Background: Conceptualizations of health have expanded to include indicators of adolescents' physical and mental wellness, rather than solely the absence of diseases or disorders. Although extensive research has identified links between mental and physical wellness, few studies have investigated the relationship between health promotion and…

A dual-factor model (DFM) of mental health conceptualizes complete mental health as both low levels of psychopathology and high levels of subjective well-being (SWB). Although middle adolescence (ages 14 to 18 years old) is associated with increases in symptoms of psychopathology and declines in SWB, further research is needed to understand how…

Research on the importance of complete mental health has led to increased focus on students' subjective well-being (i.e., happiness and life satisfaction) coupled with the traditional attention to psychopathology. Although screeners for psychopathology abound, the present project is novel in applying best practices in universal screening to grade…

Most interventions intended to improve subjective well-being, termed "positive psychology interventions" (PPIs), have neglected to include relevant stakeholders in youth's lives and have not included booster sessions intended to maintain gains in subjective well-being. The current study investigated the impact of a multitarget,…

In this chapter, we focus on research that is most pertinent to gifted education. We begin with an overview of the constructs (organized within the three original pillars of positive psychology) relevant to youth, education, and gifted education. First, we offer a working definition of giftedness and gifted education. [This paper was published in:…

Most research on positive psychology interventions (PPIs) has involved young adults and adolescents, but not young children. O'Grady (2013) suggested some conceptually promising pedagogical strategies that teachers can use to integrate PPI into the elementary school classroom. These general ideas include: (1) teaching the language of emotions and…

Modern definitions of complete mental health include both positive and negative indicators of psychological functioning. We examined the associations between peer relationships (victimization and receipt of prosocial acts) and multiple indicators of mental health that represent subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, positive and negative…

Although Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) students may not be the most obvious group of adolescents in need of extra supports, this population has salient and unique risk factors in need of specialized services, such as elevated perceived stress levels. The heightened academic demands placed on these students is an…

Although Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) students may not be the most obvious group of adolescents in need of extra supports, this population has salient and unique risk factors in need of specialized services, such as elevated perceived stress levels. The heightened academic demands placed on these students is an…

There is growing interest in school-based programs to promote students' subjective well-being (SWB). Students with greater SWB tend to have stronger relationships with their teachers and classmates, as well as behave in more positive ways. Drawing from theory and research pertinent to promoting children's SWB, we developed an 11-session classwide…

Adolescents' subjective well-being (SWB) is associated with a variety of schooling experiences, particularly their perceptions of teacher support. This article presents results of a mixed-methods study conducted to identify which types of perceived social support enacted by teachers are most strongly associated with middle school students' SWB…

Educators and psychologists alike have trumpeted calls for a reduced focus on deficits and pathology and increased attention to strengths and general wellness in all children. Life satisfaction is one of the most well-established indicators of general wellness and, moreover, positive functioning. Most examinations of children's life satisfaction…

Psychologists have placed an increased emphasis on identifying psychological strengths that foster healthy development. Hope, as operationalized in Snyder's hope theory [Snyder, C. R., Hoza, B., Pelham, W. E., Rapoff, M., Ware, L., & Danovsky, M., et al. (1997). The development and validation of the children's hope scale. "Journal of Pediatric…

A central component of positive psychology is subjective well-being (SWB). One facet of SWB receiving increased research attention is children's perceived quality of life (PQOL). Existing research related to child and youth PQOL is reviewed, followed by a discussion of the implications of the research for school psychology practice. Research with…

This study examined whether extremely high life satisfaction was associated with adaptive functioning or maladaptive functioning. Six hundred ninety-eight secondary level students completed the Students' Life Satisfaction Scale [Huebner, 1991a, School Psychology International, 12, pp. 231-240], Youth Self-Report of the Child Behavior Checklist…