The effective management of chronic asthma requires long-term adherence to both pharmacotherapy and optimal self-management practices. The use of mobile applications (apps) offer a promising and cost-effective platform to support the self-management of asthma. However, students as consumers may not always be sufficiently knowledgeable to select the best app to link with the management of their condition. If school psychologists become familiar with apps, they may be better positioned to provide guidance to students about app selection and how to identify apps that include appropriate behaviour change techniques (BCT). Accordingly, the overall aim of this study was to present a method by which school psychologists could identify quality apps for the purpose of supporting students who need to self-manage chronic asthma. A directed content analysis was used to evaluate asthma apps, based on behaviour change content and app quality. A systematic selection process yielded a total of 36 apps (26 from iTunes, 12 from Google Play) that were evaluated using two published rating measures. Overall, apps contained limited BCTs and a low level of quality health information. Conversely, apps with higher quality health information utilised a larger range of BCTs than lower quality apps. It was concluded that while apps designed to support the management of asthma appear to be a potentially valuable addition to traditional interventions, the technology is still in its infancy, and school psychologists should be aware of the limited behaviour change content, age appropriateness of apps, and whether the health information provided is evidence-based.

A program to help girls avoid chronic partner abuse was piloted as an elective program in 10 Victorian secondary schools. The program was based on the Dyadic Slippery-Slope model of chronic partner abuse. It aimed to build participants' skills in recognising and responding assertively to early warning-sign behaviours by a partner. Five modules were delivered over one day: Choosing, Noticing, Responding, Ending and Bouncing Back. This paper reports on the results of a noncontrolled pretest to posttest evaluation, with a 3-month follow-up period. Seventy-five girls (M = 14.7 years) contributed preprogram and postprogram data. After the program, they demonstrated heightened awareness of the risks associated with warning-sign behaviours, increased self-confidence, decreased victim blaming, and more assertive intentions. Participants' assertiveness was related to their risk awareness, but only following the program. The program's focus on skill building is believed to have been crucial to its success. Although skills-based empowerment is a promising approach to preventing chronic partner abuse, more rigorous and extensive evaluation of this approach is needed.

The Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities has helped advance understanding regarding the relations between specific cognitive abilities and academic achievement in definite domains. However, questions over the generalisability of this research, as well the moderating effect age has on the strength of cognitive-achievement relations, means that further research is needed. This study therefore investigated the capacity for using the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery — II (MAB-II), a group-administered test of cognitive ability, to further CHC-driven research in Australia. After adapting the MAB-II verbal subtests to be suitable for use with an Australian sample, 179 adults completed the measure. Results were analaysed using both classical test and item response theory. Findings indicated that despite the MAB-II not being developed using CHC theory, the structure of the test appeared to conform to this model. Further, while an adequate number of subtests hypothesised to measure the CHC domains of Comprehension-knowledge (Gc) and Visual processing (Gv) were found to perform well psychometrically, the Arithmetic, Picture Arrangement, and Digit Symbol subtests returned questionable results. Given the advantages a group-administered test of CHC cognitive abilities would provide to CHC-driven research in Australia, suggestions for future modifications and adaptations of the test are provided.

The relationship between vividness of visual movement imagery and performance on tests of kinaesthetic sensitivity was examined in high school students by comparing performance on three tests of kinaesthesis by high and low imagery students, selected using the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire. High imagers performed significantly better than low imagers when relying on kinaesthetic information. Level of movement imagery predicted performance on a motor task (a manual placement task) when the task was performed in the absence of visual cues (blindfolded). These results reflect the reliance on visual information when performing motor tasks and indicate that, in the absence of visual cues, such information is created from kinaesthetic input via visual imagery. This has important implications for our understanding of the development of kinaesthesis and motor control and may contribute to the development of remedial programmes for children with poor motor ability.

Several studies are reviewed which evaluate the efficacy of training social problem-solving. Most of these studies reported assessing whether transfer of training took place following training. The means by which these assessments were made are examined and conclusions drawn concerning their validity. Attention is also drawn to the findings reported from several recent studies that question the efficacy of the step-by-step process model of training and propose an alternative model based on content analysis. Finally, the role of verbal cues in training social problem-solving is examined and a call made for the empirical analysis of competent behaviour in natural settings prior to training.

There is a pressing need for the development of effective early family intervention programs for children showing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) behaviours with Conduct Disorder (CD) or Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) behaviours. Previous research has indicated that children with ADHD are at high risk of developing comorbid CD or ODD behaviours. In addition, it has been shown that ODD or CD behaviours in childhood tend to persist and to have adverse effects on later social adjustment. However, ODD or CD behaviours are not necessary concomitants of ADHD, and it has been demonstrated that behavioural intervention can have both short- and long-term beneficial effects for children showing early signs of ODD or CD behaviours. In the short term, behavioural family interventions may be able to reduce oppositional behaviour, particularly in the preschool years. In the long term, early intervention has been shown to reduce the incidence of later antisocial behaviour in children at risk for this developmental trajectory. In this paper, it will be argued that behavioural family interventions have not been effectively utilised or promulgated in the community for children with ADHD despite the demonstrated efficacy of these types of interventons. A model of a multilevel system of intervention that can be tailored to the individual family's needs is presented.

Conducting classroom-based educational research trials is important for establishing the efficacy and effectiveness of specific instructional interventions. Such endeavours, however, are challenging to implement. This was made evident during a recent independent evaluation of the efficacy of the MiniLit program, wherein various difficulties emerged relating to the dosage and fidelity of instruction, and the measures and analyses employed by the research team. As such, this served as an object lesson in what can, and frequently does, go wrong in even the best planned intervention research enterprises conducted in schools. The present article is intended to capture the authors’ experiences in implementing research trials in school contexts, with specific examples drawn from the independent evaluation of MiniLit. In particular, this study has reinforced the need to select assessment measures carefully, according to how well they represent targeted skills in the specific population of interest. In addition, it has highlighted the importance of planning program efficacy trials such that participants can receive enough exposure of the intervention to progress to a realistic extent.

While children both understand the concept of, and have died by, suicide, little research has been conducted on children's experiences of healthcare systems during and after a suicidal crisis. This article focuses on three case studies of mothers with suicidal daughters and aims to describe the health service experiences of parents whose children have attempted suicide. The case studies were selected as exemplars of three different healthcare experiences of mothers with suicidal daughters younger than 16 years of age. Interviews were conducted with the mothers, focusing on their experiences when trying to find care for their daughters after a suicide attempt. A ‘dirty text’ analysis was undertaken on the transcripts, which aimed to find potential redemption within stories of trauma. Narratives were analysed to see how their stories were told, but also how experiences could be shared or be dissimilar. Significant gaps currently exist in the care and support provided to suicidal children, particularly in the critical post-discharge phase. Adults were not always able to recognise when a child was suicidal, or sometimes take that suicidality seriously. Support must often be proactively sought, and even organisations that are meant to target children and adolescents may not always provide appropriate care.

This study examined academic stress in female Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) students in terms of somatic symptoms and mood disturbance before, during, and after the midyear examination period and also examined the role of self-efficacy, number of social supports, social support satisfaction, and health behaviours in mediating the effects of stress on symptoms and mood disturbance. It was hypothesised that (a) student would report increased somatic symptoms and mood disturbance during the examination period and that (b) self-efficacy, social support (number and satisfaction), and health behaviours would account for a significant proportion of variance for somatic symptoms and mood disturbance before, during, and after the exam period. The participants were 51 VCE students from a large Catholic girls’secondary college in Melbourne. Four weeks before the exam period, the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, Reported Health Behaviours Checklist, Short Form Social Support Questionnaire, Symptoms Checklist, and Profile of Mood States were administered.The Symptoms Checklist and Profile of Mood States were administered again during the exam week and four weeks after the exam period. Statistical analyses showed that the VCE examination period was associated with significantly increased self-reports of somatic symptoms and mood disturbances that were strongly indicative of high levels of stress. Self-efficacy was found to have a weak role in mediating the stress response during the exam week. Social support did not account for any of the variation in academic stress. Health behaviours accounted for a small but significant proportion of the variance in stress after the exam period. It was concluded that there is a need to study other factors that may attenuate the academic stress response in adolescent secondary school students. The perceptual and cognitive appraisal of academic stressors is suggested as an area that may be worthy of examination.The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the impact that academic stress may have on adolescents’ health during this critical period of development.

From 20 primary schools in Hong Kong, a sample of 59 boys and 62 girls in 4th grade and 98 boys and 99 girls in 5th grade (N = 318) responded to a survey about their learning-to-learn capabilities including (a) reading to learn, (b) self-management, (c) desire for knowledge, and (d) originality of ideas, and two facilitating factors for enabling such capabilities, including (e) academic self-concept, and (f) effort goal orientation. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the validity of the six psychological constructs. Analysis of variance found that although boys and girls did not differ in academic self-concept, desire for knowledge and originality, girls scored higher in effort goal orientation, reading to learn, and self-management. There was a gender x grade interaction effect in reading to learn, indicating that 5th grade girls were more willing than 4th grade girls to acquire knowledge through reading whereas 5th grade boys were less willing than 4th grade boys to do so. Advocates of education reform need to consider gender differences when formulating policies to promote students’ learning-to-learn capabilities and particularly to encourage boys to read.

This study utilised a mixed-methods approach to examine change for 27 self-selected female adolescents (aged 14-15) who received 11 sessions of coping skills education (Frydenberg & Brandon, 2002a; 2002b) at school in a small-group counselling context by a trainee psychologist. All sessions were tape-recorded and transcribed. Participants reported improvements in self-knowledge, knowledge of options for coping, attitude towards solving problems, differentiating threatening from non-threatening stressors and self-belief. Analysis of pre- and post-teacher questionnaires indicated that class misbehaviour for these students significantly reduced and academic engagement significantly increased. Analysis of students’ pre- and post-questionnaires for their main concern indicated significant reductions in Non-Productive coping. Participants were more likely to use coping strategies that they perceived to be helpful after taking part in this program. When it came to coping in general, students reported significant reductions in their use of Non-Productive coping and increases in both Productive and Reference to Others coping styles.

Haskell's public evaluation of the Victorian Education Department's Counselling, Guidance and Clinical Services branch (CGCS) was an unqualified indictment of the agency responsible for the social, emotional, and educational needs of students. He argued that CGCS's diagnostic services were largely irrelevant to the needs of students, parents, and teachers, and that professional officers had built barriers between themselves and the teaching force. As a matter of policy Haskell recommended reducing the state's establishment of psychologists to about 15, giving more autonomy to teachers, encouraging direct communication with parents and expanding the number of remedial teachers. Such attacks seldom pass unnoticed. One week later the Director General, Dr Curry, published a complete rebuttal of Haskell's analysis (Curry, 1982). He assured the public that CGCS staff were highly skilled and dedicated to meeting the needs of students, teachers and parents; that CGCS built bridges not barriers between itself and teachers and that if anything, CGCS required more not less staff.

This study explores whether social sensitivity influences children’s problem solving skills or learning after collaboration with a peer. Most research into the impact of collaborative problem solving on individual skills demonstrates that the problem solving skills an individual brings to the collaborative process are a key factor in predicting the presencelabsence of cognitive change. Only recently have other attributes and/or skills, such as social or interpersonal sensitivity, been considered within this framework. This study investigates whether interpersonal sensitivity contributes to differential outcomes in learning after collaborative problem solving. One hundred 8-year-old children participated in a pre-test/collaboration/post-test design study where four groups based on pre-test problem solving ability (high/low) and pre-test social sensitivity scores (high/low) were constructed for the collaborative problem solving task. Low ability/high sensitivity children showed pre- to post-test improvement in their problem solving when paired with high ability children. Social sensitivity only predicted final problem solving in high sensitivity children. Pre-test and collaborative problem solving levels predicted post-test problem solving for children classified as high problem solving/high sensitivity. Results are discussed in relation to how social sensitivity may differentially affect the problem solving skills of children with different patterns of ability.

The aim of the present study was to determine the efficacy of a small-group reading instruction program that was delivered over two school terms to Australian students in Years 3 through 6. A large cohort (n = 239) of primary school children was assessed on their literacy skills before and after receiving ‘MacqLit’, a phonics-based program designed for older struggling readers. Parametric and nonparametric difference tests were used to compare results at pre- and postintervention time points. Statistically significant improvements with large effect sizes were observed on all raw score measures of word reading, nonword reading, passage reading and spelling. Statistically significant improvements were also observed on standard score measures of nonword reading and passage reading, suggesting the gains were greater than what might be expected to have resulted from typical classroom instruction. The results indicate that older middle primary school-aged students may benefit from phonics-based, small-group reading instruction.

This study identified selected perinatal and neonatal variables that place ELBW children at particularly high risk for cognitive delay. Forty children weighing less than 1000 grams (ELBW) at birth underwent developmentol assessment at 9 and 18 months on the Bayley II Mental Development lndex (MDI). Decline in MDI scores between these two ages was evident for infants under 26 weeks gestation at birth as well as for children categorised with an impairment (outcome categories I and II). At 9 months, MDI scores were significantly lower for children with chronic lung disease, for those who required formal developmental intervention, and for those hospitalised for respiratory problems. At 18 months, cognitive scores were significantly lower for children on four variables: gestational age less than 26 weeks; semi-skilled, unskilled, unemployed parents (levels 5 and 6); formal intervention; and admission to hospital for respiratory illness. Greater emphasis on intervention for these at-risk variables is recommended.

The effect of parental separation and divorce on the academic achievement of young primary school-aged children was examined using standardized instruments. Children from non-intact backgrounds were matched with an intact group of peers at both the early and middle years of primary school.

Analysis of results suggested that there were no significant differences in levels of achievement between the non-intact children and their intact peers either at the early or middle years of school across any of the variables measured. This finding is consistent with other studies using standardized measures of academic achievement.

One hundred and fifty-seven students (aged 15 to 19 years) enrolled in the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) program completed the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS), and measures of school-related stress, attitudes to school and wellbeing. In general, VCAL students reported a positive attitude to school, high levels of wellbeing, low levels of school-related stress, and used a wide range of coping strategies. Gender differences and attitudinal differences were found in relation to coping strategies used, wellbeing, and stress. Discriminant analysis indicated that for females, low levels of school-related stress and frequent use of the ‘work hard’coping strategy significantly predicted a positive attitude to school, while for males high levels of wellbeing, and the frequent use of ‘work hard’, ‘focus on the positive’, and minimal use of ‘tension reduction’ predicted positive attitudes to school. The findings are discussed in light of current research and recommendations for interventions are proposed.

In the predominantly sociometric approach used to investigate the social and personal experience of adolescents with ADHD, teachers, parents, peers, or observers rate their perception of the sociol relationships experienced by the adolescent with ADHD.The adolescent's subjective perspective of his or her situation has been largely ignored.The present study examined self-reported peer rejection, peer-related loneliness, coping “strength”, and interpersonal concerns experienced by 84 adolescents: 22 with ADHD Predominantly Inattentive Type (ADHD-PI), 19 with ADHD Predominantly Hyperactive Type (ADHD-PHI), and 43 nondisordered adolescents. The adolescents, from southwest Sydney, attended mainstream schools.Adolescents with ADHD-PI reported significantly less manageability and less concern about others' feelings and about relationships with others than did nondisordered adolescents.Adolescents with either ADHD-PI or ADHD-PHI reported significantly less global sense of coherence and significantly more peer-related loneliness than did nondisordered adolescents. No significant difference was reported between the adolescent groups on measures of comprehensibility, meaningfulness, and concern about being rejected and humiliated. These contrasting self-reported profiles of the social and personal experience of adolescents with ADHD and nondisordered adolescents have implications for researchers and practitioners.

This is a reflective paper grounded in practice. It addresses the nature of working alliances in education between colleagues from different cultural, professional and generational backgrounds. The authors are specifically concerned with discussing the significance of accessing peer/cultural support in education, in particular how one colleague mentored another and the way knowledge was exchanged during this process to increase awareness and understanding. This topic is considered in the context of supporting male Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students while they study and live away from home to complete their secondary school education at boarding school in Western Australia (WA).