This study examined the effect of involvement in mutual support groups on long-term recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other vulnerable individuals. From qualitative interviews with nine group members, the study identified key themes, benefits, and barriers related to involvement in the groups. Content analysis of the data revealed insights about characteristics of...

In this paper, we describe an architecture for supporting and guiding children story-creation activities. Stories and story telling activities are present in all children developmental stages, assuming distinct roles in each stage. Within the scope of this research, our target population is children aged 7-9 years old, within the portuguese education context within which we are working, for who...

Playgrounds are underutilized for enhancing the social development of young children with special needs. The unstructured, fast-paced nature of play in this setting necessitates using teacher-mediated interventions to enhance inclusion of children with special needs in cooperative interactions with their typically developing peers. In this review, we discuss the importance of moving classroom c...

Lonely individuals may decode social cues well but have difficulty putting such skills to use precisely when they need them--in social situations. In four studies, we examined whether lonely people choke under social pressure by asking participants to complete social sensitivity tasks framed as diagnostic of social skills or nonsocial skills. Across studies, lonely participants performed worse ...

 Integrated into the overall system of care and includes a continuum of step-up and stepdown services within the same provider organization.  Offers a comprehensive and ecological model of multi-model treatment interventions into an integrated whole, designed to meet the individual needs of a child and the child’s family.  Commitment to national standards of excellence, a continuous commitme...

The objective of the studies presented in this paper was to examine whether the need to belong can be used to enhance exercise cognitions and behavior. Two studies examined the effectiveness of framing exercise as a means of boosting social skills (versus health benefits) for self-regulatory efficacy, exercise intentions, and (in Study 2) exercise behavior. In Study 1, inactive adults primed to...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of a manual-based, social-skills training, group intervention to improve social skills and social functioning of children treated for brain tumors, and to assess the impact of cognitive functioning on the effectiveness of the intervention. METHODS Three social-skills training group interventions, each comprised of 5 to 7 children ages 8 to 14 years, wer...

Parents and teachers in India completed questionnaires giving details about the quality of children’s sibling and peer relationships. Analyses of social skills of children with and without siblings revealed no significant difference between the two groups on aggressive, asocial and prosocial behavior. Additionally, warmth and conflict in children’s sibling relationships were not associated with...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of a measure of children's dispositional prosocial behavior (i.e., peer nominations) to individual differences in children's negative emotionality, regulation, and social functioning. Children with prosocial reputations tended to be high in constructive social skills (i.e., socially appropriate behavior and constructive coping) and attentio...