About this Research Topic

Background

Young children develop social-emotional skills and learn how to use appropriate behaviors to meet their needs in their interactions with others in the environment (McCabe & Altamura, 2011). Timely identification and effectively supporting young children who are experiencing challenges in social-emotional development or behavioral well-being is critical to the success of inclusive education in early childhood (Hebbeler & Spiker, 2016), as well as to achieving the maximal potential of these children later in life (Bartolo et al., 2016). Data showed that the overall percentage of children displaying problematic behaviours in preschools range from 17% to 60% (e.g., Holtz et al., 2015; Lansford et al., 2019). However, preschool teachers may not be well prepared in providing the supports needed for these children (Bayat, 2020).

A large body of the literature on this topic has been conducted in clinical settings (e.g., Gross et al., 2019) or with disability specific populations (e.g., DeLucia et al., 2021). This Research Topic aims to present a series of studies regarding the inclusion of young children who need specialized support in social-emotional or behavioral learning in mainstream early childhood settings such as kindergartens, preschools, childcare centers, and other educational programs. The featured articles are expected to provide implications for early childhood professionals, leaders, researchers, policy makers, and families who are concerned about the quality of inclusion in early childhood.

We invite contributions of empirical studies and systematic literature review papers and expect to make a contribution to the emerging body of literature on this topic. The Research Topic welcomes submissions that address (but are not limited to) the following topics:

-- Early detection, screening, and evaluation of needs for specialized support in social-emotional and behavioral development from birth to eight years of age

-- Relationship-based approaches to support social-emotional and behavioral well-being of young children

--Positive behavioral support in early childhood

-- Peer interactions and relationships of children with social-emotional and/or behavioral needs

-- Building the capacity in early childhood professionals and caregivers to facilitate inclusion among children with and without social-emotional or behavioral needs

Bartolo, P. A., Björck-Åkesson, E., Giné, C., & Kyriazopoulou, M. (2016). Ensuring a strong start for all children: inclusive early childhood education and care. In A. Watkins & C. Meijer (Eds.). Implementing inclusive education: Issues in bridging the policy-practice gap (pp. 19-35). UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Bayat, M. (2019). Young children with challenging behaviours and mental health issues. In Addressing challenging behaviors and mental health issues in early childhood. New York, NY: Routledge Publishing.

DeLucia, E. A., McKenna, M. P., Andrzejewski, T. M., Valentino, K., & McDonnell, C. G. (2021). A pilot study of self-regulation and behavior problems in preschoolers with ASD: parent broader autism phenotype traits relate to child emotion regulation and inhibitory control. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-15.

Gal, E., Schreur, N., & Engel-Yeger, B. (2010). Inclusion of children with disabilities: Teachers' attitudes and requirements for environmental accommodations. International Journal of Special Education, 25(2), 89-99.

Gross, D., Belcher, H. M., Budhathoki, C., Ofonedu, M. E., Dutrow, D., Uveges, M. K., & Slade, E. (2019). Reducing preschool behavior problems in an urban mental health clinic: A pragmatic, non-inferiority trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(6), 572-581.

Hebbeler, K., & Spiker, D. (2016). Supporting young children with disabilities. The future of children, 26(2), 185-205.

Holtz, C.A., Fox, R.A., & Muerer, J.R. (2015). Incidence of behavior problems in toddler and preschool children from families living in proverty. The Journal of Psychology, 149(2), 161-174.

Lansford, J.E., Malone, P.S., Tapanya, S., Tirado, L.M., Zelli, A., Alampay, L.P., ... & Steinberg, L. (2019). Household income predicts trajectories of child internalizing and externalizing behavior in high, middle, and low-income countries. International journal of Behavioral Development, 43(1), 74-79.

McCabe, P. C., & Altamura, M. (2011). Empirically valid strategies to improve social and emotional competence of preschool children. Psychology in the Schools, 48(5), 513-540.

Keywords: Early childhood, social-emotional, behavioral needs, inclusion, children with special education needs

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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