Attributions of Stability, Control and Responsibility: How Parents of Children with Intellectual Disabilities View their Child's Problematic Behaviour and Its Causes

The Effectiveness of a Recreational Behavioural Programme in Reducing Anger among Children with Intellectual Disabilities at the Primary Stage

This study aimed to investigate the impact of a recreational behavioural programme on reducing the degree of anger among children with intellectual disabilities (ID) in the primary stage. The study was implemented with 24 children who were randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group (n = 12, age = 10.80 ± 1.03 years, IQ = 63.10 ± 4.43 scores, ASW = 55.50 ± 1.51 scores) and a control group (n = 12, age = 10.80 ± 0.92 years, IQ = 63.00 ± 4.16 scores, ASW = 56.00 ± 1.15 scores). We used the PROMIS anger scale with a modification that was used to measure the degree of anger, and the recreational behavioural programme was implemented three times per week for six weeks. The results of the research showed that the improvement percentages for Anger Triggers (AT), Inner Anger (IA), and External Anger (EA) were 9.73%, 9.04%, and 9.60%, respectively, and the Anger scale as a whole (ASW) rate was 9.46%. r = (0.89-0.91). The experimental group using the recreational behavioural programme also outperformed the control group, as the results indicated a decrease in the intensity of anger in the direction of the experimental group. The differences in the improvement percentages for Anger Triggers (AT) Inner Anger (IA), and External Anger (EA) were 32.97%, 31.03%, and 26.63%, respectively, and the Anger scale as a whole (ASW) rate was 30.09%, r = (0.82-0.86). The results of the study confirmed the effectiveness of the recreational activity programme in developing social interaction among children with intellectual disabilities, which indicates the success of the recreational behavioural programme in reducing the degree of anger among children with IDs. Therefore, the recreational behavioural programme had a positive effect in terms of reducing the degree of anger among children with IDs in the primary stage.

Integrative and Theoretical Reviews of Achievement Motivation for School Psychologists: Introduction to the Special Issue

A theoretically grounded understanding of achievement motivation appears to be largely overlooked in both initial education programs and ongoing professional development of school psychologists. This is unfortunate because motivation constructs such as perceived control, value, and self-beliefs predict students’ academic performance in a way that complements the variance explained by intelligence tests. This empirical evidence is rooted in long-standing theorizing that motivation constructs hold an important role alongside cognitive constructs in understanding student learning. Moreover, because motivation constructs are viewed as malleable, they provide an untapped source of intervention for school psychologists in supporting students. For these reasons, this special issue presents five review articles that integrate discrete theories of achievement motivation to the practice of school psychology. Largely representing Canadian expertise, the articles describe the potential for the control-value theory of emotions, achievement goal theory, mindset theory, self-determination theory, and self-regulated learning in the work of school psychologists. The final commentary article explicates a whole-child framework to highlight the role motivation can hold alongside cognition and guide school psychologists to partner these constructs for the betterment of children.

Teaching Future School Personnel to Train Parents to Implement Explicit Instruction Interventions

Students with disabilities are less likely to be proficient with basic academic skills compared to peers, indicating a need for more quality instructional time. Parent tutoring has been identified as a promising practice for supplementing instruction to improve child outcomes. However, educators are not sufficiently prepared to collaborate with and provide guidance to parents in how to support academic goals at home. We describe how an academic assessment and intervention clinic trains future school personnel to work with families to develop and implement explicit instruction parent tutoring interventions. A case example illustrates the process.

Parental Attributions of Control for Child Behaviour and Their Relation to Discipline Practices in Parents of Children with and Without Developmental Delays

Children with developmental delays (DD) are at risk for developing behavior problems. Research suggests that parents' causal attributions for child behavior are related to parenting. This study investigated this association in parents of children with DD compared to parents of typically developing (TD) children. It specifically focused on attributions of child control by separating these from attributions of responsibility, blame and intent, and from attributions of parent control and responsibility. Fifty-one parents of children with DD and 69 parents of TD children completed two questionnaires. The Written Analogue Questionnaire measured causal attributions. The Parenting Scale measured dysfunctional discipline practices. Parents of children with DD viewed the child's role in problematic behavior more positively while also viewing misbehavior as more fixed than parents of TD children. Parents of TD children who viewed their child as more in control over misbehavior used less dysfunctional discipline, but this association was not found for parents of children with DD. The results advance understanding of how parents perceive behavior problems in children with DD and the important role these perceptions play in parental behavior management strategies. More importantly, these perceptions relate to discipline practices differently for parents of children with DD compared to parents of TD children, highlighting that parent interventions should be adapted to the specific needs of parents of children with DD.