Psychosocial approaches to smoking prevention: a review of findings

Twenty-seven school-based studies of psychosocial approaches to smoking prevention are reviewed. Two major approaches are represented: the "social influences" approach and the broader "life/social skills" approaches. The research studies are considered in four "generations": the seminal work by Richard Evans and colleagues at the University of Houston; seven "pilot" studies of improved programs at Stanford, Minnesota, New York, and Washington, with one school or classroom per experimental condition; twelve improved "prototype" studies by these four groups and others, with two or three units randomly assigned to conditions; and six studies in which maximizing internal validity was of prime concern. Reported results were fairly consistent, with each tested program seeming to reduce smoking onset by about 50%. However, none of the pilot or prototype studies considered alone provided easily interpreted results. The major contributions were improved programs and methods. The findings from the fourth generation of studies were more easily interpreted, though only two of them were interpreted with high confidence. It seems that psychosocial approaches to smoking prevention, particularly the social influences approach--fourth generation tests of the broader life/social skills approaches have yet to be reported--are effective, but at this time we know very little about why, for whom, or under what conditions. Suggestions are provided for improved future research.     

Suicide Prevention in an Educational Context: Broad and Narrow Foci

This paper reviews the needs and conceptual bases of school-based youth suicide prevention programs, summarizes their current status, and recommends objectives, processes, and evaluation strategies for focused educational programs in this area. In addition, a broad systemic approach is called for that reorganizes the school context to increase students' contributions to and involvement with the educational process. Such approaches appear to have been effective with a variety of youth deviant behaviors such as dropout and delinquency, and seem to be particularly appropriate to suicidal behavior that is characterized by alienation and withdrawal from social supports. A combination of these broad and narrow foci may be necessary to address suicidal behavior in the educational context.     

What Every Therapist Should Know,Be and Do: Contributions from Humanistic Psychotherapies

Humanistic psychologists have made major contributions to the theory, practice and research in psychotherapy. Many of their contributions are applicable to a variety of therapeutic approaches. In this article I articulate what I believe to be some of the most useful things for all practitioners to consider incorporating into their therapeutic practice. Carl Rogers’ contributions are considered to be universal and foundational since his strong emphasis on the therapeutic relationship and the importance of empathic responding are considered to be core aspects of effective therapies. A variety of humanistic therapists have emphasized the importance of working with client emotion, effective use of the self, relational involvement and depth, working within the client’s frame of reference, focusing on the self-concept, being present and helping clients embrace choice and responsibility, all of which are addressed in this article.     

Ecobehavioral analysis in the classroom: Review and implications

A rapidly developing area within applied behavior analysis that has implications for classroom instruction and behavior management is ecobehavioral analysis. Ecobehavioral analysis adds to behavior analysis the assessment of situational or contextual factors, such as classroom physical arrangements, instructional materials used by students, and teacher's behavior. Its eventual importance and contribution to behavior analysis and to education, however, has yet to be realized. In fact, it is difficult to find adequate accounts of exactly what ecobehavioral analysis entails (Morris & Midgley, 1990). To date, it has led to a number of interesting contributions. These include the development and validation of specific classroom instructional procedures, the development of a number of approaches to the reduction of challenging behaviors, an improved understanding of the components of effective instruction including the identification of instructional risk factors within regular and special education, as well as providing a better understanding of how the quality of implementation functions as a mediating variable for student outcomes. In this paper, we discuss the theory and principles that support ecobehavioral analysis, review research literature concerning its use in educational settings, describe emerging applications by school personnel (e.g., teachers, school psychologists), and examine a number of future research directions and their implications.     

Trauma‐Informed Programs Based in Schools: Linking Concepts to Practices and Assessing the Evidence

When children experience stress and adversity in their homes and communities, schools become a critically important setting in which to intervene and foster their resilience. Changing practices within schools so that vulnerable and traumatized children are better understood and more compassionately served is a goal shared by many school professionals, yet schools remain poorly equipped to address the needs of these children. Any number of school‐based programs have the potential to benefit children with an elevated risk for academic difficulties and mental health disorders, although questions remain as to which programs are most promising, effective, and sustainable. Questions also remain about which programs best serve diverse populations and which have potential to reach the largest number of children, including those who do not outwardly manifest behaviors consistent with an underlying disorder but nonetheless require support. In this review, we take stock of existing programs used in schools to address the social, emotional, and academic needs of children with trauma histories. We summarize components of a various trauma‐focused programs, categorized as: (a) individual and group‐based approaches, (b) classroom‐based approaches, and (c) school‐wide approaches. For each category, we review and comment on the state and quality of research findings and provide illustrative examples from the literature to show how programs address trauma in the school context. Findings of the review suggest that empirical evidence currently favors individual and group‐based approaches, although classroom‐based and school‐wide programs may be better positioned for integration, access to services, and sustainability. Implications and recommendations center on future research, practice, and policy.     

School psychology: a public health framework: III. Managing disruptive behavior in schools: the value of a public health and evidence-based perspective

Schools typically adopt individualistic approaches to address disruptive behavior and meet the needs of students with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) [i.e., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and Conduct Disorder (CD)]. These approaches are often not the most effective and have a limited impact on overall school climate. This article emphasizes the value of an evidence-based and public health perspective in managing disruptive behavior. Information about comprehensive school-based programs and classroom management techniques for disruptive behavior disorders is presented and the important role school psychologists can play in implementing these programs discussed.     

Dialectical and hermeneutical psychology

Dialectical and hermeneutical contributions to psychology are reviewed separately for the countries Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Then, selected contributions are presented more extensively from the areas of family, socialization, and therapy; behavior therapy; educational psychology; research methods; and general psychology. Particularly in the area of family and socialization, dialectical and hermeneutical approaches have contributed to the application of, and reflection upon, therapy as a research method. The impact of dialectical and hermeneutical thought on Scandinvian psychology is too diverse to talk about any specific school, in either of the two traditions. Some main points of emphasis are, though: the qualitative study of individual cases, particularly through therapy; the focus on the internal unity of individual acts with the historical and material context of the act; the impact of the dominating mode of production upon every sphere of human life; the focus on issues of interpretation, particularly the relation of appearance and essence; and the conception of the object of psychology as a developing individual in a historical world.     

Genetic and environmental influences on the relationships between family connectedness, school connectedness, and adolescent depressed mood: sex differences.

This study investigated (a) genetic and environmental contributions to the relationship between family and school environment and depressed mood and (b) potential sex differences in genetic and environmental contributions to both variation in and covariation between family connectedness, school connectedness, and adolescent depressed mood. Data are from 2,302 adolescent sibling pairs (mean age = 16 years) who were part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Although genetic factors appeared to be important overall, model-fitting analyses revealed that the best-fitting model was a model that allowed for different parameters for male and female adolescents. Genetic contributions to variation in all 3 variables were greater among female adolescents than male adolescents, especially for depressed mood. Genetic factors also contributed to the correlations between family and school environment and adolescent depressed mood, although, again, these factors were stronger for female than for male adolescents.     

Double Jeopardy: Child and School Characteristics That Predict Aggressive-Disruptive Behavior in First Grade

High rates of aggressive-disruptive behavior exhibited by children during their initial years of elementary school increase their risk for significant behavioral adjustment problems with teachers and peers. The purpose of the present study was to examine the unique and combined contributions of child vulnerabilities and school context to the development of aggressive-disruptive student behavior during first grade. Parent ratings and child interviews assessed three child characteristics associated with risk for the development of aggressive behavior problems in elementary school (aggressive-disruptive behaviors at home, attention problems, and social cognitions) in a sample of 755 first-grade children in four demographically diverse American communities. Two school characteristics associated with student aggressive-disruptive behavior problems (low-quality classroom context, school poverty levels) were also assessed. Linear and multilevel analyses showed that both child and school characteristics made independent and cumulative contributions to the development of student aggressive-disruptive behavior at school. Although rates of student aggressive-disruptive behavior varied by gender and race, the predictive model generalized across all groups of children in the study.     

How do different aspects of self-regulation predict successful adaptation to school?

Self-regulation plays an important role in successful adaptation to preschool and school contexts as well as in later academic achievement. The current study relates different aspects of self-regulation such as temperamental effortful control and executive functions (updating, inhibition, and shifting) to different aspects of adaptation to school such as learning-related behavior, school grades, and performance in standardized achievement tests. The relationship between executive functions/effortful control and academic achievement has been established in previous studies; however, little is known about their unique contributions to different aspects of adaptation to school and the interplay of these factors in young school children. Results of a 1-year longitudinal study (N=459) revealed that unique contributions of effortful control (parental report) to school grades were fully mediated by children's learning-related behavior. On the other hand, the unique contributions of executive functions (performance on tasks) to school grades were only partially mediated by children's learning-related behavior. Moreover, executive functions predicted performance in standardized achievement tests exclusively, with comparable predictive power for mathematical and reading/writing skills. Controlling for fluid intelligence did not change the pattern of prediction substantially, and fluid intelligence did not explain any variance above that of the two included aspects of self-regulation. Although effortful control and executive functions were not significantly related to each other, both aspects of self-regulation were shown to be important for fostering early learning and good classroom adjustment in children around transition to school.     

Single-Session Brief Counseling in a High School

Counseling designed to be time-limited is a valuable tool for counselors in school settings. Three approaches to brief counseling were investigated in this naturalistic study: problem-focused with task, problem-focused without task, and solution-focused with task. Quantitative and qualitative measures were used to explore aspects of single-session brief counseling. High school students made significant changes from the second-week follow-up to the sixth-week follow-up in alleviating their concerns and increasing the percentage of goal achieved. Students dramatically decreased the intensity of undesired feelings from before the counseling session through the second follow-up. Solution-focused counseling was as effective as the other two approaches, while taking less time.     

Introducing Reality Play Therapy: Reactions and Perceptions From Elementary School Counselors

Many elementary school students lack school relationships required for positive personal, social, and academic interactions. Reality therapy and play therapy both seek to address these relationships through developmentally appropriate and effective interventions. Integrating these 2 approaches has the potential for elementary school counselors to provide students with opportunities to create positive relationships and develop problem-solving skills. In this study, 8 school counselors participated in a series of trainings introducing reality play-therapy techniques to assess this potential. A thematic analysis conducted on feedback sessions following the trainings yielded themes related to the participants’ positive perceptions to the training and possible application.     

Student Perceptions of Sandtray in Solution-Focused Supervision

Sandtray supervision and solution-focused supervision (SFS) are both strengths-based approaches that may be effective in helping counselor trainees reduce their anxiety and develop clinical self-confidence. The purpose of this collective case study was to explore how a group of practicum students with a school counseling emphasis experienced a blending of sandtray and solution-focused supervision (SFS) approaches. Participants described how the blended approach fostered group cohesiveness in their supervision and promoted both personal and professional development. Participants indicated more awareness of the impact of sandtray than the influence of the solution-focused approach in their supervision.     

School psychology in Saudi Arabia

The status of school psychology in Saudi Arabia is reviewed. The rapidity of social change in Saudi Arabia is described, along with the Saudi system of education, school psychology services, administration, training facilities, and school psychology's contributions to Saudi society. A plan for the future development of the field is presented, as are the challenges confronting psychologists in the Muslim world.     

Organizational school psychology: Issues and considerations

School psychologists have been encouraged to become actively involved in facilitating organizational change in public schools. Activities such as organization development, administrative-centered consultation, training of multidisciplinary teams, program planning, and program evaluation have been considered as important aspects of school psychology. However, when the practice of school psychology at the organizational level of public schools is considered as a distinct area, a range of conceptual and practical issues become apparent: (a) What is the nature and scope of organizational-level practice of school psychology? (b) Under what conditions may this kind of professional effort be useful, to whom, in what ways? (c) What are the knowledge and skills necessary for effective organizational-level practice? These issues are addressed in this article through delineation of the emerging area of “organizational school psychology (OSP),” an approach to school psychology practice which complements more established approaches that focus directly on the individual child or on groups of children.     

Beyond nomothetic classification of behavioural difficulties: Using Valued Outcomes Analysis to deal with the behaviour problems that occur in the classroom

The number of students who are labeled as having some form of behavioural disorder which requires specialized assistance in the regular school setting is growing. Current approaches to working with these students are often based on the standardized application of treatments designed to modify general symptoms rather than specific behaviours. It is noted that this approach to behaviour-change is limited because it does not seek to understand the reasons why particular behaviours are being used by students in particular settings. This paper will present an idiographic framework as an alternative approach to creating meaningful and long-term changes in the behavioural difficulties which occur in the school setting. This approach is based on developing a clear understanding of the purpose and usefulness of difficult student behaviour by investigating how that behaviour assists the student in gaining access to valued outcomes. Of particular significance to this assessment and intervention framework is the inclusion of the student's perceptions about the difficult behaviour and its impact on self, the environment and others. It is argued that effective changes in behaviour can only occur when the student's specific difficulties are understood and the student is taught specific skills to overcome these in the school setting.     

家长参与在家庭社会经济地位和高中生学习品质之间的中介作用——师生关系的调节作用

为了考察在中国背景下,家长参与在家庭社会经济地位与高中生学习品质之间的中介作用,以及师生关系对上述中介效应的调节。以东部某省13442名高中二年级学生为被试,采用家长的受教育程度、家长的职业以及家庭拥有物三个指标测量家庭社会经济地位。采用家长参与子女学习和家长参与子女日常生活两个指标测试家长参与度。采用学习兴趣、学习自信心、学习策略、自主学习能力、学习习惯五个分指标测量学生的学习品质。采用师生关系量表测量师生关系。结果表明：（1）家庭社会经济地位可以正向显著预测高中生的学习品质;（2）家长参与在家庭社会经济地位与高中生学习品质之间起完全中介作用;（3）家庭社会经济地位经由家长参与影响高中生学习品质的中介作用受到师生关系的调节;（4）因家庭社会经济地位不同造成的学生学习品质的差异,在一定程度上会受到师生关系的弥补作用。     

FEMINIST CONTRIBUTIONS TO COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY

In this article we first identify and provide evidence for feminist contributions to counseling psychology in four broad areas. These are policy and leadership in the field, theory and research, training and practice, and recognition of feminist scholarship and contributions by women. In view of the evidence, we conclude that feminist perspectives are irrevocably changing the field of counseling psychology by stimulating the rethinking of its premises and models with regard to normal development and by developing new approaches to inquiry and practice.     

家长参与在家庭社会经济地位和高中生学习品质之间的中介作用——师生关系的调节作用

为了考察在中国背景下,家长参与在家庭社会经济地位与高中生学习品质之间的中介作用,以及师生关系对上述中介效应的调节。以东部某省13442名高中二年级学生为被试,采用家长的受教育程度、家长的职业以及家庭拥有物三个指标测量家庭社会经济地位。采用家长参与子女学习和家长参与子女日常生活两个指标测试家长参与度。采用学习兴趣、学习自信心、学习策略、自主学习能力、学习习惯五个分指标测量学生的学习品质。采用师生关系量表测量师生关系。结果表明：（1）家庭社会经济地位可以正向显著预测高中生的学习品质;（2）家长参与在家庭社会经济地位与高中生学习品质之间起完全中介作用;（3）家庭社会经济地位经由家长参与影响高中生学习品质的中介作用受到师生关系的调节;（4）因家庭社会经济地位不同造成的学生学习品质的差异,在一定程度上会受到师生关系的弥补作用。