School refusal and truancy is a community problem that affects individuals, families, and organizations while lacking a universally accepted definition. At-risk youth often exhibit academic failure, and externalized and or internalized problematic behaviors while schools lose funding and families become disconnected. The school setting allows…

Youth psychological well-being has become increasingly acknowledged as not merely the absence of psychological distress, but the presence of positive indicators of optimal functioning. Students with complete mental health (i.e., low psychopathology and high well-being) demonstrate the best academic, social, and physical health outcomes. As such,…

Transition age youth with disabilities are at an elevated risk to experience depression and anxiety compared to youth without disabilities. The current study evaluates the implementation feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of the "Think, Be, Do" curriculum (a mental health curriculum) for transition age students in special…

The study evaluated the long-term impact of a brief motivational intervention (BMI) among college undergraduates mandated to treatment relative to heavy drinking volunteer students. Participants (N = 225; 61% male) were randomized to a BMI (n = 115) or a control group (n = 110). Alcohol consumption (drinks per week, drinking frequency, typical…

College students who are unprepared for financial decision making may make risky decisions such as compulsive spending and debt accumulation. Financial stress impacts both academic achievement and retention. The current literature addresses the deficiency college students have when making financially responsible decisions, but little is mentioned…

A comparison between Child-Centered Group Play Counseling (CCGPC), a psychoeducational group and a non-therapeutic control group resulted in three of four hypotheses being supported. Participants included 79 second and third graders, with one fourth grader, from seven elementary schools. The children had behavioral and social skills difficulties…

This study investigated the impact of child teacher relationship training (CTRT) on teachers' ability to provide emotional support in the classroom, teachers' use of relationship-building skills, and teachers' level of stress related to the student-child relationship. Teachers and aides from one Head Start school were randomly…

This exploratory study examined the effectiveness of child teacher relationship training (CTRT) with at-risk preschool children exhibiting disruptive behavior. The participants included a total of 23 Head Start teachers and their aides, and children identified by their teachers as exhibiting clinical or borderline levels of externalizing behavior…

Due to an increase in behavior problems among school children, especially at-risk children who have problems staying on-task, there is a need for a teaching strategy that will enable children to be focused and on task in the classroom. This quantitative study investigated whether partner-check self-recording of on-task behavior will increase the…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suffer from numerous social and communicative deficits that create difficulties when interacting with their peers, adults, and their social community. An increased prevalence of problem behaviors has also been found in children with ASD, and it is likely that such problem behaviors interfere with the…

This pilot study investigated the impact of group activity play therapy (GAPT) on displaced orphans aged 10 to 12 years living in a large children's village in Uganda. Teachers and housemothers identified 60 preadolescents exhibiting clinical levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The participants' ethnicity was African and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy as an intervention when the client and the counselor do not speak the same language. The participants of the study were 34 Spanish-speaking children of Hispanic descent ranging in age from 4 to 8 who were referred to counseling for exhibiting…

The purpose of this study was to provide insight regarding the impact that the alternative to suspension program Achievement Character Excellence (ACE) has on the students who are placed there. The study utilized four achievement indicators to track the level of improvement of students after they were placed in the ACE program and after they were…

Raising a child with disruptive behaviors is taxing. It is trying. It is exhausting. Due to this, parents may begin to doubt their own effectiveness, or begin to think of their child as being defective in either personality or character (Whitman & Smith, 1991). Coping with such behaviors can precipitate a number of reactions in the family,…

The purpose of the study was to perform a program evaluation of the Right Choices Program to determine the program's effectiveness in delivering constructive interventions that modify student behavior once students have left the program and have returned to their regular learning environment. This mixed-method evaluation consisted of an…