The transition to secondary school can be a period of excitement and apprehension for all children; however increased anxiety surrounding change can make periods of transition challenging for children with an autistic spectrum condition (ASC) and can affect their ability to adapt to the new social and physical environment. This study explored the experiences of eight children with ASC during the transition to secondary school. Children were interviewed towards the end of the summer term at primary school and during the first term at secondary school. Children’s drawings and models were used to facilitate the interview process and as a focus for discussion. Findings suggest that some of the aspects of transition experienced by children with ASC are common to all children moving from primary to secondary school, such as familiarisation with the school environment, social relationships, fear of bullying, looking forward to new subjects and people, and new opportunities. However, some of the children in this study experienced heightened anxiety, particularly pre-transition when they were uncertain what to expect, how other children would react to them, who they should make friends with and what they would do if they had difficulty managing their emotions. Induction visits successfully addressed some of these issues however most children still experienced uncertainty about some aspects of secondary school. In contrast, familiarity with the new environment and a greater degree of predictability about the structure of the school day in addition to knowing school staff and making new friends contributed to children’s positive emotions about school. There were some aspects of transition that children felt could be improved such as preparation, peer support, preventative support from teachers and the opportunity to talk about transition and social and emotional issues. Findings emphasise the importance of adequate preparation and individualised planning involving children in the process.

The emergence of social media tools and the enthusiasm by which young people have embraced theses tools as one of their primary modes of interaction is well documented in many current studies. The over-arching focus of this study considers what impacts if any the influence of social media is having on the behaviour of young people. Drawing on findings and insights gained through the delivery of the HUWY project, this study of the attitudes and perceptions of young people was grounded in an in-depth and critical review of academic and practice based literature. Following from this and guided by it, the primary research consisted of a series of seven focus groups working with young people aged between fourteen and sixteen years of age. The study was conducted in a variety of urban and rural locations across Ireland. An approach incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data was used in order to analyse the results. Core themes of Internet Use, Behaviour and Online Risk where used throughout the study and were framed by including social identity theory. The findings indicate that the use of social media tools have both positive and negative impacts on the social behaviour of young people. There is a need for a deeper understanding of the impacts of social media usage on the behaviour of young people and a more nuanced and multi-faceted response by youth work professionals. The study concludes by identifying some of the challenges that face young people, parents and professionals with regard to the increasing popularity of on line tools and in doing so there is a need to foreground the voices of young people.

This small scale study was informed by Symbolic Interactionism and Interpretivist Analysis and was carried out in a county within the south of England, referred to as ‘Southshire’. File searches and questionnaires were employed to gather contextual data. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather participant views and thematic analysis was used to analyse these interviews. This was a two part study consisting of two papers. The participants in Paper one of the study were young people with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) and their parents or carers. Paper one focussed on the participants’ views and experiences of mainstream and special education after they had experienced both. The views of the special school keyworker were also sought in order to improve understanding of the support and barriers that exist for young people and families. Views were elicited through individual semi-structured interviews which were analysed qualitatively using a thematic analysis approach (Braun and Clarke 2006). To gain contextual information within the county and to help in the process of selecting participants, the files of fifty young people identified as experiencing BESD were searched and analysed and relevant information was recorded. Paper two focussed on practitioners’ experiences of supporting young people with BESD. An electronic questionnaire was sent to practitioners from a wide range of agencies and collected qualitative and quantitative data which informed the researcher of the local context and gave insights into practitioner views. Five practitioners were invited to take part in individual semi-structured interviews to explore their views on supporting young people with BESD. Interviews were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Findings from papers one and two were assimilated and the implications for Educational Psychology practice were considered. The following research aims were addressed: 1. To improve our understanding of the support and barriers experienced by children and young people with BESD in a Local Authority 2. To develop a better understanding of how Educational Psychologists can support children and young people experiencing BESD, their parents, carers and other practitioners. Summary of findings The key finding within Paper 1 was that both the young people and parents/carers reported experiences that were contrary to the intentions of current inclusion policy. Broadly, negative experiences were reported at mainstream school and positive experiences were reported while at special school for BESD. Participants felt that they had been treated negatively by mainstream practitioners in particular and that young people had been denied access to the curriculum and activities within mainstream school. Additionally the young people had experienced bullying at mainstream school and the bullying had been ignored or the young people themselves had been perceived as the bully despite being the victim. Perceptions of and attitudes towards the ‘unseen’ disability of BESD were also referred to and parents and carers reported feeling isolated while their child was attending mainstream education. The key finding within Paper 2 was that practitioners also reported experiences that were contrary to the intentions of the current inclusion policy. They reported many challenges that are faced by practitioners when trying to include young people with BESD in mainstream schools, and when supporting them within the Local Authority. Participants felt that negative attitudes towards BESD exist within mainstream schools, that working with other agencies to support young people with BESD is difficult, that parental involvement is key, but not always possible and that elements within the government and Local Authority context conflict with the inclusion agenda and with meeting children’s needs. Significance and Contribution Through a design informed by Symbolic Interactionism and Interpretivist Analysis the participants authentic voices have been heard in order to deepen our understanding of their experiences. Previous research has explored the views and experiences of young people, families and practitioners; however this is the first time that they have been considered together sufficiently in order to identify shared views. Additionally, young people, families and keyworkers views were sought at a specific point within the young person’s journey – after they had attended both mainstream school and special school. Furthermore experiences of the transition from mainstream school to special school were considered. The findings within this study suggest that the application of a simple solution (i.e. including young people with BESD in mainstream schools) to a complex problem (the social inclusion of young people with BESD), has had a negative impact. In fact the findings seem to imply that the inclusion of young people with BESD within mainstream schools has actually created the social exclusion that inclusion was designed to alleviate. The evidence for this is present within the findings within this study. In relation to BESD, the medical model has been criticised for individualising the ‘problem’, however if an educational model view of BESD is taken we are led to consider that the education system itself is imperfect. Therefore taking the educational model approach and applying the simple solution of ‘inclusion’ to the very complex problem of social inclusion highlights many areas of difficulty. These areas of difficulty have been outlined in the findings of this study and of previous studies. The identified issues are entrenched within the education system and can only be tackled through an examination of the system itself. The reported experiences of inclusion are more nuanced than the powerful message my data suggests, therefore it is essential to note that this study is not simply suggesting that inclusion is ‘negative’ or ‘bad’ and that special school is ‘positive’ or ‘good’ – a much more complex picture has been presented. The complexities that have been highlighted within this study have also been considered alongside the role of the Educational Psychologist and how they can facilitate inclusion and essentially social inclusion through their work with young people, families and practitioners. As a result of the findings, it has been suggested that further research should focus on examining the education system and in particular the dichotomy between the inclusion agenda and results centred teaching and the specialist provision for BESD that exists since the implementation of the inclusion agenda and whether it is meeting the needs of young people. Further research may also focus on whether the case presented for young people with BESD in this study is similar for young people with other types of SEN. This further research on how inclusion policy translates into practice will be particularly pertinent as new government policies and agendas unfold.

Depression is a complex mental health disorder, predicted to be the highest global burden of disease by 2030. Research has examined the antecedents of adolescent depression in order to limit and prevent depression from occurring. However, depression during this phase of development is multifactorial and variability in depression is characterised by important features such as the age of onset, chronicity and severity. Identifying these features, and how depressive mood changes across time along with potential risk factors may aid in our understanding of the nature of adolescent depression and help develop new interventions and treatments.

This thesis uses longitudinal methods to explore the nature of trajectories of depressive symptoms and examine how genetic and early environmental risk factors contribute to trajectories of depressive symptoms across adolescence and young adulthood in a UK population based cohort, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Using group-based and multilevel frameworks, trajectories of depressive symptoms are estimated across adolescence and then various risk factors are explored to investigate how these trajectories change across time.

Genetic risk for depression, childhood bullying, female sex and

childhood trauma are all associated with less favourable trajectories of depressive symptoms. Importantly, several risk factors are associated with changes in depression across time, and not just at certain stages of development. This implies they have lasting effects and that it may be possible to identify when particular risk factors are having their greatest effect on later depression.

This work provides further evidence that depressive symptoms

across adolescence to young adulthood are complex and associated with both genetic and environmental contributions. Examining depressive symptoms across time within a longitudinal framework provides a powerful opportunity to examine the nature of depression in more detail than in previous research.

Research into student bullying in Higher Education (HE) has been limited and most is based on childhood bullying research. Bullying in HE could disrupt student mental health and wellbeing at university – a topic that has recently gained traction. Additionally, marginalised student groups may be more at risk (e.g., LGB+). Focus groups were used to explore students’ conceptualisations of bullying and identify differences between childhood and emerging adulthood (EA) bullying behaviour. Themes identified were power imbalances; tactics of HE bullying; bullying for personal or social gain, and; justifications and minimisations for not intervening (bystander intervention). Examples of bullying behaviour from this first study supplemented the childhood and adult bullying literature to create a new HE bullying scale. The scale was tested on two samples to identify the factor structure (N = 243, N =304). The third survey study (N = 441) adopted a correlational design using the developed scale alongside measures of wellbeing, childhood victimisation, and potential mediator variables, such as university belongingness, social connectedness, and Internal Working Models (IWMs). Group differences were found on victimisation, IWMs, social connectedness, and university belonging, especially for SES and sexual orientation, evidencing the disadvantages that minority groups may suffer within HE. Regression-based path-analyses found that IWMs, university bullying, social connectedness, and university belonging mediated the links between childhood victimisation and current wellbeing. Finally, UK university anti-bullying policies were examined. Policy length and quality varied between universities and a review of content is recommended based on the earlier study findings. This research has produced a new university bullying scale and has also explored mechanisms through which childhood victimisation may have negative effects on current HE student wellbeing. The importance of self- and other- beliefs as well as the social context (e.g. belonging) is stressed.

Bullying in schools is a widespread problem, attracting a great deal of interest and publicity in recent years. The negative impacts of bullying can have consequences for not just the victims, but also for the school, perpetrators and wider community members. Such consequences can be experienced instantaneously and/or at a subsequent time, often in later life. In recent years bullying has unquestionably moved into the spotlight as researchers and governments have investigated the phenomenon in greater depth. However, according to the NSPCC, it remains the top problem for children aged 11 and under contacting them and was the single biggest reason for boys calling CHILDLINE in 2015/16 (NSPCC, 2016). Bullying in primary school is, thus, of critical concern to educational policy makers and school leaders alike. Research would suggest that some schools experience more bullying incidents than others and that schools vary widely in both their approaches to and successes in dealing with the issue. Initiatives and approaches to bullying enter schools that serve particular communities, with particular experiences, individuals and histories, making them site specific. They are mediated by the practices of school leaders and are executed by staff with diverse levels of confidence, commitment and capacity. There is, thus, always variation in the ways in which practices are taken up. Even where schools profess to enact the same
approaches they often meet with widely ranging outcomes for anti-bullying, as was evidenced through this investigation. This research, therefore, set out to understand what it is that more successful schools do in initiating and managing anti-bullying practices. It investigates the less frequently examined area of the effects of head teacher practices on the success of anti-bullying cultures. Set in the contexts of five diverse primary school settings, this thesis scrutinizes the approaches of head teachers as they facilitate and cultivate practices that enable or constrain anti-bullying cultures. It utilizes a mixed methods approach, where questionnaires, observations and semi-structured interviews and focus groups enable the voices and experiences of school community members to be heard. To facilitate this the methodological approach began as one that combined the lenses of Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model (1979) and Lave and Wenger’s Communities of Practice (1991). However, it evolved to look beyond the latter and to incorporate the work of Kemmis and Grootenboer’s Practice
Architectures which champions a dual purpose of education: to help people live well in a world worth living in (Kemmis and Gootenboer, 2008), suggesting a social justice approach to this research. This is an aspect that, until recently, was generally omitted in the discourses surrounding the nature, efficiency and sustainability of developing anti-bullying cultures’ in primary schools. I show that, in successful anti-bullying schools, although policy and targeted intervention are vital for providing focus and understanding, there is a culture of
respect, care and collaboration that pervades the sayings, doings and relatings at every level. I argue that head teachers, in shaping the cultures of their schools, are fundamental to these aspects as they maneuver the inter-subjective spaces of practice architectures (Kemmis and Gootenboer, 2008). This research reinforces the need for head teachers to build upon existing practices, taking account of the histories and social and political actualities of their schools. It suggests that, taking account of these, the perceptions of players within the field
may be as important as the actuality of situated practices as they unfold.