Aim: Educational practitioners are increasingly aware of trauma experiences in students as a factor in child disturbance and schooling problems. This discussion paper aims to clarify definitions of trauma and differentiate them from other adverse childhood experiences (ACE), describe trauma impact in terms of clinical outcomes (PTSD, emotional and…

Children living in poverty face numerous challenges that negatively affect their wellbeing and thus their ability to learn. The consequences of poverty that interfere with students' learning include inattentiveness, demotivation, and feelings of powerlessness, shame, and anger. To reach these children, with the goal of helping them become healthy,…

Professor Neil Humphrey's paper provides a timely, helpful, and compelling opportunity to reflect on the mental wellbeing of children and young people today, in terms of research, policy, and practice. It offers a means of 'taking stock' of what we do and do not know so far in understanding the intersection between education and mental health. In…

The prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity has tripled in the past three decades. This increase has been accompanied by a dramatic rise in obesity-related health complications among American youth. Thus, many obese youth are now experiencing illnesses that will threaten their life expectancy in the absence of significant weight loss.…

Historical amnesia besets the consensus that Britain faces an unprecedented "crisis of childhood", and of child well-being. Drawing on evidence about changing uses of instruments and measures of well-being over time, this article explores and critiques claims about historical change and trends over time that are central to the imagined…

In schools, the term "consultation" has multiple meanings. Often it is used to describe a quick, informal process of advice giving between teachers and/or school specialists. As a formal discipline, School-Based Consultation (SBC) is an indirect service delivery model that involves two or more parties working together to benefit students. Most…

This special series on intensive treatments for anxiety disorders in youth reminds us that these are challenging conditions and there is much more work to be done to address some of the limitations to and challenges of treating anxiety disorders in children using CBT. The treatments described in this series are intensive in their delivery and…

This article discusses the concepts of happiness, emotional well-being and mental health in the light of recent work on children's spirituality, to argue that such a consideration can help to avoid simplistic and individualistic views of each. Distinguishing between happiness as short-term gratification and as longer-term flourishing, the latter…

This special issue, Developing Social- Emotional and Behavioral Interventions with School Communities: Systematic and Collaborative Processes, reflects the current state of the science for improving schools to better educate children and adolescents and promote their behavioral health. The innovations described in this volume describe advancements…

This is an edited version of a recent interview with Annette Mendelsohn, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist at the Royal Free Hospital, London, UK. It aims to make available in published form Mendelsohn's thinking and approach in relation to her work with traumatised children in a hospital setting. Mendelsohn also discusses her work in a…

Watters questions the universality of mental illness and warns of the harms that accompany the exportation of Western typologies to non-Western cultures. He is particularly concerned that these effects will be exacerbated by the upcoming revisions of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" ("DSM-V").…

Responds to comments made by Holden and Blau (see record EJ751342) on the current authors' original article (see record EJ733585). The current authors suggest combining the complementary strengths of the community-based approaches identified by Holden and Blau (2006) and the evidence-based approaches discussed in their original article, rather…

Comments on three articles (see records EJ733583, EJ733584, and EJ733585) on the status of children's mental health services in the United States, which appeared in the September 2005 issue of the "American Psychologist." The current authors suggest that, although this series of articles provides important information, the articles fall…

Atkins, Graczyk, Frazier, and Abdul-Adil (2003) make the point that there have been three limitations of mental health services for children and families in low-income, urban settings: (a) accessibility; (b) effectiveness; and (c) sustainability. Their article focuses extensively on improving access and addressing issues of sustainability in…

The authors were asked to respond to the shortage of school psychologists from the perspective of the Division of School Psychology of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association (APA), and also chose to address the larger issue of the shortage and lack of accessibility of mental health services for children…