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A chaotic home environment, marked by disorganization, noise and a lack of routine, has negative associations with language development, social competence and executive functioning. This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of chaotic homes on adaptive behaviors, or behaviors that allow independent functioning, in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to neurotypical (NT) children. Children with ASD have difficulties with adaptive functioning in their environment, and identifying factors in the home that may exacerbate these behaviors will help in understanding the larger family dynamics that may affect behavior.

In total, 251 primary caregivers completed questionnaires about their children’s adaptive behavior and the structure of the home environment.

The results of a mediation analysis found a significant indirect effect of ASD status leading to lower adaptive behaviors through home chaos. This suggests those with ASD experienced more household chaos than NT children, which influenced their lower adaptive behavior scores.

This research provides insights into the complex relationship between the home environment and child behavior in children with ASD.

Several studies have reported the impact of paternal incarceration and criminal behavior on childhood delinquency; however, fewer studies have addressed the influence of maternal criminality on children’s behavioral outcomes. Integrating self-control and attachment theoretical frameworks, the purpose of this paper is to address the impact of mothers who have been stopped, arrested, convicted, and incarcerated in relation to their children’s delinquent behavior.

The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing data set was used to better understand this relationship. By using binary logistic regression, two types of delinquent behavior were assessed: destroying property and fighting.

The results revealed that mothers’ criminal behavior affected children’s fighting tendencies but did not significantly impact children’s tendency to destroy property. Furthermore, certain childhood antisocial traits and demographic characteristics revealed to also impact children’s delinquent behavior. From the results, implications and prevention strategies were drawn describing techniques to combat delinquency.

This research lays a foundation for future researchers to explore mother-child attachment and the transmission of low self-control from mother to child in relation to criminality. The current research is one of the first studies to specifically address how maternal criminal behavior affects their children’s tendency to engage in delinquency, specifically examining property destruction and fighting.

The prevalence, correlates (child behaviour problems and negative parenting) and determinants (risk and protective factors) of parental need for support were examined in a community sample of 177 mothers with a child aged 1.5‐3.5 years, in order to draw a profile of families that need parenting support. A substantial number of the mothers reported needing support (40% reported need for information, 10% reported family and social support needs). This need was related to child behaviour problems and to negative parenting. Maternal depression, difficult temperament of the child and negative life events, as well as total number of risk factors, significantly predicted the need for support. Satisfaction with support (but not number of support sources) acted as a protective factor.

Distinguishing between physical and social aggression, this study aimed to examine whether the predictive effect of aggression on resource control is moderated by prosocial behavior and corresponds to a linear or a curvilinear trend. Moderating effects of children's social preference among peers and child sex in this context were also tested.

Based on a sample of 682 kindergarten children (348 girls; average age 72.7 months, 3.6 SD), multilevel regressions revealed additive linear effects of social preference and prosociality on resource control.

Moderate (but not high) levels of social aggression also facilitated resource control for disliked children. There was no such threshold effect for well‐liked children, who increasingly controlled the resource the more socially aggressive they were. In contrast, physical aggression hampered resource control unless used very modestly.

The present study has a number of positive features. First, the distinction between physical and social aggression improves our understanding of the relation between aggression and social competence and sketches a more differentiated picture of the role of different forms of aggression in resource control. Second, this study combines the concept of resource control with the concept of social preference and investigates curvilinear effects of aggression. Third, the direct observation of resource control in the Movie Viewer increases the internal validity of this study.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the introduction of auditory sensory cues, through a human voice, affect children’s and parent’s shopping behaviour in a retail grocery setting. In the field of retailing and sensory marketing research, there is a paucity of knowledge on how auditory sensory cues impact on consumers’ shopping behaviour.

The empirical study was a field experiment and entailed direct observation of shoppers of the Swedish grocery retailer ICA. The observations were based on a convenience sample of shopping families assigned to a control group (n=200) and an experimental group (n=131). A new innovative Swedish audio story track system was to be tested in a hypermarket containing 13 different stories for children.

Auditory sensory cues affect children’s and parent’s shopping behaviour in a significant way. Children are quieter, more relaxed and do not move around and reduce the parental stress behaviour during the shopping process.

The findings demonstrate that auditory sensory cues through human voice have a positive effect on children’s and parent’s shopping behaviour. It is also obvious that parent’s perceived stress is significantly influenced by the children.

The study provides guidelines for grocery retailers who wish to offer children and their parents a more pleasant shopping trip by emphasizing the role of the children.

The research demonstrates that the introduction of auditory sensory cues through human voice in a significant way affect the children’s and their parent’s shopping behaviour in a retail setting.

Adolescent problem behaviours (substance use, delinquency, school dropout, pregnancy, and violence) are costly not only for individuals, but for entire communities. Policy makers and practitioners that are interested in preventing these problem behaviours are faced with many programming options. The purpose of this review is to discuss two criteria for selecting relevant parenting programmes, and provide five examples of such programmes.

The first criterion for programme selection is theory based. Well-supported theories, such as the social development model, have laid out key family-based risk and protective factors for problem behaviour. Programmes that target these risk and protective factors are more likely to be effective. Second, programmes should have demonstrated efficacy; these interventions have been called “evidence-based programmes” (EBP). This review highlights the importance of evidence from rigorous research designs, such as randomised clinical trials, in order to establish programme efficacy.

Nurse-Family Partnership, The Incredible Years, the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P), Strengthening Families 10-14, and Staying Connected with Your Teen are examined. The unique features of each programme are briefly presented. Evidence showing impact on family risk and protective factors, as well as long-term problem behaviours, is reviewed. Finally, a measure of cost effectiveness of each programme is provided.

The paper proposes that not all programmes are of equal value, and suggests two simple criteria for selecting a parenting programme with a high likelihood for positive outcomes. Furthermore, although this review is not exhaustive, the five examples of EBPs offer a good start for policy makers and practitioners seeking to implement effective programmes in their communities. Thus, this paper offers practical suggestions for those grappling with investments in child and adolescent programmes on the ground.

This study aimed to understand young children’s influence on family consumer behavior by examining children's and parents’ points of view in the Brazilian context.

Through an exploratory approach, the study used focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. Specifically, to elicit children’s perceptions, two focus groups were conducted, and to capture the perspective of the parents, 8 families, via 12 participants, were interviewed.

Children’s use of information provided by the media in their attempts to influence family decisions is perceived positively by parents because such behavior helps parents to fulfill their parental duties.

This study examines how young children perceive their influential role in family consumer decisions and how parents perceive this influence, given the existence of child adultization and adult infantilization.

The findings extend the discussions regarding the adultization of children and the infantilization of adults, revealing positive aspects of such a trend in association with consumer behavior.

This review seeks to provide an overview of the current research evidence on the use of restraint as an intervention in managing challenging behaviours in relation to children with intellectual disabilities. It also aims to discuss legal frameworks and ethical considerations that underpin the use of restraint in intellectually disabled children who present with challenging behaviours.

The authors conducted a search of existing literature primarily pertaining to the management of challenging behaviours in intellectual disability on PubMed, PsycInfo and Google Scholar using combinations of the following key words – children, intellectual disabilities, learning disability, mental retardation, challenging behaviour, restraint, seclusion, physical restraint, mechanical restraint, personal restraint, and chemical restraint. Since research on the use of such interventions in children has been hitherto scant, literature relating to their use in intellectually disabled adult populations as well as cognitively able children was also examined to ascertain whether the broad principles informing the use of restraint interventions could be generalised to their use in intellectually disabled children.

The review finds evidence to suggest that restraint interventions in their myriad forms are widely used to manage challenging behaviours in children with intellectual disabilities and outlines the evidence base, clinical scope, and the risks associated with the use of such interventions in children. It also helps highlight the current absence of comprehensive evidence based guidance that incorporates clinical, ethical, and legal aspects of the use of restraint interventions in children with intellectual disabilities and raises relevant questions in relation to their judicious use in this patient group.

The authors believe that the review completes the first in depth evaluation of the use of restraint interventions in children with intellectual disabilities and are confident that this would serve as useful guidance for professionals working with this patient group who may be considering using restraint interventions in their everyday clinical practice.

The purpose of this study was to test a new approach to deviancy training, that is, the shaping and reinforcing of disruptive behaviors in social interaction, which considers not only reinforcement, but also the modeling processes involved, as well as children's roles as either providers or receivers of the training.

Using teacher reports and observations from a semi-naturalistic experimental setting with young children, the authors examined the prevalence of provided and received modeling and positive reinforcement, as well as the concurrent contribution of behavior problems on these processes in friendship dyads using a convenience sample of six-year-old twins (N=783; 386 boys). Frequency analyses and linear and logistic regressions were conducted.

Results indicated that modeling and positive reinforcement – provided and received – were prevalent in this low-risk sample, that behavior problems were associated mainly with provided dimensions, and that deviancy training processes were also displayed between disruptive and non-disruptive children.

Findings are relevant to peer-oriented programs designed to prevent antisocial behaviors. Prevention should target these mixed friendships where deviant behavior likely begins.

This study provides preliminary support for a new measure of deviancy training, underscores the importance of the roles taken by children, and shows that deviancy training takes place between disruptive and non-disruptive young children.

Children with acquired brain injury (ABI) are at significant risk of serious behavioural and social difficulties. The burgeoning growth of research documenting behavioural sequelae after paediatric ABI has not been met with a concomitant level of research aimed at treating the problem. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a manualised behavioural intervention support programme could reduce challenging behaviours in children with ABI and improve family-parental well-being and functioning.

A total of 61 parents (48 mothers and 13 fathers) of 48 children aged between three and 12 years with mild, moderate, or severe ABI received an ABI adapted “Signposts for Building Better Behaviour” programme (Hudson et al., 2001) in group-support (GS) or telephone-support (TS) format. Trained “Signposts” practitioners delivered the programme over a five-month period. The programme consisted of nine information booklets, a DVD, and workbook. All families completed pre-intervention and post-intervention evaluations.

On an average parents completed 7.92 out of a possible nine intervention sessions (range 7-9). Parents in both TS and GS formats reported significant reductions in challenging child behaviours irrespective of injury severity. They also reported significant reductions in dysfunctional parenting practices, stress and family burden.

Overall, the current research provides support for Signposts to be used with families of children with ABI in an attempt to ameliorate negative outcomes for family, parent, and child.