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This paper examines, from a psychological perspective, why some young people may diagnose themselves with a mental health condition or neurodevelopmental difference after engaging with TikTok content. The article joins the discourse around TikTok self-diagnosis among adolescents, which has circulated since 2022, and offers alternative considerations and perspectives. The reasons a young person may self-diagnose are complicated and multifaceted, extending beyond any explanation of naivety or attention-seeking. In this paper the phenomenon is approached through an application of social psychological theories relating to identity, belonging, and self-labelling. The broader context is considered against the backdrop of the neurodiversity movement and corresponding cultural shift, with reference to the intersecting systemic barriers faced by young people which impede the availability and accessibility of adequate support. Opportunities for future research and suggestions for how educational psychologists may consider online environments within professional practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the benefits of new forms of in-school grouping for children moving from primary to secondary school during the COVID-19 pandemic in England. Our three-phase study with over 400 students and teachers found that protective measures to limit COVID-19 though year group 'bubbles' generated an environment more aligned to children's previous primary school experience. This natural experiment smoothed the process of transition by providing a better correspondence with students' developmental needs, especially for those on the cusp of adolescence. We recommend that physical, administrative and pedagogical school structures are reimagined for this age group to this end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research conducted in various parts of the globe suggests that young people who can openly communicate with their parents about sexuality benefit in many ways. Correspondingly, in Bangladesh, the lack of an open communication on sexuality in the youth–parent relationship is considered a barrier to ensuring young people's sexual and reproductive health and overall well-being. Taking 'silence' as a core concept, this paper investigates what silence on sexuality means to Bangladeshi young people in their relationship with parents. It draws on findings from an ethnographic study conducted among 72 middle-class boys and girls aged between 15 and 19 years and 18 parents living in Dhaka over a year between 2016 and 2017. The findings suggest that silence is not always perceived as problematic by young people, and this is particularly true for topics related to sexual pleasure. This paper challenges the monolithic understanding that silence is necessarily bad and hinders young people from getting what they need. It offers an additional conceptual understanding to silence for studying sexuality among youths and designing interventions for their sexual and reproductive well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the phenomena of overclaiming – the propensity for individuals to claim more knowledge about an issue or topic than they really (or could possibly) do. Using Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data from nine Anglophone countries and over 40,000 young people, we examine teenagers' propensity to claim knowledge of three mathematics constructs that do not really exist. We find substantial differences in young people's tendency to overclaim across countries, genders, and socio-economic groups. Those who are most likely to overclaim are also found to exhibit high levels of overconfidence and believe they work hard, persevere at tasks, and are popular amongst their peers. Together this provides important new insight into overclaiming, how this differs across groups, and how it relates to other psychological constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article expands the review of psychosocial treatments for adolescents with disruptive behavior (DB), published previously by this journal. That earlier review focused on DB treatment studies published 1966–2014; the current paper updates the evidence base by incorporating DB treatment studies published 2014–2021. A literature search and screening process identified 63 new studies for inclusion in this updated review. The 63 new studies were combined with 86 studies from the prior review and evaluated using Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology level of support criteria, which classify studies as well established, probably efficacious, possibly efficacious, experimental, or of questionable efficacy based on the evidence. In total, 3 well-established, 7 probably efficacious, and 10 possibly efficacious treatments for adolescents with DB were identified. Further, 52 treatments were classified as experimental and 22 treatments were determined to have questionable efficacy. There continues to be a large body of literature building the evidence base for treatments of adolescent DB. With a few exceptions, treatments falling into the top three evidence levels utilized more than one theoretical approach, enhancing each treatment's ability to target DB from multiple angles. Key advances include broad representation of various demographic groups, countries of origin, treatment settings, and provider types in this body of research. Despite these advances, more research is needed to address key gaps in the field, including the need for more studies on treatments tailored to adolescents with DB who are not yet involved with the juvenile justice system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Former literature found that various 'different' students experience exclusion and rejection by their peers in schools. This may be linked with the attitudes that their school and classmates hold towards them. Identifying someone as 'Other' may indeed result in prejudicial attitudes which, in turn, can lead to his/her marginalisation and exclusion. From an inclusive perspective, it is thus pivotal to explore student attitudes towards the conceived different ones and how they are linked with exclusionary patterns among peers in schools. To contribute to the understanding of the link between peer attitudes, diversity and exclusion, the present paper reports on the stages of development of an instrument aimed to measure adolescents' attitudes towards otherness which combines a qualitative and a quantitative approach. Beside measuring their attitudes, the instrument also investigates students' representations and definitions of otherness. Such representations – as emerged from the pilot study of the instrument – will be presented here. The findings confirmed the importance of adopting a wider and non-categorical approach to otherness in the study of peer attitudes and exclusionary processes in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores psychoanalytic ideas about autism, through vignettes from a long-term psychotherapy of an autistic adolescent who had developed an obsessive passion for photographing his world. The use of an autistic object will be explored here, as well as the change that occurred in the context of this therapy in the use of the object – from being a sensuous shelter and pseudo-protection from the world, to becoming a bridge to it, a vehicle for building a mind and a container for the patient's experiences. The paper also examines the overall development of the patient, moving from a seemingly a-symbolic state of mind, to forming and using symbols that were in between symbolic equations and formal symbols. In this in-between mental state, 'tangible-archetypal symbols' existed, as defined by the author. Three characteristics of these symbols are defined, including their sensual nature, primary meaning and incoherent presentation to the world. These characteristics are illustrated in the context of the clinical material. Implications for clinical work with autistic states are discussed throughout the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, L.S. Vygotsky's concept of a 'zone of proximal development' (ZPD) is often used to just mean best practices in early years teaching, like scaffolding. But in his original theory, the zones linked age periods distinguished by age-specific neoformations – one of which was the formation of concepts at adolescence. So Vygotsky rejected Stern's idea that early years already had the wherewithal of adult concepts and affirmed the age-specific quality of child thinking instead. He demonstrated this through two ingenious 'name games'. In this paper, with the help of two Korean children, we'll replicate the name games and use one game to study the difference between Vygotsky's 'Crisis at Three' and the 'Crisis at Seven'. We describe the differences from the systemic-functional perspective of Ruqaiya Hasan and Michael Halliday. In this way, we hope to restore a diagnostic function to Vygotsky's ZPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practice of equine-assisted therapy and learning (EAT/L) to deliver psychosocial interventions to young people is a rapidly growing field. However, recent reviews have cited a need for further documentation of a theoretical foundation and evidence of outcomes of these programmes. This paper is a theoretical discussion of psychotherapeutic theories and models that the authors understood as being relevant and giving substance to the application of EAT/L at a Therapeutic Horsemanship centre in the UK. It also describes and defines the practice of EAT/L at the centre. Philosophical and psychological theories/models of Non-Violent Communication, Object Relations, Play and Dramatherapy, Mindfulness practice, and Attachment Theory, all set within a person-centred and relationship-based approach employed at the centre were examined and illustrated in the form of client case material. The authors report the central role relationship plays between client-horse-therapist and horse-handler in the building of trust and resolution of the impact of trauma. The paper highlights a need to carry out well-designed empirical studies with different client groups in the field of EAT/L in order to gain more insight into this growing field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The qualitative study described in this paper aims to explore perceptions and challenges associated with a bi-ethnic identity in a multi-ethnic country. Sample of this study was recruited by snowball sampling technique. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen Chindian adolescents. Results yielded a number of themes related to the perceptions of being a Chindian (i.e., enjoy the best of both worlds, peer acceptance, and sense of pride) as well as challenges (i.e., phenotype ambiguity, social insensitivity, situational ethnicity, and identity crisis). More research is required to identify ways to overcome challenges associated with bi-ethnic identity and to examine how these challenges would affect identity formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bullying victimisation is a serious risk factor for mental health problems in children and adolescents. School bullying prevention programs have consistently produced small to moderate reductions in victimisation and perpetration. However, these programs do not necessarily help all students affected by bullying. Paradoxically whole-school programs lead to higher levels of depression and poorer self-esteem for students who continue to be victimised after program implementation. This may be because some elements of whole-school programs make victims more visible to their peers, thus further eroding their peer social status. Three main identified risk factors for children and adolescents who continue to be victimised following school bullying prevention programs are peer rejection, internalising problems, and lower quality parent-child relationships. All are potentially modifiable through family interventions. A large body of research demonstrates the influence of families on children's social skills, peer relationships and emotional regulation. This paper describes the theoretical foundations and empirical evidence for reducing the incidence and mental health outcomes of school bullying victimisation through family interventions. Family interventions should be available to complement school efforts to reduce bullying and improve the mental health of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do adolescents negotiate romance in an environment that is hostile to it? Why do they seek out and practice romantic engagements despite negative sanctions? This paper addresses these questions by examining how Hong Kong Chinese adolescents narrate and practice romance in the context of academic determinism – the discourse that academic success is the most important determinant of young people's futures. I discuss how academic determinism shapes their narratives, ideals and practices of romance. I also analyse the paradox of academic determinism – how it simultaneously de-legitimises adolescent romance and fuels young people's desire for it. By focusing on transactions between young people and their environments, this paper makes a unique contribution towards theorising how young people negotiate and practice romance in the context of academic pressure, adult surveillance and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to articles in the issue is presented on topics including the assessment of emotional maturity of children living in residential homes in Namibia, beliefs of secondary school practitioners about risk factors for school attendance problems, and evaluation of a teacher-delivered programme to improve the self-regulation of children attending Australian Aboriginal community primary schools.

This paper contributes to the pedagogical discussion on how to promote critical thinking among adolescents in modern media environments. It argues that teachers play an essential role in guiding students' assessment of and decision between credible information sources. The study was carried out among eighth-grade health education teachers and students in a secondary school in Finland. Nexus analysis was used as a theoretical lens with which to analyze lesson observation data and teacher interviews. The findings indicate that teachers moved fluently between the informational authority roles of a cognitive authority and a trustee. Moments of perplexity in which teachers were not able to act in these informational authority roles created tension in the classroom; however, they also promoted diversified learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a conversation between an academic and his 14-year-old son and investigates the links between leisure and computer games. It focuses specifically on the son as an adolescent in the context of Western consumer society. It is interested in how he explores his leisure in relation to the computer game ‘League of Legends’ and how this indicates his adolescent self, which is a self that is increasingly targeted, marketed, packaged and purchased. This analysis illustrates how the consumer packaging of the adolescent self through commodified leisure creates in a neoliberal society the negotiated realities of youth experience and social identity. The paper argues that consumer culture manufactures a world of escape, particularly for adolescent boys. It allows him (J) to transform his world into one he has more control over, separate from his parents' imposed regime and in a way that resists other forms of market-based influence. This is achieved through the adoption of identities that are offered in the games (a choice) that appear to challenge authority, albeit produced within youth culture and marketing, purchased and consumed in the belief that it is resistance. There is also a sense of friendship and shared identity with others in forming teams online to play the game. In these games, forms of adolescent deviance, resistance and control are normalised as challenging, exciting and risky while providing associations with power, self-fulfilment and a degree of online celebrity and identity exchange. In the final analysis, the paper explores some possibilities for parents to enter this world and understand the children and their constructions of self-identity in Western consumer society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores young people's expressed concerns about privacy in the context of a highly mediated cultural environment, mapping social media practices against axes of visibility and participation. Drawing on interdisciplinary conceptual resources from both the humanities and social sciences, we use ‘spectacles of intimacy’ to conceptualise breaches of privacy, mapping an emergent moral landscape for young people that moves beyond concerns with e-safety to engage with the production and circulation of audiences and value. The paper draws on data from a methodological innovation project using multi-media and mixed methods to capture lived temporalities for children and young people. We present a model that captures a moral landscape shaped by emotional concerns about social media, the affordances of those media and affective discourses emerging from young people's use of the media. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sexual aggression is now widely recognized as a public health crisis. Using the sexual script acquisition, activation, application model (3AM) as a guide, this paper reports findings on U.S. teenagers' exposure to pornography, motivation for viewing pornography, perceptions of pornography's realism, identification with pornographic actors, and sexual aggression risk from the National Survey of Porn Use, Relationships, and Sexual Socialization (NSPRSS), a U.S. population-based probability study. Sexual aggression was operationalized as pressuring another person into having sex despite their explicit declaration of nonconsent. Having been exposed to pornography and perceiving pornography as realistic were associated with increased sexual aggression risk. A stronger level of identification with pornographic actors was associated with an increased probability of sexual aggression for males, but not females. A motivation to learn about others' sexual expectations from pornography was unrelated to sexual aggression. Results interpretation and discussion focus on the need for additional theoretical nuance and measurement specificity in the media psychology literature on pornography and sexual aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academically engaging adolescents with learning difficulties continues to be a challenge for teachers and education authorities around the world. This paper reports on one part of a broader study to address the impasse present between research and practice in meeting the needs of adolescents with learning difficulties. Drawing on the mounting research attesting to the effectiveness of Explicit Instruction and Positive Psychology, a concerted investigation was carried out to assess the effectiveness of combining the two approaches. Two Year 8 classes (N = 23 experimental) (English and Mathematics) were provided with the combined systems intervention over one academic year. Response to the intervention was compared to two similar academic ability control groups from the same Year group. Results report students made statistically significant gains, in comparison to the control group. This study contributes to an understanding of how effective classroom pedagogy instead of remediation can support adolescents with learning difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social influences—including the suicidal and self-harming behaviors of others—have been highlighted as a risk factor for suicidal and self-harming behavior in young people, but synthesis of the evidence is lacking. A systematic review of 86 relevant papers was conducted. Considerable published evidence was obtained for positive associations between young people's suicidal and self-harming behavior and that of people they know, with those reporting knowing people who had engaged in suicidal or self-harming behaviors more likely to report engaging in similar behaviors themselves. Findings are discussed in relation to a number of methodological and measurement issues—including the role of normative perceptions—and implications for the prevention of suicidal and self-harming behavior are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Recent policy developments (such as the Children's Plan) and the introduction of a new national strategy (the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning programme) have re-emphasised the importance of social and emotional skills in educational contexts. As such, educational psychologists are increasingly likely to be involved in the measurement of social and emotional skills, either as part of their case-work or through research. They may also be asked to provide advice to schools looking to evaluate certain aspects of their practice in this area. The aim of this paper is to provide a discussion of key issues in the measurement of social and emotional skills in children and adolescents. These include: difficulties with the underlying theory and frameworks for social and emotional skills, inconsistent terminology, the scope and distinctiveness of available measures, psychometric properties, and more practical issues such as the type of respondent, location and purpose of measurement. The paper concludes with a call for more research and the further development of appropriate measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islam shows that because the materialistic and hedonistic life currently characterising modernity only emphasises the physical aspects of life, spiritual aridity, moral decadence and stress will become a commonplace phenomena in human life. At a saturation point of hedonism, humans will seek spiritual freshness to satisfy their spiritual thirst and happiness. Many of them may look into the world of mysticism. Hence, this paper attempts to provide a new approach to deal with stress in the workplace inspired by a Sufist idea. This idea arises from the belief that spiritual values and habits as therapeutic elements play a significant role in shaping adolescent psychology and more intact personalities. The authors recommend the use of Sufistic psychotherapy for enhancing mental health or dealing with psycho-somatic conditions such as stress and anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper explores the conceptual limitations of the bully discourses that ground UK anti-bullying policy frameworks and psychological research literatures on school bullying, suggesting they largely ignore gender, (hetero)sexuality and the social, cultural and subjective dynamics of conflict and aggression among teen-aged girls. To explore the limitations of bully discourses in practice, the paper draws on a pilot, interview-based study of girls' experiences of aggression and bullying, illustrating how friendships and conflicts among the girls are thoroughly heterosexualized, en-cultured and classed. Drawing on girls and parent interview narratives, I also trace some of the effects of bully discourses set in motion in schools to intervene into conflicts among girls. I suggest these practices miss the complexity of the dynamics at play among girls and also neglect the power relations of parenting, ethnicity, class and school choice, which can inform how, why and when bullying discourses are mobilized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Framed by the literature on research-policy transfer, this paper explores a 'real world' task of translating adolescent risk-taking data into 'whole-of-system' services development. It aims to explore challenges and opportunities in using large-N quantitative data analyses of such complex constructs to inform holistic policy-making. It offers a translational research-into-policy model developed using analyses of a dataset of 5122 Tasmanian students in Years 8 and 10. This model provides three levels of translation of the data analyses aimed at meeting the needs of holistic policy-making: broad directions for how services could be linked and/or be separate; multi-service directions targeting particular risk-taking behaviours; and constellations of interventions for specific risk-taking areas. The translational model is described with reference to specific policy decision-making challenges that are about re-imagining what services should stand alone, and what could be brought together, in what ways, and to what end. The model simplifies a complex process and is incomplete; however, it offers a basis for exploring why diagnostic models of research practice often used to consider complex challenges like adolescent risk-taking may not do enough to meet the needs of policy-makers. In so doing it raises deeper questions about research practice for the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to highlight the resilience-enhancing potential for vulnerable young people of roles and relationships in the domains of recreation and work. The paper explores its theme through a specific focus on the needs of young people in long-term care. The paper has four sections: the first deals with some key conceptual propositions relevant to understanding resilience-related processes; the second with the resilience-enhancing potential of recreational activities; the third with the resilience-enhancing potential of work roles; and the fourth with the implications for practices by carers and professionals in relation to helping young people in care to derive benefits from the positives that recreation and work experiences may have to offer. The paper reviews relevant research evidence from a range of perspectives and through related case examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, the first of two parts, reports the claims of a participatory qualitative research project that explores the inner self-awareness and self-presentation of adolescent girls based on excerpts from their own adolescent writings. The participants selected material from their own diaries and poetry written between 1969–1999 (ages 11–17) that spoke to their adolescent spiritual concerns. The research team addressed questions of audience, voice, intention in writing and the role writing played in maintaining an inner life and sense of self. The persistent themes that arose were creating solitude, transforming to calm, preserving sensitivity, nurturing voice and connecting beyond the self, while the central identified theme was care of self. This first paper sets out context and process then addresses the first two themes. Part Two, to be published in a later edition of this journal, will explore the remaining themes and some implications for care work with adolescent girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with how young people, who are trained as peer supporters in British secondary schools, construct a counselling repertoire. Issues of identity, boundaries and the dilemma of advice giving are all raised when pupils aged 14-17 talk about their roles in peer support. It becomes evident that young people's constructions of themselves and their schemes reflect the assimilation of both traditional psychological theories and contemporary counselling culture. In essence, their scheme may be marketed as a counselling/advising service, which could lead the young people to take on the role of 'counsellors'. On the other hand, their scheme may be promoted as a listening and/or support service and this will lead to young people questioning their role in the scheme. This paper will introduce these issues. This research is taken from an ongoing PhD project which uses language based research as its methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on promoting early career academic success and working with methodological innovation. Topics include Africa's Adolescents Hub being established in providing pathways and insights for the young people reaching the potential; and made new methodological advances in multilevel modelling and causal inference.

Adolescents presenting with gender-related concerns are increasingly seeking support from providers from a variety of disciplines within health care settings across the world. For those treating young people who meet the criteria for the DSM 5 diagnosis of gender dysphoria (GD), complex decisions in clinical care are common. Defining best practice with this population with respect to interventions that span mental health, physical, and surgical domains can be challenging, given a relative dearth of empirical data available; yet practice guidelines have emerged from different professional organizations which can aid with this. For this review paper, a broad literature search was performed to identify relevant studies pertaining to the care of adolescents with GD. In addition, an overview of trends in clinical practice, including shifts in conceptualization of how clinicians and patients define care that is considered affirming when working with this population, is described. This paper explores the characteristics of referral patterns to specialized clinics, provides a brief overview of gender identity development in adolescence, and then describes the phenomenology of known aetiological factors and co-occurring psychiatric issues in adolescents with GD. Additionally, clinical management considerations that detail assessment aims and common treatment interventions across disciplines will be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Relationships with parents have been identified as a major factor in shaping adolescents' well-being and cognitive development. Compared to adolescents in native families, immigrant children face multiple stressors associated with international migration that may cause the relationship with their parents to be more conflictive or emotionally distant. In this paper, we compare the levels of mother–child conflict and emotional intimacy among Latino immigrant and Spanish native families living in Spain. Our analysis shows that Latino adolescents do not describe the relationship with their mothers as more conflictive than natives do. However, they report more emotional distance with their mothers than native adolescents. This differential with natives cannot be fully attributed to migration-related factors like physical separation from parents due to staggered family migration, to the lower life satisfaction of Latino mothers' in their new destination or to an acculturation gap between mother and child. However, the fact that immigrant mothers spend less time doing activities with their children, probably due to their harder working conditions, explains part of the differential in emotional intimacy with native families. Finally, our analyses clearly establish an equally negative relationship between conflict and emotional intimacy for both native and Latino immigrant families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines psychic isolation as an important element of adolescent development. The author conceives of psychic isolation in adolescence as an affective state with important developmental underpinnings. The affective elements are estrangement and loneliness. The developmental underpinnings include shifting (conscious as well as unconscious, internal as well as external) object relations and senses of the self. Psychic isolation combined with the intensity of adolescent experience can leave adolescents unable to articulate their experience. This difficulty with articulation and symbolisation can leave them vulnerable to breakdown into concrete bodily symptoms. The paper uses Bion’s conceptualisation of containment and the balance of psychotic vs. non-psychotic integrative parts of the personality to examine the emergence of concrete bodily symptoms in adolescence. At times, the transitional space of an analysis, where new experiences can be dreamed together with the analyst, allows adolescents to feel they are no longer ‘unjoined persons’ but ‘members of the wedding’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While understanding young people has never been easy, migration trends make it increasingly difficult. Many classrooms have become culturally heterogeneous and teachers are often faced with pupils with diverse linguistic and cultural heritages. Current scholarship suggests that as a discipline, physical education has not adapted to this diversity. In fact, commentators have suggested that physical education alienates pupils from minority groups and that traditional practices work to maintain cultural difference. The broad objective of this paper is to provide insights into how physical education intersects with biographies shaped by migration. Drawing from a case study investigation, this paper presents interview data from three youths with migration backgrounds living in a German-speaking region of Switzerland. The cases were selected because they highlight various ways in which physical education (PE) comes to make sense for adolescents. The key arguments that we develop are that ethnicity often works at an implicit level in PE, that young people experience the effects of migration backgrounds in diverse ways, and that migrants themselves support official educational discourses that work to disadvantage people with migration backgrounds. A key implication is that in a cultural milieu in which generalisations are normal and sometimes considered desirable, both researchers and practitioners need to be wary of racialising discourses. As an alternative, it is suggested that focusing on individual processes can improve the conceptualisation and implementation of physical education pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this paper is to highlight three aspects of Erikson's theory of identity that have been left relatively undeveloped. The first is Erikson's embedding identity development in an intergenerational framework. Within this framework, adolescent identity development and adult generativity development are interdependent, and the dynamics of this dyadic interrelationship need to be further researched. The second is the issue of unconscious identity development. I discuss three ways Erikson discussed unconscious identity processes: ‘automatic’, ‘silent’, and ‘sinister’ processes. The third underdeveloped aspect is the body, and the manner in which identity development is theorized as invigorating and vitalizing due to integrating the biological, psychological and social. Attention to each of these issues can serve to broaden our current concept of what identity is, and how it develops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate of referrals to mental health services for children and young people for whom gender dysphoria is the identified clinical issue has increased significantly over the last ten years. Debates around the classifications of gender identity disorder, gender dysphoria or gender incongruence, as well as the involvement of child and adolescent mental health services with this group of children and young people seem to be re-enacting the societal gender binary world view where we see acceptance versus rejection, open-mindedness versus conservative, trans-phobic thinking. In this paper the author will attempt to shed some light on the work with these young people in a clinical setting by reflecting on a year of therapeutic work with a female to male young person. Through the therapist’s reflections upon these binary preconceptions, along with the use of developmental and object relations theory, an in-depth account of the work is given. It is suggested that in some cases the therapist’s capacity to bear the unknown, while gradually observing and mirroring the un-integrated inner self of the patient, can gradually bring the fragments together, even if not in a perfect fit, and that this in turn provides a sense of relief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed methods research requires integration of qualitative and quantitative data. However, there is debate about how to define integration and what is required for integration to occur. This paper describes a mixed methods research project which revisits datasets from different eras, which were originally instigated for different purposes and had different theoretical frameworks. Using selected results about the relationship between teenagers’ vocational aspirations and adult occupations we show how the research topic and question integrated the projects within a constructivist theoretical position. We argue that reanalysing and comparing historical datasets can provide new insights into a topic even with minimal integration of the data. We recommend a broad definition of integration and reflexive research practice to encourage innovation and diversity in mixed methods research, particularly with regard to reanalysis of datasets from different eras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The willingness to solve conflicts without violence and to strive for a reconciliation of interests is of central significance for the continued existence of democracies. In this paper, we aim to analyze school-related determinants of adolescents’ conflict behaviour. Models predicting the conflict styles of ‘integrating’, ‘dominating’, ‘avoiding’ and ‘obliging’ were developed drawing on different school climate and school development variables. At the individual level, almost all our hypotheses were confirmed. The highest correlations were found between an open classroom climate and the participation in a class council on the one hand, and an integrating conflict style on the other. On the class level however, most of the anticipated effects did not turn out to be significant. We hope that by providing information about different school climate and school development variables’ impacts on adolescents’ conflict styles, we can contribute to a more effective promotion of constructive conflict behaviour in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent years teenagers have reported a decline in under-age drinking at the same time as their access to public space has been increasingly curtailed. In this paper we explore the spatial practices and drinking behaviours of a group of teenage girls and boys aged 13–14 years in Liverpool, UK. Our analysis considers how their use of space was bound up with experimentation with alcohol and how this varied by gender. We find in support of previous research that both boys and girls report nuanced experiences of public space, with some enjoying greater freedom while others have moved into more domestic and supervised leisure spaces in response to fears about their safety in public spaces. The boys also reported less alcohol consumption than the girls. These gendered experiences were mediated by social relationships and encounters with other young people, their parents and carers and also other adults in positions of authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to gain a more cohesive understanding of the assets considered necessary to develop in young swimmers to ensure both individual and sport-specific development. This two-stage study involved (a) a content analysis of key papers to develop a list of both psychosocial skills for performance enhancement and assets associated with positive youth development, and (b) in-depth interviews involving 10 expert swim coaches, practitioners, and youth sport scholars. Five higher-order categories containing 17 individual assets emerged. These results are discussed in relation to both existing models of positive youth development and implications for coaches, practitioners and parents when considering the psychosocial development of young British swimmers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Moral panics relating to anti-social youth have accelerated in recent years, and there has been an increasing recognition that preventing problematic behaviour is more effective than sanctions once it occurs. Drawing upon General Strain Theory, this paper explores the social pressures that might stimulate anti-social behaviour and gang culture. It explores the impact of schools/youth work partnerships, focusing upon empirical data arising from a small-scale educational intervention involving vulnerable young people (aged 11–12) in Glasgow. The findings illustrate that the 35 young people who participated in the initiative gained an increase in social capital, changed their reactions to social strains and demonstrated a change in their self-reported participation in anti-social behaviour. However, the participants continued to view teachers and youth workers as two distinct groups with differing ideologies, and a collaborative ‘border-crossing’ pedagogy was never fully realised. The paper draws upon the insights to identify future implications for policy, practice and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper approaches the existing relationship between trauma, psychic pain and attempted suicide. The contributions of authors in psychoanalysis - regarding the psychic functioning in the face of the domain of the unrepresentable - allow for producing a psychoanalytical understanding of attempted suicide. By means of a clinical illustration, the interrelation existing between trauma, the predominance of the unrepresentable and the psychic dynamics taking part in the dramaticity of a suicide attempt is sought and explored. Hence, such analysis of how one may think regarding attempted suicide, in the way it is named in this paper, as a pain-act, which denounces as it discharges, is the despaired attempt made by the subject in order to get rid of the psychic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore two different modalities of manic defences and their specific underlying anxieties. I will describe the relation between these defences and the role of the superego and their specific function in adolescent breakdown. While one type of manic defence operates by the ego’s identification with a sadistic superego the other one operates via evacuation of a guilt-inducing superego. I will illustrate the proposed ideas with clinical examples from the analysis of two adolescents. This paper stresses the specific differences between these two modalities and the clinical importance of both identifying and addressing the enactment in the transference of the unconscious phantasies and anxieties (paranoid and depressive) that give rise to these two types of defences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper strives to provide an insight into the multifaceted relationships that young people have, examining the social, cultural and institutional discourses, which shape their lives. We set out to discuss, from an empirical poststructuralist perspective, the way in which Irish adolescents write about the reality of their lives and privilege certain practices and forms of subjectivity. We are particularly interested in the role and significance of physical activity in the lives of young people, asking what institutional and cultural discourses are brought into play to construct particular identities and social practices associated with leisure and sporting interests. This paper focuses on a purposeful sample of 168 written narratives of Irish post-primary students (14-17 years of age), chosen to represent the gender of students, a range of rural and urban school locales from different geographic locations and single sex and co-educational schools. We focus on the inter-relationships between (1) family and friends; (2) community-localism and tradition; (3) commodification and globalisation; (4) popular culture; and (5) gendered patterns of leisure and sporting interests. The family is a strong focal point for these young people as are their friends and being part of a community. The young people (boys in particular) are significant consumers of 'media sport' and both girls and boys were knowledgeable of national and international politics. We also comment on the extent to which female and male adolescents negotiate, similarly or differently, culturally dominant discourses within physical activity and sport, with significantly more boys choosing to write about physical activity and sport in their narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread concerns about adolescent mental health difficulties have generated intense debate and resulted in adolescence being high on the policy agenda. Recent government investments aim to ameliorate widely criticised services for adolescence, and redress the negative images of young people. In order to explore the current state of knowledge regarding adolescent mental health, and relate this knowledge to practice, this paper explores three key questions: are adolescent mental health problems increasing, are adolescents dislocated by new and different contexts, and what are the levels of mental health difficulties in adolescence? The paper suggests that evidence that adolescents are 'getting worse' is not convincing, but it is clear that the contexts for adolescence have changed radically and this affects adolescent developmental processes. Adolescent mental health difficulties require a current, developmentally relevant and oriented approach to enhance effective understanding and intervention. Adults in general and professionals in particular need to be able to engage with and not take flight from the impact of adolescent emotionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on my experience working as part of an innovative project that made it possible for a team of black therapists to work therapeutically in schools, in a community centre and at the Tavistock Clinic with black adolescents and their carers. It also draws on other experiences of being a black counsellor working in schools with black adolescents. I try to show that there are similarities between a child joining a school, this team of black counsellors joining the big school of provisions or services, and a black adolescent boy joining an adult world in which his loyalties, how he is perceived and his self-perception seem to offer him a ready-made place and way of being. This paper is about the power of pressures to conform, something that is intimately connected with or part of education, joining a culture, coming to know what is what and who belongs where and with whom, and who should be obeyed. It is also about the ability to resist conformity, and how terms such as 'freedom', 'choice' and 'agency' become applicable and warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of the experience of undertaking psychoanalytical observations of young children on the development of the author's clinical work as a CAMHS Art Therapist. Drawing upon infant research, Winnicott's concept of 'holding' and Bion's notion of 'containment',it usesobservations of an infant and a young child to illustrate their high level of sensitivity to the quality of physical and emotional care received. Children referred to art therapy may bring a history of significant disruptions in the ways they were handled as developing infants resulting in a unique, experienced way of being seen, received and held which shapes their unfolding internal world. Two clinical examples from art therapy practice illustrate how observational experiences impacted on 'seeing' and understanding two adolescents. The paper considers ways in which the initial pictorial images produced in art therapy can be considered as the 'first' window through which to begin to gain insight into a young person's internalised ways of having been seen, received and held. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Editorial. Emphasizes on the need for child psychotherapists to involve in research related to child psychology and child psychotherapy. Appeal for the submission of papers on adolescence psychology going to be published in the 2004 issue of the psychological journal 'Journal of Child Psychotherapy.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how adolescents react to living in urban areas of concentrated poverty, and whether contextual effects on psychological strain and delinquent behaviour exist, using a cross-sectional youth survey in 61 neighbourhoods in two German cities and a rural area (n = ca. 5300). Multi-level analysis is applied to estimate neighbourhood effects controlling for individual socio-demographic composition. Results suggest that neighbourhood effects on delinquency exist which are, however, dependent on the spatial orientation of adolescents' routine activities and peer networks. Adolescents with an immigrant background do not seem to be influenced by neighbourhood conditions in the same way that native adolescents are. In particular, native girls react to neighbourhood disadvantage by resorting to violence. A tentative cross-classified multi-level model suggests that schools and neighbourhood contexts simultaneously affect adolescents' delinquency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the psychometric properties and process of using the Multidimensional Trauma Recovery and Resiliency Scale (MTRR) with 83 untreated war-affected adolescent and adult refugees of diverse cultures, family of origin, age, gender, and time since the war. The MTRR met reliability, validity, and utility criteria with this convenience sample. This paper discusses modifications made to the MTRR-I format, questions, and prompts to enable work with the wide range of ages and cultures represented in the sample. The results support the MTRR as a tool that may have the ability to capture, the complexity of culture as well as measure a variety of trauma responses and work with other measurements. Limitations of the study and avenues of future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]