This study examined the efficacy of a social skills training program on the use of validating comments and negative comments by children with specific language impairment. The present study is an extension of a previous research project. Four children (three female, one male) with specific language impairment, ages 6 to 11, participated in a ten week social skills training program which involved direct instruction of target concepts, peer interactions with classmates, and evaluation of the use of target skills by reviewing videotaped peer interactions. The individual performance of each subject was compared to the age- and gender-matched typical peers with whom they interacted during the weekly game sessions of the intervention program. The intervention program was successful in improving the use of validating comments for three of the four subjects (AA, CS, and JH). The subjects' increased use of validating comments, however, did not appear to significantly affect or change the participants' use of negative comments. It was also found that, while individual performance improved, three of the four participants (AA, MD, and CS) consistently produced fewer validating comments than did their typical peers during the weekly game sessions. Follow-up data for the participants indicated that the three participants (AA, CS, and JH) who showed improvement in their use of validating comments over the course of treatment appeared to maintain their increased skill after the treatment ended. Possible explanations for these results are discussed, and recommendations are made for future social skills training programs.

School personnel were concerned that the disruptive student behaviors at an urban, elementary school in the northeast United States had persisted despite positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) implementation and professional development (PD) for more than 7 years. The purpose of this basic qualitative research study was to explore teacher perceptions regarding the PBIS related to student behavior and socialization issues. Skinner's reinforcement theory and Bronfenbrenner's bioecological systems theory served as the conceptual frameworks for this study. Specifically, this study explored the PBIS framework in reducing students' undesirable behaviors, how the framework prepared teachers to implement PBIS in their school, and how PBIS developed prosocial behaviors in students. The study included interview data from 20 purposefully selected teachers from prekindergarten through Grade 3, and Grade 5 teachers who were known to meet the selection criteria of being an urban elementary school teacher with 2 or more years of experience using the PBIS framework. Data were analyzed using Attride-Stirling's 6 steps of thematic coding. Findings indicated that PBIS is beneficial but selective; more training was needed after implementation; and parental support is necessary for the development of prosocial behaviors. Themes supporting the findings included that the PBIS framework being beneficial, that it was successful with some students but not all, and that it must be implemented properly. Thus, the resulting project provides intervention strategies to supplement the current PBIS framework. The implications for positive social change are dependent on educators to effectively use PBIS in improving students' social behavior in the school district.

Adolescence involves an increase in risky decisions, such as reckless driving and illicit substance use, but prosocial characteristics and peer affiliation have yet to be investigated as protective factors. The present study assessed altruistic tendencies, prosocial peer affiliation (PPA), and empathic concern as predictors and moderators of risk-taking, including both self-reported health risks and riskiness in a behavioral task. Young adults from ages 20 to 25 (M = 22.55, SD = 1.38) completed a battery of behavioral tasks (including the Balloon Analogue Risk Task and the Dictator Game) and questionnaires on Amazon MTurk, measuring risk-taking (drunk driving, texting while driving, binge drinking, illicit substance use, and tobacco use), altruistic tendencies, PPA, empathic concern, reward sensitivity, and self-regulation. Results indicated that drunk driving and texting while driving were negatively associated with all three prosocial characteristics, and binge drinking was related to PPA and empathic concern. Moderating effects included interactions between altruistic tendencies and reward sensitivity on drunk driving, altruistic tendencies and self-regulation on drunk driving, PPA and reward sensitivity on binge drinking, and empathic concern and self-regulation on binge drinking. Mediating effects, however, were not found. Overall, prosocial characteristics seemed to buffer against reward sensitivity and strengthen self-regulation in several models. The discussion centers on how prosocial individuals might be less prone to risk-taking, and how affiliating with positive peers can offset the effects of heightened reward sensitivity during this crucial developmental period.