Search

Racially and ethnically minoritized (REM) youth have been historically underrepresented in the field of school psychology due, in part, to poor program climate. Numerous strategies to increase the recruitment and retention of REM school psychology students have been put forth. Despite this, concerns regarding program climate remain and calls for the increased diversification of the field continue. The purpose of this article is to put forth the use of diversity committees (DCs) as a way to increase the recruitment and retention of REM students within school psychology. We present two case examples of DCs implemented in school psychology graduate programs. We conclude with implications, as well as future research needs as it relates to the examination of effectiveness and implementation of DCs.

Reflexivity, defined as the critical analysis of how one's identity and values influence their scholarship, has been underscored as a crucial element of antioppressive scholarship. Despite its importance, reflexivity, and particularly its documentation, remains relatively uncommon in school psychology scholarship. In the following commentary, we introduce the need for reflexivity as it relates to the field's commitment to antiracism, followed by a brief review of the literature on reflexivity, including its historical foundations and its previous applications within the fields of psychological research. We conclude with recommendations for the school psychology scholarly community for conceptualizing, conducting, and disseminating scholarship.

This study sought to contribute to the limited research on the prevalence of suicidal behaviors and exposure to school-based violence among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) adolescents. It also examined the relationship between engagement in suicidal behaviors and exposure to school-based violence among AAPI adolescents. Results from a national sample of 14,765 adolescents via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's most recent Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System data demonstrated that the prevalence of AAPI adolescents engaging in suicidal behaviors and experiencing school-based violence is comparable to that of non-AAPI adolescents. A significant correlation between exposure to school-based violence and four specific suicidal behaviors was observed among this sample of AAPI adolescents. Across the entire sample, adolescents who reported engaging in any suicidal behavior experienced significantly higher levels of school-based violence. Implications for promoting and implementing trauma-informed approaches in schools along with integrating existing mental health practices with school-based violence prevention efforts tailored to the needs of AAPI adolescents are discussed.

The current study sought to examine the prospective relationship of peer victimization on changes in Asian American youth's depressive symptoms during early adolescence, a crucial period for the development of depression and engagement in peer victimization among youth. Further, as guided by cultural-ecological frameworks, the current study also sought to examine the role of school-based peer support and gender as moderators on the relationship between peer victimization and depressive symptoms among this understudied population. Participants included Asian American youth (N = 232; M age = 12.96, SD = 1.40; 51% girls) who completed questionnaires in the school context. Data for this study included two measurement occasions over a 1-year interval. Results indicated that high levels of adolescents' perceptions of peer victimization were associated with increased levels of depressive symptoms 1 year later. Additionally, results indicated that peer victimization interacted with reports of peer support within school, such that under conditions of moderate to high levels of school-based peer support, high levels of peer victimization related to increased depressive symptoms. Findings contribute to our understanding of the development of depressive symptoms among early adolescent Asian American youth and have implications for school-based depression prevention programming for Asian American youth.

School psychology has been criticized for limited attention to and limited evidence-based resources for diverse populations in domestic and international settings, in part because of its foundations on psychological knowledge generated primarily in North America and Western Europe. Moreover, in the past 25 years, the profession has made insufficient progress in changing its focus toward an ecological systems perspective as initially envisioned by Conoley and Gutkin in 1995 and revisited in this issue. In this article, we embrace and expand that vision to include the infusion of global and intercultural perspectives into school psychology research, training, practice, policy, and advocacy as a means to address cultural diversity within local contexts across the globe, with a particular focus on school psychology within the United States. We begin with a discussion of terminology that addresses international and cross-cultural issues related to diversity. We then examine past and present perspectives and approaches to cultural diversity and globalization within school psychology and propose future directions for research, training, practice, policy, and advocacy within a global-intercultural perspective. We conclude with our reflections about transforming school psychology and school psychologists.

Frequent formative assessment of students' functioning, or progress monitoring, is a critical component of multi-tiered systems of support as data inform data-driven decisions about response to treatment. Progress monitoring tools for students' academic and behavioral functioning are readily available and widely researched; however, despite the documented prevalence of depressive disorders among youth and that schools have been put forth as an ideal location for the delivery of mental health services, there are currently no progress monitoring tools to examine students' response to interventions that target depression. To address this gap, this study sought to develop a progress monitoring assessment of students' depressive symptoms using an empirically informed model for creating "Brief Behavior Rating Scales" (BBRS). Using this model, a four-item BBRS of depressive symptoms (BBRS-D) was created from the item pools of the "Beck Depression Inventory for Youth" (BDI-Y) and "Children's Depression Inventory" (CDI) administered during a treatment study of depression in female youth; the resulting short scale corresponds well to the full-length assessments (i.e., r = 0.65 and r = 0.59); however, the BBRS-D possessed lower than adequate internal consistency (alpha = 0.50) and test-retest reliability (r = 0.56). Limitations and future directions are discussed.

A key part of promoting social justice as school psychologists is infusing practice with actions that breakdown systems of inequity and incorporate systems of inclusion. The current manuscript provides a description of applying social justice as a framework in universal programming through child rights education. Additionally, the manuscript describes the use of action research methodology to incorporate a social justice perspective not only in program content but also in program development. Results of this project provide preliminary support for child rights education in impacting student's knowledge regarding child rights, teacher acceptability of such programming, and modest impact on social and emotional skills related to interpersonal relationships in the classroom.

The current study sought to better understand barriers to mental health help-seeking for suicide, as well as elicit input on recommendations for suicide prevention and intervention efforts for Guyanese youth. Participants included 17 adult stakeholders (i.e., teachers, administrative staff, and school-allied community workers) and 40 students at a secondary school in Guyana who participated in focus groups and interviews, respectively. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Themes related to perceptions of barriers to mental health help-seeking included shame and stigma about mental illness, fear of negative parental response to mental health help-seeking, and limited awareness and negative beliefs about mental health services. Themes related to recommendations for adolescent suicide prevention in Guyana included the need for culturally informed prevention efforts, the importance of integrating such efforts within schools, and the role of government and community organization in suicide prevention efforts. Findings have implications for the development and tailoring of suicide prevention efforts for Guyanese youth.

Adolescent suicide is a pressing concern in Guyana, a low-to middle-income country in South America with the highest adolescent suicide rate globally. Gatekeeper trainings for suicide prevention conducted in high-income countries have been found to increase knowledge of suicide prevention, increase referrals of at-risk youth, and reduce stigma toward help-seeking for suicidality. The current study sought to engage in a pilot examination of the effectiveness, acceptability, and feasibility of a culturally informed gatekeeper training suicide prevention program for Guyanese youth. Secondary school teachers and staff (N = 16) were trained in a culturally informed, evidence-based gatekeeper suicide prevention program. Mixed methods analyses revealed significant increases in knowledge of suicide prevention, as well as decreases in rigid or judgmental attitudes toward suicide post-training among secondary school teachers and staff. Further, results indicated that participants deemed the program culturally acceptable and feasible for use in the school setting. Findings have implications for the delivery and implementation of culturally informed gatekeeper training programs for suicide prevention in low-to middle-income countries.

Despite the prevalence and negative consequences of depressive disorders among youth, as well as the need for schools to adopt and implement a continuum of mental health services to address depressive disorders, school mental health providers receive very limited guidance in the selection and application of appropriate evidence-based depression prevention and intervention programs for use within a school-based multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). With the goal of supporting school-based mental health providers in the delivery of evidence-based practices targeting depressive symptoms among youth within a MTSS framework, the following study sought to conduct a critical review of the existing school-based prevention and intervention programming for depressive disorders for youth. A systematic, four-stage review was performed from which 119 studies examining 57 unique programs were identified. A review of the studies, including presentation of various participant (e.g., age, grade, ethnicity), study (e.g., control group, randomization), and program (e.g., primary focus, findings, MTSS tier) characteristics, is included. Implementation considerations review and future directions for research are discussed.

A critical component of multi-tiered systems of support is the incorporation of formative assessment, which supports school personnel in making data-based decisions about students' responsiveness to interventions. Although a variety of assessments exist for monitoring the progress of students' academic and behavioral functioning, the literature supporting progress monitoring of symptoms related to internalizing disorders, such as anxiety and depression, is less robust. Accordingly, the need for progress monitoring measures for internalizing symptoms for use within a school-based multi-tiered framework has been underscored. Thus, the purpose of this three-stage systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature was to (1) identify assessments that have been used to progress monitor the symptoms of children' internalizing symptoms; (2) analyze their psychometric properties and basic characteristics; (3) and review their appropriateness for use as progress monitoring measures within a school setting. The results of the review identified 15 unique assessments that have been used to progress monitor internalizing symptoms in children, with eight of those assessments deemed practical for frequent use within a school setting. Implications of the results, limitations of the review, and future directions for research are discussed.

Research has pointed to the importance of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) between school psychologists and medical providers in the provision of quality mental health care for youth with chronic health conditions. However, little is known about current IPC practices among school psychologists. This study examined school psychology trainees' and professionals' perceptions of training, preparedness, and current practices related to IPC with medical providers. Survey results indicated that participants (N = 317) endorse relatively low levels of training and preparedness and limited practice of IPC with medical providers. Additionally, results indicated that perceptions of training and preparedness were associated with current practices in IPC with medical providers. Findings demonstrated the impact of training and preparedness on subsequent engagement in IPC and have implications for the future training of school psychologists as they seek to address the needs of youth with chronic health conditions.

This study, as guided by cultural-ecological frameworks, examined multiple contextual stressors, including subjective economic hardship, acculturation, discrimination, and negative perceptions of school safety, as simultaneously linked to adolescents' depressive symptoms, as well as the role of gender, familism values, family cohesion, and school connectedness on these associations. Data come from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (Portes and Rumbaut 2012) that included second-generation 8th- and 9th-grade children of foreign-born parents from the Mexican-origin subsample (n = 755; 52% male; time 1 M age = 14.20 years). Adolescents were either born in (60%) or immigrated prior to age 5 to the USA. Results of the regression analysis conducted via M"plus" indicated that Mexican-origin female adolescents had higher levels of depressive symptoms at age 17. Subjective economic hardship, general discrimination, and negative perceptions of school safety were related to higher levels of depressive symptoms. Family cohesion was related to lower levels of depressive symptoms. Youth gender, familism values, family cohesion, and school connectedness were significant moderators. The present findings point to not only the harmful effects of subjective economic hardship, general discrimination, and negative perceptions of school safety on second-generation Mexican-origin adolescents' mental health but also the significant protective role of school connectedness and family cohesion in promoting adolescents' well-being. Implications for school psychology research and practice are discussed.

Teleconsultation is being increasingly used in schools to support children with disabilities; however, further evaluation of the impact of this practice is needed. This study describes a teleconsultation model used to provide educational support for students with visual impairments being educated in their local school districts and examines the initial acceptability and feasibility of this teleconsultation model. In addition, the current study discusses some of the recommendations for improvement regarding program implementation, with the goal of increasing the ease of use of teleconsultation in schools. Stakeholders reported qualitative and quantitative data indicating that the teleconsultation model is acceptable to and feasible for families and school district staff.