determine the proper treatment choices. The 8 participants participated in one 3 hour class in which a trainer used instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback to teach these three skill sets. Prior to class, during class, directly after class training, and 1 to 2 weeks following class, the participants viewed at least four videos with each showing a problem behavior serving a different function in the context of a parent child interaction. The percentage of correct responding for each dependent variable (ABC recording, summary statement, and treatment choices) was calculated and baseline and post-treatment scores were compared via a multiple baseline across participants design. The results showed an increase in the percentage correct for most skills for most participants. These results show that it is possible to teach parents to conduct a functional assessment and chose proper treatment strategies. Future implications in parent training are discussed.

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Bakgrund: Tidigare studier har visat att barn har sämre styrka i överkropp och bål samt är mindre fysiskt aktiva nu än tidigare, detta skulle kunna medför en ökad hälsorisk framförallt på längre sikt. Syfte: Att undersöka om ett pass med 4 min Tabata intervaller med stabiliserade övningar, varje skoldag under en 6 veckors period gav någon skillnad på de fysiska testerna och gav en ökad stabilitet och styrka hos barn i åldern 7-9 år. Design: Studien genomfördes som en interventionsstudie med en kvantitativ ansats. Metod: 42 barn varav 23 flickor och 19 pojkar i åldern 7-9 år deltog i studien som genomfördes på skoltid i klassrummen. Utöver studiegruppen användes 13 barn som kontrollgrupp de genomförde enbart de fysiska testerna före och efter studien. Resultat: En signifikant ökning av antalet push-up (P<0.05) och push-up (knä)(P<0.05) kunde påvisas efter studien. Konklusion: De fysiska tester som visade signifikanta förbättringar hade liknande övningar inkluderade i Tabatastudien. / Background: Earlier studies have shown that children of today has an decreased strength in the upper body and trunk. They are also less physical active than children have been before, which causes an increased risk for the health in the future. Purpose: To examine if a 4 min Tabata interval session, with stabilizing exercises, every schoolday during a 6 weeks period, made any difference in the physical tests and may cause an increased strength and stability in 7-9 year old children. Design: The study was conducted as an intervention study with a quantitative approach. Method: 42 children aged 7-9 years old, devided into 23 girls and 19 boys participated in the complete study. The study was conducted during classhour and was performed in the classroom. In addition to the study group 13 children where used as a referensgroup and was only tested in the physical tests before and after the study. Result: A significant increase number of the push-ups and push-up (knee) was shown after the study. Conclusion: All of the physical tests that showed a significant increase had a similar exercise included in the Tabata study.