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During the second decade of the 21st century families and schools world-wide have been affected by several critical events, with economic recession, the refugee crisis, and lately the COVID-19 pandemic being the most prominent. Pertaining to the school community (students, educators, administration, parents, school personnel etc.), evidence-based interventions for improving mental health and supporting psychosocial adjustment are necessary. In this paper the development, implementation, and evaluation of the international WeCARE (We Connect, Accept, Respect, Empower) program, an online multilevel intervention for promoting well-being and resilience in the school community during unsettling times, is presented. The Program has a multicultural perspective and provides the opportunity to students from different countries to cooperate and develop multicultural skills. The intervention is based on a conceptual model for enhancing positive development, resilience, social and emotional skills, and competence. The interventions were implemented on individual and system levels over four consecutive years, including web-based teachers' training and supervision, seminars for parents, and classroom implementation. Furthermore, collaboration amongst schools and educational settings was highlighted, in the form of networking at national and international level. Based on the evaluation results, the necessity for further development and implementation of programs for the promotion of resilience and well-being during unsettling times is discussed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the lives of adults and children worldwide. Schools were among the first settings to be influenced by this crisis. Home confinement and school closure were implemented as necessary preventive measures creating a new way of living based on web-based communication. The aim of the study is to explore school community needs during the COVID-19 outbreak in Greece. The study followed a mixed methods design, consisting of a teacher, a parent and an adolescent survey. The sample entailed 1,157 participants (414 teachers, 487 parents and 256 adolescents). Quantitative data were collected using questionnaires. Qualitative data were collected using open-ended questions to explore participants' adjustment and needs during the pandemic. Parents and teachers showed high propensity for anxiety and high levels of resilient coping. Health and adaptation concerns were evident in all samples. Teachers, parents and adolescents described helpful coping practices, primarily related to social support. The findings highlight the importance of supporting all school community members to cope with feelings of stress and anxiety during the pandemic and to identify and make use of helpful personal and social resources.

School climate is a topic of increasing importance internationally. The current study investigated the established measurement invariance of an eight-factor school climate scale using a multinational sample of secondary students. School climate factor means across 14 international groups were compared and findings on the association between school climate factors and mental health were also investigated. Findings, from this study, illustrate several cross-national similarities regarding the ways in which secondary students perceive school climate and the influence of school climate on student mental health. These findings can support school psychologists' efforts to identify strategies and supports that improve the school environment in areas that are most consistently related to student experiences, such as school safety and school connectedness. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

This article portrays the ongoing and ever-expanding journey of the Center for Research and Practice of School Psychology (CRPSP) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Based on an integrative approach to school community well-being that includes positive psychology perspectives and systems interventions, all activities of the Center focus on a social and emotional learning (SEL) framework that emphasizes strengths and contextual protective factors for members of the school community and other educational settings. Special attention is given to the implementation of SEL prevention programs in times of crisis and economic recession. Furthermore, the incorporation of SEL framework into the general education curriculum as well as in the preparation of psychologists and teachers at undergraduate and graduate level is presented. The role of SEL in building evidence-based interventions is discussed under the scope of multicultural and transnational considerations.

During the last decades, a significant increase in empirical studies concerning school violence is observed. Evidence-based interventions that promote positive school climate have been found to improve social competence, resilience, and students' well-being in schools, resulting in team bonding, feelings of acceptance, respect, and a sense of belonging. The present study explores junior high school students' perceptions regarding school climate dimensions referring to safety and relationships (i.e., discipline/order, positive peer relations, bullying prevention, respect of diversity). The sample consisted of 726 students from junior high schools in the broader area of Athens (mean age 14.4 years). Questionnaires regarding school climate dimensions focusing on safety and relationships, subjective well-being, economic crisis difficulties, and demographic data including gender, school grade, and academic performance were completed. Using conditional process analyses, the effect of a three-way interaction between school climate, academic performance, and economic difficulties on junior high school students' subjective well-being is examined. Gender and school grade are also studied. Results suggest that positive peer relations, bullying prevention, and respect for diversity associated with academic performance (but not with gender and school grade) moderate the relationship between economic difficulties and subjective well-being. The development and implementation of several intervention programs in diverse school settings in the Greek educational system are briefly discussed focusing on their effectiveness and usefulness regarding the promotion of school well-being and prevention of bullying and school violence.

This paper presents social justice principles as core concepts in school psychology practice via a conceptual framework that combines theory, research, training, and practical applications. Focusing on the specific needs of Greece (i.e. economic recession, influx of migrant and refugee students, etc.), we discuss the inclusion of multicultural and international components of school psychology practice as well as implications for socially just practice. Specific examples of interventions and activities developed and implemented by the Laboratory of School Psychology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, which emphasizes the application of social justice principles to practice, are also presented. Finally, we discuss specific guidelines for developing interventions that embrace social justice principles globally as well as explore transnational implications.

The aim of the study is to explore the way Greek junior high school students perceive school climate as a protective factor against the adversities due to the ongoing economic recession. The randomly selected sample consisted of 746 students from junior high schools (Gymnasia) in the broader area of Athens. The California School Climate Survey (2009), the Questionnaire of Subjective Well-Being/Youth Form (Grob et al., 1991) and the Economic Crisis Difficulties Questionnaire (LSP, 2011) were used for data collection. The findings indicated the existence of statistically significant relations between the effects of economic recession, subjective well-being and school climate. School climate moderated the interaction between economic recession and students' subjective well-being. Results provide a better understanding of adolescents' needs during unsettling times contributing to the development of effective evidence-based intervention programs in school communities.

In this study, an evidence-based program aiming to promote psychological well-being and resilience within the context of Greek schools is presented. It is based upon a multidimensional model that synthesizes different theoretical domains, placing emphasis on different goals depending on the needs of the school community during unsettling times. Culture-specific characteristics of the economic recession are addressed, using a multilevel mixed-model participatory design, including needs assessment, pre-assessment and post-assessment. Overall assessment supported the program's effectiveness on teachers' resilience, students' goal setting, and the promotion of a positive school climate.

Background: A comprehensive understanding of the contextual factors that are linked to student engagement requires research that includes cross-cultural perspectives. Aims: This study investigated how student engagement in school is associated with grade, gender, and contextual factors across 12 countries. It also investigated whether these associations vary across countries with different levels of individualism and socio-economic development. Samples: The participants were 3,420 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students from Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Methods: The participants completed a questionnaire to report their engagement in school, the instructional practices they experienced, and the support they received from teachers, peers, and parents. Hierarchical linear modelling was used to examine the effects at both student and country levels. Results: The results across countries revealed a decline in student engagement from Grade 7 to Grade 9, with girls reporting higher engagement than boys. These trends did not vary across the 12 countries according to the Human Development Index and Hofstede's Individualism Index. Most of the contextual factors (instructional practices, teacher support, and parent support) were positively associated with student engagement. With the exception that parent support had a stronger association with student engagement in countries with higher collectivism, most of the associations between the contextual factors and student engagement did not vary across countries. Conclusions: The results indicate both cultural universality and specificity regarding contextual factors associated with student engagement in school. They illustrate the advantages of integrating etic and emic approaches in cross-cultural investigations.

The objective of the present study was to develop a scale that is appropriate for use internationally to measure affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions of student engagement. Psychometric properties of this scale were examined with data of 3,420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th grade) from 12 countries (Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The intraclass correlation of the full-scale scores of student engagement between countries revealed that it was appropriate to aggregate the data from the 12 countries for further analyses. Coefficient alphas revealed good internal consistency. Test-retest reliability coefficients were also acceptable. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the data fit well to a second-order model with affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement as the first-order factors and student engagement as the second-order factor. The results support the use of this scale to measure student engagement as a metaconstruct. Furthermore, the significant correlations of the scale with instructional practices, teacher support, peer support, parent support, emotions, academic performance, and school conduct indicated good concurrent validity of the scale. Considerations and implications regarding the international use of this student engagement in school measure are discussed.

This special issue of the "International Journal of School & Educational Psychology" is devoted to promoting an understanding of some current features of school psychology programs and to suggest ways to further strengthen preparation. Information summarized in these 12 articles is intended to assist us in determining the relevance of the International School Psychology Association's (ISPA) model program for the preparation of school psychologists (Cunningham & Oakland, 1998) and how it may be improved, in particular in ways to better address multicultural, multinational, or international issues germane to school psychology. This special series begins with a discussion of the academic and professional preparation of school and educational psychologists from seven countries. The content of these articles builds upon and updates information on school psychology preparation found elsewhere (e.g., Jimerson, Oakland, & Farrell, 2007). The roles of accreditation and professional associations in promoting academic and professional preparation also are discussed. A concluding article (Oakland & Hatzichristou, 2014) summarizes salient issues pertaining to professional preparation, including efforts to emphasize multicultural, transnational, and/or international issues.

This article summarizes prominent themes found in descriptions of school psychology programs in Estonia (Kikas, 2014), Greece (Hatzichristou & Polychroni, 2014), Hong Kong (Lam, 2014), Romania (Negovan & Dinca, 2014), Sweden (Schad, 2014), United Kingdom (Wood, 2014), and United States (Joyce & Rossen, 2014). This paper summarizes prominent issues found in these and companion descriptions (e.g., Jimerson, Oakland, & Farrell, 2007), with the goal to promote an understanding of prevailing conditions that impact preparation, including those that are external to, as well as under the control of school psychology programs. These latter conditions include the academic and professional development components of preparation, including their emphasis on multicultural and international issues. Program content generally is consistent with that promulgated by the International School Psychology Association (e.g., Cunningham & Oakland, 1998) and as discussed more fully in "The Handbook of International School Psychology" (Jimerson, Oakland, & Farrell, 2007). Regional and national agencies external to psychology and school psychology together with alterations in program funding are exerting a strong and seemingly increasing impact on professional preparation programs in psychology. Knowledge of these and other prevailing conditions together with their impact on school psychology preparation and subsequent services is warranted. Stronger leadership from national, regional, and international associations of psychology and school psychology is needed to counterbalance the effects of external control that pose threats to the specialty.

The paper describes the preparation of school psychologists in Greece. It discusses the social and cultural contexts that have influenced the evolution of the discipline of psychology, the beginning of training programs in school psychology, and the current status of school psychological services. The structure of the Graduate Program of School Psychology at the University of Athens, one of the two Greek professional training programs in school psychology, then is featured. The international profile of the faculty and the multicultural orientation of many of its academic and professional activities are described. In addition, the paper also underlines the significance of the involvement of students in prevention and intervention programs as well as in teacher training seminars and conferences. Finally, challenges for this program and for the academic and professional preparation of school psychologists in Greece are discussed.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescent mental health difficulties have increased. To understand adolescent adjustment, it is important to explore both mental health difficulties and indicators of resilience and well-being. The primary aim of this study was to explore the associations among resilience, subjective well-being (SWB), fear of COVID-19, and loneliness among adolescents during the second wave of the pandemic. Additionally, the study aimed to identify student profiles based on these variables. The sample consisted of 469 high school students (61% girls, 29% junior high school). Resilience was positively correlated with SWB and negatively with fear of COVID-19 and loneliness. Three student profiles were identified. The Resilient and Satisfied group (38%) consisted of students with the most positive adaptation, and the Average group (41%) involved students with middle scores in all variables, while the Vulnerable and Distressed group (21%) included those who struggled the most. The need for a tiered approach in providing school-based mental health support is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining motivational variables may prove to be particularly fruitful towards our understanding of classroom processes, student behaviors and school outcomes. The present study examined the role of personal and contextual goals (goals and goal structures) towards explaining social relationships (peer, teacher-student and home-school). 1493 fifth and sixth grade primary school students (10 to 12 years of age) from different areas of Greece formed a representative sample. Questionnaires were administered assessing students' goal orientations, goal structures and classroom relationships. The data were analyzed using latent variable modeling. Mastery goal structures had significant effects on positive school relationships such as student relations, teacher-student relations, peer inclusion, and peer conflict (the latter two reversely coded). Performance goal structures exerted negative or null effects on the same processes, demonstrating their negative propensities. In addition, the effects of mastery goal structures were partially mediated by the effects of personal mastery goals with regard to teacher-student relations with the former exerting both direct and indirect effects. On the contrary, the negative effects of performance goal structures were not buffered by the presence of high levels of personal performance goals. The findings have significant implications for educational practice in terms of the importance of classroom contexts as predictors of classroom relatedness specifically where mastery goals are concerned. (Contains 7 figures.)

This study examined gender differences in student engagement and academic performance in school. Participants included 3420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th graders) from Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The results indicated that, compared to boys, girls reported higher levels of engagement in school and were rated higher by their teachers in academic performance. Student engagement accounted for gender differences in academic performance, but gender did not moderate the associations among student engagement, academic performance, or contextual supports. Analysis of multiple-group structural equation modeling revealed that perceptions of teacher support and parent support, but not peer support, were related indirectly to academic performance through student engagement. This partial mediation model was invariant across gender. The findings from this study enhance the understanding about the contextual and personal factors associated with girls' and boys' academic performance around the world. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)

School psychology training programs are required to provide multicultural training to preservice school psychologists; however, trainers have had difficulty adequately including multicultural content into the curriculum. Thus, there is a gap between the requirements and the training that many school psychologists receive. Training programs have grappled with multicultural training because of difficulty identifying the structure and content of such training for school psychologists. To advance multicultural training in school psychology, guidance is needed regarding the content and structure necessary to adequately develop multicultural competence. Hence, the purpose of this article is to critically review the evidence on multicultural training in school psychology and provide a synthesis of the best evidence for preparing multiculturally competent school psychologists. (Contains 4 tables.)

Age, gender and cross-national differences of children ages 8 through 16 in Greece (n = 400) and the United States (n = 5,400) are examined on four temperament styles: extroversion-introversion, practical-imaginative, thinking-feeling and organized-flexible styles. In general, Greek children prefer extroverted to introverted styles and organized to flexible styles. Their preferences for practical-imaginative and thinking-feeling styles are more balanced. Gender differences are found on thinking-feeling and organized-flexible styles. Age differences are found on practical-imaginative and organized-flexible styles. In contrast to children in the US, those in Greece are more likely to favour extroverted and practical styles. Gender differences appear with both national samples: girls are more likely to favour a feeling style and boys to favour a thinking style. (Contains 2 tables.)

The purpose of this article is to address various issues concerning multicultural interventions at a system level. Diversity is presented through a different conceptual approach and specific implications for school psychological practice are addressed. In this theoretical context an alternative model of school psychological services that was developed in the Greek educational system is presented and a primary intervention program is described as a paradigm of multicultural system/community intervention. Finally, the components of a transnational approach to multicultural system/community interventions that provides the basic procedural guidelines to developing effective, culturally sensitive interventions in the school environment is proposed.

The purpose of this article is to link the goals and processes of the Future of School Psychology Conference with the development of the profession in another educational and cultural setting. More specifically, the problem-solving model used at the Futures Conference and the data-based model of alternative school psychological services implemented in the Greek schools are presented. The article also describes the process of integrating the two models in the Greek educational system. Common future perspectives and goals are explored at a cross-national level to promote a unifying perspective of collaboration for supporting children, families, and schools worldwide.

The Invitational Conference on the Future of School Psychology held at Indiana University in Fall 2002 included a number of paper presentations and group discussions. Toward the end of the conference, four participants were asked to present their reactions, reflecting input from a practitioner, a graduate student in school psychology, a faculty member at a university program educating school psychologists in the United States, and a school psychologist/faculty member at a university from a different country (Greece). The purpose of this article is to share their combined perspectives of the future of school psychology. This article also includes their suggestions for the future direction of school psychology, and encourages all school psychologists to awaken to a change in the field. The article considers the educational and mental health needs of students, and offers a prospectus for the field including: (1)data supported services; (2) group focused practices; (3) collaboration and partnerships with professionals, families, and schools; and (4) multicultural considerations.

The Invitational Conference on the Future of School Psychology held at Indiana University in Fall 2002 included a number of paper presentations and group discussions. Toward the end of the conference, four participants were asked to present their reactions, reflecting input from a practitioner, a graduate student in school psychology, a faculty member at a university program educating school psychologists in the United States, and a school psychologist/faculty member at a university from a different country (Greece). The purpose of this article is to share their combined perspectives of the future of school psychology. This article also includes their suggestions for the future direction of school psychology, and encourages all school psychologists to awaken to a change in the field. The article considers the educational and mental health needs of students, and offers a prospectus for the field including (a) data-supported services; (b) group-focused practices; (c) collaboration and partnerships with professionals, families, and schools; and (d) multicultural considerations.

This study compared Greek individuals (n=287) identified as engaging in delinquent behavior who had either been maltreated in childhood or not maltreated. Perceived parental abuse and/or psychological neglect were associated with various family and social characteristics as well as specific Greek societal and cultural factors. (Author/DB)

Explores the adjustment of 13- to 15-year-old Greek remigrant students in Greek schools. Teacher-ratings, self-ratings, achievement records and language competence data were studied. Remigrant students, especially those returning later, were found to experience difficulties mainly in the language/learning domain and less in the interpersonal and intrapersonal behavior domains. (35 references) (JL)

Hofstede's dimension of national culture termed Masculinity-Femininity [Hofstede (1991). Cultures and organizations: software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill] is proposed to be of relevance for understanding national-level differences in self-assessed agoraphobic fears. This prediction is based on the classical work of Fodor [Fodor (1974). In: V. Franks & V. Burtle (Eds.), Women in therapy: new psychotherapies for a changing society. New York: Brunner/Mazel]. A unique data set comprising 11 countries (total N = 5491 students) provided the opportunity of scrutinizing this issue. It was hypothesized and found that national Masculinity (the degree to which cultures delineate sex roles, with masculine or tough societies making clearer differentiations between the sexes than feminine or modest societies do) would correlate positively with national agoraphobic fear levels (as assessed with the Fear Survey Schedule--III). Following the correction for sex and age differences across national samples, a significant and large effect-sized national-level (ecological) r = +0.67 (P = 0.01) was found. A highly feminine society such as Sweden had the lowest, whereas the champion among the masculine societies, Japan, had the highest national Agoraphobic fear score. Keywords: Sex roles; Agoraphobia; Cross-cultural assessment; National masculinity-femininity; Hofstede; Fodor