This study examined relationships between parent-child emotional communication and callous-unemotional (CU) traits and conduct problems. References to negative and positive emotions made by clinic-referred boys (3-9 years) and their parents were coded from direct observations of family interactions involving the discussion of shared emotional…

Improving the parent-child relationship by using strategies based on social learning theory has become the cornerstone for the treatment of conduct problems in children. Over the past 40 years, interventions have expanded greatly from small, experimental procedures to substantial, systematic programmes that provide clear guidelines in detailed…

Forty-eight incarcerated sex offenders were compared with 16 property offenders and 16 nonoffenders on self-report measures of childhood maternal and paternal attachment and adult attachment. Results suggest that insecure childhood attachments may be related to offending behavior generally and that certain combinations of childhood attachment…

Reviews the literature on the role of family distress in the treatment of children's behavior disorders. Describes a system for integrating marital- and child-focused treatments and makes suggestions for improving the design of studies assessing the impact of contextual factors on parent-child interaction. (FMW)