Schooling and Mental Health: Issues, Research, and Future Directions:a Special Issue of educational Psychologist

This special issue begins with a basic overview of its contents--that the papers presented cover topics such as the conceptualizations of "schooling" and "mental health"; the need to address the integrity (or disintegrity) of intra-psychic processes that eventuate in patterns of more and less adaptive behavior in school settings; the need to define adaptation (or maladaptation) in school settings as a conjoint function of characteristics of children and characteristics of their school context; and the need to discuss the suitability (or inappropriateness) of school contexts in relation to the needs of the child at any given moment in their development. The overall purpose of the special issue is to showcase theory, concepts, and programs of research related to these mental health issues and schools. This issue draws together several different visions of how school policy, school reforms, school environments, and children's experiences in school might relate to their emotional, socio-moral, and behavioral functioning within and across different developmental periods.