The role of teacher behavior management in the development of disruptive behaviors: an intervention study with the good behavior game

Abstract The role of teacher behavior management for children’s disruptive behavior development (hyperactive and oppositional behavior) was investigated using a universal classroom preventive intervention study. Five-hundred seventy children were followed from second to third grade of elementary school. Observations of teacher behavior management and children’s on-task and off-task classroom behavior and peer reports of hyperactive and oppositional behavior were available. Results showed that the reduced use of negative remarks of intervention teachers predicted children’s increase in on-task behavior and decrease in talking-out behavior. These improved children’s classroom behaviors in turn mediated the impact of the intervention on the development of hyperactive and oppositional behavior over the studied period. These results were similar for girls and boys. The results underscore the role of teachers’ classroom management strategies in improving children’s classroom behavior, which, in turn is an important component in the reduction of disruptive behavior development

Late development of complete atrioventricular block may be immune mediated and congenital in origin

Aim To investigate the correlation between maternal autoantibodies and age at diagnosis of isolated complete atrioventricular (AV) block (CAVB) and to study signs of late progression of foetal immune-mediated insults in cases of postnatally diagnosed CAVB. Methods Patients with CAVB (n = 190) identified in a population-based manner were included. Maternal autoantibody profile was correlated with age at CAVB diagnosis. A structured review of medical records was performed if a late CAVB diagnosis (>27 days post-partum) was associated with a sero-positive mother. Results Maternal Ro/La autoantibodies were observed in 88% of cases with a congenital diagnosis. Thirteen cases with a sero-positive mother and late CAVB diagnosis were found (age-range: 4 months-43 years). In two cases, CAVB was diagnosed in conjunction with infections, one case had a family history of cardiomyopathy and two cases had nontypical clinical presentations, indicating alternative pathogenetic mechanisms. In the remaining eight cases, no likely factors inducing CAVB, other than maternal autoantibodies, could be identified. Conclusion Our observations support the hypothesis that late progression to CAVB can be the result of an immune-mediated pathogenetic mechanism during foetal life. An autoantibody-associated diagnosis after the neonatal period is therefore possible, and testing of maternal serology at the time of diagnosis is recommended. \ua92013 Foundation Acta P\ue6diatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

The Effects of Errorless Compliace Training On Children In Home and School Settings

Errorless compliance training (ECT) is a procedure used to lessen disruptive behavior using a gradual and noncoercive approach. In this study, parents of three school‐aged children who demonstrated high levels of disruptive behavior in the home and the classroom were trained on the ECT procedure. ECT consisted of training in effective instruction delivery and delivery of requests in a hierarchal manner. ECT sessions took place in the home, with parents delivering requests to participating children. Baseline data were used to arrange requests into grouped levels, ranging from Level 1 (requests of which individual is typically compliant) to Level 4 (requests in which individual is typically noncompliant). Using the ECT procedure, request levels were faded over time in a gradual fashion to ensure the highest probability of compliance. Effects of ECT were hypothesized to generalize from the home to the school setting. Implementation of ECT resulted in high levels of compliance in both the home and school settings across all participants. Implications and limitations are discussed

Tootling With a Randomized Independent Group Contingency to Improve High School Classwide Behavior

The present study examined the effects of tootling, a peer-mediated positive behavior intervention, on students’ classwide disruptive and academically engaged behavior in three general education high school classrooms. A withdrawal design was used to assess the effects of the intervention. Students wrote tootles anonymously on paper slips and placed them into a marked container. A randomized independent group contingency was used to reward students. At the end of the class period, teachers randomly drew three of the submitted tootles and rewarded students about whom the tootles were written. Teachers also randomly drew the names of two students who submitted a tootle and rewarded them as well. All three classrooms displayed decreases in classwide disruptive behavior and increases in academically engaged behavior during intervention phases. Effect size calculations for both disruptive and academically engaged behavior indicated very large overall effects. The results of this study suggest that a modified tootling procedure utilizing a randomized independent group contingency can be an effective intervention for teachers to improve the classwide behavior of students in high school classrooms. Teachers found the intervention at least moderately socially valid and students rated it highly acceptable

An Empirical Investigation of Time-Out With and Without Escape Extinction to Treat Escape-Maintained Noncompliance

The present study evaluates the effectiveness of two time-out (TO) procedures in reducing escape-maintained noncompliance of 4 children. Noncompliant behavioral function was established via a functional assessment (FA), including indirect and direct descriptive procedures and brief confirmatory experimental analyses. Following FA, parents were taught to consequate noncompliance with two different TO procedures, one without and one with escape extinction following TO release. Although results indicate TO without escape extinction is effective in increasing compliance above baseline levels, more optimal levels of compliance were obtained for all 4 children when escape extinction was added to the TO procedures already in place. Results indicate efficacy of TO with escape extinction when applied to escape-maintained noncompliance and are discussed as an initial example of the successful application of TO to behaviors maintained by negative reinforcement

Early Tissue Patterning Recreated by Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts in a Three-Dimensional Environment

Cellular self-organization studies have been mainly focused on models such as Volvox, the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, and animal (metazoan) embryos. Moreover, animal tissues undergoing regeneration also exhibit properties of embryonic systems such as the self-organization process that rebuilds tissue complexity and function. We speculated that the recreation in vitro of the biological, biophysical, and biomechanical conditions similar to those of a regenerative milieu could elicit the intrinsic capacity of differentiated cells to proceed to the development of a tissue-like structure. Here we show that, when primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts are cultured in a soft nanofiber scaffold, they establish a cellular network that causes an organized cell contraction, proliferation, and migration that ends in the formation of a symmetrically bilateral structure with a distinct central axis. A subset of mesodermal genes (brachyury, Sox9, Runx2) is upregulated during this morphogenetic process. The expression of brachyury was localized first at the central axis, extending then to both sides of the structure. The spontaneous formation of cartilage-like tissue mainly at the paraxial zone followed expression of Sox9 and Runx2. Because cellular self-organization is an intrinsic property of the tissues undergoing development, this model could lead to new ways to consider tissue engineering and regenerative medicine