Schools are ideal locations for youth to receive mental health and social-emotional programming. Despite the well-established need for school-based mental health programs, many schools do not offer these programs, and those that do often face implementation challenges that hinder the effectiveness of the programs. Peer-led programs may be an…

There is limited research examining peer victimization (PV) experiences in early childhood, particularly during the transition from preschool to kindergarten. Given the gaps in the PV literature among this young population and the need for earlier PV prevention and intervention efforts, the current study advances the literature by examining: (1)…

Many sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) experience bias-based bullying (i.e., bullying related to their minoritized social identities) at school. Compared to their straight and cisgender peers, SGMYs also report a disproportionately high prevalence of suicidal thoughts. This study used a sizeable, racially diverse, statewide sample of…

Although bullied adolescents experience elevated risk for adverse mental and physical health outcomes, some youth exhibit resilience in the face of peer victimization. Given the developmental importance of peer relationships during adolescence, much of the research examining protective factors that can mitigate bullying-related harm has focused on…

Schools and students have faced a variety of challenges during the 2020-2021 academic year as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. These issues have drawn attention to the increased need for robust social-emotional learning skills at the elementary level to address the deficits exacerbated by the pandemic. "Sources of Strength" is an…

Alexithymia refers to an ineffectiveness in identifying feelings and emotions and their communication. In adolescence, it has been identified as a significant predictor of emotional dysregulation, depression, anxiety, especially in girls, and it is generally associated with higher levels of physical and verbal aggression. We investigated the…

While research supports a strong association between risk of school dropout and suicidality, this youth population remains understudied. This qualitative study addresses this gap by examining self-reported risk and protective factors among 44 alternative high school students who endorsed varying levels of suicidal ideation. Criterion sampling of…

While there is a strong assumption of a direct link between family climate and school bullying victimization, studies on such a direct link have shown inconsistent results. Furthermore, family climate and children's social relationships with teachers and peers at school have been considered potential protective factors against school bullying…

The FRIENDS Resilience programs provide cognitive-behavioral skills across the developmental spectrum and can be applied as a universal or selective prevention program. In the current study, we assessed whether, relative to the schools' existing counseling curriculum ("guidance"), FRIENDS improved social skills, problem behaviors, and…

A classroom guidance curriculum following the dialectical behavior therapy skills training for emotion problem solving for adolescents (DBT STEPS-A) was evaluated using a pretest-posttest nonequivalent groups quasi-experimental design. Data from 94 ninth-grade students (42 treatment, 52 control) enrolled in a rural high school were analyzed via…

The current study analyzed 502 responses from members of the education workforce on the Resilience at Work (RAW) scale and other measures of health and job satisfaction as part of an initiative offering training and technical assistance to support student and staff well-being. A latent profile analysis using scores on components of the RAW…

Bullying and cyberbullying have been intensively studied in many countries, and research on the topic has been fruitful. Nevertheless, it is still necessary to advance knowledge on bullying and cyberbullying in many geographical areas and to discover their risk and protective factors. The objective of this study was to describe and compare the…

The current review sought to describe the implementation and evaluation of trauma-focused school practices as represented in the published literature. Through a systematic literature search, we identified 39 articles describing trauma-focused practices implemented in school settings with elementary populations and coded data regarding these…

This paper addresses a validation study focusing on the process of adapting the EPOCH measure of adolescent well-being (Kern et al. in Psychol Assess 28(5):586-597. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000201, 2016) to the school context and translating it into German--resulting in the EPOCH-School model (EPOCH-S) with the corresponding measure EPOCH-G-S…

Schools are critical settings in our nation's public health response to the youth mental health crisis. There is strong empirical support that comprehensive, universal programs promote students' social and emotional development and academic success. However, schools, particularly Title I schools, often lack the capacity to implement entire…