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Epidemiological studies have suggested that there is an association between diet and mental health. The aim of the current study was to explore the association between dietary zinc intake and risk of depression, anxiety, and sleep quality distortion among female students of the Semnan University of Medical Sciences in a cross-sectional study. From January through October 2019, 142 female students were randomly selected from the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the Semnan University of Medical Sciences by simple random sampling. Food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) were used to assess participants' dietary intake over the past 12 months. Depression, anxiety, and sleep quality were examined by the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), respectively. In the analysis, the crude model was adjusted for total energy intake (kcal), while the model was adjusted for energy intake (kcal), age, economic status, physical activity level, serum vitamin D level, and body mass index. Dietary zinc intake is significantly associated with depression (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI)): 2.34 (0.38-4.30)) and anxiety (OR (95% CI): 3.43 (2.36-4.50)), sleep disorders (OR (95% CI): 3.65 (2.16-5.13)), sleep duration (OR (95% CI): 2.62 (0.39-4.86)), and daytime dysfunction (OR (95% CI): 5.31 (2.84-7.78)) in the model, as well as sleep delay (OR (95% CI): 1.80 (1.05-2.55)) and mental quality of sleep (OR (95% CI): 1.63 (1.10-2.15)) in the crude analysis. This cross-sectional study supports the inverse association between dietary zinc intake and mood disorders, including depression and anxiety, and some indices of sleep disturbance in the Iranian female students. Further cohort or intervention studies are required to draw a firm link between dietary zinc intake and mental health.

Objectives: This study measured bullying roles across an academic year and examined how change in bullying experiences is associated with symptoms of depression, psychological distress, and suicidal ideation among adolescents in Vietnam., Methods: 1424 students in middle and high schools completed two self-administered questionnaires, six months apart in 2014-2015., Results: Students who were victimised often and those who were classified as highly involved as both victims and bullies at one or both survey times showed significantly higher levels of depression, psychological distress, and suicidal ideation than other students. The mental health of adolescents who were involved in bullying as a victim or bully remained at low levels was generally similar to those not involved in any bullying. However, females who had stable but low level in victimisation or bully-victim status had worse mental health than males with stable-low-level exposure., Conclusion: This is the first longitudinal analysis of bullying among adolescents in Vietnam. Persistent and frequent bullying was strongly linked with poor mental health for males and females. A new observation is that Vietnamese girls appear to be more sensitive to low level but long-term bullying involvement than were boys.

Self-report is seen as important in assessments of psychopathology but individuals with intellectual disability may have difficulty with standard questionnaires. This paper reports on the administration and subsequent modifications to several established self-report measures of mental health. Methods: The participants were 57 children with intellectual disability aged 10 to 13 years. They completed the Children's Depression Inventory, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Intellectual Disability Mood Scale, and Moods and Feelings Questionnaire. Results: Difficulties with the instruments were identified, including complex wording and item structure, ambiguity and working memory demands. Adaptations were made to the instruments and administration procedures. In a second administration there were improvements in children's ability to respond. The modified questionnaires demonstrated acceptable to good internal consistency and were strongly correlated. Conclusions: Self-report measures of mental health can be completed by children with intellectual disability but may need pilot testing and modifications to make them more appropriate for this population.

Adolescents experiencing excessive anxiety are often under-identified in the school context, and consequently under-referred for in-school counselling or other mental health support. This is despite anxiety being the most prevalent mental health condition currently experienced by adolescents. The purpose of this study was to explore secondary teachers' ability to recognise the need to refer adolescents with excessive anxiety symptoms. One hundred and fourteen secondary school teachers completed a questionnaire with five vignettes describing students experiencing various degrees of anxiety. Statistical analysis of the data involved use of the one-sample Wilcoxon test and Spearman's rank non-parametric correlation coefficients. Results indicated that teachers recognised the need to refer adolescents with very severe anxiety symptoms. However, they were less likely to correctly identify and refer students with severe, moderate or mild anxiety symptoms. There was no statistically significant difference between male and female teachers' decision to refer students for school counselling. These findings are an important step forward in understanding how teachers decide whether or not to refer anxious children for support, and in identifying areas for further training and professional development. Implications are discussed for future professional development for secondary school teachers.

Students with developmental disabilities have many challenges with learning and adaptive behaviour, as well as a higher prevalence rate of mental health problems. Although there is a substantial body of evidence for effcacious interventions for enhancing resilience and promoting mental health in typically developing children, very few programs have been modifed for use with students with developmental disabilities. In this article we present two interventions (Aussie Optimism and the Resourceful Adolescent Program) that have been rigorously tested with typically developing students and subsequently adapted and evaluated for their effectiveness for students with developmental disabilities. The article highlights the critical importance of using interventions with a robust evidence base, and the important role for school psychologists and counsellors in program selection, implementation, and evaluation.

While it is recognized that there are serious sequelae for students who are victims of cyberbullying including depression, anxiety, lower self-esteem and social difficulties, there has been little research attention paid to the mental health of students who cyberbully. It is known that students who traditionally bully report they feel indifferent to their victims, showing a lack of empathy and that they themselves are at increased risk for psychosocial adjustment. However, there is scant research on the mental health associations for students who cyberbully or their awareness of their impact on others. The current study sought to ascertain from Australian students who reported cyberbullying others in school years 6 to 12 (10-19 years of age), their perceptions of their mental health and the harm they caused to and the impact their actions had, on their victims. Most students who cyberbullied did not think that their bullying was harsh or that they had an impact on their victims. They reported more social difficulties and higher scores on stress, depression and anxiety scales than those students who were not involved in any bullying. The implications of these findings for the mental health of the cyberbullies and for psychologists in schools who assist them, are discussed.

It is well recognised that there are serious correlates for victims of traditional bullying. These have been shown to include increased levels of depression, anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms, in addition to often severe physical harm and even suicide. Bullied students also feel more socially ineffective and have greater interpersonal difficulties, together with higher absenteeism from school and lower academic competence. In the emerging field of cyberbullying many researchers have hypothesised a greater impact and more severe consequences for victims because of the 24/7 nature and the possibility of the wider audience with this form of bullying. However, to date there is scarce empirical evidence to support this. This study sought to compare victims' perceptions of the harshness and impact of bullying by traditional and cyber means. The major findings showed that although students who had been victimised by traditional bullying reported that they felt their bullying was harsher and crueller and had more impact on their lives than those students who had been cyberbullied, the correlates of their mental health revealed that cybervictims reported significantly more social difficulties, and higher levels of anxiety and depression than traditional victims. The implications for school counsellors and mental health workers are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

Excessive anxiety and worry can prevent young people from participating fully in school and life opportunities. Anxiety can involve fear of being apart from significant people or being left alone; avoidance of certain situations or activities for fear of embarrassment; worrying about normal life issues; repetitive thoughts and behaviours used as protection against something bad happening; or panic attacks and fears of recurring attacks and their effects. It has been shown that unusual behaviours such as obsessional activities, the need for reassurance, low self-esteem, poor concentration, fatigue, headaches, stomach aches and other reactions from excessive anxiety can hinder a child's academic success at school and affect their social relationships. Furthermore, anxiety is linked to depression that, in some cases, leads to suicide. This is significant for Indigenous youth as suicide rates in this group are significantly higher than the Australian national average. Not only are there difficulties in the ethical and practical aspects of conducting research with Indigenous youth, there are also difficulties in assessing mental health and anxiety, in particular, with this group. Nevertheless, it is important to gain a sense of Indigenous understanding about what is constructed as mental health, "wellness" and excessive anxiety and how we come to a shared understanding of these concepts so that meaningful research into areas such as anxiety can be conducted.

Public opinions are divided on the relative benefits versus harms of allowing mobile phones in schools. When debating the consequences of mobile phones in schools, politicians often argue that students' use of mobile phones distract from their learning, increase cyberbullying and lead to poor mental health outcomes. We conducted a scoping review of the global literature, followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and pre-registered our protocol with the Open Science Framework (OSF). Our search and screening process identified 22 studies that met our inclusion criteria and shed light on our research questions: whether mobile phone use in schools impacts academic outcomes, mental health and wellbeing and cyberbullying. We found an absence of randomized controlled trials with evidence resting on a small number of studies with different designs, samples, operational definitions of mobile phone bans (i.e. partial, or complete bans) and outcome measures, making reconciliation of findings challenging. Nonetheless, we provide a synthesis of the latest evidence for decision-makers tasked with deciding for or against mobile phone bans in schools. Directions for future research are provided and practical implications for schools are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study the prevalence, impact on mental health, and coping of bullying victimization in university students identifying as non-heterosexual was compared with their heterosexual peers. University students were surveyed on bullying experiences within the past 12 months, their mental health, and use of coping strategies. Demographic information identified gender, age, and sexual orientation. Results indicated that 14.3% of students reported victimization, and that students ages 24 to 35, and those who identified as non-heterosexual, reported higher rates of victimization. No gender differences were found. Bullied students scored significantly higher on depression, anxiety, and stress scores than non-bullied students. Comparisons of mental health scores and coping strategies of non-heterosexual and heterosexual bullied students found no significant differences, indicating both groups are equally impacted, and equally utilize adaptive and maladaptive strategies to manage the victimization. Implications for tertiary institutions include identification of effective coping resources for diverse university student populations. Limitations and recommendations for future research are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many cross-sectional studies have examined bullying experiences and correlated factors among adolescents in schools, relatively little is known about the extent to which bullying roles are stable or fluid over time. This short-term quantitative longitudinal study in Vietnam examined temporal patterns and predictors of bullying roles over an academic year. A total of 1424 middle and high school students aged 12-17 years completed two anonymous, self-administered questionnaires six months apart in 2014 and 2015. Young people were classified into different bullying roles as follow: not-involved (38.9%), victims only (24%), bullies only (6.6%), and bully-victims (40.4%) across the two times. About 60% of all surveyed students experienced bullying either as victim, bully, or bully-victim during the year. Of these students, nearly three in four indicated unstable bullying roles over time. Multivariate multinomial logistic regressions indicated factors ranging from individual (age, gender, and mental health) to family (social support, parental supervision and monitoring, witnessing parental violence, and conflict with siblings), school (perceived social support, teachers' attempt to stop bullying at school), and peers (social support, students' attempt to stop bullying at school) have significant associations with levels of bullying involvement. Implications for bullying prevention programs nationally and internationally are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community Outreach Programs in Addictions (COPA) is a Canadian organization that assists older adults who live with substance misuse and mental health issues. COPA College, a psycho educational mutual aide support group consists of weekly group sessions. The program uses a Solution Focussed approach (De Jong, Insoo Kimberg, 2008) which provides support to socially disadvantaged older adults with substance and mental health issues through a group format.This article sets out to evaluate participant reactions and determine if participants decrease substance use following completion of the group. One-on-one semi-structured interviews with ten participants were conducted. Participants were asked to rate the importance of different aspects of the program and discuss alcohol intake following involvement in the group. Aspects of the program rated highly by all the participants included learning new information, the breadth of topics discussed and the harm reduction approach taken by the program. Finally, the general atmosphere of the group was considered very important, especially being comfortable in the group and combining humour with learning, and an opportunity for reflective, sharing peer support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intellectual disability (ID) is associated with a range of risk factors that make children more vulnerable to adverse developmental outcomes, including mental health problems. Nevertheless, some children with ID do much better than others, presumably because of the presence of protective factors that increase their resilience. The current study compared resiliency profiles of children with ID ( n = 115; mean age, 11.9 years) and their typically developing peers ( n = 106; mean age, 11.8 years) using the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents and the Healthy Kids Resilience Assessment. In many respects, children with ID and their typically developing peers reported similar levels of the protective factors that are associated with resilience. However, the children with ID reported higher levels of emotional sensitivity and lower tolerance, as well as fewer future goals. Compared with typically developing children, those with ID reported more support at school and less support within their communities. These findings have important implications for interventions that aim to promote positive developmental outcomes and to prevent the adverse sequelae that have been associated with low intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes that the provision of online counselling services for young people accessed through their local school website has the potential to assist students with mental health issues as well as increasing their help seeking behaviours. It stems from the work of the authors who trialled an online counselling service within one Australian secondary school. In Australia, online counselling with the adult population is now an accepted part of the provision of mental health services. Online provision of mental health information for young people is also well accepted. However, online counselling for young people is provided by only a few community organisations such as Kids Help Line within Australia. School-based counselling services which are integral to most secondary schools in Australia, seem slow to provide this service in spite of initial interest and enthusiasm by individual school counsellors. This discussion is the product of reflection on the potential benefits of this trial with a consideration of relevant research of the issues raised. It highlights the need for further research into the use of computer-mediated communication in the provision of counselling within a school setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welcome to the second issue of the journal for 2017. In this issue, we again look at the mental health of students, followed by papers on career guidance and counselling in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]