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Children's emotion dysregulation and maternal scaffolding at age 4 were examined as predictors of social skills at age 6, for 66 children with and 106 without early developmental delays. Observed scaffolding and regulation during frustrating laboratory tasks related to later mother, father, and teacher social-skill ratings for children with delays and were stronger predictors of social skills within this group than were developmental level and early behavior problems. In contrast, fewer associations were found for typically developing children, with early behavior problems providing the only unique prediction to social skills. Data support a model in which dysregulation partially mediates the association between developmental status and social-skill outcomes. Implications for research, prevention, and early intervention are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding positive, as well as negative, impact of a child with mental retardation will lead to a more balanced view of families and disability. In two studies we examined parents' perceived positive impact of a child with MR/DD. Study 1 involved 282 young adults with severe mental retardation; Study 2 involved 214 young children with, or without, developmental delays. In both studies, positive impact was inversely related to behavior problems. Moreover, positive impact moderated the relationship between behavior problems and parenting stress. Also, main and moderating effects of positive impact differed by parent ethnicity. Latina mothers reported higher positive impact than Anglo mothers did when the child had MR/DD. These findings are discussed in the context of cultural beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of American Journal on Mental Retardation is the property of American Association on Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Children and adolescents with mental retardation are at heightened risk for mental disorder. We examined early evidence of behavior problems in 225 three-year-old children with or without developmental delays and the relative impact of cognitive delays and problem behaviors on their parents. Staff-completed Bayley Behavior Scales and parent-completed Child Behavior Checklists (CBCLs) showed greater problems in children with delays than in those without delays. Children with delays were 3 to 4 times as likely to have a total CBCL score within the clinical range. Parenting stress was higher in delayed condition families. Regression analyses revealed that the extent of child behavior problems was a much stronger contributor to parenting stress than was the child's cognitive delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the parenting of mentally retarded children with emphasis on its comparison with normally developing children in the U.S. According to the author that parents should respond with acceptance and love to their children with disabilities. It also includes extra efforts to understand the behavior of the child and needs, continuing behavior management, provision of specific learning experiences, and long-term interface with educational and medical personnel.

The article focuses on the prediction models for outcome of behavioral training for parents of mentally retarded children in the U.S. The outcome variables were the parents' posttraining knowledge of behavioral principles and follow-through programming. Predictor variables included parents' socioeconomic status, education, pretraining experience, performance during training, and children's characteristics.

The article focuses on the evaluation of Read Project, a behavioral training program for parents of mentally retarded children. Parents who had completed the Read Project were re-contracted 14 months later. The maintenance of child gains and parents' knowledge of programming principles were assessed through in-home interview and several questionnaires. Results showed that parents had retained their knowledge of programming principles, and the children had also retained their original skill gains. The implications of these results for future training programs were discussed.

Copyright of American Journal on Mental Retardation is the property of American Association on Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The involvement of families with a child who has mental retardation in residential placement was studied. Sixty-two families who had placed their child out of the home within the previous 2 years were interviewed about behavioral and emotional aspects of involvement. Involvement was high, with 81% of families having at least a monthly visit with their child. There was only marginal evidence for detachment, a lessening of involvement over these 2 years. Although family involvement related to several child and family characteristics, the strongest relation was with facility characteristics, especially opportunities for involvement in the facility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifteen preschool-age children with mild mental retardation (developmental delays) from mainstreamed schools were observed during two structured play sessions with matched peers without mental retardation. Children with developmental delays spent more time alone and when they played, showed less social play. The two groups did not differ on communication behaviors that maintained play or in negative affect; however, the children with developmental delays evidenced more disruptive entry, more regressive behaviors, and less positive affect. Families were interviewed concerning their attitudes about, and teaching of social skills. For the children without mental retardation, level of social play was positively related to the family's teaching and the child's communication abilities. For the children with delays, social play related to developmental age and communication ability but not to family teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents of children with mental retardation have become increasingly involved in special education, including training programs to facilitate teaching at home. Although some writers have argued that families accrue generalized psychological benefits of such participation, others have cautioned that the result may be increasing the burden of child-rearing Forty- nine families of children with mental retardation were assessed before and after a parent training program, on a variety of parent, marital, and family measures. Parents reported high satisfaction with the program and showed small but statistically significant decreases in reports of symptoms of depression, parent and family problems, overall family stress, and dissatisfaction with the family's adaptability. Family characteristics were also predictive of teaching at home one year following training The families that reported doing the least productive teaching had entered training reporting greater child-related stress and lower satisfaction with the marriage and the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A media-based program for parents of mentally retarded children presented information on self-help skill teaching primarily through videotapes and instructional manuals. Sixty-one families were randomly assigned to media-based training, the same curriculum with a professional leader, or a delayed-training control condition. Media-trained families evaluated their program very positively and showed significantly greater gains than did control parents on all but one outcome measure. Live training increased parents' knowledge of behavioral principles more than did media-based training, but otherwise the results of the two conditions were quite similar. Media-based programs may be a cost-effective way to make parent training more widely available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Teens with ID or ASD have similar levels of adaptive behavior. • Increased externalizing problem behaviors result in lower DLS in ASDs. • Interventions should include DLS training to promote independence in ASD teens. Challenges in adaptive behaviors are present in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), while variation in IQ, social skills, and comorbidities are possible influences on adaptive behaviors. However, adaptive behaviors do not consistently map onto cognitive abilities in ASD, as high IQ is not protective against challenges in adaptive behaviors. Additionally, individuals with both ASD and elevated levels of externalizing problem behaviors experience even worse adaptive behaviors. Identifying factors that contribute to the variance in adaptive behaviors, particularly daily living skills (DLS), may inform strategies to improve adaptive behaviors necessary for independence in adulthood. Adolescents with typical cognitive development (TD, n = 84), intellectual disability (ID, n = 30), or ASD (n = 45) were included in this study to examine group differences in adaptive behaviors, identify relations between IQ and DLS, and determine factors that contribute to variance in DLS at youth age 13. The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, 2nd Edition (VABS-II) was used to measure adaptive behaviors. All domains of adaptive behavior were significantly higher in TD groups compared to ASD and ID youth. Significant positive correlations were observed between IQ and DLS in the ASD and ID groups. In the ASD youth group, higher externalizing behavior problems explained the most variance in DLS. DLS are below age-expected levels in young adolescents with ASD, in part because of the higher externalizing behavior problems in this group. Incorporating adaptive skills training and behavior management strategies into current interventions may serve to prepare adolescents and families for the transition to adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]