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Universal mental health screening is a proactive approach to identify students who may benefit from prevention or early intervention services. Despite known benefits, few schools are engaging in screening efforts, and it is critical to examine factors that may impede or enhance implementation. Following implementation of a universal screening program across five preschools and elementary schools, this study investigated the attitudes of teachers (n = 40) and parents (n = 330) and found strong agreement among stakeholders about the acceptability and appropriateness of universal mental health screening. Teachers and parents expressed less willingness to regularly complete screening forms, yet teachers reported that the Behavior Assessment System for Children--Third Edition: Behavioral Emotional Screening System was a usable screening tool. Implications and future directions to enhance implementation efforts are discussed.

Schools are an essential setting for mental health supports and services for students. To support student well-being, schools engage in universal mental health screening to identify students in need of support and to provide surveillance data for district-wide or state-wide policy changes. Mental health data have been collected via anonymous and self-identified response formats depending on the purpose of the screening (i.e., surveillance and screening, respectively). However, most surveys do not provide psychometric evidence for use in both types of response formats. The current study examined whether responses to the Social Emotional Health Survey--Secondary (SEHS-S), a school mental health survey, are comparable when administered using anonymous versus self-identified response formats. The study participants were from one high school and completed the SEHS-S using self-identified (n = 1,700) and anonymous (n = 1,667) formats. Full measurement invariance was found across the two response formats. Both substantial and minimal latent mean differences were detected. Implications for the use and interpretation of the SEHS-S for schoolwide mental health are discussed.

Culturally responsive assessment practices include validated measures appropriate for use with diverse populations. Considering the increasing population of Latinx students in US schools, measures need co-validated English and Spanish (Social and Emotional Health Survey (SEHS)) language forms. This study examined the SEHS-Secondary with Latinx students who completed a form in either Spanish or English. With a matched sample of 1404 Latinx students across 113 California schools, the analyses examined the factor structure, measurement invariance, and latent trait factor means of students who completed the SEHS in either Spanish or English. The factor structure was invariant across groups with some latent mean differences observed. Educational practice implications are considered.

The original Social Emotional Distress Survey--Secondary (SEDS-S) assesses adolescents' past month's experiences of psychological distress. Given the continued need for and use of brief measures of student social-emotional distress, this study examined a five-item version (SEDS-S-Brief) to evaluate its use for surveillance of adolescents' wellness in schools. Three samples completed the SEDS-S-Brief. Sample 1 was a cross-sectional sample of 105,771 students from 113 California secondary schools; responses were used to examine validity evidence based on internal structure. Sample 2 consisted of 10,770 secondary students who also completed the Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary-2020, Mental Health Continuum--Short Form, Multidimensional Student Life Satisfaction Scale, and selected Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance items (chronic sadness and suicidal ideation). Sample 2 responses examined validity evidence based on relations to other variables. Sample 3 consisted of 773 secondary students who completed the SEDS-S-Brief annually for 3 years, providing response stability coefficients. The SEDS-S-Brief was invariant across students based on sex, grade level, and Latinx status, supporting its use across diverse groups in schools. Additional analyses indicated moderate to strong convergent and discriminant validity characteristics and 1- and 2-year temporal stability. The findings advance the field toward comprehensive mental health surveillance practices to inform services for youth in schools.

Social justice-centered training has progressed in school psychology, yet training and practice still do not adequately address systems-level influences on mental health, let alone focus on dismantling the systemic inequities that adversely affect the wellbeing of marginalized children and youth. An equity- and intersectional justice-minded framework for training future school psychologists in school-based mental health is presented, informed by the theories of intersectionality, critical race theory, social determinants of health, and radical healing. The proposed framework is based on reflective practice and incorporates three pillars that emphasize the importance of decentralizing psychodiagnostic assessment, centralizing systems-level work, and renewing focus on strengths and healing. To advance training that critically evaluates social factors that affect child wellbeing while honoring children's identities and strengths, various ways in which graduate programs can enact this paradigm shift are discussed. Future directions for the field, including research and policy, are also presented.

AbstractRobust evidence links students’ positive mental health with academic achievement and provides a compelling rationale for developing and refining strength-based assessments. The Social Emotional Health Survey–Secondary (SEHS-S) assesses adolescents’ social and emotional skills and positive psychological dispositions. Previous studies provide reliability and validity evidence; nonetheless, there is a need for continued refinement and validation across diverse groups. The current study revised and standardized the updated SEHS-S-2020 to validate further its use in secondary schools (Grades 9–12) with a large, diverse adolescent sample. Study participants included 72,740 from 113 California schools (structural validation sample), 10,757 students from 15 randomly selected California schools (criterion validation sample), and 707 students from four additional California schools (test-retest sample). Data analyses examined structural validity, measurement invariance, criterion validity, internal consistency, and response stability. Results supported the SEHS-S-2020 validity across diverse groups of youth in various contexts. The discussion focuses on implications for assessing students’ psychosocial assets and universal school-based screening.

Universal mental health screening is a proactive approach to identify students who may benefit from prevention or early intervention services. Despite known benefits, few schools are engaging in screening efforts and it is critical to examine factors that may impede or enhance implementation. Following implementation of a universal screening program across five preschools and elementary schools, this study investigated the attitudes of teachers ( N = 40) and parents ( N = 330) and found strong agreement among stakeholders about the acceptability and appropriateness of universal mental health screening. Teachers and parents expressed less willingness to regularly complete screening forms, yet teachers reported that the Behavior Assessment System for Children–Third Edition: Behavioral Emotional Screening System was a usable screening tool. Implications and future directions to enhance implementation efforts are discussed.

AbstractRobust evidence links students’ positive mental health with academic achievement and provides a compelling rationale for developing and refining strength-based assessments. The Social Emotional Health Survey–Secondary (SEHS-S) assesses adolescents’ social and emotional skills and positive psychological dispositions. Previous studies provide reliability and validity evidence; nonetheless, there is a need for continued refinement and validation across diverse groups. The current study revised and standardized the updated SEHS-S-2020 to validate further its use in secondary schools (Grades 9–12) with a large, diverse adolescent sample. Study participants included 72,740 from 113 California schools (structural validation sample), 10,757 students from 15 randomly selected California schools (criterion validation sample), and 707 students from four additional California schools (test-retest sample). Data analyses examined structural validity, measurement invariance, criterion validity, internal consistency, and response stability. Results supported the SEHS-S-2020 validity across diverse groups of youth in various contexts. The discussion focuses on implications for assessing students’ psychosocial assets and universal school-based screening.

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of different workplace accommodation request strategies, the effectiveness of different request approaches, and situational and individual factors associated with different request strategies for individuals with disabilities. Common action plans of accommodation requests may vary depending on decisions about mentioning the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) (or not) and whether a formal (or informal) request is submitted, though past literature has focused primarily on formal accommodation requests made under the auspices of the ADA. Participants (n = 408) were recruited from rehabilitation agencies and organizations serving people with disabilities in the United States. The results indicated that informal requests without mentioning the ADA were found most often, followed by formal requests while not mentioning the ADA, formal requests while mentioning the ADA, and informal requests while mentioning the ADA. The odds of acquiring the requested accommodation were significantly higher, relative to other strategies, for requests made informally without mentioning the ADA. A variety of individual attributes capable of discerning when participants chose one strategy over another were observed; these included self-efficacy and outcome expectancy, negative affect, and an array of situational and personal attributes. Implications for research and practice were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]