National surveys suggest that three out of ten children experience moderate to severe school adjustment problems. Failure to profit from the school experience restricts children's achievement in later life and places them at risk for personally devastating and socially costly outcomes. Unfortunately, the existing mental health system lacks the resources to deal with this major human and social problem. This book describes the evolution and daily operation of the Primary Mental Health Project, an innovative school-based programme that provides a practical alternative to traditional after-the-fact intervention. This award-winning programme's longevity (it has been in operation for almost 40 years) and its continuing expansion (it now operates in over 700 school districts worldwide) are evidence of its success.

Fueled by demands for reform of social and educational programs and pressured for solutions to increasing social problems among youths, social policy experts have turned to the promising effectiveness of school-based prevention programs. School-Based Prevention Programs for Children and Adolescents reviews and evaluates the design and impact of such programs, pointing out in particular those exemplary prevention efforts that have worked and thus advance knowledge in the prevention field. In addition to tracing the development of basic theories and practice, the author discusses the factors that assist or hinder program implementation and offers specific examples to illustrate how effective programs can be modified to work. He also focuses on understanding the school as an integral social and organizational structure and its special role in prevention programs. This volume covers a broad range of prevention programs - including prevention of behavioral, social, and academic problems as well as education in substance abuse and health - and looks to model school-based prevention programs as a step toward future prevention efforts.

"The authors conducted a prevention program called Fast Track, consisting of multicomponent, home-school prevention activities carried out with at-risk children from first to 10th grades over a 10-year period, to prevent serious antisocial behavior and youth violence and achieve positive social, emotional, and academic outcomes. They describe the research that informed the design of the program as part of their Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, how the study was implemented, and outcomes up to 20 years later. They discuss the context for youth violence prevention in the US; the developmental and intervention research that informed the design of the program; the study design and the children and families who participated in it; interventions and impacts in elementary, middle, and high school years; early adult outcomes of the program; implications for developmental theory and research on the prevention of violence; and how communities can address the problem of future violence by focusing on high-risk young children."--Provided by publisher.

The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality Series Editors: Donald H. Saklofske and Moshe Zeidner Handbook for School-Based Mental Health Promotion An Evidence-Informed Framework for Implementation Alan W. Leschied, Donald H. Saklofske, and Gordon L. Flett, Editors This handbook provides a comprehensive overview to implementing effective evidence-based mental health promotion in schools. It addresses issues surrounding the increasing demands on school psychologists and educational and mental health professionals to support and provide improved student well-being, learning, and academic outcomes. The volume explores factors outside the traditional framework of learning that are important in maximizing educational outcomes as well as how students learn to cope with emotional challenges that confront them both during their school years and across the lifespan. Chapters offer robust examples of successful programs and interventions, addressing a range of student issues, including depression, self-harm, social anxiety, high-achiever anxiety, and hidden distress. In addition, chapters explore ways in which mental health and education professionals can implement evidence-informed programs, from the testing and experimental stages to actual use within schools and classrooms. Topics featured in this handbook include: · A Canadian perspective to mental health literacy and teacher preparation. · The relevance of emotional intelligence in the effectiveness of delivering school-based mental health programs. · Intervention programs for reducing self-stigma in children and adolescents. · School-based suicide prevention and intervention. · Mindfulness-based programs in school settings. · Implementing emotional intelligence programs in Australian schools. The Handbook for School-Based Mental Health Promotion is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians and related professionals, and policymakers as well as graduate students across such interrelated disciplines as child and school psychology, social work, education policy and politics, special and general education, public health, school nursing, occupational therapy, psychiatry, school counseling, and family studies.

Bullying has long been tolerated as a rite of passage among children and adolescents. There is an implication that individuals who are bullied must have "asked for" this type of treatment, or deserved it. Sometimes, even the child who is bullied begins to internalize this idea. For many years, there has been a general acceptance and collective shrug when it comes to a child or adolescent with greater social capital or power pushing around a child perceived as subordinate. But bullying is not developmentally appropriate; it should not be considered a normal part of the typical social grouping that occurs throughout a child's life. Although bullying behavior endures through generations, the milieu is changing. Historically, bulling has occurred at school, the physical setting in which most of childhood is centered and the primary source for peer group formation. In recent years, however, the physical setting is not the only place bullying is occurring. Technology allows for an entirely new type of digital electronic aggression, cyberbullying, which takes place through chat rooms, instant messaging, social media, and other forms of digital electronic communication. Composition of peer groups, shifting demographics, changing societal norms, and modern technology are contextual factors that must be considered to understand and effectively react to bullying in the United States. Youth are embedded in multiple contexts and each of these contexts interacts with individual characteristics of youth in ways that either exacerbate or attenuate the association between these individual characteristics and bullying perpetration or victimization. Recognizing that bullying behavior is a major public health problem that demands the concerted and coordinated time and attention of parents, educators and school administrators, health care providers, policy makers, families, and others concerned with the care of children, this report evaluates the state of the science on biological and psychosocial consequences of peer victimization and the risk and protective factors that either increase or decrease peer victimization behavior and consequences.

This comprehensive resource--now revised and expanded--provides school practitioners with an evidence-based framework for preventing and effectively responding to youth suicidal behavior. David N. Miller guides readers to understand, screen, and assess for suicide risk in students in grades K–12. He presents collaborative strategies for intervening appropriately within a multi-tiered system of support. The book also shows how to develop a coordinated plan for postvention in the aftermath of a suicide, offering specific dos and don'ts for supporting students, parents, and school personnel. User-friendly tools include reproducible handouts; the book's large-size format facilitates photocopying. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials. New to This Edition *Chapter on the roles and responsibilities of the school-based suicide prevention team. *Significantly revised coverage of screening and suicide risk assessment. *Situates prevention and intervention within a schoolwide multi-tiered system of support. *Updated throughout with current data, practical recommendations, and resources.

Sexual abuse, a topic still struggling to break free of its social taboos, is an issue that must be addressed, assessed, and discussed in order to further efforts for prevention and treatment. Social, Psychological, and Forensic Perspectives on Sexual Abuse is an important resource that comprehensively examines the prevalence, assessment, causes, and impacts of sexual violence from cultural, legal, psychosocial, theoretical, and medical viewpoints. Discussing difficult but relevant issues including forensic assessment, legal ramifications, mental health, risk assessment, and effects on family life, this book is geared towards researchers, mental health professionals, clinicians, and special educators seeking current research on prevention, assessment, and rehabilitation in sexual abuse.