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 study examined the viability of a brief, parent-reported strengths and needs assessment as the first step in a multiple-gating approach to proactive positive behavior support for families. The "Positive Family Support--Strengths and Needs Assessment" (PFS-SaNA) was designed to collaboratively engage parents early in the school year…

The purpose of the current study was to understand the association between bullying experiences (i.e., bullying, victimization, and defending) and social, emotional, and cognitive factors. The social factor was social skills (i.e., empathy, assertion, cooperation, responsibility); the emotional factor was emotional difficulties (i.e., personal…

A new multidimensional measure of test anxiety, the Test Anxiety Measure for Adolescents (TAMA), specifically designed for U.S. adolescents in Grades 6 to 12 was developed and its psychometric properties were examined. The TAMA consists of five scales (Cognitive Interference, Physiological Hyperarousal, Social Concerns, Task Irrelevant Behavior,…

Hispanic problem behavior youth are at an increased risk of engaging in HIV risk behaviors, including low condom use. However, relatively little research has examined factors that affect condom use in this population. Although research indicates that family processes, such as higher levels of family functioning and open parent-adolescent…

We reported findings of an exploratory validation study of a revised universal screening instrument: the Student Risk Screening Scale--Internalizing and Externalizing (SRSS-IE) for use with middle school students. Tested initially for use with elementary-age students, the SRSS-IE was adapted to include seven additional items reflecting…

This exploratory study examined middle school students' (N = 380) help-seeking behaviors and other reactions to controlling behaviors in their dating relationships. Over three-fourths of the participants perpetrated and were victimized by controlling behaviors in their dating relationships. Youth used emotional/verbal and dominance/isolation forms…

This study aims to conceptualize disobedient pupil behavior within the more general framework of antisocial behavior and to reveal how two forms of aggressiveness are related to disobedience. Disobedience, in the context of this article, covers disruptive pupil behavior or discipline problems when the pupil is aware of breaking a standard set by…