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Abstract: Estimates suggest that most children placed in state custody have mental or behavioral health problems. Many of these children are difficult to place with foster families and ultimately are referred for residential care. Residential care is expensive relative to other alternatives and the effects on child outcomes do not seem to justify the expense. This study identifies systemic factors contributing to the residential placement of young children and opportunities for service improvement in a rural state. Key informant interviews and surveys were used to synthesize a broad array of professional perspectives. Remarkable consensus across multiple groups suggests that young children are best served in a family setting. Strategies to reduce residential placement and improve outcomes of young children are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Childhood social anxiety consistently has been linked with low levels of peer acceptance, yet little is known about the factors contributing to this association. We therefore examined the mediating and moderating role of social skills and close friendships, two conceptually and empirically relevant variables which were hypothesized to contribute to the social anxiety-peer acceptance relationship. Fifty teachers and 333 children (M = 9.54 years) participated in this study. Sociometric procedures and standardized questionnaires were used to assess: (a) self-reported social anxiety and friendship quality, (b) teacher-rated social skills, and (c) peer-derived acceptance and friendship quantity scores. As expected, childhood social anxiety was associated with low levels of peer acceptance, and this relation was mediated in part by social skills difficulties. Friendship quality (but not quantity) moderated this process for girls, suggesting that high negativity within girls' best friendships may exacerbate risk for undesirable peer outcomes. Interestingly, friendship quantity and positive friendship quality did not serve a protective function for boys or girls. Some implications, methodological limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social anxiety affects children across the developmental spectrum. Early-onset social phobia may be particularly impairing because of its disruptive effects on social and academic functioning during a child''s formative years and because of the elevated risks of childhood adversity in anxious individuals. Unfortunately, little attention has been paid to the early identification and assessment of social anxiety in young children. The ability to recognize and monitor or remediate social anxiety early in development would be of great advantage in reversing this potentially debilitating course. This article reviews various methods available to assess social anxiety and associated conditions. Particular emphasis is placed on the description and assessment of behavioral inhibition in infants and very young children as an early marker or precursor to the development of social anxiety. For school-aged children and adolescents, a greater range of assessment options is available including behavioral observation, clinician ratings, child self-report questionnaires, and parent and peer reports. In an effort to advance our understanding of the developmental psychopathology of social anxiety, further research is necessary to determine the equivalency of various assessment strategies across developmental periods. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Practicing psychologists frequently are asked to provide services to individuals whose backgrounds may differ from their own. Education in multicultural issues increasingly is being considered an important component of doctoral training programs. This article discusses the results of a survey of behavioral doctoral students concerning their graduate training on gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) issues. The results indicate that participants (a) have received minimal training in GLB issues, (b) feel inadequate in working with GLB individuals, and (c) express significantly more favorable attitudes toward gay men than a sample from the general population. Included are recommendations for improving training in sexual orientation issues in behavioral clinical psychology programs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: Previous research suggests that training workshops on investigative interviewing conducted with front-line workers, such as police officers or child protective service (CPS) workers, may result in improved knowledge about appropriate strategies to use. Limited research has addressed whether such training programs result in improvements in actual interviewing skills. The present investigation assessed the impact of a training workshop on CPS workers' knowledge about conducting and behavior during investigative interviews. Method: Twelve CPS workers participated. To evaluate the impact of the training, a quasi-experimental design was used. Participants completed outcome measures prior to, immediately following, and 3 months following the training. Outcome measures included (a) a questionnaire to assess knowledge about interviewing practices, (b) simulated interviews with a confederate to assess participant behavior during an investigative interview, and (c) questionnaires to gather information related to the simulated interviews (e.g., materials requested for use during interview, abuse status of confederate). All participants completed 6 hours of training during 3 weekly 2-hour sessions. Results: Participants' knowledge on the topic, as well as several interviewing skills during simulated interviews, improved following the training. However, the training failed to impact several key interviewing skills such as the types of questions asked or the length of the interview. Conclusions: Knowledge-based workshop training programs may not adequately prepare CPS workers to conduct appropriate investigative interviews with children who were allegedly abused. Further, knowledge about how to conduct such interviews may not be the best indicator of whether someone is prepared for this aspect of the job. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to determine whether inclusion of magnesium oxide (MgO) in micro and nanoparticulate forms in poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) cement has any influence on the fracture toughness of bone-cement interfaces. An interfacial fracture mechanics technique was used to compare the values of fracture toughness (KIC) among bone-PMMA, bone-PMMA with micro MgO particles and bone-PMMA with nano MgO particles interfaces. This study found that the values of KIC of bone-PMMA with micro MgO particles and bone-PMMA with nano MgO particles interfaces were significantly higher when compared to the values of KIC of the bone-PMMA interface (p < 0.0001). Results indicated that the addition of the micro and nano MgO particles to PMMA improved the quality of bone-cement union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]