Aftercare seeks to address challenges juveniles face when re-entering the community after residential placement. This study compares changes in recidivism in five Pennsylvania counties that piloted aftercare reforms in 2005 to 2010 as part of Models for Change to recidivism in counties that did not. The sample includes 3,107 referrals to court in…

Intervention dosage is foundational to realizing intended impacts but is often variable, particularly when interventions are implemented under real-world conditions. In this study, we examined dosage of small-group emergent literacy intervention experienced by preschool children (n = 154) identified as at risk for later reading difficulties in…

Background: Children with motor delays are at increased risk for delayed means-end problem-solving (MEPS) performance. Objectives: To evaluate children with motor delays: 1) the impact of motor delay severity and MEPS mastery timing on developmental trajectories of MEPS; and 2) the effectiveness of Sitting Together And Reaching To Play…

Check-in/Check-out (CICO) is a widely implemented evidence-based program for supporting students with at-risk levels of social and emotional behavior concerns. It is comprised of several core features described in the previous literature, including "practice elements," which are the specific actions that are delivered directly to…

Background: To examine the associations between adolescent pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes on substance use and suicide attempts in a sample who is at greater risk for substance use and suicide attempts -- those who have been involved with the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Methods: Using a prospective, longitudinal design, we…

Aims: Children with neuromotor delays are at risk for reaching and object exploration impairments, which may negatively affect their cognitive development and daily activity performance. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Sitting Together And Reaching To Play (START-Play) intervention on reaching-related exploratory behaviors in…

It is anticipated that the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated societal response will have wide-ranging impacts on youth development and mental health. Sleep is crucial for child and adolescent health and well-being, and the potential for sleep problems to emerge or worsen during and following the pandemic is high.…

Growth mixture models (GMMs) are applied to intervention studies with repeated measures to explore heterogeneity in the intervention effect. However, traditional GMMs are known to be difficult to estimate, especially at sample sizes common in single-center interventions. Common strategies to coerce GMMs to converge involve post-hoc adjustments to…

Stuttering is a disorder that affects about 1% of the population and manifests as speech disfluencies. Reading difficulties and disabilities are commonly found in this population. Nonetheless, speech disfluencies have not been explored in adult struggling readers (ASRs). In the current study, we examined the rate of stuttering in ASRs as well as…

Objective: This longitudinal study investigated the predictors of and changes in psychological trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Participants included 236 adolescents (130 males; M age = 16.74 years in spring 2020; 49.6% diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; 16.1% diagnosed with an anxiety or depressive disorder) in…

The Canadian Little Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (Little DCDQ-CA) is a parent-report screening instrument that identifies 3- to 4-year-old children who may be at risk for Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). We tested the criterion validity of the Little DCDQ-CA in a sample of preschool-aged children in the United States…

Background: To advance early identification efforts, we must detect and characterize neurodevelopmental sequelae of risk among population-based samples early in development. However, variability across the typical-to-atypical continuum and heterogeneity within and across early emerging psychiatric/neurodevelopmental disorders represent fundamental…

Background: Both transactional and common etiological models have been proposed as explanations of why externalizing behavior problems (EBP) and internalizing behavior problems (IBP) co-occur in children. Yet little research has empirically evaluated these competing theoretical explanations. We examined whether EBP and IBP are transactionally…

Adolescents experiencing social anxiety often engage in safety behaviors--covert avoidance strategies for managing distress (e.g., avoiding eye contact)--that factor into the development and maintenance of their concerns. Prior work supports the psychometric properties of the Subtle Avoidance Frequency Examination (SAFE), a self-report survey of…

Despite well-established health disparities between transgender and cisgender youth, state bills restricting gender-inclusive school supports and health care have dramatically expanded since 2019. While parental support for transgender youth strengthens healthy development, unsupportive parents contribute to suicidality and homelessness. This…