According to the learned helplessness hypothesis, organisms exposed to uncontrollable events learn the independence between their responses and environmental outcomes. This learning is believed to interfere with subsequent behavior. To further examine the dimension of uncontrollability, 48 college students were given solvable, unsolvable, or…

The paper describes Florida's SEARCH and TEACH program designed to prevent learning disabilities and their emotional consequences in children. SEARCH, a scanning test to identify kindergarten children at risk for problems with academic learning, is based upon the importance of age appropriate functions of spatial orientation and temporal…

The construct validity of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) was studied. The IIP was used to categorize 104 patients reporting interpersonal distress into 4 problem quadrants. Results offer broad support for the convergent validity of the IIP and offer knowledge about interpersonal problems and the psychotherapy context. (SLD)

This study examines recent evidence that many children with learning disabilities (LD) have accompanying behavior problems, especially children who experience academic difficulties in school but who are not formally diagnosed as LD. Subjects were 85 referrals to a university educational assessment center from 1991 to 1994. The subjects, 58 males…

Information from a workshop on how to help preschool teachers discuss death with young children is presented. Limitations of young children's preoperational thought processes are noted, including children's confusion about the irreversibility of death and the loss of a sense of trust in their environment. Children have different ways of dealing…

It has been estimated that as many as 75% of individuals treated for substance abuse relapse within 90 days after completion of treatment. Studies of relapse have typically defined the problem as a return to the specific substance for which the individual was originally treated. Because multiple substance appears to be common, this study examined…

Learning disability is suggested to be a dissociative reaction (school shock) similar to shell shock in wartime requiring appropriate theoretical and remedial approaches. Psychoanalytic and learning theory viewpoints are applied to the nature of learning disabilities. Also considered are the relation of anxiety to achievement and hypnosis to…

Emotional intelligence has been defined as "the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions" (P. Salovey and J. Mayer, 1990). As a subset of social intelligence and of personal intelligences (H. Gardner, 1983), emotional…

As a result of the Holocaust, many survivors developed long term psychosocial impairment known as the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is characterized by depression, anxiety, hypocondriasis, inability to concentrate or to express anger, nightmares, insomnia, obsessive thoughts, guilt, mistrust, and alienation. The literature in this…

The paper addresses issues involved in the aging of persons disabled earlier through spinal dysfunction (post-polio and spinal cord injury) and mental retardation. Biological, psychological, and social aspects of aging are examined separately. In a discussion of longevity and physical health, causes of functional aging are considered.…

Research has shown that siblings can experience either negative or positive mental health outcomes as a result of having a brother or sister with disabilities. When maladjustment occurs, it is frequently attributed to the stress of excessive helping. This research-based paper proposes that siblings of children with disabilities, perceiving…

Following World War I, researchers began to study psychological and behavior problems resulting from war experiences. Today these problems are defined as Posttraumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD). The PTSD problems of Vietnam veterans have been widely reported but less is known about World War II and Korean veterans. A study was undertaken to examine…

The paper describes the physical and psychological symptoms of anorexia nervosa, treatment methods, and implications for the classroom. A rationale is offered for the predominance of upper-middle and upper class female adolescents in the anorectic population. Four models of treatment for the anorectic individual are considered: medical,…

The authors describe their clinical experiences in working with learninq disabled children who have emotional disorders as well. Their approach, "psychotherapeutic remediation," is explained to combine psychodynamic psychotherapy methods with special education techniques, and to fuse the tutorial role of a remedial teacher and the therapeutic…

The number of young children who have suffered from maltreatment has risen in recent years. This paper describes the negative neurological, psychological, and cognitive effects from this maltreatment. Interventions that can prevent abuse and neglect and promote resilience in the child victims are examined and discussed. The paper concludes by…