The present study reports on the psychometric defensibility of the Psychological Wellbeing and Distress Screener (PWDS), which is a 10-item self-report behavior rating scale for measuring youth's bidimensional (also known as dual-factor or two-continua) mental health. The PWDS was developed using preexisting items within the Health Behavior in…

This paper explored whether or not In School Suspensions (ISS) is effective in reducing student behavioral problems. Research was conducted with 6-8th grade students in a rural middle school in the upstate of South Carolina for the purposes of determining if ISS, in its current design a viable and effective method to reduce negative student…

The current study examined longitudinal relations between overt and relational victimization, sadness and anger dysregulation, and depressive and anxiety symptoms across 6 months among an ethnically diverse sample of sixth graders (N = 485; 48% male; 65% African American). No direct longitudinal relations were found between peer victimization and…

The study compared teachers' and parents' views about elementary school children's psychosocial adjustment with and without a history of early grade retention. The sample included retained and non-retained students currently in Grades Two and Four (age range 7.5 to 11.6 years) in Cypriot public schools. The retained students experienced early…

This longitudinal study investigated the associations among children's externalizing problems, task-avoidant behavior, and academic performance in early school years. The participants were 586 children (43% girls, 57% boys). Data pertaining to externalizing problems (teacher ratings) and task-avoidant behaviors (mother and teacher ratings) were…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a social-emotional learning curriculum, Strong Kids, for children at risk for begin referred for placement in emotional and behavioral support classrooms. Thirty-nine fourth- and fifth-grade students enrolled in an urban elementary school participated in the intervention. The results of this…

This research is conducted to examine novice ELT teachers' perspective on the possible motives behind young learners' problem behaviours in English classes. The gender of ELT teachers have been also considered in order to investigate whether there is a difference between the perception of male and female teachers on the leading causes of problem…

This study examined the technical adequacy of office discipline referrals (ODRs) received early in the school year for predicting total ODRs received by the end of the year. The sample included 401,852 students from 593 public middle schools (serving Grades 6 to 8) in the United States in the 2009-2010 school year. The results showed that ODRs…

Acting out behaviors is a hindrance to learning across the country. The school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) model is a behaviorally-based systems approach to addressing problem behaviors in our school today. The problem this study is designed to address is the issue that student misbehaviors and disruptions cause a loss of valuable…

Students become increasingly disconnected from their schools across the middle school years, but little is known about the factors contributing to changes in school connectedness. This study examined the time-invariant and time-varying roles of depressive symptoms and externalizing problems in trajectories of student-perceived school connectedness…

Objective: This article presents the Journey of Hope (JoH), a school-based intervention for children who have experienced a collective trauma such as a natural disaster. Through the use of group work, the JoH focuses on building coping skills and enhancing protective factors to help children recover. Method: This quasi-experimental research…

The goal of this study was to identify meaningful groups of sixth graders with common characteristics based on teacher ratings of assets and maladaptive behaviors, describe dropout rates for each group, and examine the validity of these groups using students' self-reports. The sample consisted of racially diverse students (n = 675) attending sixth…

This study aimed to explore the spatial numerical association of response codes (SNARC), the flanker, and the numerical distance effects in children with mathematical difficulties. From a sample of 720 third, fourth, and fifth graders, 60 children were selected and divided into the following three groups: typically developing children (TD; n =…

This study examines whether the self-concepts, social skills, problem behaviors, and loneliness levels of students with special educational needs (SEN) in inclusive elementary classrooms differ from those of students without special educational needs (non-SEN). This study also aimed to identify the roles of self-concept, social skills, and problem…

How children and youth deal with academic challenges and setbacks can make a material difference to their learning and school success. Hence, it is important to investigate the factors that allow students to cope constructively. A process model focused on students' motivational resources was used to frame a study examining whether engagement in…