Teachers, as referral agents, and nonprofessional child aides, as interventionists, rated 709 children seen in a school-based mental health program. Better liked children and those seen initially as having less severe problems had healthier referral and termination profiles and were judged to have improved more in the program. (Author)

The study's three main criterion measures were: (1) estimates of children's predominant mood state; (2) judgments about a child's predominant within-session mode of expression; and (3) aides' ratings of session satisfaction. Both predominant mood and mode of expression differed for children with different initial referral problems. (Author)

The Primary Mental Health Project is described as an innovative school mental health program that uses nonprofessional child-aides as direct help-agents with young maladapting school children. (GW)