Yanchen Zhang

University of Iowa | UI · Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations

As the most common setting where youth access behavioral healthcare, the education sector frequently employs training and follow-up consultation as cornerstone implementation strategies to promote the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). However, these strategies alone are not sufficient to promote desirable implementation (e.g., inte...

Emerging literature has highlighted the importance of discerning general and strategic organizational context (OC) factors (e.g., leadership and climate) and their interaction effect on individual implementation behaviors (e.g., attitudes toward evidence-based practices; EBPs) in youth mental healthcare. This study aimed to examine how leadership a...

The prevalence of externalizing behaviors imposes a far-reaching negative impact on students’ social, behavioral, and academic outcomes, which constitute a public health issue in low-resource and populous developing countries (e.g., China). Compared to the “one-size-fits-all” approach (OSFA; forcing a single evidence-based intervention [EBI] on any...

Existing literature has established the effectiveness of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) for improving school-level student behavioral and academic outcomes. Implementation of SWPBIS in uncontrolled settings is often suboptimal, leading to lackluster outcomes. Researchers have developed and validated several impl...

Background Integrated care involves care provided by a team of professionals, often in non-traditional settings. A common example worldwide is integrated school-based mental health (SBMH), which involves externally employed clinicians providing care at schools. Integrated mental healthcare can improve the accessibility and efficiency of evidence-ba...

The effectiveness of school-based universal prevention programs is frequently diminished due to low-quality implementation. Organizational factors support high-quality implementation because of their broad influence across implementers. Conceptually, implementation leadership (i.e., behaviors that prioritize, reward, and support evidence-based prac...

Brief, school-based mental health interventions hold promise for reducing barriers to mental health support access, a critical endeavor in light of increasing rates of mental health concerns among youth. However, there is no consensus on whether or not brief school-based interventions are effective at reducing mental health concerns or improving we...

Background: Integrated care involves care provided by a team of professionals, often in non-traditional settings. A common example worldwide is integrated school-based mental health (SBMH), which involves externally employed clinicians providing care at schools. Integrated mental healthcare can improve the accessibility and efficiency of evidence-b...

International literature indicates that adolescents' school-specific subjective well-being (SWB) is associated with their academic and social-emotional development. Teachers can be a central source of social influence on adolescents' school-specific SWB, but the cross-level associations between teachers' and students' school-specific SWB remains un...

Brief, school-based mental health interventions hold promise for reducing barriers to mental health support access, a critical endeavor in light of increasing rates of mental health concerns among youth. However, there is no consensus on whether or not brief school-based interventions are effective at reducing mental health concerns or improving we...

Social–emotional learning (SEL), character education, and positive behavior intervention and supports (PBIS) are common approaches to Tier 1 universal social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) supports in schools. There has been emerging evidence supporting the superior effect of integrated prevention that combines approaches to Tier 1 universal SEB...

Although prevalent across schools in the US, the "One-Size-Fits-All" (OSFA) approach to selecting evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for student externalizing behaviors often yields lackluster outcomes, due to the mismatch between the EBI and students' heterogeneous needs. Emerging literature highlighted the promise of the precision approach to in...

Although prevalent across schools in the US, the “One-Size-Fits-All” (OSFA) approach to selecting evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for student externalizing behaviors often yields lackluster outcomes, due to the mismatch between the EBI and students' heterogeneous needs. Emerging literature highlighted the promise of the precision approach to in...

The teacher workforce plays a critical role in delivering universal evidence-based programs and practices (EBPPs) as part of a comprehensive approach to school mental health. Readiness to implement is considered a critical determinant of teachers’ adoption of EBPPs, yet scant attention has been given to this topic. The purpose of this chapter is to...

Existing literature has established the effectiveness of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) for improving school-level student behavioral and academic outcomes. But the real-world implementation of SWPBIS is often inadequate, which leads to lackluster outcomes. Researchers have identified amendable implementer-level...

Existing literature has established the effectiveness of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) for improving school-level student behavioral and academic outcomes. But the real-world implementation of SWPBIS is often inadequate, which leads to lackluster outcomes. Researchers have identified amendable implementer-level...

Minoritized populations have historically been underrepresented within school psychology. Furthermore, school psychology is in the midst of what has been termed the shortages crisis. Previous research suggests that undergraduate psychology students have little knowledge or exposure to school psychology as compared with other branches of professiona...

Abstract The prevalence of externalizing behaviors imposes a far-reaching negative impact on students' social, behavioral, and academic outcomes, which constitute a public health issue in low-resource and populous developing countries (e.g., China). Compared to the "One-Size-Fits-All" approach (OSFA; forcing a single evidence-based intervention (EB...

The prevalence of externalizing behaviors imposes a far-reaching negative impact on students' social, behavioral, and academic outcomes, which constitute a public health issue in low-resource and populous developing countries (e.g., China). Compared to the “One-Size-Fits-All” approach (OSFA; forcing a single evidence-based intervention (EBIs) on an...

As an emerging and important topic in positive psychology across different cultures, subjective wellbeing (SW) for a specific population is embedded in key life/work domains. For instance, teachers’ (TSW) and students’ SW (SSW) are rooted in their school life. International literature in education and psychology supported SW as a dynamic predictor...

Social-emotional learning (SEL), character education, and positive behavior intervention and supports (PBIS) are common approaches to Tier 1 universal social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) supports in schools. There has been emerging evidence supporting the superior effect of integrated prevention that combines approaches to Tier 1 universal SEB...

Background: Training and follow-up consultation alone are proven insufficient to facilitate successful implementation of evidence-based practices and programs (EBPPs) and often lead to languishing outcomes. Theory-informed Pre-Implementation Enhancement Strategies (PIES) bear the potential to amplify the effect of training and consultation on impr...

Background: As the most common setting where youth access behavioral healthcare, the education sector frequently employs training and follow-up consultation as cornerstone implementation strategies to promote the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). However, these strategies alone are not sufficient to promote desired implementation (...

Emerging literature highlighted the importance to discern the general and strategic types of organizational context (OC) factors (e.g., leadership and climate) and explore their interaction effect on individual implementation behaviors (e.g., attitudes toward evidence-based practices; EBPs) in youth mental healthcare. This study aimed to examine th...

Background The education sector is one of the most common and accessible settings for universal prevention programs for youth mental health. But it suffers from suboptimal implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). Although the organizational context (OC) contains crucial implementation factors, successful implementation ultimately resides...

(Reprint link: https://rdcu.be/ceBiH) Treatment integrity is critical to realizing the effects of evidence-based programs and practices (EBPPs) that aim to promote student mental and behavioral health. Across disciplines, time is consistently referenced as one of the most significant barriers to successful implementation outcomes (e.g., treatment...

Background As the most common setting where youth access behavioral health services, the education sector frequently employs training and follow-up consultation as cornerstone implementation strategies to promote the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). However, these strategies alone are not sufficient to promote desired implementati...

School psychology is experiencing a shortages crisis. There is also lack of national data regarding current recruitment practices. Understanding these practices is essential to overcome these personnel shortages. In this national study, 151 school psychology programs within the US and its territories were surveyed. Participants were chosen from a n...

Leadership is integral for successful implementation of evidence-based programs and practices (EBPPs) in schools. However, as research is limited regarding school administrators’ training, knowledge, and perceived barriers related to EBPP implementation, a survey was conducted to examine these areas. The majority of respondents reported (a) limited...

Tired of copy and paste one statistic by another from the text output file of HLM to excel or so? Here is the automated macro to convert the text results into tables. 1. if there is warning banner, click to enable macro 2. ensure there is NOTHING in the word file (delete anything including this tutorial) 3. copy and paste only the text body of the...

(Note: this study has been published here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-021-09412-2) Treatment integrity is critical to realizing the effects of evidence-based programs and practices (EBPPs) that aim to promote student mental and behavioral health. Across disciplines, time is consistently referenced as one of the most significant barriers to suc...

Objective: Despite the surge of publications examining the psychological impacts of COVID-19 in China, little was reported about effective solutions. The gap necessitates a timely literature synthesis. Methods: A rapid scoping review was conducted in major English and Chinese databases, ArXivs, and trial registries. Two researchers independently ex...

Self-regulated learning (SRL) entails a series of processes, such as goal-setting, planning, using strategies, observing, and reflecting, as well as motivational beliefs. SRL is a prominent academic enabler for the diverse students that school psychologists serve including students in general education, special education, and gifted programming. Al...

Child and adolescent exposure to potential trauma experiences is pervasive. Given the prevalence, deleterious mental and physical effects, and economic cost of trauma exposure, child- and family-service systems are adopting trauma-informed approaches, including practices like trauma screening. Although a number of trauma-focused screening and asses...

The purpose of this study was to examine an adaptation of the Consultation Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) and its psychometric properties among Chinese-speaking populations. The participants included 428 undergraduate and graduate-level students from school counseling training programs in Taiwan. We performed exploratory factor analyses to examine the...

Consultation has become increasingly important in the delivery of school-based mental-health services. However, there is a dearth of research about consultant training at the in-service level. Because consultation self-efficacy can predict a practitioner’s actual engagement in consultation practice, this study investigated the development of percei...

Decades of research have produced a wide range of evidence-based programs and practices (EBPs) for use in schools. However, the existence of EBPs alone is insufficient to produce changes in student outcomes, as promoting positive student outcomes depends on successful implementation. Research has identified numerous factors that either enable or ob...

• Little is known about how current special education administration preparation standards are perceived by special education personnel. • This survey examined the perceived importance of the Council for Exceptional Children’s most current standards for special education administration competencies. • Findings suggested that ratings of the importan...

Strong teacher–student relationships have long been considered a foundational aspect of a positive school experience. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effects of the establish–maintain–restore (EMR) method for improving teacher–student relationships and students’ classroom behavior while providing elementary teachers with structured...

Response to intervention (RtI) models have increasingly been adopted to improve outcomes for all students through the delivery of a continuum of supports and making timely responsive instructional decisions based on data. With this increasing popularity, researchers and practitioners have developed several RtI-related assessments, many of which hav...

This program generates macro codes for use in MS Word VBA to automatically highlight user defined keywords (up to 250 in ten colors, customizable and expandable) in all documents in a user-defined folder (e.g. clinical notes, reports, intakes). There is also optional function to provide summary of the frequency of keywords in all the documents revi...

There is currently a large gap in both research and practice between student identification practices for those at-risk (i.e., universal screening, teacher referral, or extant data as early identification methods) and the selection of appropriate Tier 2 interventions for social, emotional, and behavioral concerns. The purpose of this study was to d...

Child welfare workforce turnover remains a significant problem with dire consequences. Designed to assist in its retention efforts, an agency supported state-wide survey was employed to capture worker feedback and insight into turnover. This article examines the quantitative feedback from a Southern state's frontline child welfare workforce (N = 51...

There is a paucity of selective, Tier 2 interventions that educators can implement for students with internalizing problems as part of their schools' Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports. To fill this void, the authors' purpose was to evaluate the efficacy, acceptability, and integrity of a structured school-based mentoring program, the Courage and Con...

This is a validated instrument. University of Minnesota’s Traumatic Stress Screen for Children and Adolescents (TSSCA) Cite this instrument as follows: Donisch, K., Zhang, Y., Bray, C., & Gewirtz, A.H. (2017). University of Minnesota’s Traumatic Stress Screen for Children and Adolescents (TSSCA). Copyright: Ambit Network, University of Minnesot...

Teacher-student relationships - whether positive or negative - can have a profound impact on students’ academic performance and overall school experience. Despite the abundance of research espousing the importance of improving teacher-student bonds, relatively few studies have explored easily adoptable practices aimed at doing so. This presentation...

Not presented due to financial issue. Paper accepted at ISPA 2016 annual conference - Amsterdam, the Netherlands

The current study represents a preliminary examination of school-level beliefs and attitudes as they relate to the implementation of universal evidence-based practices (EBPs) within a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) targeting student’s social, emotional, and behavioral problems. This study was organized around three primary objectives: (a) as...

Mental health among children and adolescents is a growing national concern and schools have taken center stage in efforts to prevent problems and promote wellness. Although research and policymakers support the integration of mental health services into the schools, there is limited agreement on the ways to package or combine existing supports to a...

Internalizing disorders among youths represent a significant public health concern due to associated risk for future psychopathology, physical health costs, and the likelihood that affected children will experience difficulty transitioning to adult life. Despite the troubling aspects of internalizing disorders, there is a dearth of selective, Tier...