What do adolescents “do” in their spare time? What activities do they engage in when not at school or in employment? Questions such as these are continually of importance since planning and provision of facilities for the pursuit of leisure activities for individuals of all ages are required. Society must make available resources and expertise for leisure time pursuits for adolescents, ranging from sporting activities to discos, from educational programmes to providing places where teenagers can meet and talk away from home.

Firstly however, two brief definitions are needed – one of “interest” and one of “leisure”. Dusek, Kermis and Monge (1979) define interest as “(being) related to, and may be the end result of, attention toenvironmental events that stimulate curiosity which, in turn, leads to the application of already acquired skills” (p.44). Connell, Stroobant, Sinclair, Connell and Rogers (1975) claim that “an interesting person is, basically, an interested person” (p.167), implying that to have a wide education and a wide range of interests enhances one as a person. Clearly therefore, it would be to our (and society's) advantage to make provision for stimulating leisure pursuits and encouraging many different recreational interests in our adolescents. The breadth and depth of action and motivation established before adulthood must then be beneficial to society in the long term.

The conceptual basis for a model of professional learning in educational psychology is presented in this article. The approach is one aimed at an integration and application of theories of knowledge management with educational and organisational psychology in a pragmatic research methodology underpinning professional learning. The model focuses upon the idea of praxis and the working ideal of a ‘thinking practitioner’. This is in turn applied to the development of individual differences theory as part of a critical revision problematising theory associated with researching style differences in cognition, learning and management. A need for critical revisionism, new directions in researching style differences and professional education is identified as part of an example illustrating a way to establish valid epistemic change and paradigm shift necessary for this development. The argument underpinning this approach, finally, concludes that the future is very much part of the past, as a knowledge source for informing contemporary professional learning thereby ensuring practice is not stuck in the present.

Introduced initially in relation to drug policy, ‘zero tolerance’ has become a catchphrase to describe attitudes and policies relating to drug use, violence and a range of antisocial behaviours. It has been used particularly within schools in the United States as a disciplinary policy since the 1980s. While broadly ascribed, zero tolerance is designed to send a message that targeted behaviours are not tolerated and will be punished. Zero tolerance assumes that swift and uncompromising action aimed at punishing the offender will result in ‘sending a strong message’ to other would-be offenders and deter others from similar antisocial behaviours. However, thirty years of research has shown zero tolerance policies to have failed the individual and the community, resulting instead in increased rates of misbehaviour and early referral to the juvenile and criminal justice systems. This has the potential to negatively impact on the person's mental health and future outcomes.

Children with chronic illness often experience difficulties at school, yet little is known about the impact of the child's illness on siblings’ school experiences. This study investigated parents’ perceptions of siblings’ school experiences and school support. We conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with 27 parents of children with a chronic illness who had a sibling or siblings (4–25 years), representing the experiences of 31 siblings. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed using content analysis. Parents believed that 14 of 31 (45.2%) siblings had school difficulties related to the ill child, such as increased anxiety or stress at school, lack of attention from teachers, and changes in behaviour as a result of increased carer responsibilities. Parents identified increased absenteeism due to the ill child's hospitalisation and the impact of parent absences on sibling school functioning. Parents described general and psychological support from the school, and the importance of monitoring the sibling at school and focusing on their unique needs. Overall, our findings suggest the need for a school-based sibling support model that combines psycho-education for siblings and school personnel, individualised sibling psychological support, and shared school and parent responsibility in normalising the sibling experience and providing consistent support.

The present research investigated the relationship between extra-curricular involvement (ECI) and self-regulated behaviours in 8 to 9 year old children, and identified sex, location, and socio-economic status (SES) differences in their ECI and self-regulatory behaviours. 550 children from 44 schools in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia completed the Child Self-Regulatory Process Inventory and questions about their ECI. Nearly 90% of students were involved in at least one extra-curricular activity with the mean number of activities being 1.27. Girls and urban children were significantly more involved in school-based extra-curricular activities than their male and rural counterparts; there were no significant differences among SES groups. Urban children and children in the high SES group reported significantly greater involvement for non-school based activities. For the three self-regulation strategies, girls scored significantly higher than boys. Moreover, children in the high ECI group reported significantly greater use of self-regulation strategies than children in the low ECI group and were more efficacious-persistent than children in both the low and medium ECI groups. implications of findings are discussed in light of the need for quality extra-curricular programs, especially in terms of emotional climate and self-directed activities.

Providers of alternative educational programs for adolescents who are not coping with mainstream secondary education have relied historically on behavioural and cognitive theories for intervention rationales. However, psychologists are increasingly turning to the motivational role of the self-system, particularly to the developmental and multidimensional construct of self-perception, for theoretical guidelines to educational practice. Self-verification, self-complexity, and self-handicapping are three theoretical constructs within a social psychological perspective that help to explain non-compliant and unusual adolescent behaviour and provide direction to service providers for its management.

This paper briefly describes four essential elements of interviews involving children, where the primary goal is to obtain detailed and accurate information about an event (e.g., an alleged incident of sexual abuse). These elements include (a) the establishment of a good rapport with the child, (b) a clear description of the purpose and ground-rules of the interview, (c) objectivity and open-mindness, and (d) effective questioning skills. A rationale for the importance of each of these elements and practical recommendations are offered.

The Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III) and Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Fifth Edition (SB5) were administered in a sample of 26 typically developing children (12 males and 14 females) aged 24–42 months. Children completed the assessments in two separate sessions, counterbalanced for order of administration. Scores on the two instruments were not significantly related, with the exception of the SB5 Knowledge score, which was moderately correlated with the Language score on the Bayley-III (r = .41, p = .04). Despite no other significant correlations, for 22 of the 26 children, scores were very consistent across the two instruments. Implications for test selection are discussed.

The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III) is a standardised assessment used to assess the developmental functioning of infants and young children from 1 month to 42 months of age (Bayley, 2006a). The Bayley scales are recognised internationally as one of the most comprehensive developmental assessment instruments (Sattler & Hoge, 2006) used to examine the major facets of a young child's development (Bayley, 2006a). The primary purpose of the Bayley-III is to identify children with developmental delay and to provide information for intervention implementation (Bayley, 2006a). The domains of early development covered increased from two to five including cognition, language, motor, social-emotional and adaptive behaviour with the publication of the third edition (Bayley, 2006a). While the original Bayley scales were predominately used by psychologists, publication of later editions led to accredited use, within the Australian and New Zealand context, by developmental paediatricians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech pathologists (Bayley, 1969; Bayley 1992; Pearson Clinical and Talent Assessment, 2009). Although the Bayley-III is more comprehensive and a broader range of professionals now use the scales little is known about the clinical application. The current study aimed to explore the use of the Bayley-III in practice and views on the current US norms. An online survey was conducted and the findings revealed that the majority of respondents were interested in Australian local norms; the predominant age range assessed was the 24- to 42-month-old group and the most common clinical group seen and assessed was children presenting with global developmental delay. While the majority of the respondents used the Bayley-III approximately once a month or more, at least one third used it less often. However anticipated use over the next 12 months indicated a notable increase from 30% currently using it once or twice weekly up to 65%.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between personal responsibility, emotional intelligence and self-esteem in adolescents and young adults and explore the psychometric properties of the Personal Responsibility Questionnaire. One hundred and fifty high school students and 186 university students completed self-report questionnaires examining personal responsibility, emotional intelligence and self-esteem. Results revealed that older students reported higher levels of personal responsibility, emotional intelligence and self-esteem than the Year 11 students. The Personal Responsibility Questionnaire was found to significantly correlate with emotional intelligence and self-esteem suggesting strong construct validity.

After defining psychological processing and providing descriptions of 10 interrelated neuropsychological processes, the author proposes an integrated model for identifying an individual's pattern of psychological processing strengths, weaknesses, and deficits when conducting a specific learning disability (SLD) assessment. The model incorporates approaches from other pattern of strengths and weaknesses (PSW) models, while adding three requirements designed to reduce psychometric concerns about the identification procedures. Details for analysing cross-battery data and recommendations for applying processing deficits to SLD determination are included. In support of the model, the article reviews research that links psychological processing deficits with specific learning disabilities. The article concludes with a brief overview of evidence-based interventions for psychological processing deficits.

In considering specific aspects of the transition from primary school to high school, children's expectations were sought prior to their making the transition. This paper examines the expectations 335 students had of five aspects of high school, elicited by means of a questionnaire. The five aspects were: (a) the high school building; (b) the rules and discipline at high school; (c) the work; (d) the teachers; and (e) the other, older, students. The attitudes and expectations were found to reflect the degree of contact the students had had with the high school, itself dependent on the policy of the high school with respect to induction programs for in-coming students. A call is made for greater liaison between educational institutions, in the form of greater continuity and sequencing of curricula and transition programs in order to allay the expressed anxieties and to dispel any misconceptions.

The quality of the sibling relationship has an important role in the development of psychosocial skills throughout childhood. While the literature suggests that the significance of sibling relationships is heightened when one sibling has a disability, empirical findings about the quality of these relationships are few and inconsistent. The present study aimed to address this gap, by investigating mothers' perspectives about the impact of disability on the quality of the childhood sibling relationship. Forty-one mothers with a child with disability, and 48 with no children with disability completed an online questionnaire that assessed the amount of perceived warmth/closeness and conflict in their children's sibling relationship. It was found that while there were no differences in reported conflict between the two groups, mothers with a child with disability reported significantly lower warmth/closeness in their children's sibling relationship than mothers without a child with disability. Demographic variables such as number of children, gender grouping, target gender, target age and age order did not moderate this result. Mothers overall reported significantly more warmth/closeness for younger rather than older children, and more conflict when the sibling was younger than the target child as opposed to older than them. Clinical implications for intervention are discussed.

Families with neurodevelopmental disorders engage in varied types of therapies to address behavioural, communication and cognitive challenges. Research suggests that consistent therapy adherence predicts positive therapy outcomes. The present study examined therapy adherence in 55 parent-child dyads where all children had been diagnosed with ASD, ADHD, and/or ID. Parents completed questionnaires assessing demographics, therapy type, adherence to child treatment, parental stress, and challenging child behaviour. The researchers proposed a new scale, the Child Therapy Adherence Scale (CTAS), which initial testing supported as a reliable measure of therapy adherence. Significant relationships were found between parental stress, annual household income and therapy adherence, with parental stress being a notably strong predictor of therapy adherence. No significant relationships were observed between child challenging behaviour, single parent status and therapy adherence. These findings have implications for practitioners, in that parent levels of stress and demographic influences may impact capacity to adhere to recommended home practice and interventions for children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

In Australia, compared to the United States and Britain, guidance officers havea relatively undeveloped and insecure professional identity. They are an emerging professional group with an uncertain allegiance to both teaching and psychology. While their role has many shared characteristics with that of their overseas counterparts (school psychologists and educational psychologists), compared to these groups, requirements for postgraduate training are limited and formal registration and certification vary from state to state. Moreover, until recently, there was neither a national professional organization, nor a journal to represent their interests. It is therefore not surprising that, despite considerable criticism of the guidance officer role, there has been little published about its future. While some of the broader issues affecting the profession have been raised recently by Haskell (1984) and Rice (1984), for the most part discussion has focussed on issues like training and certification (e.g., Keats, 1985), testing (e.g., de Lemos, 1985) and counselling (e.g., Frydenberg, Lee & Mckenzie, 1985; McMullen, 1984) in a relatively parochial and uncritical manner.

Different studies indicate that emotions can interfere with the efficacy of inhibitory control. However, understanding this impact requires considering that inhibition is not a unitary construct. Cognitive inhibition is the process responsible for attenuating and resisting the interference of thoughts, representations, and memories that are irrelevant to the task at hand. Due to the relevance of emotional stimuli for survival, different studies have indicated that the performance of cognitive inhibition can vary depending on the context, that is, whether in neutral or emotionally salient contexts. During the interval between 8 and 12 years old, the importance of this skill is rooted in the need for controlling reactions and stimuli that could be disruptive for learning. In this study, 395 children aged 8–12 years performed a 1-back visual task with emotional and neutral stimuli in order to assess cognitive inhibition in contexts with high and low emotional salience. The results support the validity of the task for the evaluation of cognitive inhibition. However, no significant differences were found, depending on the context, as expected. It is emphasised that these results constitute an approach to the problem of emotional content interference in children that considers the multidimensional approach of inhibition.

Learning difficulties affect up to 20 percent of school-aged children. While many children “grow out” of their disability, a significant proportion experience ongoing problems which can hinder academic, social, and emotional development.

Neuropsychological models suggest that these children may suffer from subtle deficits in memory and organizational abilities, which make them vulnerable within a classroom environment. Understanding the specific neuropsychological strengths and weaknesses of children with learning difficulties may provide information regarding the most appropriate form of intervention and the likelihood of its success.

In recent study at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, 160 learning disabled children were evaluated. Findings from the group suggested a high frequency of general health problems as well as mild episodes of central nervous system dysfunction. Neuropsychological data showed that the sample, as a whole, performed within the average range on standardized intellectual measures, but achieved poor results on measures of new learning and executive function. Furthermore, data supported the presence of a number of patterns of learning disability, including linguistic deficit, non-verbal deficit, and information processing deficit. These subtypes are discussed with reference to educational characteristics, and models of intervention are suggested.

A longitudinal study of early emotional development is in progress in Sydney, and preliminary results from the first three years of the study are reported. Antenatal assessment of parental personality, interpersonal relationships, and parental expectations identified different habitual ways of managing negative affect. Thus far, postnatal assessment of a subsample of the infants has differentiated emotion regulation at 4 months and empathy and mother-infant attachment quality at 12 months. Coping styles to manage emotionallly distressing or challenging situations showed individual differerences. Some 4-month-old infants used an immature strategy to cope with the stress of a non-responsive mother in the Still-Face Procedure, withdrawing and engaging in arousal-containing behaviours. At 12 months of age, these infants also tended to respond with immature personal distress reactions to a videotape of a distressed peer and to demonstrate insecure attachment. Assessment of coping behaviour at 30 months in a semistructured play situation aims to determine whether earlier continuity of withdrawal and emotionall containment versus engagement and emotional coping is maintained.

The final session of the Scientific Retreat on ADHD held by the CEDP at The University of Melbourne on September 1, 1995 was a roundtable discussion aimedat arriving at a consensus statement on issues related to ADHD in Australia. Dr Russell Barkley actedas devil's advocate and facilitator. Discussion was lively and wide ranging, but agreement was not always easy to achieve. Discussion topics ranged across its legitimate status as a disorder, its comorbid risks, its genetic and environmental aetiology, its prevalence and associated gender criteria, its multiprofessional diagnosis and psychological and behavioural assessment, treatment efficacy, andimportant Australian issues still to be addressed. Some major areas of agreement between the delegates, emerging trends, and foci of further investigation have been synthesised from a transcript of the final session.