The Impact of Distress, Personal Meaning & Training on the Delivery of Support to Grieving Students by School Nurses.

Supporting grieving students is part of a school nurse's role which can provide meaning or special purpose in their career. This was verified by an online survey completed by 648 school nurse members of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN). A majority of respondents felt personal distress as a result of their work with grieving students which was predicted by a lack of access to work/community resources available and a lower level of educational background of the school nurse. Training to support grieving students and a higher level of educational background of the school nurse, however, appeared to predict a greater level of personal meaning found in school nurses' support of grieving students. Level of support by school leadership provided to school nurses in their support of grieving students was also found to be related to both the personal distress experienced and the personal meaning derived by school nurses.

Introduction to the special issue: Social network analysis and its application to schools.

Social network analysis (SNA) consists of a set of theories and methods that considers the direct and relationships in a clearly defined context. Although SNA research has witnessed rapid growth in the social sciences, school psychology has not kept pace. The lack of SNA studies in school psychology journals is interesting given that many topics of interest in the field both influence-and are influenced by-the social context. This special issue showcases how an array of SNA theories and methods can be used to determine the antecedents of relationships and the effects of these relationships on important outcomes. Each article was selected to highlight how SNA can shed unique insights on how social interactions can influence school aggression, friendships, language skills development, same- and cross-ethnic relationships and school belonging, and others. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Social network analysis and its applications to school psychology: A tutorial.

Social network analysis (SNA) consists of a broad set of frameworks and methods to assess how direct and indirect relationships influence individual functioning. Although interest in SNA has steadily increased in the psychological sciences, school psychology has not kept pace. This article provides a general overview of core SNA concepts, including how network data is typically collected in schools. Following this overview, we provide some caveats to considerations for school psychology researchers interested in collecting network data. Finally, we highlight the potential value of SNA to school psychologists by describing the networks of older adolescents as it pertains to aggression and the bystander effect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Academic journals can and should contribute to the future of school psychology.

In this Perspective, Rich Gilman and Robin Codding (the current and outgoing editors of School Psychology) respond to Conoley, Power, and Gutkin's views of the role of academic journals to advance professional paradigm shifts. Based on both historical trends and current readership data, the authors provide several reasons that academic journals have and will continue to be a primary forum for discourse on how school psychology should evolve as a discipline. Nonetheless, academic journals have inherent limitations that hinder this discourse. The paper concludes with several recommendations that could enhance the contributions of academic journals to these discussions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

School Psychology Quarterly: Onward and upward.

The title of this editorial reflects the journal's pledge to adhere to the principles and mission of School Psychology Quarterly (the "onward" portion of the title). At the same time, the journal strives to move "upward," as maintaining the status quo is not in the journal's best interest. Changes to the design and structure of the journal (beginning with this issue) are but two of the most visible to enhance its visual "curb appeal" and to expand the scope of papers that would interest a wide group of readers-many of whom may not be aware of the overlap between their research and papers published in the journal. The journal has also added new sections, which are designed to appeal to authors who wish to contribute in other, equally meaningful ways. These new sections are outlined in the editorial. (PsycINFO Database Record

Adolescent controversial status brokers: A double-edged sword.

Using a 3-wave longitudinal, multidimensional approach, this study investigated the influence of social network position and social status on the psychosocial outcomes of 440 youth (45.1% girls; Mage = 16.1 years; 90.9% Caucasian) over 26 months, focusing on the controversial status classification (i.e., youth who are highly liked and disliked by their peers). Brokerage (i.e., the degree to which a person has relationships with peers who do not have a direct relationship with each other) was examined in conjunction with sociometric status to explain potential heterogeneity of outcomes for controversial status youth. Adolescents completed peer nominations and self-reports of adjustment. Results demonstrated that brokerage was related to poorer psychosocial outcomes for controversial compared to average status youth. Brokerage appears to add predictive value to youths' adjustment beyond traditional sociometric classifications, especially for controversial status youth. (PsycINFO Database Record

Validation of the ostracism experience scale for adolescents.

This study validates a new self-report measure, the Ostracism Experience Scale for Adolescents (OES-A). Nineteen items were tested on a sample of 876 high school seniors to assess 2 of the most common ostracism experiences: being actively excluded from the peer group and being largely ignored by others. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, bivariate correlations, and hierarchical regression provided support for the construct validity of the measure. The findings provided psychometric support for the OES-A, which could be used in research into the nature and correlates of social ostracism among older adolescents when a brief self-report measure is needed. Further, the OES-A may help determine how social ostracism subtypes differentially predict health-compromising behaviors later in development, as well as factors that protect against the most pernicious effects of ostracism.

Classifying adolescent perfectionists.

A large school-based sample of 9th-grade adolescents (N = 875) completed the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R; Slaney, Mobley, Trippi, Ashby, & Johnson, 1996). Decision rules and cut-scores were developed and replicated that classify adolescents as one of two kinds of perfectionists (adaptive or maladaptive) or as nonperfectionists. A four-cluster solution further differentiating nonperfectionists was also evaluated. Criterion-related validity of the cluster solutions was supported by perfectionist and nonperfectionist group differences on select subscales of the Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS; Huebner, 1994) and the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition: Self-Report-Adolescent (BASC-2: SRP-A; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004). Adaptive and maladaptive perfectionists were supported in both cluster solutions and validity analyses. In addition to the two types of perfectionists, the four-cluster solution differentiated two types of nonperfectionists from one that seemed similar to maladaptive perfectionists in terms of BASC-2: SRP-A scores. Although the four-cluster solution may have potential value, the three-cluster solution was recommended as more parsimonious for studies attempting to differentiate perfectionists. The findings and straightforward decision rules were generally consistent in principle with other studies attempting to classify perfectionists, although the final APS-R cut-scores differed from those of other studies of adults. The results provided additional descriptive inferences for perfectionistic and nonperfectionistic adolescents. Among other issues, the findings raised the question of whether the label of maladaptive for a subgroup of perfectionists was too broad given that the criterion-related validity scores revealed that the group's problems in adjustment were conspicuous only in the areas of anxiety and social stress.

Electronic and school-based victimization: unique contexts for adjustment difficulties during adolescence.

Previous research suggests that school-based and electronic victimization have similar negative consequences, yet it is unclear whether these two contexts offer overlapping or unique associations with adolescents' adjustment. 802 ninth-graders (43% male, mean age = 15.84 years), majority being Caucasian (82%), completed measures assessing the prevalence of school and electronic victimization, as well as self-reports on self-esteem, self-efficacy, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and locus of control. Results revealed that the majority of adolescents did not report being victimized in either the electronic (75.3%) or the school (72.9%) context. Victimization in both contexts was associated with lower self-esteem and self-efficacy as well as higher stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and locus of control. Importantly, even after controlling for school-based victimization, electronic victimization remained as a significant predictor for all outcome measures. Different types of electronic victimization were also associated with different psychological outcomes. The findings suggest that it is important to distinguish between victimization contexts and specific adjustment outcomes as school and health officials continue to battle the effects of peer victimization.

A school-based application of modified habit reversal for Tourette syndrome via a translator: a case study.

A school-based modified habit reversal intervention was utilized with an adolescent diagnosed with Tourette syndrome who recently immigrated from Mexico. Because the student possessed little proficiency of the English language, an interpreter was needed to help implement the procedure. The frequency of motor tics markedly decreased from baseline to intervention across classroom settings. Results of two follow-up phases revealed that motor tic levels remained below those observed in the baseline phase. Implications and limitations of these findings are noted.

Validation of the brief multidimensional students' life satisfaction scale among college students.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the psychometric properties of the BMSLSS among 522 college students. METHODS: Internal consistency reliability explored scale reliability, factor analysis explored construct validity, known-groups validity was assessed by use of items from the National College Youth Risk Behavior Survey and Harvard National Survey of Alcohol Use, and criterion-related validity was explored through analyses with the CDC's Health-Related Quality of Life Scale. RESULTS: Acceptable internal consistency reliability, construct, known-groups, and criterion-related validity were established. CONCLUSIONS: These findings offer preliminary support for the BMSLSS; it could serve as part of comprehensive evaluations of subjective QOL for program evaluation and/or policy purposes among college students.

Relationships between tattling, likeability, and social classification: a preliminary investigation of adolescents in residential care.

Little research has been published on tattling, even less on its social impact, and we found none directly investigating tattling by adolescents. This study assessed the extent to which tattling, as perceived by peers and caregivers of adolescents in a residential care program, was associated with various dimensions of social status and other behavioral correlates. Eighty-eight adolescent participants rated their housemates on likeability, perceived rates of tattling, and other behavioral descriptors. In addition, caretakers also rated each youth in terms of perceived tattling. On the basis of likeability ratings, participants were classified into one of five categories: popular, average, controversial, neglected, and rejected. Results showed a significant negative correlation between likeability and perceived tattling rates. In addition, youth classified as socially rejected were more likely to be perceived by both their peers and care providers as engaging in high rates of tattling.