Research suggests that the transition to adolescence and secondary school can be challenging and potentially disruptive to adolescent functioning. Large-scale studies on the effectiveness of peer support programs are currently lacking and those that have been conducted are compromised by methodological problems. The primary purpose of this research was to 1/ identify psychometrically sound measurement instruments for use with secondary school students; 2/ test the impact of the peer support program on espoused program outcomes and other aspects of students' psychological well-being and adjustment to the secondary schooling context; 3/ extend previous research by examining the effects of serving as a peer support leader on leadership ability and other psychological constructs; and 4/ identify students' perceptions of the impact, strengths and weaknesses of the program in order to further strengthen peer support intervention design. The findings have important implications for the provision of programs and techniques employed to address students' problems following the transition to adolescence and secondary school. In particular, they suggest that peer support programs have the potential to make a significant contribution to schools' efforts to orchestrate positive outcomes, not only for early adolescents, but also for older students who implement the program / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Research suggests that the transition to adolescence and secondary school can be challenging and potentially disruptive to adolescent functioning. Large-scale studies on the effectiveness of peer support programs are currently lacking and those that have been conducted are compromised by methodological problems. The primary purpose of this research was to 1/ identify psychometrically sound measurement instruments for use with secondary school students; 2/ test the impact of the peer support program on espoused program outcomes and other aspects of students' psychological well-being and adjustment to the secondary schooling context; 3/ extend previous research by examining the effects of serving as a peer support leader on leadership ability and other psychological constructs; and 4/ identify students' perceptions of the impact, strengths and weaknesses of the program in order to further strengthen peer support intervention design. The findings have important implications for the provision of programs and techniques employed to address students' problems following the transition to adolescence and secondary school. In particular, they suggest that peer support programs have the potential to make a significant contribution to schools' efforts to orchestrate positive outcomes, not only for early adolescents, but also for older students who implement the program / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This column is a continuation in a series describing how collaboration among relevant stakeholders (e.g., parents, mental health professionals, community members) can enhance the implementation of effective practices to support children’s learning and development. In the previous column in the series, we described a variety of roles peers can have in the implementation of effective practices for students with and at risk for disabilities and strategies for developing and sustaining peer support programs in schools (Rowe et al., 2022). The purpose of this column is to describe different approaches to promote parent collaboration in the implementation of effective practices while addressing challenges that can undermine a collaborative process.