This paper examines parents' perceptions of their child's school-related motivation and their enjoyment of parenting. Drawing on Martins (2003a) Student Motivation Wheel, 10 facets of motivation were explored among a sample of 481 parents. These facets comprised six motivation boosters (self-belief, value of schooling, learning/mastery focus, planning, study management, persistence), two motivation mufflers (anxiety, failure avoidance), and two motivation guzzlers (uncertain control, self-sabotage/self-handicapping). Parents rated girls significantly higher than boys in value of schooling, learning focus, planning, and study management. Of the boosters, children's persistence was the strongest predictor of respondents' enjoyment of parenting. Of the mufflers, failure avoidance was the strongest (negative) predictor of parenting satisfaction. In terms of guzzlers, uncertain control was the strongest (negative) predictor of respondents' enjoyment of parenting. Compared with mothers' enjoyment of parenting, fathers' satisfaction in their role was more strongly related to their children's school-related motivation.

This paper describes the influential role that positive statements made by teachers has on upper primary school students' mental health as measured by their self-perceptions and their satisfaction with their classroom environment. The notion forwarded is that positive statements, when delivered by teachers under specific conditions, have a positive impact on self-esteem, self-talk, self-concepts and classroom environment. The use of positive statements in the primary classroom has been questioned over the past 20 years and has been criticised by anti-behaviourists and motivationists. It is argued that the use of positive statements in the classroom context has not been appropriately considered within the realm of enhancing students' self-perceptions, developing positive teacher–student relationships and creating positive learning environments. This paper integrates the findings from a program of research undertaken by the author over the past decade.

Although the last 20years have seen a focus upon evidence-based therapies, there are arguments that much of the so-called “evidence” produced is, in fact, irrelevant to the mental health practitioner in the field, principally because of the use of large-scale group designs in clinical controlled studies of the effectiveness of one therapy over another. By contrast, and with particular relevance to the practitioner who is both scientist and therapist, single subject research designs and methodologies for data analysis can be applied in ways that allow for generalisation to everyday practice. To inform the readership, the rationale underlying n = 1 studies is described, with some explanation of the major designs and their application to typical cases in guidance and counselling. Issues of inferential deductions from data, variations of design, data analysis via visual and statistical procedures, and replication are discussed. Finally, a case is argued for the introduction of n = 1 reports within the Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling to better inform the readership about clinical research findings relevant to their practices.

The field of school mental health promotion could be considered to be a new field of research and practice; however, this is not the case. Theoretically it is firmly grounded in both health and education bodies of research that have coalesced to advance practice to meet current imperatives. In reviewing these foundations prevailing dilemmas and challenges become evident. These include the ideologies of stakeholders about mental health; decision-making about entry points around risk and protective factors, and/or social context; and ethical and methodological problems in research and evaluation.

Anxiety sensitivity, the fear of anxiety-related bodily sensations, is a recently ldentified construct, which has become part of the conceptualisation of anxiety. Evidence in the research literature suggests that adults who have a high level of anxiety sensitivity combined with a high level of the more traditionally recognised trait anxiety reported a significantly higher incidence of anxiety disorders. The aim of the present study was to determine whether a high level of both anxiety sensitivity and trait anxiety in children results in more anxiety symptoms and therefore may be a risk factor for developing anxiety disorders. Anxiety sensitivity, trait anxiety and anxiety symptoms were examined in a sample of 455 primary school children in Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 at schools in metropolitan, regional and country areas of Victoria, Australia. Results revealed that children who reported high anxiety sensitivity together with high trait anxiety experienced significantly more anxiety symptoms than other children. Significant gender and age differences were also found in relation to anxiety sensitivity, trait anxiety and anxiety symptoms. Anxiety disorders are debilitating and interfere with normal development. If children with a predisposition to developing anxiety disorders could be identified as those who report high anxiety sensitivity together with high trait anxiety then early intervention could prevent the onset of anxiety disorders in adolescence or adulthood.

This study is a report of an evaluation of the effectiveness of a school based coping skills program on a sample of 83 adolescents (14–17 years) recruited from a secondary school in metropolitan Melbourne. All participants completed the Adolescent Coping Scale (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993a) on three occasions: prior to program implementation, 1 week after program completion and 6 months after program completion. The results indicated a significant increase in the coping style, “reference to others”, with males increasing their use of this coping style more than females upon completion of the program. The findings are discussed in terms of the benefits increased use of seeking support from others has on male adolescents and of the importance of using programs as part of a comprehensive approach to health promotion within schools.

Identification processes for at-risk students in primary schools are pivotal for the implementation of appropriate and timely intervention strategies. With increasingly complex problems facing youth today, it is vital to have identification and referral processes that are effective and efficient. This paper describes an innovative multidisciplinary approach for identification and referral that can be implemented in primary schools.

There exists limited empirical evidence of the effectiveness of universal school-based interventions to reduce or prevent children's bullying. The Friendly Schools project was a 3-year longitudinal randomised control trial designed to determine the efficacy of a universal holistic intervention to prevent or reduce bullying among primary school children. The trial involved 1968 Western Australian children, their parents and their teachers. This paper discusses the components of the Friendly Schools program, and how empirical, theoretical and “promising” mechanisms of change (mediators) were operationalised to develop a whole-of-school approach to reduce bullying. This paper concludes that further research is needed to determine empirically: (a) which mechanisms of change mediate improvements in children's bullying behaviour and mental health status and (b) the relative contribution of the various components of a whole-of-school approach to bullying prevention and reduction in children.

The purpose of this article is to define and describe the issues relating to acculturation and acculturative stress. A proposed counselling approach for acculturative stress is presented and has been adapted from interventions for social phobia, which considers of the role of the crosscultural counsellor as well as models of cultural orientation and identity. Suggestions for counsellor preparation for dealing with culturally diverse clients are provided drawing upon resources and methods from the field of cultural anthropology. The intention of presenting these ideas and strategies will propose ways to assist minority groups, like international students, improve and maintain psychological wellbeing and quality of life. Finally, recommendations for further research in the areas of acculturation and acculturative stress are identified.

One hundred and five general medical practitioners (GPs) from the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales participated in a survey of their knowledge of, and attitudes towards, counsellors. Data indicated that GPs considered counsellors to be relevant mental health professionals to whom the great majority would refer patients. They also indicated that they would seek personal assistance from counsellors should the need arise, and would pay reasonable fees for such assistance. Counsellors were judged by GPs to be the preferred mental health professional (ahead of psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers) for nine out of 20 client presenting problems. However, these positive findings were balanced by a need stated by the GPs for counsellors to be tertiary trained and registered, with the most significant drawback of counselling being the lack of such training and expertise. Implications arise from these data for the formalisation of registration processes for counsellors.

This paper explores a whole school approach to the prevention and intervention for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychopathology in childhood and adolescence. In addition to having serious consequences for academic, social and family life, anxiety has also been shown to be a precursor to depression, substance abuse and eating disorders. School counsellors are well placed to identify students with anxiety disorders, instigate prevention programs and treat or refer anxious students. Prevention and early intervention for anxiety disorders needs to be coordinated and integrated into the regular curriculum as well as into the life of the classroom and the school. Barriers to schools working well in this area are identified and discussed.

The Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP), an 11-session depression prevention program, was provided to Year 9 students at a South West Sydney High School. Students were assessed using the Children's Depression Inventory and the Adolescent Coping Scale. These assessments were conducted prior to the start of the program, the end of the program, at 6 months, at 1 year and again at 2 years. Further, at the 2-year time point, students were asked to complete a questionnaire — Use and Usefulness of RAP Skills Evaluation Form (2 years on) — to help ascertain the “practical effectiveness” of RAP. The results provide some support for the efficacy of RAP as a depression prevention program with high-school students of approximately 15 years of age. A significant main effect was found for time on the CDI, with follow-up comparisons showing that pretreatment scores were significantly higher than scores at any of the other subsequent time points. There were no main effects or interactions for ethnicity or sex. For the measures of coping, no change was evidenced. This was a surprising result as one of the main objectives of RAP was to increase positive coping skills. The Use and Usefulness of Rap Skills Evaluation Form (2 years on) showed that most of the students found the program to be of some use; however, less than half stated they had utilised some of the skills taught in the program. More importantly, of the students who stated they had experienced difficult situations over the last 12 months, 23 (66%) said that they had used skills taught in RAP to help them; however, there was limited support regarding the helpfulness of these skills during the difficult situations. In spite of a number of methodological issues limiting the interpretations of the findings, the current long-term evaluation provides an important contribution to the small body of literature available on the effectiveness of RAP.

The aim of this research was to examine the effects of the implementation of direct one-on-one supervision in a prominent telephone counselling organisation and the support requirements of their telephone counsellors. Ninety-three telephone counsellors participated in this research. The results showed that more experienced telephone counsellors were more satisfied than less experienced telephone counsellors with the support offered by the organisation. Furthermore, female telephone counsellors showed significantly more satisfaction with the support offered by the organisation than their male counterparts. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the organisation and other helping organisations within the wider community.

This study investigated guidance officer and school counsellor perceptions of the effectiveness of expressive therapies as used in Australian schools. The question was posed as to whether the use of expressive therapies — also know as emotional release counselling (ERC) — can be effective in promoting positive emotional and behavioural outcomes for student clients. The literature and the results of this study point to the overall effectiveness of ERC, with significant increases noted in positive emotional and behavioural outcomes and in motivation to attend counselling. Improvements, after the implementation of ERC, were also apparent in the counsellor and client relationship.

School counsellors and psychologists will encounter students affected by addiction. When this occurs many will simply refer the students to specialist services within the community. Such referrals are not always an appropriate action for many reasons. School counsellors and psychologists have the professional characteristics required to create a therapeutic alliance and know the behavioural strategies needed for basic addiction treatment. It is suggested that school counsellors and psychologists add some basic knowledge, awareness, and skill relating to addiction to their professional development and, when possible, address the addiction problems of their students directly. Arguments regarding why school counsellors and psychologists should treat addiction problems are given. Moreover, how school counsellors and psychologists can briefly address addiction problems is outlined. Finally, resources on addiction are provided.

The number of students who are identified as experiencing behavioural difficulties in the mainstream school setting is growing. However, current efforts by teachers to address these behavioural difficulties are seriously limited because of lack of training in the procedures for assessing and working with difficult behaviour. This paper will argue that the apparent failure of traditional “behaviour modification” in producing positive changes in difficult behaviour lies in its prescriptive application of general strategies to specific student problems. This approach to behaviour change is ineffective because it is not based on an understanding of the reasons for difficult behaviour. The functional assessment framework for investigating and understanding student difficulties will be presented as a more efficient means of changing the behaviour problems that occur in the classroom. At the foundation of this framework is the assumption that meaningful and long-term changes to difficult behaviour can only result from teaching the student to behave differently rather than focusing on the elimination of problem behaviour.