This special issue has as its focus the promotion of mental health and wellbeing in children and adolescents. It is also noteworthy that all lead authors are early career researchers.

Anxiety disorders in older children and adolescents have long been acknowledged as impairing, persistent and predictive of future anxiety and mood-related disorders. Until recently, however, anxiety in preschoolers and younger children has been regarded as relatively uncommon and within normal developmental parameters. Increasing evidence is suggestive that symptoms of anxiety in preschoolers parallel those in older children (Hirshfeld-Becker, Micco, Mazirsky, Bruett, & Henin, 2011) with this under-investigated area attracting increasing interest from researchers and clinicians alike. The present review summarises the empirical literature on early intervention and prevention programs for anxiety in young children (aged 3–7 years) with a specific focus on the application of such programs in the school context and implications for guidance counsellors, an improved understanding of which is critical for informing effective intervention. The studies reviewed demonstrate promising outcomes for anxiety; however, there is still a significant amount of work to be done in terms of our understanding of developmentally appropriate, family-focused and child-led models of anxiety and early intervention and prevention protocols.

The transition period from primary to secondary school is a critical time in adolescent development. The high prevalence of adolescent mental health problems makes understanding the causal pathways between peer victimisation and internalising symptoms an important priority during this time. This article utilises data collected from self-completion questionnaires four times over 3 years from 3,459 students’ aged 11–14 to examine directional relationships among adolescents as they transition from primary to secondary school, and investigates gender differences in these associations. The findings suggest depression in males is both a precedent and antecedent for victimisation over the transition period, whereas for females depression is an antecedent only. Anxiety is a both a precedent and antecedent for victimisation for males and females. To maintain emotional wellbeing and prevent peer victimisation, interventions prior to and during this transition period are critical, especially among adolescents experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Adolescent development involves a complex interplay between genetics, biology, and social and emotional relationships within multiple contexts of home, school and the broader community. The transition from primary to secondary school, coupled with the onset of puberty, can therefore be a difficult period for young people to negotiate at a critical period of their developmental pathway. Using a social ecological perspective, this article examines the impact of the transition experience on adolescent social and emotional health, both immediately following transition to secondary school and at the end of the first year in this new school environment. This 1-year prospective study involving 1,500 Australian Grade 8 secondary school students found that 31% of students in the sample experienced a ‘difficult’ or ‘somewhat difficult’ transition to their new school. This third of the student sample were consequently more likely to experience poorer social and emotional health, including higher levels of depression and anxiety at the end of their first year of secondary school, while controlling for these variables at the time of transition. A central message from this work exemplifies the urgent need for a longitudinal intervention trial to develop best practice guidelines for activities that help ameliorate the negative impact a change in education context can create for adolescents negotiating a rapid metamorphosis from childhood to adulthood.

Covert bullying behaviours are at least as distressing for young people as overt forms of bullying, but often remain unnoticed or unacknowledged by adults. This invisibility is increased in schools by inattention to covert bullying in policy and practice, and limited staff understanding and skill to address covert behaviours. These factors can lead to a school culture that appears to tolerate and thus inadvertently encourages covert bullying. This study explores these dynamics in Australian primary and secondary schools, including the attitudes of over 400 staff towards covert bullying, their understanding of covert bullying behaviours, and their perceived capacity to address these behaviours both individually and at a whole-school level. While most respondents felt a responsibility to intervene in bullying situations, nearly 70% strongly agreed with statements that staff need more training to address covert bullying. Only 10% of respondents described their current whole-school strategies as very effective in reducing covert bullying, and fewer than 40% reported their school had a bullying policy that explicitly referred to covert bullying. These results suggest an urgent need for sustainable professional development to enhance school staff understanding, skills and self-efficacy to address covert bullying through school policy and practice, and the need to identify and consolidate effective strategies to better address these behaviours.

School-based health services (SBHS) including pastoral care can play a pivotal role in addressing adolescent health and wellbeing; including their tobacco and other drug use. To maximise the benefits of these services, they need to be accessible, useful for, and acceptable to students. This formative, qualitative study involved 12 focus groups within nine lower socio-economic Western Australian Government secondary schools. The purpose was to identify student (n = 59) perceptions of the availability and usefulness of SBHS (and other identified caring staff) to reduce students’ harm associated with tobacco and other drug use. The findings suggest students were aware of the SBHS available to them, but considered them less useful if staff were regularly unavailable; presented a ‘don't care’ attitude; held solely disciplinary roles; and were based in an area of the school unfamiliar to the student. Services were considered useful when staff members built rapport with students; took time to listen; followed-up with students and displayed a general concern for the student's wellbeing. Interestingly, students acknowledged trusting health teachers more than SBHS staff for tobacco information and support. These findings have important implications for school counsellors and other school health/pastoral care staff who want to increase the likelihood of students approaching and using school support services to reduce harm associated with tobacco and other harmful drug (OHD) use.

Is there a point where parental effort can be too much? While the link between parenting effort and the wellbeing of children has been firmly established, contemporary discussion has proposed that extreme levels of parental protection of and responsiveness to children could be counterproductive. Research has not yet addressed this phenomenon to ascertain if overparenting is a genuinely different type of parenting approach. The purpose of the present study was to gain insight into the parenting actions considered by parenting professionals (psychologists and school guidance counsellors) to be overparenting. One hundred and twenty-eight professionals responded to an online survey about their observations of overparenting, with eighty-six respondents providing lists of the types of actions they believed were behavioural examples of the term. The survey data revealed that certain types of actions were considered to be indicative of overparenting, and that particular beliefs and outcomes may be involved in this parenting approach. Implications for parenting advice and education programs, and further research are discussed.

I am delighted to announce a new section in our journal, The Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, which will encourage and welcome applied practice contributions from colleagues.

A small-scale evaluation of a psycho-educational program on cyberbullying with a group of Year 6 girls was implemented over six sessions, and was subsequently evaluated. Its content included knowledge of cyberbullying and its effects, and management and safety strategies for the participants and their peers. Increases in the girls’ detailed knowledge of cyberbullying and safety strategies followed the program's implementation. Students provided positive evaluations of the program and also suggested some good ideas for a schoolwide policy on cyberbullying. To date there has been minimal intervention research on cyberbullying, and few studies with primary-aged students. The present study redresses this imbalance.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers school counsellors a practical and meaningful approach to helping students deal with a range of issues. This is achieved through encouraging psychological flexibility through the application of six key principles. This article describes our introduction to ACT, ACT's application to children and adolescents, and the creation and use of our ACT-based book for young people I Just Want To Be . . . Me!.