‘External conditions affecting a harmonious family’: Lessons learned from a school-based parent education programme in Hong Kong

This article documents a parent education presentation on ‘External conditions affecting a harmonious family’ within a school-based parent education programme in Hong Kong. The presentation adopted an eco-systems approach for understanding families and argued for the need to include the external conditions for a harmonious family as an important element for a school-based parent education programme. External conditions affecting a family included the impact of globalization on the family, such as: (1) Consumerism on parenting and conceptions of marriage; (2) neo-capitalism creating new issues of family-work balance; and (3) outsourcing of family functions. Parents’ feedback to these concepts is discussed, and a conceptual framework of a healthy family is proposed. Implications for school counselling professionals and family practitioners are also discussed.

Parental involvement and the academic achievement and social functioning of Cuban school children

The goal of the current study was to investigate whether parental involvement is an important predictor of student outcomes within the Cuban school system, where extensive support for pupils’ progress and adjustment are available from the peer group, community, and family. The participants were 188 children in Grades 2 and 3 from four localities in Cuba. School-based involvement was significantly higher among parents of children not at risk for behavioral problems than among parents of at-risk children. Parental involvement in Year 1 did not significantly predict changes in student academic competency or total difficulties between Year 1 and Year 2. These results suggest that school-based parental involvement may be of some importance in the adjustment of Cuban children. Any effects of parental involvement, however, were not strong enough to cause changes in ratings of student adjustment and achievement from Year 1 to Year 2.

Content analysis of School Psychology International, 1990–2011: An analysis of trends and compatibility with the NASP Practice Model

Formal analysis of research publications serves as one indicator of the current status of a profession or a journal. Content analyses provide both practitioners and academicians with information on the status of research in the profession. These types of analyses can also provide information on the concordance between published research and what professional organizations consider key areas of practice. The current study examined articles published in one journal, School Psychology International, for a 22-year period from 1990 through 2011 ( n = 671 articles). All articles were coded for demographics of the author, including country of origin and level of international content, and the content matching categories found in the NASP Model for Comprehensive and Integrated School Psychological Services. Results indicated that the journal is very much international with authors coming from 57 countries. With regard to gender, a trend was noticed for increased participation by women. Finally, the analysis of content found a pattern that was not highly consistent with the categories identified by NASP. Factors contributing to the lack of consistency between research and areas of practice are discussed.

A cognitive behavioural group approach for adolescents with disruptive behaviour in schools

Cognitive behavioural approaches emphasize the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviour ( Greig, 2007 ). Previous research has indicated that these approaches are efficacious in reducing disruptive behaviour in adolescents. The aim of the current study was to provide further evaluation of cognitive behavioural group work to reduce disruptive behaviour with this population and to determine if improvements made were maintained in the longer term. The sample comprised 22 adolescents aged 13- to 14-years-old identified by school staff as displaying disruptive behaviour ( Cameron, 1998 ). A curriculum based on Squires (2001) , using key cognitive behavioural approaches, was delivered over a seven-week period to the participants. Participant, parent, and teacher ratings on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) immediately after the intervention all indicated significant reductions in disruptive behaviour. Other positive effects included enhanced ratings of self-concept on the Beck Youth Inventories, 2nd Edition and trait emotional intelligence on the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire–Adolescent Short Form (TEIQue-ASF). Improvements in behaviour and self-concept were maintained at six-month follow-up according to participant and teacher ratings. However, parent ratings of behaviour had returned to pre-intervention levels. Further research, with different age groups and demographic populations along with concurrent parent programmes is recommended.