Research from a variety of disciplines indicates that maternal cigarette smoking (MCS) during pregnancy is associated with an array of problematic outcomes, including various measures of criminal offending. Although some researchers have applied Moffitt's developmental taxonomy as a framework for understanding this relationship, this line of…

Relationships among African American English (AAE), linguistic knowledge, and spelling skills were examined in a sample of 92 children in grades one through three whose speech varied in the frequency of morphosyntactic AAE features. Children were separated into groups of high (AAE speakers) and low (standard American English, SAE, speakers) use of…

Ethnic group differences in the contributions of self-definition (self-worth and efficacy) and interpersonal relatedness with parents and peers to changes in psychological and school adjustment were examined among 448 White, Black, and Latino girls and boys (11-14 years of age). Self-report questionnaires and school records were evaluated for…

This study investigated the relationship between narrative skills and theory of mind for low-income children. Two groups of low-income preschoolers, one African American (n = 33) and one European American (n = 36), created a narrative and participated in a false belief task. The European Americans outperformed African Americans on the false belief…

This article uses hierarchical linear modeling with a sample of African American children and their primary caregivers to examine the association between various community factors and child conduct problems. The analysis revealed a rather strong inverse association between level of collective socialization and conduct problems. This relationship…

Using data from Wave 1 (n=5,070) and Wave 2 (n=4,404) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examined the relationship between cumulative risk exposure and youth problem behavior. Cross-sectional analyses revealed a positive, linear association between cumulative risk and problem behaviors. The association between cumulative…

As we revisit the victory of Brown, we know that the work of countless unsung warriors has taken us to a new level in the battle to acquire educational equality for African American children. In an effort to honor those people whose work have brought us this far, we visited with one expert witness and intellectual architect on desegregation to…

Empirical research utilizing the communal learning construct suggests that culturally-informed pedagogy enhances academic performance for African-American children. The present investigation examined the effect of culturally-informed learning contexts on recall performance in geography lessons. The sample consisted of 69 African-American Grade 4-5…

The present study investigated the pathways between attention problems and depressive symptoms, particularly the role of academic incompetence, among a community sample of urban African American children. Results supported the hypothesized path models from inattention to depressive symptoms for girls and boys. Academic performance in the spring of…

This study evaluates the effectiveness of school-home notes for increasing academic productivity and on-task behavior of low-income, African American children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Using a withdrawal, alternating treatments design, each student received school-home notes with and without a response cost…

The disproportionate number of racial and ethnic minority children in the child welfare system concerns many child welfare professionals. Few studies have investigated how neighborhood processes may contribute to this disparity. This study examined how neighborhood characteristics are associated with rates of child maltreatment for black,…

This study examined gender and age differences in children's psychological response to parental victimization in a convenience sample of African American children. Thirty youths, ages six to 12, whose parents had been a victim of community violence (that is, gunshot or stabbing), and a control group of 30 children matched on variables of race,…

Putative ethnic group differences in various forms of psychopathology may have important theoretical, clinical, and policy implications. Recently, it has been argued that individuals of African descent are more likely to be psychopathic than those of European descent (R. Lynn, 2002). Preliminary evidence from the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth…

We examined the factor structure of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) among a sample of 523 African American children (m age = 12.76) and a sample of 564 European American youth (m age = 12.43). Previous investigations have produced discrepant factor structures among samples of predominantly majority-culture children, but fewer…

This article examines stage models of racial identity that researchers and educators use to explain the subjective processes that influence how black youth navigate school. Despite the explicit challenge that most models of racial identity have posed to racist discourses in the research literature, the underlying ethics of their developmental…