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This chapter focuses on strategies aimed at young people in school, family, and community settings. There has been an improvement in the evidence base over recent years and there is now convincing evidence for family-oriented and classroom management prevention efforts, although this is based on a relatively small number of studies from the USA.

A recent survey conducted by the authors shows that divorce and separation of parents rated highest among the family-based stressors that school social workers reported seeing in their practice. This chapter shows how to conduct an evidence-informed practice (EIP) process, grounded in the best available evidence, for group school-based interventions for children coping with divorce. It also pays close attention to how these interventions can be adapted and applied in a range of school contexts.

This chapter considers the more painful and problematic notions of evidence-informed practice; that is, interventions that have the potential to harm school clients. Specifically, it shows how good intentions, “authority-based practice,” and poor understanding of what makes an intervention potentially harmful, have come together in several situations to create so-called “iatrogenic school-based interventions”.

Characterized by developmentally atypical levels of inattention, activity, and impulsivity, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent disorder affecting 5%-8% of the school-age population. This chapter reviews school-based, psychosocial, or academic interventions for children affected by ADHD. It shows that there are empirically supported strategies for school social workers to use for children affected with ADHD. Most of these strategies would be classified as falling into more intensive and indicated forms of intervention, and this may be appropriate given the nature of the disorder- and child-specific symptom patterning and impairments. There is a need for school social practitioner proficiency in functional behavior assessment, and for a variety of behavioral and contingency management methods.

In a recent survey conducted by the authors, anxiety disorders stood out as one of the most significant mental health problems school social workers face in their practice. This chapter uses an evidence-informed process (EIP) to search for the best available evidence to help students with anxiety disorders in schools. It shows that school social workers, provided they have been trained in basic cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) concepts, have a wealth of empirically supported resources to draw on in designing interventions for their students.

Both national and cross-national estimates indicate that bullying and victimization are fairly prevalent among school-age children and adolescents, with prevalence estimates varying for 3% to 37% for bullies and from 9% to 32% for victimization. Moreover, recent estimates suggest that such rates may have increased since 1999 and subsequently stabilized, with an average estimate of about 10%. Both children who are bullies and children who are victims of bullying show elevated rates of various indicators of psychosocial distress. This chapter evaluates school-based strategies aimed at reducing bullying and bullying-related incidents of victimization.

This chapter advocates for conceptualization of the classroom teacher as a frontline responder for the emotional needs of children affected by war and armed conflict. An efficacy study of a teacher-delivered intervention to strengthen coping and resilience among exposed children is presented. The Feeling Safe program trained enrolled educational staff to administer in the classroom activities aimed to enhance three resilience factors of mobilization of social support, self-efficacy, and self-esteem among children. Program efficacy was assessed among Israeli children aged 15 to 17 exposed to political conflict in a repeated-measures design with intervention (n = 248) versus waiting-list control (n = 246) groups who responded to questionnaires measuring social support, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and psychological symptoms. Findings showed increases among the children in perceptions of school support, self-efficacy, and self-esteem and reductions in distress and depression in the intervention but not in the control group. Findings provide support for the efficacy of post-crisis school-based interventions in which teachers assume the role of frontline responders by serving as agents of clinical practice.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) poses a significant risk to children and adolescents, with estimates of 1 in 200 children suffering from the disorder. School-based practitioners can play a valuable role in identifying, assessing, and treating children with OCD. This chapter discusses cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT), which is the intervention most commonly used to treat OCD, often in conjunction with pharmacotherapy. Though not thoroughly tested in school-based settings, CBT is an effective and useful treatment for school-based practitioners, given the brevity of treatment, flexibility, and transportability across settings and age groups.

This chapter provides a realistic framework for school-based suicide prevention and examines different methods of suicide-lethality assessment and crisis intervention. School social workers and other mental health consultants to schools should consistently consider comprehensive suicide risk assessment strategies, the utility of instruments to assess and reassess students’ status, the amount of time available, prior suicide family history, and the cost and potential outcome of chosen interventions. Application of best practices and systematic approaches such as the seven-stage crisis intervention model will assist social workers by providing a stable framework for addressing crises within a continuously changing care environment.

The reality of substance use among our youth is still very striking. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism identified alcohol as the primary psychoactive substance used by U.S. youth. Inhalant use among 8th graders has shown a dramatic increase. Although illicit drug use seems to have decreased in recent years, prescription drug use and abuse remains high. This chapter focuses one of the most promising substance abuse prevention programs to date, the Life Skills Training (LST) program. This program spans three grades for students, the first of which is intended to provide the foundation materials, and the last two of which are meant as “booster sessions” and are intended to maintain the progress made in the first year. Research has supported the effectiveness of this model, which continues to have positive study outcomes.

Children experiencing separation anxiety display signs of distress when separated from their parents or primary caregivers. Separation anxiety is a normal phase of development typically evident between 10 and 18 months, and symptoms tend to dissipate by the time the child reaches the age of 2 or 3 years. Separation anxiety becomes a disorder when “the expected developmental levels are exceeded, resulting in significant distress and impairment at home, school, and in social contexts.” The detrimental effects of separation anxiety disorder (SAD) are particularly noticeable in schools, given that they form the setting where children are separated from their parents for the longest period of time. As such, school-based practitioners are in the unique position to identify and treat SAD. This chapter briefly reviews the diagnostic criteria and epidemiology of SAD, describes the Coping Cat program — the intervention of choice for this disorder — and discusses how it can be implemented in a school setting.

Gang presence in public schools is a growing issue across the United States. The correlation between gang presence and crime on school grounds is significant. Research suggests that some intervention measures can be successful in working with gang members and decreasing gang-related crime and violence in schools. This chapter reviews several studies that clearly show the need for gang intervention in schools. It introduces an evidence-based program that can be used in schools with middle- and high-school students who are gang members or on the verge of becoming involved with gangs. The chapter presents a step-by-step guide to assessing the need for a gang intervention group, gaining support from school administration and staff, and creating a successful school-based gang intervention program.

Pregnant and parenting adolescents continue to be an at-risk population in schools. With a 60% dropout rate, they are far less likely than their peers to graduate from high school, and they and their children are more likely to live in poverty than parents who delay pregnancy beyond adolescence. Skills-based interventions that include problem-solving and coping skills have been found to be effective in school programs with other adolescent problems, such as drugs and alcohol, school dropout, and antisocial behavior. Such interventions are gaining support as being effective with teen parents. This chapter examines the foundations of a cognitive-behavioral skills-based approach, as well as the compatibility of using a task-centered group for skills-building interventions. It looks at the Taking Charge curriculum, a group intervention for helping adolescent mothers achieve coping and problem-solving skills toward graduating from high school, and becoming more competent parents and self-sufficient adults.

This chapter provides an overview of evidence-based practice methods, for school social workers and other school counselors, in the assessment and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Step-by-step procedures and guidelines for assessment and treatment interventions are discussed. Resources that will assist school social workers with specific intervention procedures and methods are cited. These resources contain in-depth information supported by evidence-based research and intervention methods that are cited in the reference list for this chapter. Some examples and one case scenario that will assist school social workers with the development of a framework for understanding how to develop an intervention plan for school children diagnosed with ADHD are provided.

Nearly all youth are directly or indirectly affected by peer-to-peer sexual harassment or assault. Adolescents are more likely to be victims of sexually aggressive crimes than any other age group, and up to 15% of young women report rape. This chapter summarizes recent literature on effective sexual violence intervention approaches with adolescents and offers strategies for working with youth to address and reduce harassment and assault.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS among adolescents and young adults indicates a great need to reduce sexual risk behaviors among American youth. This chapter discusses evidence-based HIV prevention programs for schools. Most of the effective HIV prevention curricula include educational and skill-building components. Fisher et al's Information—Motivation—Behavioral Skills curriculum is one approach that has resulted in increased condom-use and more positive attitudes about HIV prevention behaviors when administered to teens in a school setting.

This chapter discusses the Obesity Management Program (OMP), a school-based weight loss and behavioral modification program for overweight and obese individuals. The OMP is an individual therapy, and the school-based segment can be modified for groups. This multipronged program focuses on developing a healthy lifestyle that facilitates weight loss. Skills are introduced gradually over a 14-week period and are reinforced at home and school until the child/adolescent is able to practice them without assistance.

School-aged children and adolescents with externalizing disorders are a challenging, yet rewarding, population to help. Many school-based practitioners, teachers, and administrators may be all too familiar with the behaviors associated with a diagnosis of conduct disorder (CD), such as aggressive behavior toward others, using a weapon, setting fire, cruelty to animals or persons, vandalism, lying, truancy, running away, and theft. This chapter discusses effective interventions for children with conduct problems. These include: the Incredible Years (Parents, Teachers, and Children Training series); parent management training; problem-solving skills training; and the Videotape Modeling Parent Program.

This chapter discusses interventions for adolescents with depression. Intervention in the school system for depression could include: primary prevention (for all teens in a particular school); secondary prevention (targeting teens of parents who are depressed, as these teens have a high risk of becoming depressed themselves); or tertiary prevention (targeting teens who test positive when screened for depression). It is highly recommended that the social worker and mental health counselors screen for depression in the school; unlike externalizing problems (aggression, acting-out behaviors) — which are better identified by a teacher or parent — internalizing problems, such as depression, are more accurately reported by the adolescent.

Psychosis is a rare phenomenon among school-aged children but is perhaps the most critical of mental conditions for early identification and intervention. Because of the lack of public awareness about psychosis, in general, and especially in children, school-based practitioners may be the first to be aware of the changes in a child’s behavior that reflect the possibility of psychosis. This chapter focuses on ways to identify childhood psychosis, the various causes of childhood psychosis, medical treatment, and school-based supportive interventions that may assist children and families in managing this potentially life-threatening situation.