The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of mental health services from the perspectives of adolescents with no prior service experience. Thirty students in the Transition Year (fourth year) of secondary school participated in this study: 22 females and 8 males, aged 15 to 16. There was equal distribution across rural and urban settings.…

Abstract Schools and centres for education are increasingly positioned as playing a vital role in the promotion of young people's mental health and well-being. Drawing on the example of Ireland's reformed Junior Cycle curriculum (ages 12-15), we ask if the curriculum is the best means of nurturing positive mental health and well-being in schools.

Many concerns exist about potential long-term psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people. While the school has been identified as having a vital role in psychological recovery post-disaster more generally, it is unclear as yet how young people have adapted to the return to in-person education. This paper reports on the…

This article briefly examines Guidance Counselling in the Irish context. An analysis of the current decision-making climate and context suggests that there is a need to develop responsible decision-making skills in students, as reflected in the new Junior Cycle Key Skills. A meaning-centred, whole-school approach to develop responsible…

The coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt education in unprecedented ways. The first school closures in Ireland took place in March 2020, affecting many students, but especially those who were preparing for their end-of-school Leaving Certificate (LC) examinations. The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which COVID-19 had impacted…

In 2017, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in the Republic of Ireland introduced a universal social and emotional learning (SEL) intervention in the form of the NCCA wellbeing guidelines. These guidelines are aimed at facilitating the promotion of student wellbeing during the first three years of post-primary education.…

Wellbeing is central to the new Junior Cycle (lower secondary education) in Ireland as a principle and curricular area. This paper argues that while it should never be the case that the rights of parents or their children regarding Religious Education are compromised, Religious Education can make a real and positive contribution to wellbeing in…

Enhancing the well-being of primary and post-primary students is one of the priorities of the Department of Education and Skills in Ireland. Whilst interventions are being implemented across the board, little is known about the current levels of adolescents' well-being. Drawing from research on positive education, in the current study well-being…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical perspective on the international evidence on promoting young people's social and emotional well-being in schools. The challenges of integrating evidence-based interventions within schools are discussed and the need for innovative approaches to research and practice are considered in order…

Schools are a key setting for mental health promotion and the provision of emotional support to students. As teachers and school counsellors are adults with whom adolescents have regular contact, it is likely they would be used as a help source by distressed students however there are few studies on this from an Irish context. A mixed methods…

This study assessed mental health literacy in Irish adolescents (N = 187), and explored participants' help-giving responses toward hypothetical depressed peers. Participants read five vignettes, each describing an adolescent experiencing a life difficulty; two of the characters met "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"…

This article explores how school-based counselling might impact young people's capacity to study and learn. Previous research has indicated that counselling in schools has an indirect positive impact on academic achievement. A mixed methods approach, using a semi-structured qualitative interview and a brief rating scale, was employed with 21 young…

Numerous existing measures assess attitudes toward suicide yet fail to account for contextual factors. The Trinity Inventory of Precursors to Suicide (TIPS) is presented as an alternative, with implications for the development of prevention programs. Having previously reported exploratory analysis of the TIPS; confirmatory factor analysis and…