Bridget V. Dever

Enhancing School-Based Mental Health Services With a Preventive and Promotive Approach to Universal Screening for Complete Mental Health

Universal screening for complete mental health is proposed as a key step in service delivery reform to move school-based psychological services from the back of the service delivery system to the front, which will increase emphasis on prevention, early intervention, and promotion. A sample of 2,240 high school students participated in a schoolwide universal screening to identify behavioral and emotional distress as well as personal strengths. School psychologists, as part of a multidisciplinary team, coordinated the use of these screening data to engage in preventive consultation with administration to make decisions regarding the refinement and expansion of mental health service delivery options. Schoolwide and individual student prevention and intervention activities were tailored according to screening results. The roles of the school psychologist and multidisciplinary team members are discussed as critical components of this approach to service delivery change. Implications for future consultation research, practice, and training are provided.

Long-Term Stability of Screening for Behavioral and Emotional Risk

The practice of screening students to identify behavioral and emotional risk is gaining momentum, with limited guidance regarding the frequency with which screenings should occur. Screening frequency decisions are influenced by the stability of the constructs assessed and changes in risk status over time. This study investigated the 4-year longitudinal stability of behavioral and emotional risk screening scores among a sample of youth to examine change in risk status over time. Youth (N = 156) completed a self-report screening measure, the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System, at 1-year intervals in the 8th through 11th grades. Categorical and dimensional stability coefficients, as well as transitions across risk status categories, were analyzed. A latent profile analysis was conducted to determine if there were salient and consistent patterns of screening scores over time. Stability coefficients were moderate to large, with stronger coefficients across shorter time intervals. Latent profile analysis pointed to a three-class solution in which classes were generally consistent with risk categories and stable across time. Results showed that the vast majority of students continued to be classified within the same risk category across time points. Implications for practice and future research needs are discussed.

Surveillance of Middle and High School Mental Health Risk by Student Self-Report Screener

Introduction: A 2009 National Academies of Sciences report on child mental health prevention and treatment concluded that screening for mental health risk is an essential component of service delivery. To date, however, there are few practical assessments available or practices in place that measure individual child risk, or risk aggregated at the school or community level. This study examined the utility of a 30-item paper and pencil student self-report screener of behavioral and emotional risk (BER) for surveying community risk among 7 schools. Methods: In 2010, 2,222 students in 3 middle and 4 high schools in a medium-sized school district in Georgia were administered the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Self-Report Child/Adolescent form (BESS Student). The BESS is designed to measure 4 sub-syndromal BER factors for developing mental health disorders: inattention/hyperactivity, internalizing, school problems, and personal adjustment. Analysis of Variance and Chi Square analyses were used to assess the association between adolescent self-reported BER as an indicator of school BER, grade level, child ethnic identification and gender, socioeconomic status, and special education placement status. Results: BESS scores differentiated well between schools for overall BER and special education status, as well as between grade levels, ethnicity, and gender groups. One high school, known by the school administration to have numerous incidents of student behavior problems, had the most deviant 4 BER domain scores of all 7 schools. Girls rated themselves as having a higher prevalence of BER (14%) than boys (12%); middle school students reported fewer difficulties than high school students. Conclusion: Middle and high school students were capable of identifying significant differences in their own BER across schools, suggesting that universal mental health risk screening via student self-report is potentially useful for identifying aggregated community risk in a given school that may warrant differential deployment of mental health prevention and intervention strategies. BESS results reliably identified individual mental health risk associated with special education placement, which is documented to lead to poor school outcomes such as school dropout and lack of enrollment in post-secondary education.

Psychometric Analysis of the BASC-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) Student Form: Results From High School Student Samples

The Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) is a relatively new method for identifying behavior and emotional risk (BER) in children and adolescents. Psychometric evidence regarding this instrument is important for researchers and practitioners considering the use of the BESS for identifying BER in students. Previous psychometric research specifically regarding the BESS Student Form involved the use of samples of elementary and middle school-age children. This study adds to the psychometric evidence for scores on the BESS Student Form by using samples of high school aged students to assess both the factor structure reported by Dowdy, Twyford et al. (2011) and the measurement invariance of the BESS items with regard to ethnicity, English language proficiency, and socioeconomic status. The results indicate that while the proposed 4-factor structure of the BESS Student Form is appropriate, lower than preferred reliabilities for some of the factors indicates that reporting the overall risk T score is more appropriate than reporting factor scores for risk classification purposes. Additionally, the BESS Student Form items did not exhibit measurement bias when comparing across ethnicities, language proficiency classification, or socioeconomic status (via free/reduced lunch classification).

Demographic Trends and Advocacy Experiences of Gay–Straight Alliance Advisors

Using an ecological model, the individual-, school-, and sociocultural-level characteristics that affect gay–straight alliance (GSA) advisors were examined in the current study. The formation of GSAs has been one way that schools have sought to improve the school climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. Limited information is available about the demographics and experiences of GSA advisors who lead these clubs. GSA advisors are on the front line of LGBT advocacy in schools. The purpose of this study is to add to the minimal literature on GSA advisors by describing the demographics and the experiences of the largest known sample of GSA advisors in the research literature. In the current study, 262 GSA advisors provided information through a 67-item survey about their demographic characteristics and their experiences advocating for LGBT youth in schools. The results suggested this sample of advisors was a demographically homogenous group. Exploratory factor analysis identified two dimensions (i.e., barriers, facilitators) by which the advisors appeared to define their experiences when advocating for LGBT youth. These two factors accounted for 47.98% of the variance in the advisors’ experiences. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Culturally Competent Behavioral and Emotional Screening

This chapter provides information on screening approaches for behavioral and emotional problems with a unique focus on culturally and linguistically diverse students. Considerations for conducting screenings and providing subsequent treatments in a culturally competent manner are provided. Strategies for professionals, practical considerations, and future research needs are highlighted.

Factor Structure and Differential Item Functioning of the BASC-2 BESS Spanish Language Parent Form.

Given the steady increase of students from diverse backgrounds in the U.S. educational system, in particular immigrant and Latino students, it is important to consider how to best support all students within our schools. The present study focuses on the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Second Edition (BASC-2) Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) Parent Spanish form, which is a promising assessment tool for those who are interested in screening for behavioral and emotional risk among Spanish-speaking populations. The present study included 725 students of Latino descent in Grades K-6 in an urban school district and their parents or legal guardians, who served as the informants. All parents completed the BESS language form (English or Spanish) of their choice. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported a 4-factor structure (Externalizing, Internalizing, Inattention, and Adaptive Skills) similar to that of the BESS Parent English form: χ2(77) = 248.06, p < .001; CFI = 0.903; TLI = 0.940. However, differential item functioning (DIF) analyses revealed 5 items (16.7%) demonstrated significant levels of DIF, with 4 of the 5 being easier to endorse in English. This study provides preliminary evidence of partial invariance of the BESS Parent across language forms. Although some evidence of invariance across language forms at the structural and item levels exists, more research is necessary to determine whether the DIF found in the present study results in any perceptible test bias. (PsycINFO Database Record

A Preliminary Investigation Into the Added Value of Multiple Gates and Informants in Universal Screening for Behavioral and Emotional Risk

ABSTRACT Mental health screening in schools is a progressive practice to identify students for prevention and intervention services. Multiple gating procedures, in which students are provided more intensive assessments following initial identification of risk, are aligned with prevention science and poised to enhance multitiered systems of support. Yet, empirical evidence supporting this practice is limited. Using data obtained from an urban high school (N = 761), the authors investigated a multiple gating and informant approach and its ability to predict social-emotional well-being and academic performance. Screening results were predictive of well-being and grade point averages at an initial gate, with little to no added value at subsequent gates or with multiple informants. Implications for practice and future directions are discussed.

Universal School Readiness Screening at Kindergarten Entry

Researchers examined the concurrent and predictive validity of a brief (12-item) teacher-rated school readiness screener, the Kindergarten Student Entrance Profile (KSEP), using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to examine associations between (N = 78) children’s social-emotional (SE) and cognitive (COG) readiness with measures of behavioral/emotional risk and early literacy skills throughout kindergarten. Results indicated statistically significant associations between both subscales of the KSEP (SE and COG) with all outcome variables. Findings provide validity evidence in support of the KSEP as an initial gate in the universal screening process to inform educators on the readiness of incoming kindergarteners.

Confronting methodological challenges in studying school leader time use through technological advancements: A pilot study

Among the multitude of studies that have examined an array of variables related to school leadership, only a small percentage have rigorously examined how school leaders spend their time. The complex role of school leaders poses challenges to common methods of collecting data about school leader time use, which subsequently threaten the validity of researchers’ claims. In this study we identified three prevalent challenges to studying school leader time use, and applied technological advancements in an event sampling methodology framework to mitigate the challenges associated with studying school leader time use. We used new technology and event sampling methodology to collect data, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. during 28 consecutive days, on the time use of 11 school leaders. Our system of notification and response achieved an overall response rate of 85% and enabled the collection of school leaders’ perceptions of their time use as they worked in multiple locations over an extended period of time. Finally, we have proposed a research agenda to study rigorously the time use of school leaders.