A teacher rating scale of reactive aggression, proactive aggression, and covert antisocial behavior was evaluated in a normative sample of third- to fifth-grade predominantly white lower middle class boys (N = 186). Factor analysis revealed independent and internally consistent Reactive Aggression (six reactive items), and Proactive Aggression (five proactive items, five covert items) factors. Although the factors were intercorrelated (r = .67), and each factor was significantly correlated with negative peer social status (r = .26 for each, controlling for grade), the independence of the factors was supported by the unique relation of Reactive Aggression with in-school detentions (r = .31), controlling for Proactive Aggression and grade. These results supported the reliability and validity of Reactive and Proactive Aggression as rated by teachers, which should facilitate further research of these constructs.

The relation of school-identified learning-disabled (LD) children's achievement attributions to their academic progress and an examination of developmental patterns of their attributional styles were investigated in these longitudinal studies. Attributions were measured with two scales on which children attributed hypothetical academic failure situations to causes that varied on dimensions of locus, stability, and controllability. Academic progress was indexed by changes in achievement test scores over a 2-year span and by teachers' ratings of students' success and classroom behavior. In accordance with Weincr's theory of achievement motivation, LD children who attributed failures to variant, controllable causes made the greatest achievement gains and were rated by teachers as exhibiting the most appropriate classroom behavior. Comparison of developmental patterns of attributions between LD and nondisabled children did not support the hypothesis that LD children enter a self-perpetuating failure cycle; nor were previously reported findings of sex differences within the LD group replicated.We thank the teachers, children, parents, and administrators from the Leon County, Florida, schools for their cooperation. We also thank Karen Austin, Lisa Crane, and Regina Kaiser for their assistance in data collection, and Ellen Berler and Barbara Licht for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

Children with stool toileting refusal do not have more behavior problems than controls who are toilet trained. Parents do report higher rates of constipation and painful defecation, but it is not clear whether this is a cause or effect of stool toileting refusal.

Developmental patterns of school-identified learning disabled (LD) and normally achieving (NA) students' responses to the Perceived Competence Scale for Children (PCSC) were investigated in this longitudinal study. Relative to the NA group, LD children were more negative about themselves; however, their self-evaluations did not become more negative over a two-year interval. Analysis of response patterns across PCSC subscales suggested that most of the LD sample was not appropriately characterized by persistent, globally negative self-evaluations. A subgroup of LD children who were very negative about themselves at both test administrations was identified. The characteristics of this subgroup were subsequently examined.

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