Spanking and parental verbal aggression are potentially toxic stressors that can negatively affect children's academic achievement by disrupting mental skills like executive function. Yet little empirical evidence has been provided for this mediating pathway. This study used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort of…

Research Findings: This study investigated the long-term interrelations among children's language competencies, their home literacy environment (HLE), and 3 aspects of socioemotional development from ages 3 to 8, controlling for characteristics of the child and family. For this sample of 547 typically developing German children, parents and…

Background: The role of reactive aggression in the development of peer victimization remains unclear due in part to a failure to account for confounding problems of behavioural undercontrol (e.g., hyperactivity). As well, the school social context has rarely been examined to see whether these risks are mediated by relationships with teachers.…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Fight-Free Schools violence prevention process had an effect on the frequency of aggressive acts of elementary school students. Participants included approximately 600 students ranging from Kindergarten to 5th grade in a suburban school in the Midwestern United States. Data were collected over…

Based on extensive research, this provocative volume explores how schools are places where racial conflicts often remain hidden at the expense of a healthy school climate and the well-being of students of color. Most schools fail to act on racial microaggressions because the stress of negotiating such conflicts is extremely high due to fears of…

For socioeconomically disadvantaged children, a positive experience in kindergarten may play a particularly important role in fostering the behavioral adjustment and learning engagement necessary for school success. Prior research has identified supportive student--teacher relationships and classroom emotional support as two features of the…

How does it happen that some children acquire a reputation as a "problem" in school? The article discusses some findings of a qualitative study involving children in the Reception year (ages 4-5). The research focused on problematic behaviour as this emerged within, and was shaped by, the culture of the classroom. A key question for the…

The present longitudinal study used a social-ecological framework to explore the extent to which peer victimization and aggression were associated with changes in concentration problems and emotion regulation among elementary students in general versus special education, while accounting for student demographics and school contextual factors. Data…

High levels of aggressive behaviors were observed during the transition times in two selfcontained special education classrooms: a kindergarten and pre-kindergarten. The present case studies examine how modifying the classroom infrastructure impacts students' aggressive behavior. Teachers were assisted on the usage of select modifications (visual…

Many young children exhibit aggressive and disruptive behaviors at early ages. However, while aggressive behaviors are normative and serve as a way to communicate needs in the midst of developing verbal abilities, continued disruptive behavior can lead to stable or increasing levels of behavioral dysregulation, oppositionality and aggression.…

A sample of 784 children with below-median literacy performance in kindergarten or at the beginning of grade 1 was assessed in 5 areas of psychological and social variables: academic competence, sociodemographic characteristics, social/emotional/behavioral characteristics, school context, and home environment. We examined the contribution of…

The goal of this study was to investigate differences in the social context of peer victimization for preschoolers and kindergarteners. Data were collected from 168 children. For preschoolers, neither social acceptance nor friendships were significantly related to peer victimization. Instead, playing with peers and exposure to aggressive peers…