Mental health interventions for children and adolescents often fl ow from adult clinical models, which emphasize individual change. Yet, to accomplish long-lasting change for children and adolescents, services need to consider developmental norms, the developmental status of the child or adolescent, and the fact that mental health issues for this population are embedded in family, peer, and sibling relationships. In Intervening in Children's Lives: An Ecological, Family-Centered Approach to Mental Health Care, the authors describe a family-centered approach that engages children, adolescents, and their families, leveraging their motivation to change. Never before has there been a comprehensive, systematic framework for linking empirically supported interventions for this clinical population. Useful as both a preventive checkup and a more intensive intervention, this approach may be delivered in schools and other community settings to have the greatest public health impact. Th e literature reveals promising fi ndings, in that highest-risk youth are more likely to respond well to ecologically based interventions, and this approach is consistent with others showing long-lasting eff ects. 2007. 319 pages. Hardcover.

This study tested two alternative hypotheses regarding the relations between child behavior and peer preference. The first hypothesis is generated from the person-group similarity model, which predicts that the acceptability of social behaviors will vary as a function of peer group norms. The second hypothesis is generated by the social skill model, which predicts that behavioral skill deficiencies reduce and behavioral competencies enhance peer preference. A total of 2895 children in 134 regular first-grade classrooms participated in the study. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to compare four different behaviors as predictors of peer preference in the context of classrooms with varying levels of these behavior problems. The results of the study supported both predictive models, with the acceptability of aggression and withdrawal varying across classrooms (following a person-group similarity model) and the effects of inattentive/hyperactive behavior (in a negative direction) and prosocial behavior (in a positive direction) following a social skill model and remaining constant in their associations with peer preference across classrooms. Gender differences also emerged, with aggression following the person-group similarity model for boys more strongly than for girls. The effects of both child behaviors and the peer group context on peer preference and on the trajectory of social development are discussed.

Examined the hypothesis that distinct parenting practices may be associated with type and profile of a child's disruptive behavior problems (e.g., oppositional, aggressive, hyperactive). Parents of 631 behaviorally disruptive children described the extent to which they experienced warm and involved interactions with their children and the extent to which their discipline strategies were inconsistent and punitive and involved spanking and physical aggression. As expected from a developmental perspective, parenting practices that included punitive interactions were associated with elevated rates of all child disruptive behavior problems. Low levels of warm involvement were particularly characteristic of parents of children who showed elevated levels of oppositional behaviors. Physically aggressive parenting was linked more specifically with child aggression. In general, parenting practices contributed more to the prediction of oppositional and aggressive behavior problems than to hyperactive behavior problems, and parenting influences were fairly consistent across ethnic groups and sex.

The middle school years are a period of increased risk for youths' engagement in antisocial behaviors, substance use, and affiliation with deviant peers (Dishion & Patterson, 2006). This study examined the specific role of parental monitoring and of family relationships (mother, father, and sibling) that are all critical to the deterrence of problem behavior in early adolescence. The study sample comprised 179 ethnically diverse 6th grade (46% female) students who were followed through 8th grade. Results indicated that parental monitoring and father-youth connectedness were associated with reductions in problem behavior over time, and conflict with siblings was linked with increases in problem behaviors. No associations were found for motheryouth connectedness. These findings did not differ for boys and for girls, or for families with resident or nonresident fathers.Considerable attention has been devoted to understanding the developmental processes that escalate youths' antisocial behaviors and substance use, because of the strong implications these problems have for adolescent health and their impact on society at large (Dishion & Patterson, 2006). The middle school years are a particularly risky period during which the convergence of antisocial behaviors, experimentation with substances, and affiliation with deviant peers may culminate and rapidly develop into firmly rooted problems. Parenting processes and relationships among family members are also changing during this time. Youths tend to spend less time with their families, feel less close to them, and receive less supervision and monitoring from their parents (Csikszentmihalyi & Larson, 1984;Dishion, Nelson, & Kavanagh, 2003;Hill, Bromell, Tyson, & Flint, 2007). Although this is a developmentally normative shift, it is critical that youths remain connected with their families to receive guidance and support as they negotiate difficult social, emotional, and cognitive challenges during this period of life (Hill et al., 2007).In an effort to better understand these developmental processes, our research and that of others has focused on the significant relationships in youths' lives. Among the general themes of existing literature on adolescence is that significant relationships with caregivers, peers, and siblings either serve to protect them from engaging in problem behavior or disrupt development and lead to later problems such as substance use and deviant peer affiliation. Studies have shown that family relationships that are supportive and close reduce the risk of youth substance use and problem behavior (Padilla-Walker, Nelson, Madsen, & Barry, 2008), and family management skills applied during this period can either impede or exacerbate adolescent problem behavior. Other studies have revealed that relationships with deviant peers and siblings are linked with increases in substance use, including both alcohol and drug use (Dishion & Owen, 2002;Stormshak, Comeau, & Shepard, 2004). However, few studies have examined parenting skills and the qual...

To understand the relations between sibling interactions and the social adjustment of children with behavior problems, 53 aggressive 1st-and 2nd-grade children, their mothers, and their siblings were interviewed about positive and negative aspects of the sibling relationship. When conflict and warmth were considered together, 3 types of sibling dyads emerged: conflictual (high levels of conflict, low levels of warmth), involved (moderate levels of conflict and warmth), and supportive (low levels of conflict, high levels of warmth). On most measures of social adjustment at school, children in involved sibling relationships showed better adjustment than did children in conflictual relationships. Results are discussed in terms of a developmental model for at-risk children in which some sibling relationships may foster the development of social skills in addition to providing emotional support, which may enhance adjustment at school. Models describing the development of aggressive behavior problems typically emphasize the role of parental practices and parent-child interactions in the elicitation and maintenance of high rates of problematic behavior (see Patterson, 1982). Patterson and his colleagues (Patterson, 1980(Patterson, , 1986 have also explored the possibility that siblings may play a key role in the family cycles of coercive exchanges that foster aggression. In families of aggressive children, coercive exchanges between siblings occur frequently and intensely and may serve to train each sibling to react aggressively in an escalating cycle of attacks and counterattacks. In an extension of Patterson's work, Loeber and Tengs (1986) found that, compared with normal children, aggressive children initiated more coercive chains with their sib-

This study examined the impact of the Family Check-Up (FCU) and linked intervention services on reducing health-risk behaviors and promoting social adaptation among middle school youth. A total of 593 students and their families were randomly assigned to receive either the intervention or middle school services as usual. Forty-two percent of intervention families engaged in the service and received the FCU. Using complier average causal effect analyses, engagement in the intervention moderated intervention outcomes. Families who engaged in the intervention had youth who reported lower rates of antisocial behavior and substance use over time than did a matched control sample. Results extend previous research indicating that a family-centered approach to supporting youth in the public school setting reduced growth of antisocial behavior, alcohol use, tobacco use, and marijuana use throughout the middle school years.

Stage– environment fit theory was used to examine the reciprocal lagged relations between family management practices and early adolescent problem behavior during the middle school years. In addition, the potential moderating roles of family structure and of gender were explored. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to describe patterns of growth in family management practices and adolescents’ behavioral outcomes and to detect predictors of interindividual differences in initial status and rate of change. The sample comprised approximately 1,000 adolescents between ages 11 years and 15 years. The results indicated that adolescents’ antisocial behaviors and substance use increased and their positive behavioral engagement decreased over time. As adolescent age increased, parental knowledge of their adolescent’s activities decreased, as did parental rule making and support. The level and rate of change in family management and adolescent behavioral outcomes varied by family structure and by gender. Reciprocal longitudinal associations between parenting practices and adolescent problem behavior were found. Specifically, parenting practices predicted subsequent adolescent behavior, and adolescent behavior predicted subsequent parenting practices. In addition, parental warmth moderated the effects of parental knowledge and rule making on adolescent antisocial behavior and substance use over time.

This study uses an ecological framework to examine how adolescents’ perceptions of school climate in 6th grade covary with the probability and frequency of their engagement in problem behaviors in 7th and 8th grades. Tobit analysis was used to address the issue of having a highly skewed outcome variable with many zeros and yet account for censoring. The 677 participating students from 8 schools were followed from 6th through 8th grade. The proportions of students reporting a positive school climate perception decreased over the middle school years for both genders, while the level of problem behavior engagement increased. The findings suggested that students who perceived higher levels of school discipline and order, or more positive student–teacher relationships were associated with lower probability and frequency of subsequent behavioral problems.