Welcome to Issue 27 – 4 of the journal. In the first article Victoria Williamson, Michael Larkin, Tessa Reardon, Tamsin Ford, Susan Spence, Fran Morgan, and Cathy Cresswell discuss primary school-based screening for childhood mental health problems and intervention delivery. This discussion is based on a qualitative study of parents in challenging circumstances. Interviews were carried out with parents of children living in potentially challenging circumstances, including foster and military-connected families. The authors aimed to explore parent perceptions of a school-based screening/intervention programme and potential barriers to uptake. The findings highlight the need for future school-based screening/intervention programmes for child mental health to consider the needs of families of children from varied circumstances, and to ensure steps are taken to promote trust.
In the second article, Caron Lawson, Kate Prentice, Janine Jennings, and Kate Johnston discuss first steps towards a mental health and neurodevelopmental screening of secondary school children following two fixed-term school exclusions in the UK. Their study aimed to assess and explore the feasibility and acceptability of neurodevelopmental and mental health screening of secondary school children with two or more fixed-term exclusions, as well as compare differences in rates to matched controls. This study highlights the range of difficulties experienced by children at risk of exclusion from school and suggests a screening process may help to identify underlying neurodevelopmental and mental health difficulties.
In the next article, Alissa Schuurmann and Naska Goagoses discuss perceived social support and alcohol consumption during adolescence. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between adolescents’ social support, their internalising and externalising behaviour problems, and their alcohol consumption. The authors found negative associations between parent support and both internalising and externalising behaviour problems. Furthermore, social support from classmates was negatively associated with internalising behaviour problems. In turn, internalising behaviour problems were negatively associated with alcohol consumption, and conduct problems were positively associated with alcohol consumption. The findings highlight the continued importance of parental support during adolescence.
In the fourth article, Victoria Feingold and Janet Rowley present a study of stories of exclusion from pupils, caregivers and school professionals. They used a qualitative design and narrative inquiry approach, data was gathered through unstructured interviews. The findings illustrate the emotional impact of permanent exclusion from primary school as well as the wider impact it can have on family life. This research illustrates the complexity of permanent exclusion in how it is experienced through interacting systems and discourses of SEN and inclusion. Implications for schools and professionals within the wider systems are suggested.
In the fifth article, Maha Al-Hendawi discusses a cross-sectional study on the impact of parental educational level and gender differences on emotional and behavioural difficulties in adolescents in Qatar. He assessed emotional and behavioural problems among 533 high school students from the Qatari public government schools. No effect of parental education was observed on EBDs or its subscales, suggesting that in a society with high economic stability parental education may not be an independent factor influencing the EBDs in adolescents. More studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis; however, the findings of the current study will be of great importance in establishing the use of the SDQ as 1 a tool in Qatar for gauging EBDs and prioritising necessary interventions to enhance the academic and social performance of adolescents with emotional and behavioural problems.
In the final paper, Johan Edin considers the identity making of teachers, pupil assistants and the diagnosed pupil. Discourses in the context of segregated special education units. This study aimed to explore how the perceptions held by pupil assistants (PAs) and teachers regarding their professions shaped the identities of PAs and teachers belonging to segregated special education units (SEUs), as well as pupils with neurodevelopmental diagnoses (NDs). Two overarching discourses emerged in which the PAs presented themselves as spokespersons of the pupils’ thoughts and feelings, which created an identity of the diagnosed pupils as less capable and the PAs as caretakers. The teachers represented a view less affected by NDs; the pupils were identified as individuals capable of learning. The results illustrated the importance of member resources as an explanatory factor in the creation of discourses and identity making of occupational groups and pupils with NDs.