An article in Issue #5, 2012 of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry used data (1994–2008) from the National Population Health Survey and from a series of cross-sectional studies (Canadian Community Health Survey) conducted in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007 to determine of the MH of Canadians was improving or declining. Major depression prevalence did not change over time. No changes in the frequency of severe distress were seen. However, there were increases in reported diagnoses of mood disorders and an increasing proportion of the population reported that they were taking antidepressants. The proportion of the population reporting that their life was extremely stressful decreased, but the proportion reporting poor mental health did not change. Conclusions: Measures based on assessment of symptoms showed no evidence of change over time. However, the frequency of diagnosis and treatment appears to be increasing and perceptions of extreme stress are decreasing. These changes probably reflect changes in diagnostic practice, mental health literacy, or willingness to report mental health concerns. However, no direct evidence of changing mental health status was found. Go to: http://publications.cpa-apc.org/browse/documents/564

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Several articles in Issue #1, 2012 of Policy Studies Journal discuss "punctuated equilibrium", a theory of policy-making that fits very well with current ecological, complex, adaptive systems thinking about school health and social development. In previous decades, the “incrementalist” model dominated theories of policymaking. However, the “punctuated equilibrium” model, borrowed from evolutionary biology, has supplanted the incrementalist model. Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) was born of unhappiness with models that emphasized stability, rules, incremental adjustment,whereas change as oftentimes disjoint, episodic, and unpredictable. The incremental model seemed to be a beneficial approach because policymakers were operating within the reasonable range of experience, and incremental adjustments could always be reversed. PET rests solidly on a microfoundation: a model of decision makers based on bounded rationality. Bounded rationality rejects the premise of comprehensive rationality that humans tally up costs and benefits and choose the best course of action. Rather, decisions are channeled by their cognitive and emotional architectures. In particular, decision makers are prisoners to their limited attention spans, and the key governor of the allocation of attention: emotion. Media attention is fundamental to the policy process and policy change in punctuated equilibrium theory. In this literature, media attention is usually conceptualized as fomenting or contributing to shifts in attention, positive feedback, and large-scale policy change. Go to: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/psj.2012.40.issue-1/issuetoc

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An article in Issue #1, 2012 of Education, Citizenship and Social Justice compares the English tradition of active citizenship education with the US tradition of service learning. The two traditions are then compared to highlight the substantial areas of overlap between the two models, sharpen some of the distinctions and consider why there have been limited connections between them in practice. Go to: http://esj.sagepub.com/content/7/1/59.abstract

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A small focus group study found that most parents were unaware that boys could take the vaccine for HPV. Go to: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1363/4403912/abstract

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Several articles describing the interactions between mental health and social development are found in Issue #1, 2012 of the journal Social Development. The articles discuss topics such as temperament, parent influences on internalizing problems, social attachment surrogates, loneliness, relational aggression in middle childhood and more. Go to; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sode.2012.21.issue-2/issuetoc

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An article in the the April 2012 issue of Psychology in Schools presents a fidelity framework for the multi-intervention approach and program called Response to Intervention (used for students with learning disabilities) Go to http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pits.21602/abstract

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Several articles in Issue #1, 2012 of Journal of Research on Adolescence examine the inter-active and mutually reinforcing trajectories of success or failure at school, social adjustments and problems and the local social and economic context. Go to: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jora.2012.22.issue-1/issuetoc

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An article in the January 2012 Issue of Child Abuse & Neglect discusses the prevalence and nature of teacher bullying, abuse & neglect in a study of 1300 students in Cypress. Go to: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213411001803

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The articles in Issue #1, 2012 of Child & Adolescent Clinics of North America are all focused on school mental health, providing insights into the prevention of specific problems as well as discussing comprehensive approaches. Go to: http://www.childpsych.theclinics.com/issues

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An article in Issue #4, 2011 of Critical Public Health demonstrates how a socio-ecological perspective was deployed during an exploratory study into the role of primary school dining halls in improving children's nutrition-related behaviour. This study revealed how policies at local and school levels reflected national objectives with respect to nutritional guidelines, but were also influenced by multiple, competing interests at other socio-ecological levels. These included pupils’ food preferences; organisational objectives such as protecting school meal uptake; and the practices of school meal staff. It is argued that higher level policy interventions may have limited effectiveness if undermined by lack of attention to lower level factors. The use of socio-ecological frameworks as theoretical, methodological and evaluative tools to support a consistent, holistic approach during the design, implementation and evaluation of health improvement policies is recommended. Go to: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09581596.2011.620604

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