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NASP's Annual Regional Leadership Meeting (RLM) brings together leaders for training and discussions about issues important to school psychology. For 2023, RLM for the first time included affinity groups as part of the implementation of NASP's equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) plan. This article will define affinity groups and describe the process by which the authors developed, facilitated, and evaluated the RLM affinity groups. The intent is to provide guidance to those interested in creating affinity spaces in their state associations, districts, graduate programs, and other professional spaces.

Objectives: Internet usage has increased in recent years resulting in a growing number of documented reports of cyberbullying. Despite the rise in cyberbullying incidents, there is a dearth of research regarding high school students’ motivations for cyberbullying. The purpose of this study was to investigate high school students' perceptions of the motivations for cyberbullying.Method: We undertook an exploratory qualitative study with 20 high school students, conducting individual interviews using a semi-structured interview protocol. Data were analyzed using Grounded Theory.Results: The developed coding hierarchy provides a framework to conceptualize motivations, which can be used to facilitate future research about motivations and to develop preventive interventions designed to thwart the negative effects of cyberbullying. The findings revealed that high school students more often identified internally motivated reasons for cyberbullying (e.g., redirect feelings) than externally motivated (no consequences, non-confrontational, target was different).Conclusion: Uncovering the motivations for cyberbullying should promote greater understanding of this phenomenon and potentially reduce the interpersonal violence that can result from it. By providing a framework that begins to clarify the internal and external factors motivating the behavior, there is enhanced potential to develop effective preventive interventions to prevent cyberbullying and its negative effects. [West J Emerg Med. 2010; 11(3): 270-274.]

This fifth article of the Social Justice Committee's series on health disparities expands on previous articles (i.e., Tan et al., 2020; Ormiston et al., 2021) to discuss applications of advocacy by school psychologists to improve health parity for youth. As previously outlined in Proctor et al. (2020), health disparities are restricted opportunities to access healthcare and differences in the prevalence of avoidable physical and mental health concerns (e.g., disease, disorder diagnoses, treatment efficacy) that disadvantage marginalized populations. From a social justice perspective, school psychologists must recognize these disparities, the impact they have on the lives of children and families, and actively work to address individual and systemic factors (see, e.g., Sullivan et al., 2020) that contribute to the lack of parity in health outcomes for minoritized populations. To help further illustrate the need for, and steps in, integrating an understanding of social justice as it applies to health disparities, the authors spotlight inequities in healthcare experienced by students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). [For the fourth article in the series, "Social Justice as a Framework for Addressing Mental Health Disparities," see EJ1282396.]

Relationship education (RE) has been linked to several short- and long-term benefits; however, less is known about its effects on adolescents' overarching life-goals. This study utilized a multi-method approach to examine whether RE was linked to increases in the relative importance of intrinsic, as opposed to extrinsic, life-goals. Results demonstrated a statistically significant increase from pretest to posttest in the relative importance of intrinsic life-goals. Qualitative analysis identified themes relevant to intrinsic life-goals including differentiating between needs and wants and an increased focus on interpersonal functioning. Overall, results suggest RE may influence students' life-goals in beneficial ways.

Traumatic stress has long been a source of interest for researchers and practitioners, and recently there has been an increase in federal and state legislative support for trauma-informed care (Maul, 2017). Globally, the need for trauma services has been pushed to the foreground as the myriad of negative outcomes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are addressed. Students are entering schools following a year of uncertain and inconsistent educational access, compounded by traumatic experiences that may include the long-term illness or death of loved ones, their own illness, and the increased strain placed on families amid the pandemic. Adding to these traumatic stressors, minoritized youth have experienced increased violence, discrimination, and widened disparities in healthcare and educational opportunities due to racism, xenophobia, and systemic injustices. As these disparities continue to grow, so does the need for school psychologists to be prepared to respond to students' traumatic stress, to increase parity in opportunities for academic and psychosocial wellness, and to help promote posttraumatic growth among students, families, and communities. As the field continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and work toward disrupting oppressive systems that lead to social injustice for marginalized populations, trauma-informed practices will be crucial. As such, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Social Justice Committee's 2021-2022 theme will focus on trauma, including traumatic stress, intergenerational trauma, and trauma-informed care within educational settings.

Children and youth who experience low-income and economic marginalization (LIEM) suffer inequities in education, healthcare, housing, and postsecondary outcomes. LIEM is a broad conceptualization of poverty that incorporates many aspects of what it means to be economically oppressed, including access to limited financial resources and marginalization related to social class. Because economic and social class are powerful factors in access to resources, supports, and opportunities, LIEM represents one of the more pressing social justice issues school psychologists must be prepared to address in their daily professional practices. To this end, this article on LIEM and intersectionality is one of the first in a series the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Social Justice Committee (SJC) has developed to facilitate equitable processes and socially just outcomes for children and youth who endure LIEM. To help readers fully understand issues these children and youth can face as a result of their social identities, the authors first describe the origin and meaning of the term intersectionality.

Student responses to bullying have an effect on subsequent outcomes. Dichotomous theories of coping suggest that self-reliance plays a role in responding to stress. In order to investigate the multidimensional nature of coping with bullying, the authors developed the Coping with Bullying Scale for Children. The current study also examined the relationships between bullying experiences (i.e., victimization and perpetration) and coping with bullying, with self-reliance as a potential moderator. Participants who reported higher rates of victimization or engagement in bullying reported greater use of cognitive distancing, externalizing, and self-blame strategies. Victimization was associated with higher reported rates of constructive coping. Self-reliance moderated the relationship between cognitive distancing and both types of bullying involvement. Self-reliance also moderated the relationship between self-blame and bullying perpetration. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are included.

The current study investigated adolescents' (N = 213) decision finding processes and affective reactions to interactions on social media via 29 focus groups. As part of a larger study, adolescents participated in focus groups at two time-points across an academic year while participating in a school-based intervention promoting healthy romantic, interpersonal, and family relationships, job readiness, and financial literacy. Qualitative analyses indicated adolescents' experiences and decisions on social media platforms were informed by their awareness of audiences, namely who they thought would view their posts and anticipated responses from "friends," "family members," "fans," "creeps," and "potential employers." Comprehensive school-based interventions may serve to effectively develop responsibility more broadly, as well as a specific awareness about online risks and behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School psychologists supporting children and families who are from low-income and economically marginalized (LIEM) backgrounds has been the theme of a series of "Communiqué" articles authored by National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Social Justice committee during this academic year. Previous articles have focused on foundational knowledge and the integration of a social justice framework for working with LIEM populations (EJ1229463), the intersectionality of LIEM with other identities (EJ1234956), considerations for working with gifted students experiencing LIEM (EJ1234947), and service delivery for LIEM students in foster care (EJ1248159). This article continues the series by focusing on consultation as a tool for social justice when intervening with and on behalf of LIEM children and families. Consultation and collaboration are both considered "Practices That Permeate All Aspects of Service Delivery" in NASP's practice model (NASP, 2010). "Consultation" refers to a school psychologist (as the consultant) providing indirect support to an individual or group (typically an educator, family member, or school system) with these consultees ultimately having primary responsibility for carrying out the plan (Song et al., 2019). Social justice is one of NASP's five strategic goals and is a term that encompasses many concepts. In a national study of randomly selected NASP members, ensuring the educational rights and opportunities for all students and promoting nondiscriminatory practice were rated as the most important definitional components of social justice (Shriberg et al., 2011). Subsequent studies of school psychologists have identified the overarching concepts of equity, access, and respect; the school psychologists' behaviors related to awareness (of self and others); advocacy; and empathy as being important to defining social justice within the context of school psychology practice (Biddanda et al., 2019; Jenkins et al., 2018).

Each year, the NASP Social Justice Committee selects a theme to help focus efforts and increase awareness within the school psychology community. This year's theme is alternative education programs, which can include a wide range of placements with varied goals and purposes. Alternative programs are educational placements that serve youth whose needs cannot be met in general or special education programs within traditional school settings (Sable et al., 2010). In this article, the author provides some initial information regarding alternative education, potential outcomes, and the need for a social justice framework.

Student perceptions of school climate have been linked to a number of outcome variables; specifically, more positive perceptions of school climate are associated with academic achievement, social and emotional wellness, and reduced risky behaviors. Considering student perceptions of school climate can help to guide the selection and implementation of culturally-responsive, targeted school improvement efforts. Further, the ways that students experience and perceive the school environment have been shown to vary based on student reported racial/ethnic identity. In the present study, moderation analyses established a significant impact of school diversity (i.e., high diversity or low diversity) on the relationship between student race/ethnicity, perceptions of school climate, and associated subscales including school connectedness, peer and adult support, and cultural awareness. Contrary to prior research, as school diversity increased, perceptions of school climate decreased, with Asian participants least affected. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Introduction: Interactions through technology have an important impact on today’s youth. While someof these interactions are positive, there are concerns regarding students engaging in negativeinteractions like cyberbullying behaviors and the negative impact these behaviors have on others. Thepurpose of the current study was to explore participant suggestions for both students and adults forpreventing cyberbullying incidents.Methods: Forty high school students participated in individual, semi-structured interviews. Participantexperiences and perceptions were coded using constant comparative methods to illustrate ways inwhich students and adults may prevent cyberbullying from occurring within their school and community.Results: Students reported that peers would benefit from increasing online security, as well asbecoming more aware of their cyber-surroundings. Regarding adult-provided prevention services,participants often discussed that there is little adults can do to reduce cyberbullying. Reasons includedthe difficulties in restricting online behaviors or providing effective consequences. However, somestudents did discuss the use of in-school curricula while suggesting that adults blame people ratherthan technology as potential ways to prevent cyberbullying.Conclusion: Findings from the current study indicate some potential ways to improve adult efforts toprevent cyberbullying. These strategies include parent/teacher training in technology andcyberbullying, interventions focused more on student behavior than technology restriction, and helpingstudents increase their online safety and awareness. [West J Emerg Med. 2014;15(5):587–592.]

Social justice has been defined as fair and equitable distribution of resources, rights, representation, and treatment for marginalized people who do not possess equal power in society (Linnemeyer, Nilsson, Marszalek, & Khan, 2018). As a theoretical concept, social justice is an emergent area of inquiry in school psychology (Johnson, Bahr, & Navarro, 2017); thus, many school psychologists may be unsure of how social justice applies to their various roles and responsibilities. Malone and Proctor (2019) discussed how social justice is integral to school psychology practice and advocacy. In this article, the authors extend the conversation to school psychology research. Social justice research engages critically with structural inequities, oppressive forces, and power-laden discourses with the aim of creating a just and equitable society. Often used as one tool of advocacy, social justice research is the intentional use of inquiry to examine existing inequities or injustices, and ways to overcome them. In school psychology, this could involve investigating how cultural dynamics play out in the society, and the material or experiential consequences these have on historically marginalized groups. Additionally, it could involve research to understand not only what works, but why and how it works for different populations, particularly those who have been and are currently discriminated against, marginalized, and underserved, in schools and broader society. Research influences practice, and a stronger social justice research base is critical to moving social justice forward in the profession; as such, this article first delineates critical considerations for building a social justice research base in school psychology. Because social justice-oriented research responds to the existing social conditions, there is no universally agreed upon consensus about the characteristics of social justice research. The nature of such research is ever-changing, just like the society to which it responds. Nevertheless, the authors present an agenda for socially just research that values self-criticality and transdisciplinary work while promoting diversity in terms of epistemological considerations and research designs. They end the article with a discussion of ways school psychologists can use social justice research in their day-to-day practice to effect socially just outcomes for underserved, marginalized, and vulnerable student populations.

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the relationships between suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), school climate, and student demographics among middle school students. The study was conducted with a sample of 152,191 middle school students across 607 schools within 182 school districts in a southeastern state. Results support prior research that positive perceptions of school climate are associated with fewer reports of STB. Participants identified family reasons, bullying, peer problems, and "other" as the most common reasons for STB. Further, older students and males were more likely to engage in STB than their counterparts. When examining cross-sectional interactions, race/ethnicity moderated the relationship between school climate and STB. Findings from the study support the role of school psychologists in advocating for prevention and intervention STB supports for middle school students with particular attention to students who may be at increased risk based on group identification. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Objectives: Internet usage has increased in recent years resulting in a growing number of documented reports of cyberbullying. Despite the rise in cyberbullying incidents, there is a dearth of research regarding high school students’ motivations for cyberbullying. The purpose of this study was to investigate high school students' perceptions of the motivations for cyberbullying.Method: We undertook an exploratory qualitative study with 20 high school students, conducting individual interviews using a semi-structured interview protocol. Data were analyzed using Grounded Theory.Results: The developed coding hierarchy provides a framework to conceptualize motivations, which can be used to facilitate future research about motivations and to develop preventive interventions designed to thwart the negative effects of cyberbullying. The findings revealed that high school students more often identified internally motivated reasons for cyberbullying (e.g., redirect feelings) than externally motivated (no consequences, non-confrontational, target was different).Conclusion: Uncovering the motivations for cyberbullying should promote greater understanding of this phenomenon and potentially reduce the interpersonal violence that can result from it. By providing a framework that begins to clarify the internal and external factors motivating the behavior, there is enhanced potential to develop effective preventive interventions to prevent cyberbullying and its negative effects. [West J Emerg Med. 2010; 11(3): 270-274.]

School connectedness has been shown to be an integral part of students' perceptions of school climate, which in turn affects their mental health functioning. Research has suggested that student perceptions of school connectedness may be related to their experiences with peer victimization. However, there is limited evidence of the moderating effects of age, race, or ethnicity on the relationship between school connectedness and peer victimization. Our study utilized the Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 to closely investigate these relationships. Findings indicated that students who experienced more frequent rates of victimization reported lower feelings of school connectedness. This relationship was moderated by gender and age, with male and middle school students reporting a stronger relationship between the two variables. Results indicated that moderation existed among multiracial and Native American students, but the same patterns were not significant among other participating groups. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Cyberbullying can have a variety of negative effects on student mental health (Internet Safety Technical Task Force, 2008). An understanding of students' coping with cyberbullying could help researchers and professionals to determine ways to alleviate and/or prevent the negative effects of cyberbullying. Qualitative methods were used to provide an in-depth examination of coping with cyberbullying. The results revealed three primary coping themes as follows: "reactive coping," "preventive coping," and "no way to prevent cyberbullying." "Reactive coping" included avoiding the cyberbully situation by deleting or ignoring messages. "Preventive coping" strategies included "talk in person" and "increased security and awareness." Some students reported that there was "no way to reduce cyberbullying." These strategies were interpreted in terms of current theories of coping and findings suggested a need for a new comprehensive model of coping with cyberbullying. In addition, implications for future research and practice were discussed. (Contains 3 figures.)

Peer victimization is a documented antecedent of poor mental health outcomes for children and adolescents. This article explored the role of coping effectiveness in the association between victimization and perceived school safety. A sample of urban middle school students (N = 509) in the southeastern United States were surveyed regarding victimization, coping behaviors, and school climate. Data analysis were conducted in Mplus (Version 6.1) with a Bayesian analytic approach that allowed for incorporation of findings from a previous study using comparable measures (Varjas, Henrich, & Meyers, 2009). The findings supported a hypothesized buffering effect of coping effectiveness on the association between victimization and school safety. Unexpectedly, there was a suppressing indirect effect of coping effectiveness on the association between victimization and safety. These findings are discussed in terms of the importance of participatory action models of research and understanding developmental trends in children's coping behavior. (Contains 4 tables.)

In this study, we examined students' perceptions of peer aggression occurring within their school environment and how these perceptions are interconnected with both social media rumination and distress. Social media usage is associated with a range of negative mental health and interpersonal outcomes for adolescents. Social media use can increase youth's vulnerability to peer victimization and psychosocial difficulties. In addition, ruminating when sad or stressed has been linked to elevated distress for youth experiencing peer aggression. Yet rumination specifically regarding social media activities has not been investigated in relation to peer aggression and distress, nor has the degree to which students perceive peer aggression occurring at school been included in these investigations. Participants were 169 high school students (age, M = 15.89, SD =.87), largely identifying as Black/African American and female, who completed surveys as part of a larger program working with at-risk youth in a Midwestern, urban city. We found that social media rumination mediated the relationship between perceptions of bullying at school and feelings of distress, but mediation was not supported when examining student perceptions of cyberbullying frequency and youth distress. In the case of bullying, rumination may disrupt other forms of coping—such as positive cognitive distractions—that would ameliorate symptoms of distress. Furthermore, we present evidence that social media rumination is experienced by, and has different influences on, youth. We highlight the need for differentiated intervention and prevention efforts regarding these two forms of peer aggression. Future research may be justified to examine these possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a youth relationship education program (YREP) on psychological functioning and to understand the mechanisms associated with change in distress. Background: Successfully (or unsuccessfully) navigating romantic relationships is a robust predictor of adolescent mental health. Youth relationship education programs have been found to promote adaptive relationship knowledge, attitudes, and skills; however, little research has examined how such programs influence mental health. Method: This study examined whether significant reductions in psychological distress occurred for a diverse sample of adolescents (N = 113) completing a YREP. The study also explored whether the curriculum, Love Notes 3.0, was effective in reducing distress due to changes in hope and compromising conflict‐resolution behaviors. Results: From pretest to posttest, psychological distress decreased for young women but not for young men. Furthermore, reductions in distress were associated with simultaneous increases in hope, but not reductions in conflict‐resolution behaviors. Conclusion: YREPs can assist in improving youth's knowledge about adaptive relational dynamics while also significantly improving psychological functioning, primarily through increasing hope. Implications: YREPs may be beneficial for youth's mental health, and hope may play an important role. Encouraging youth to set clear goals and promoting self‐efficacy for behaviors that enact those goals may be helpful considerations for those serving youth (and particularly adolescent young men) in YREPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the new editorial team begins their term, the editors discuss their vision for the journal's direction, including (1) Advance pedagogy and training through reflection and practice; (2) Encompass the varied levels, settings, and topics represented in school psychology graduate training; and, (3) Examine and respond to the sociocultural context in which training occurs. The team invites the readers to join in pursuit of these goals as authors, reviewers, and readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the relationships between suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), school climate, and student demographics among middle school students. The study was conducted with a sample of 152,191 middle school students across 607 schools within 182 school districts in a southeastern state. Results support prior research that positive perceptions of school climate are associated with fewer reports of STB. Participants identified family reasons, bullying, peer problems, and 'other' as the most common reasons for STB. Further, older students and males were more likely to engage in STB than their counterparts. When examining cross-sectional interactions, race/ethnicity moderated the relationship between school climate and STB. Findings from the study support the role of school psychologists in advocating for prevention and intervention STB supports for middle school students with particular attention to students who may be at increased risk based on group identification. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]