Showing papers in "School Psychology Quarterly in 2011"

Supporting Children's Mental Health in Schools: Teacher Perceptions of Needs, Roles, and Barriers.

Abstract: There is a significant research to practice gap in the area of mental health practices and interventions in schools. Understanding the teacher perspective can provide important information about contextual influences that can be used to bridge the research to practice gap in school-based mental health practices. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ perceptions of current mental health needs in their schools; their knowledge, skills, training experiences and training needs; their roles for supporting children’s mental health; and barriers to supporting mental health needs in their school settings. Participants included 292 teachers from 5 school districts. Teachers reported viewing school psychologists as having a primary role in most aspects of mental health service delivery in the school including conducting screening and behavioral assessments, monitoring student progress, and referring children to school-based or community services. Teachers perceived themselves as having primary responsibility for implementing classroom-based behavioral interventions but believed school psychologists had a greater role in teaching social emotional lessons. Teachers also reported a global lack of experience and training for supporting children’s mental health needs. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Beyond Constant Comparison Qualitative Data Analysis: Using NVivo.

Abstract: The purposes of this paper are to outline seven types of qualitative data analysis techniques, to present step-by-step guidance for conducting these analyses via a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software program (i.e., NVivo9), and to present screenshots of the data analysis process. Specifically, the following seven analyses are presented: constant comparison analysis, classical content analysis, keyword-in-context, word count, domain analysis, taxonomic analysis, and componential analysis. It is our hope that providing a clear step-by-step process for conducting these analyses with NVivo9 will assist school psychology researchers in increasing the rigor of their qualitative data analysis procedures.

Comparability of the social skills rating system to the social skills improvement system :content and psychometric comparisons across elementary and secondary age levels

Abstract: University of WashingtonThis study compared the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990)with the revision of the SSRS, now called the Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales (SSIS-RS; Gresham & Elliott, 2008), across three raters (teacher, parent,and student) for elementary- and secondary-aged students. A detailed comparison ofthese two instruments’ comparability has not been previously reported and was con-sidered important because of the frequent use of the SSRS in many externally fundedresearch studies and school districts across the country. Comparisons between the twoinstruments focused on key reliability and validity estimates across the rating scales forthree raters (teacher, parent, and student) using forms for elementary- and secondary-aged students. As hypothesized, the two instruments had high internal consistencyestimates and moderately high validity indices for total scores for both social skills andproblem behavior scales. The reliability comparisons revealed the SSIS-RS was supe-rior to the SSRS with regard to internal consistency estimates. The validity estimatesrevealed expected convergent relationships with the strongest relationships consistentlyfound among the various common subscales across all forms of the two instruments.The authors concluded that the SSIS-RS offers researchers and practitioners assessingsocial behavior of children and youth a broader conceptualization of key socialbehaviors and psychometrically superior assessment results when using the SSIS-RSover the SSRS. Future research on the SSIS-RS is also identied and contextualizedwithin a multitiered intervention system.Keywords:

Offsetting risks: High school gay-straight alliances and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth.

Abstract: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth are at risk for engaging in negative health behaviors and for experiencing at-school victimization. Specific benefits of attending a high school with a gay-straight alliance (GSA), including lower levels of suicidality, have been published; however, it is unclear whether GSAs are related to lower levels of problematic substance use, depressive symptoms, and psychological distress. Using a sample of 145 LGBT youth recruited from college and university organizations for LGBT students, we examined whether attending a high school with a GSA was related to more positive school experiences and mental health outcomes for LGBT youth. The results indicate that youth who attended a high school with a GSA report significantly more favorable outcomes related to school experiences, alcohol use, and psychological distress. The implications of the findings are discussed as they relate to school psychologists. Important limitations of this study are reviewed.

The Impact of the Incredible Years Parent, Child, and Teacher Training Programs on Children's Co-Occurring Internalizing Symptoms

Abstract: The Incredible Years (IY) Series includes separate group interventions to improve parenting interactions, teacher classroom management, and child social-emotional regulation. Although originally developed to treat early onset conduct problems, IY targets many of the proposed mechanisms and risk factors for internalizing distress in early childhood. Prior studies have demonstrated the effects of the IY parent intervention on co-occurring depressive symptoms. We attempted to extend these findings by examining the unique and combined effects of IY interventions on children's co-occurring internalizing symptoms. One-hundred and fifty-nine families with children ages 4- to 8-years-old were randomly assigned to parent training (PT); parent plus teacher training (PT + TT); child training (CT); child plus teacher training (CT + TT); parent, child, plus teacher training (PT + CT + TT); or a waiting list control group. Children who received any of the intervention components were more likely to have lower mother-rated internalizing symptoms at posttreatment compared to children in a wait-list control group. Implications for future research and for designing interventions and prevention strategies for children with internalizing symptoms are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Role of Classroom Quality in Ameliorating the Academic and Social Risks Associated with Difficult Temperament.

Abstract: The present study examines the moderating role first grade classroom quality may have on the rela tions between children’s difficult temperament (assessed in infancy) and their academic and social out comes in early elementary school (first grade). Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, 1032 children were rated by their mothers at 6 months of age on difficult temperament. The quality of first grade class room environments were then observed and rated along three domains: emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. Regression analyses examined the statistical interactions between difficult temperament and classroom quality domains on children’s academic and social out comes. Results indicate high-quality classroom environments may ameliorate the academic and social risks associated with having a difficult temperament.

Improving the Efficacy of First Grade Reading Screening: An Investigation of Word Identification Fluency with Other Early Literacy Indicators.

Abstract: This study investigated the accuracy of several early literacy measures that have been used in research and practice for first grade reading screening. A set of measures, Word Identification Fluency (WIF), Letter Naming Fluency, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency, and Nonsense Word Fluency, were administered as screening measures with 138 first grade students in the fall of the school year. Reading skills were assessed at the end of first grade using Oral Reading Fluency, the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (Sight Word Efficiency and Phonemic Decoding Efficiency), reading Maze, and a latent variable composite. Analyses compared the accuracy at which each screening measure, as well as combinations of screening measures, classified students according to successful or unsuccessful reading outcomes at the end of the year. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses indicated that when compared with other single screening measures, WIF tended to demonstrate the strongest overall classification accuracy. With levels of sensitivity held constant at .90, combining screening measures with WIF using predicted probabilities from logistic regression analyses resulted in modest improvements in accuracy by reducing the number of false positives. More measures were not always better, however, as models of two or three measures were as accurate as models consisting of all measures. Overall results provided support for WIF as a starting point for first grade reading screening, whereby additional steps might be taken to reduce false positives.

Hierarchical Factor Structure of the Cognitive Assessment System: Variance Partitions from the Schmid-Leiman (1957) Procedure.

Abstract: Orthogonal higher-order factor structure of the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS; Naglieri & Das, 1997a) for the 5–7 and 8 –17 age groups in the CAS standardization sample is reported. Following the same procedure as recent studies of other prominent intelligence tests (Dombrowski, Watkins, & Brogan, 2009; Canivez, 2008; Canivez & Watkins, 2010a, 2010b; Nelson & Canivez, 2011; Nelson, Canivez, Lindstrom, & Hatt, 2007; Watkins, 2006; Watkins, Wilson, Kotz, Carbone, & Babula, 2006), three- and four-factor CAS exploratory factor extractions were analyzed with the Schmid and Leiman (1957) procedure using MacOrtho (Watkins, 2004) to assess the hierarchical factor structure by sequentially partitioning variance to the second- and first- order dimensions as recommended by Carroll (1993, 1995). Results showed that greater portions of total and common variance were accounted for by the second-order, global factor, but compared to other tests of intelligence CAS subtests measured less secondorder variance and greater first-order Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) factor variance.

Discriminant Validity of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function Parent Form for Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Abstract: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, with concomitant executive function deficits often being the focus of empirical and clinical investigation. This study explored the validity of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function Parent Form (BRIEF; Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000) for children with ADHD and a matched control sample. Fifty-eight children with ADHD (69% with comorbidity) and 58 matched controls were found to exhibit statistically (p .001) and clinically significant group differences on the BRIEF scales. Discriminant function analyses revealed that the Behavior Regulation and Metacognition Indexes accurately classified 82% of the sample (86% of controls and 79% of children with ADHD correctly identified). The Behavior Regulation Index was found to make the most significant contribution overall to the discriminant function, consistent with arguments that response inhibition is the primary deficit in ADHD. Implications and future research are discussed.

Early Number Skills: Examining the Effects of Class-Wide Interventions on Kindergarten Performance

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to use multilevel modeling to compare the effects of KPALS alone and combined with goal setting and reinforcement to a control condition on early numeracy performance of 96 kindergarteners. Demographic variables were examined as moderators. Results differed according to early numeracy measure, with both versions of KPALS outperforming the control group for number identification, while KPALS plus goal setting and reinforcement improved performance on missing number and the TEMA-3. Demographic variables, but not treatment, accounted for performance on a measure of quantity discrimination. Posttest differences were found for TEMA-3 and NI, but no differences persisted at 4 months follow-up.

An Investigation of Gender, Income, and Special Education Status Bias on Curriculum-Based Measurement Slope in Reading.

Abstract: University of MinnesotaThis study investigated slope bias on student background variables for bothCurriculum Based Measurement of Oral Reading (CBM-R) and Curriculum BasedMeasurement Maze Reading (Maze). Benchmark scores from 1,738 students inGrades 3 through 8 were used to examine potential slope bias in CBM-R and Maze.Latent growth modeling was used to both estimate growth rates and examine theextent to which demographic variables affected the estimated growth rates. Resultsindicate a signiÞcant CBM-R slope bias on special education status at Grade 3 andon gender at Grade 7. For Maze, slope bias on gender was associated with Mazeslope estimates at Grades 5 and 7. Slope bias on various demographic variables was notconsistent across CBM measures and grades. Results and implications are discussed.Keywords:

A Multiple Risk Factors Model of the Development of Aggression Among Early Adolescents From Urban Disadvantaged Neighborhoods

Abstract: This study empirically derived a multiple risk factors model of the development of aggression among middle school students in urban, low-income neighborhoods, using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). RESULTS indicated that aggression increased from sixth to eighth grade. Additionally, the influences of four risk domains (individual, family, community, and media) were tested individually and simultaneously, providing evidence that multiple risk variables at multiple levels influenced the development of aggression with varying degrees. While nearly all risk factors predicted variability in the initial level of aggression, few factors were adequate predictors of changes in aggression. Implications for future research and for evidence-based school interventions are discussed. Language: en