This article reports on the development and initial psychometric properties of the School Interference Questionnaire (SIQ), a questionnaire designed to assess both academic functional impairment related to mental health problems and the type and frequency of school refusal behavior. Participants were 110 youth ages 13 to 18 years (M = 15.41 years,…

Adolescence is a critical phase in which physical, psychological, and intellectual challenges occur. This study assesses the prevalence and correlates of depression and anxiety among a national sample of adolescents. A cross-sectional correlational design using depression, anxiety, and stress scale was used. Our data revealed that 49.1% and 78.2%…

A Multiple Intelligence and Expressive Therapies approach for counselling adolescents experiencing anxiety is proposed. Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health challenges experienced by adolescents. Research reveals the association between anxiety in teenage years and psychiatric disorders in later life. Data is presented on the…

Academic stress among adolescents can undermine academic achievement and harm mental health. Levels of academic stress vary considerably across countries and education systems, but little is known regarding the causes of this variation. In this paper, I develop a theoretical framework positing that stress will be lower in education systems that…

Background: The Social Emotional Distress Scale-Secondary (SEDS-S) is a short measure designed for comprehensive school-based mental health screening, particularly for using very brief self-reported measures of well-being and distress. Whereas prior studies have shown validity and reliability evidence for the English version, there is a lack of…

Over the last decade, smartphones have become commonplace. Today, 95 percent of American teenagers have a supercomputer in their pocket. Jonathan Haidt, Jean Twenge, and others have brought necessary attention to the likelihood that smartphones and social media are partly to blame for the teenage mental health epidemic gripping the nation. It's…

Purpose: Internalizing conditions, such as anxiety and depression, and difficulties with developing and maintaining friendships are common among autistic children and adolescents. Participation in extracurricular activities may buffer against these challenges as they provide naturalistic opportunities to bring peers with shared interests and…

The present study examined the associations between networks of social relationships and psychological well-being among mothers of adolescents and adults with autism (n = 352) over a 12-year period of time. A structural equation modeling approach was used to delineate the relative impacts of network size and relationship diversity on maternal…

Purpose: Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is the process of engaging in negatively valenced and habitual thought patterns. RNT is strongly associated with mental health conditions and often affects quality of life. This study explored RNT in older school-age children and adolescents who stutter to quantify the relationship between RNT and…

Rising levels of generalized anxiety among LGBTQ+ youth during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic suggest a need for understanding effective interventions for reducing anxiety, as well as factors influencing youth's risk perceptions and trust pertaining to mental health-focused programming. The current survey-based study captures generalized anxiety,…

Although studies have documented stressors LGBTQ + persons experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, this phenomenological analysis investigates their experience within a minority stress framework, documenting how LGBTQ + youth described their experience in the pandemic, how they coped, and how their mental health was impacted. Researchers used…

School belonging, sometimes referred to as school belonging or school connectedness, involves dimensions like positive affect towards school, relationships with teachers, and feeling socially valued. Previous research points to immediate benefits for students' mental health and wellbeing; however, evidence on the potential long-term benefits of…

BACKGROUND: Lockdown drills are mandated within many educational settings in the US; they may contribute to adverse mental health and there is little to suggest their effectiveness. We describe factors associated with post-drill anxiety and perceived effectiveness of drills. METHODS: We surveyed youth-caregiver dyads presenting to the pediatric…

Children's ego-resilience (within-person capacities that facilitate psychological resistance) and irritability (increased proneness to experience negative affective states following environmental stressors) are critical determinants of their mental health. Here, we investigated how ego-resilience engages with irritability when linked to symptoms…

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many facets of outdoor adventure and experiential education (OAEE) programs. Using past literature, four variables represent important student outcome variables associated with OAEE programs. Purpose: This study examined the effects of participation in an OAEE program on levels of anxiety, depression,…