School Psychology International

This longitudinal project consisted of exploring the usefulness of Critical Incident Reporting (CIR) as an instructional tool (Griffin, 2003) to first increase objectivity and self-knowledge among practicum students and then to guide practices when those students became interns the following academic year. Analysis included 120 CIRs written by 15 practicum students and responses from ten of the same students on a follow-up questionnaire when they were interns. The use of CIR during students’ practicum year illuminated the types and qualities of experiences that affected pre-service school psychologists most and how they processed those experiences within the context of CIR. Benefits of the CIR process included schema internalization that promoted objectivity and self-knowledge among interns, provision of a systematic framework for that process and generation of related data to inform training curricula.

Many countries have established systems for identifying, and providing for, the range of students with disabilities during their formal educational assessments. Most systems include the provision of variously termed ‘special access arrangements’ (SAAs), such as the provision of extra time or practical assistance with some aspect of an examination. There is, however, a paucity of outcome monitoring data relating to such systems, particularly that relating to the student and parent perspective. Using a combination of focus group, questionnaire and interview methods, the present study reports the views of 86 students with disabilities, their parents and teachers, upon the students’ educational assessment experiences. Findings indicate four specific areas for development of current practice: individualization of assessment of needs; utilization of student and parent voice; consideration of test anxiety factors; improved communication between schools, parents and students. From this, the researchers propose a revised system for needs identification and provision for students with disabilities during their formal educational assessments, highlighting a proactive role for school psychologists.

The incidence of ‘pure’ obsessive—compulsive disorders in the clinical population was found to be around 1.2 percent for a clinical sample record — stretching over a 2.5-year period — of around 2500 adolescents in a German child and adolescent psychiatry clinic. Over a 3-month period (time-frame) a sample of 350 new entries to the clinic were given a comprehensive series of questionnaires [Child Behaviour Checklist (YSR), Achenbach, 1991; Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R)] and clinical assessment measures of socio-psychological, medical and educational attitudes (Englert and Poustka, 1995). Two groups of low and high trait compulsive individuals were generated (using the Symptom Check List, SCL-90-R) and socio-demographic and individual differences examined between these groups. Females were more likely than males to display high compulsive scores. Self-injurious behaviour was higher among the high compulsive group. There was no difference found in cognitive functioning, nor in family functioning, between the low and high trait compulsive groups. Multiple regression analyses using trait compulsivity as a dimensional trait (outcome variable) revealed the significant determinants were anxiety, depression, aggressiveness, phobic anxiety and psychoticism. Furthermore, the SCL Scales most predictive of compulsivity were depression, anxiety, aggression, phobic anxiety and psychoticism. Almost one-half of our patients displayed marked or full recovery after treatment and another 42 percent showed partial improvement (relief of symptoms in terms of reduction of frequency and intensity). The implications for future research are discussed.

This study investigates perceived emotional intelligence (EI) in relation to burnout syndrome and job satisfaction in primary special education teachers from Greece. EI was measured by the EIS developed by Schutte et al. (1998). Factor analysis revealed that four factors can be identified in the EIS. Results showed that Greek teachers reported fairly high scores in the specific factors and the overall EI. Perceived EI was significantly related to burnout syndrome and job satisfaction, indicating that teachers of high-perceived EI are likely to experience less burnout and greater job satisfaction. Regression analysis revealed that emotional exhaustion can be predicted by satisfaction with the job itself and with the principal subscales; depersonalization is predicted by satisfaction with the job and with prospective promotions; personal accomplishment is predicted by satisfaction with the job itself as well as by an EI factor, optimism/ mood regulation and a demographic variable, age. Results are compared to findings from international studies related to teachers and/or other professionals, and the associations of trait EI with burnout and job satisfaction are discussed.

Temperament styles of 4,628 South Korean children, ages 9—17, are described in reference to possible gender and age differences and compared with those of 3,200 US age peers in the light of Jung’s theory of temperament as modified by Myers and Briggs, one that highlights four bipolar qualities: extroversion—introversion, practical—imaginative, thinking—feeling and organized—flexible styles. It was found that South Korean children strongly prefer extroverted to introverted, imaginative to practical, feeling to thinking and flexible to organized styles. In contrast to South Korean males, South Korean females are more likely to prefer extroverted, feeling and organized styles. Age differences are seen on all four styles, with children generally expressing a greater preference for introverted, practical, feeling and flexible styles with age. In contrast to US children, South Korean children are more likely to express preferences for extroverted, imaginative, feeling and flexible styles. These preferences also are more frequent in South Korean than US males and females as well as all four age groups. Findings and implications of this study are discussed.

This study examined how the manifestation of overt aggression changes during early adolescence using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. The distinct courses of physical and verbal aggression identified in this study provide support for developmental transformations in overt aggression, which would have been obscured unless aggression had been defined with greater specificity. The examination of gender effects revealed that while boys demonstrate higher initial levels of physical and verbal aggression, there were no gender differences in the growth of physical and verbal aggression. In addition, the testing of ethnicity effects demonstrated that Blacks and Hispanics show higher initial levels of physical and verbal aggression than Whites, however, adolescents from other ethnicities did not differ from Whites in terms of initial aggression levels. Despite the significant differences in initial status, ethnicity did not significantly predict the growth of aggression with the exception that Blacks exhibited a faster rate of decline in physical aggression. The limitations of this study and the implications for future research and practice are discussed.