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This study utilized growth mixture modeling to examine the impact of parents, child care providers, teachers, and peers on the prediction of distinct developmental patterns of classroom externalizing behavior in elementary school. Among 241 children, three groups were identified. 84.6% of children exhibited consistently low externalizing behavior. The externalizing behavior of the Chronic High group (5.8%) remained elevated throughout elementary school; it increased over time in the Low Increasing group (9.5%). Negative relationships with teachers and peers in the kindergarten classroom increased the odds of having chronically high externalizing behavior. Teacher-child conflict increased the likelihood of a developmental pattern of escalating externalizing behavior. Boys were overrepresented in the behaviorally risky groups, and no sex differences in trajectory types were found. Keywords externalizing trajectories; classroom behavior; mixture modeling; teacher-child relationship; peer relationships; parent-child relationship Childhood externalizing behaviors are associated with a myriad of long-term indicators of maladjustment such as delinquency, substance abuse, and school dropout (Broidy et al., 2003;Moffitt, Caspi, Harrington, & Milne, 2002). In the classroom, these behaviors take up considerable amounts of teacher time and resources and disrupt educational routines for the entire classroom. Although such behavior is usually stable once developed, not all children who express early emerging externalizing behavior manifest behavioral continuity (Campbell, Shaw, & Gilliom, 2000;Keenan, Shaw, Delliquadri, Giovannelli, & Walsh, 1998) and some older youth with externalizing behavior problems had little to no such behaviors as young children Moffitt et al., 2002). Understanding which child and relationship factors contribute to sustained externalizing trajectories and which play a role in trajectories that desist or escalate over time will help guide efforts to Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript J Sch Psychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 December 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript prevent, and intervene with, such behaviors. In this vein, the aim of the study was to identify whether relationships (a) with parents and child care providers in preschool and (b) with teachers and peers in kindergarten contributed to the prediction of distinct developmental patterns of classroom externalizing behavior from kindergarten through fifth grade. Relationship Risk and Protect...

Objective To determine (a) how child age relates to parent concerns about child behavior and (b) how child age and parent concerns correlate with provider referrals and family attendance at mental health consultant (MHC) appointments. Methods Data were obtained from Rhode Island’s Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health) in which universal developmental and behavioral screening and MHCs were embedded within primary care sites serving low-income, diverse families. Children 9 months to 8 years were eligible for the study if they had a scheduled screening well child visit in 2010 (N = 1,451). Families completing screening and/or those referred for a MHC appointment were included in analyses (n = 700). Outcome measures included parent reported concerns about child behavior, referral status following screening, and family attendance at the MHC appointment. Results For every 1-month increase in child age, there was a 1.02 times increase in the likelihood of parent behavioral concern and a 1.04 times increase in the likelihood of mental health referral, even when controlling for child behavior. MHC-referred children over 5 years were 2.61 times more likely to attend than children less than 5. When examining parent behavioral concerns and child age jointly, only concerns remained significant. Conclusion Infants and toddlers, who have the highest rates of unmet mental health needs, may be least likely to benefit from universal screening and on-site MHC support. Efforts to incorporate behaviorally-based screening tools and increase parent concerns where appropriate appear warranted, particularly for families with very young children.

Pediatric settings are increasingly called upon to implement early childhood developmental and behavioral health screening as an early identification and health promotion strategy. Understanding the dynamic barriers and facilitators of implementation at various stages will help implementers plan for and address these factors in support of high quality implementation. Our research supported this goal by analyzing longitudinal, qualitative data. There were 128 semistructured interviews conducted with pediatric clinic and implementation providers across four years. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and synthesized using rigorous qualitative methods. Results were produced using an iterative process to summarize, analyze, and consolidate themes about screening implementation over time. Barriers and facilitators of implementation included characteristics of screening implementation as well as contextual characteristics of the pediatric primary care setting. Some implementation themes were stable over time whereas others demonstrated shifts. Results are discussed in terms of lessons learned for successfully integrating this critical preventive practice within pediatric clinics.

Despite widespread belief in the early childhood field of the benefits of reflective supervision, there has been limited empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of reflective supervision for home visitors and the children and families they serve. The present study examined the psychometric properties of four adapted self-report measures assessing supervisors' reflective supervision capacities; the study also investigated whether these measures captured change in reflective capacity over time as supervisors participated in professional development activities focused on reflective supervision. Results from 33 participants (home visiting supervisors and program managers) suggested that three of the four measures demonstrated acceptable internal consistency, and these three measures were correlated with each other. Two of these measures also captured significant change over time. Finally, there was some evidence that those with less education demonstrated more substantial improvement in their reflective supervision capacities than did those with an advanced degree. Findings provide initial evidence for reliable, efficient, and cost-effective supervisor self-report measures that could be used in research and program evaluation to assess change in supervisor reflective capacity over time.

Parent engagement (i.e., enrollment, ongoing attendance, participation quality) remains a major obstacle to fully realizing the benefits of evidence-based preventive parent management training in community settings. We describe an approach to parent engagement that addresses the myriad motivational, cognitive, and pragmatic barriers parents face by embedding services in Head Start and applying a parent engagement model, the Family Check Up, as a pre-intervention to augment parent training. In this article, we present the rationale for applying FCU to advance parent readiness for engagement and we describe the process by which we partnered with the community to modify FCU to be most impactful for enhancing parent engagement in one specific program, the Incredible Years Parenting Series. We conclude with preliminary data from our ongoing pilot trial that supports our approach.

Olivia has attended ABC Early Learning Program since infancy, and she transitioned to the preschool classroom 3 months ago, shortly after her fourth birthday. She has always been described as an “opinionated,” “busy” child, but her behaviors were manageable throughout her infant and toddler years. However, Olivia's preschool teacher, Miss Pam, calls the director into the classroom almost daily to help her manage Olivia's behavior. Miss Pam indicates that Olivia “goes from 0 to 100” quickly and can be triggered by “anything,” including a child taking her toy, not having her preferred snack, circle time, or transitions from a preferred activity (e.g., art) to a nonpreferred activity (e.g., cleanup, nap). When upset, Olivia will hit or kick peers, throw off her shoes, rip pictures and posters from the wall, and refuse to comply with teacher directions. It can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes for Olivia to calm down and rejoin the classroom routine. Miss Pam feels that Olivia is taking away important instructional time from the rest of the children and worries about other parents complaining that their children are being hurt. At home, Olivia's mother acknowledged that Olivia is a “tough kid” and she isn't always sure how to “make her listen.” Miss Pam and the center director wonder if they can support Olivia in their program. They have told Olivia's mother that she will need to find another placement if Olivia's behaviors do not improve in the next month.