Inhibitory Control Training for Anxiety and Math Achievement in Primary School Children: Protocol for a Proof-of-Concept Study.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive control training (CCT) has shown potential to reduce emotional vulnerability in adults and adolescents. However, there is scant literature testing the efficacy of CCT for the reduction of anxiety and transferring the effects to educational outcomes in children. Building on the evidence that a greater ability to suppress a prepotent response (inhibitory control) is associated with higher math achievement in children, it is plausible that training inhibitory processes using a CCT paradigm may be beneficial for reducing anxiety, improving inhibitory control, and in turn increasing math achievement. OBJECTIVE: This proof-of-concept study aims to investigate the efficacy of 15 sessions of inhibitory control training for reduction in anxiety and improvement in math achievement in primary school children. METHODS: We will use a 2 (group: CCT, adaptive Go/No-Go vs active control, low-load task) multiplied by 4 (time: pre- vs posttraining vs 1-month vs 3-month follow-up) randomized design in a nonselected sample of 100 children aged 8-10 years. Both groups will complete 10 minutes of daily training for 3 weeks at school. The dependent variables will be anxiety and correlates (Spence Children's Anxiety Scale, Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children, Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale, Child Response Style Questionnaire, and Modified Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale), inhibitory control (Go/No-Go task), shifting (color-shape shifting task), updating (n-back task), and math achievement (Applied Problems, Calculation, and Math Facts Fluency subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement). RESULTS: We opened enrollment in September 2023. The initial results are expected to be published in late 2024. We predict that children in the CCT group will show a reduction in emotional symptoms; improvements in inhibition, shifting, and updating performance; and advances in math achievement from pre- to posttraining, and that these effects will be maintained at 1- and 3-month follow-ups, compared to children in the active control group. CONCLUSIONS: The CCT paradigm used in our study will provide a greater understanding of the emotional and cognitive transfer effects on children and inform future work. Specifically, the findings will advance the knowledge of deploying inhibitory control training with children and provide valuable insights into its use for reducing anxiety and advancing math achievement. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Open Science Framework ofs.io/de2qa; https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/DE2QA. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/52929.

Australasian genetic counselors' attitudes toward disability and prenatal testing: Findings from a cross-sectional survey.

Diagnostic genetic testing and non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for conditions associated with disability are becoming increasingly available to consumers. This genetic information can be used in the disability setting to inform factors such as prognosis, management, and reproductive decision-making. Genetic counselors (GCs) play an important role in the provision of genetic testing and NIPT, and their attitudes toward disability can influence how genetic information is communicated and shape patients' responses. This study aimed to evaluate and describe Australasian GCs' experience with and attitudes toward disabilities to identify potential biases and training needs. A cross-sectional survey was distributed to 400 GCs registered with the Human Genetics Society of Australasia. Of the 106 respondents (participation rate: 26%), a significantly greater proportion were more comfortable interacting with individuals with physical disability as compared to intellectual disability (p < 0.001). GCs with personal experiences with disabilities reported significantly greater comfort interacting with people with intellectual disability than those without experience (p = 0.012). Qualitative analysis revealed discomfort was less reflective of bias than inexperience and apprehension about communicating disrespectfully. GCs believed people with disabilities experience discrimination and that having a disability could make a person stronger, wiser, and more motivated. Most GCs viewed prenatal testing for disabilities positively as it allowed for decisions regarding continuing the pregnancy and/or provided opportunity to prepare. Challenges identified for prenatal counseling included negative societal attitudes and the low visibility of disability. GCs felt that 'personal beliefs' was the primary factor influencing the decision to terminate a pregnancy affected by disability. These findings highlight important education and training needs for GCs to improve preparedness and comfort when communicating with people with a disability.

Task difficulty and private speech in typically developing and at-risk preschool children.

Private speech is a cognitive tool to guide thinking and behavior, yet its regulatory use in atypical development remains equivocal. This study investigated the influence of task difficulty on private speech in preschool children with attention or language difficulties. Measures of private speech use, form and content were obtained while 52 typically developing and 25 developmentally at-risk three- to four-year-old children completed Duplo construction and card sort tasks, each comprising two levels of challenge. In line with previous research, developmentally at-risk children used less internalized private speech than typically developing peers. However, both typically developing and at-risk children demonstrated a similar regulatory private speech response to difficulty with no systematic evidence of group difference. This was captured by an increase in all utterances, reduced private speech internalization, and more frequent forethought and self-reflective content. Results support the hypothesis of delayed private speech internalization but not regulatory deviance in atypical development.

Neural activation during emotional interference corresponds to emotion dysregulation in stressed teachers.

Teacher stress and burnout has been associated with low job satisfaction, reduced emotional wellbeing, and poor student learning outcomes. Prolonged stress is associated with emotion dysregulation and has thus become a focus of stress interventions. This study examines emotional interference effects in a group of teachers suffering from high stress and to explore how individual differences in cognitive control, emotion dysregulation, and emotion recognition related to patterns of neural activation. Forty-nine teachers suffering moderate-high stress participated in an emotional counting Stroop task while their brain activity was imaged using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants viewed general or teacher specific words of either negative or neutral valence and were required to count the number of words on screen. Behavioural and neuroimaging results suggest that teachers are able to control emotional responses to negative stimuli, as no evidence of emotional interference was detected. However, patterns of neural activation revealed early shared engagement of regions involved in cognitive reappraisal during negative task conditions and unique late engagement of the hippocampus only while counting teacher-specific negative words. Further, we identified that greater emotion dysregulation was associated with increased activation of regions involved in cognitive control processes during neutral word trials. Teachers who showed slower emotion recognition performance were also found to have greater activation in regions associated with visual and word processing, specifically during the teacher specific negative word condition of the task. Future research should explore emotion regulation strategy use in teachers and utilise temporally sensitive neuroimaging techniques to further understand these findings.

Adolescents' longitudinal trajectories of mental health and loneliness: The impact of COVID-19 school closures.

INTRODUCTION: Longitudinal research examining the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) school closures on the mental health of adolescents is scarce. Prolonged periods of physical and social isolation because of such restrictions may have impacted heavily on adolescents' mental health and loneliness. METHODS: The current study addresses a major gap by examining the impact of school closures on the mental health and loneliness of 785, 10- to 17-year-old Western Australian adolescents (mean age = 14.1, SD = 1.31), who were surveyed across four time points: twice before COVID-19, once as schools closed, and once post reopening of schools. Pre- and post-COVID-19 changes in mental health and loneliness were compared using linear mixed models. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) assessed temporal associations between loneliness, depression symptoms, and positive mental wellbeing. RESULTS: Compared with pre-COVID-19 symptom levels, there were significant increases in depression symptoms, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and a significant decrease in positive mental wellbeing at different points over time. Symptom change over time differed according to gender and pre-COVID-19 symptom severity. Significant increases in positive attitudes towards being alone and feelings of isolation occurred at different points over time. Gender differences were evident. RI-CLPMs highlighted the predictive significance of friendship quality and having a negative attitude towards being alone over time in relation to depression symptoms. A positive or negative attitude towards being alone was predictive of positive mental wellbeing over time. CONCLUSION: Findings provide evidence that COVID-19-related school closures adversely affected adolescents' mental health and feelings of loneliness.

Teacher stress and burnout in Australia: examining the role of intrapersonal and environmental factors.

Concerns regarding high rates of teacher stress and burnout are present globally. Yet there is limited current data regarding the severity of stress, or the role of intrapersonal and environmental factors in relation to teacher stress and burnout within the Australian context. The present study, conducted over an 18-month period, prior to the COVID pandemic, surveyed 749 Australian teachers to explore their experience of work-related stress and burnout; differences in stress and burnout across different demographic groups within the profession; as well as the contributing role of intrapersonal and environmental factors, particularly, emotion regulation, subjective well-being, and workload. Results showed over half of the sample reported being very or extremely stressed and were considering leaving the profession, with early career teachers, primary teachers, and teachers working in rural and remote areas reporting the highest stress and burnout levels. Conditional process analyses highlighted the importance of emotion regulation, workload and subjective well-being in the development of teacher stress and some forms of burnout. Implications for educational practice are discussed.

Longitudinal trajectories of mental health and loneliness for Australian adolescents with-or-without neurodevelopmental disorders: the impact of COVID-19 school lockdowns.

BACKGROUND: The impact of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic school lockdowns on the mental health problems and feelings of loneliness of adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) is hypothesized to be greater than that of their non-NDD peers. This two and a half year longitudinal study compared changes in the mental health and loneliness of Western Australian adolescents pre-COVID-19 (November 2018 and April 2019), immediately prior to COVID-19 school lockdowns (March 2020), and post schools reopening (July/August 2020). METHODS: An age-and-gender matched sample of 476 adolescents with-or-without NDDs completed online assessments for mental health and loneliness. RESULTS: Adolescents with NDDs reported elevated levels of adverse mental health across all four waves of data collection. These young people experienced little change in mental health problems and feelings of loneliness over time, and any increase during school lockdowns returned to, or fell below pre-COVID-19 levels once schools reopened. In comparison, adolescents without NDDs experienced significant increases from a low baseline in depression symptoms, externalizing symptoms, feelings of isolation, and having a positive attitude to being alone, and evidenced a significant decline in positive mental wellbeing. Quality of friendships were unaffected by COVID-19 school lockdowns for all adolescents regardless of NDD status. Of the adolescents with NDDs, those with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder reported a significant increase in positive mental wellbeing following school lockdowns. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with NDDs emerged relatively unscathed from COVID-19 school lockdowns and the short term impacts associated with these were not maintained over time. These findings should be considered in the context of this study's geographical location and the unpredictability of school lockdowns. Learning to live with school lockdowns into the future may be a critical element for further investigation in the context of interventions.

The Relationship between Mindful Attention Awareness, Perceived Stress and Subjective Wellbeing.

It has been suggested that mindfulness is a predictive factor in self-reported perceived stress. The present study aimed to investigate the link between mindful attention awareness, perceived stress and subjective wellbeing without the presence of a complementary intervention to promote mindfulness-based strategies. METHODS: The online survey participants (N = 257) were university students enrolled in initial teacher training. Self-report measures included the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI). RESULTS: PWI was negatively correlated with PSS (r = -0.550, p = .001), MAAS was negatively correlated with PSS (r = -0.567, p = .001) and positively correlated with PWI (r = 0.336, p = .001). The mean score for PSS (M = 20.61, SD = 6.62) was above the reported norm (14.2). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that higher levels of mindful attention awareness may be associated with lower levels of perceived stress and higher subjective wellbeing levels and lower levels of perceived stress may be associated with higher subjective wellbeing. The findings confirm that pre-service teachers are a demographic that experiences elevated levels of perceived stress regardless of the stage in initial teacher training programs.

Exploring a Complementary Stress Management and Wellbeing Intervention Model for Teachers: Participant Experience.

BACKGROUND: work-related stress can have alarming physiological and psychological health impacts, which may permeate into personal and professional contexts. Teachers need to be supported to develop the skills and strategies to effectively identify how stress manifests and how to use simple, practical techniques to manage and reduce the impact of stress. Complementary interventions (CIs) for educators may provide stress management and assist with supporting wellbeing at the individual level. METHODS: the convergent mixed-methods study included participant reflections, self-report measures for perceived stress, mindful attention awareness, and subjective wellbeing and biological measures (salivary cortisol levels). DATA ANALYSIS: inductive thematic analysis and mixed-methods case study design. RESULTS: the participants shared that they experienced benefits in personal and professional contexts, behavioural changes, increased awareness of the impact of stress, and a decrease in the stress response. The participant reflections provided contextual information surrounding the self-report and biological measures. The inferences generated were reflected in both datasets. The findings supported the proposed model linking the mechanisms present in the techniques from the system of yoga and the dimensions of wellbeing. CONCLUSIONS: the findings suggest that a CI for educators may provide strategies for supporting wellbeing and assisting with stress management.

A Complementary Intervention to Promote Wellbeing and Stress Management for Early Career Teachers.

The educational climate and culture in our schools present a variety of environmental (contextual) factors that influence teacher wellbeing, job satisfaction, and work-related stress. The magnitude of contextual factors cannot be ignored, and directing attention towards the environment teachers face daily is essential. Primary (organisational)-level interventions are documented in organisational health and wellbeing literature; however, to provide teachers with stress management strategies for promoting wellbeing, attention must also be directed towards secondary (individual)-level interventions. The present study addressed the issue of stress management techniques for early career teachers (n = 24) and aimed to contribute to the research surrounding complementary interventions (CIs) for educators. The intervention was designed to include strategies that operated through cognitive and physiological mechanisms that regulated the stress response and increased awareness of behaviours, emotions, and reactivity. The self-report measures included perceived stress, attention awareness, subjective wellbeing, burnout, and job-related affective wellbeing. The results indicated a statistically significant decrease in perceived stress and increases in attention awareness and subjective wellbeing. The salivary cortisol levels (waking and resting) decreased from baseline to week 6, and the pre- and post-session salivary cortisol levels indicated an immediate decrease in cortisol for weeks 4 to 6.

The Downstream Effects of Teacher Well-Being Programs: Improvements in Teachers' Stress, Cognition and Well-Being Benefit Their Students.

Quality interventions addressing the important issue of teacher stress and burnout have shown promising outcomes for participating teachers in terms of decreased distress, improved well-being and increased commitment to their jobs. Less is known however about whether such interventions also benefit students. The present study investigated the downstream effects for a completer sample of 226 primary and high school students after their teachers (n = 17) completed one of two 8-week stress reduction interventions. The relationships between change in teacher self-reported distress and burnout after completing the interventions, and change in students' self-reported well-being, academic self-perceptions, and perceptions of classroom environment were explored. A secondary aim of this study was to assess whether changes in teachers' cognitive flexibility mediated the relationship between teacher and student self-report outcomes. Results of correlational and multi-level mediation analyses showed that changes to teachers' self-reported distress and burnout affected multiple facets of students' well-being and the academic environment. Specifically, reductions in teachers' self-reported distress and burnout were related to students' improved perceptions of their teachers' support in the classroom. Reductions in teachers' personal and work-related burnout correlated with greater increases of academic self-perception in students. Contrary to predictions, cognitive flexibility in teachers did not mediate the relationship between these student and teacher measures. These findings indicate important downstream benefits for students and highlight the broader value of stress-reduction and well-being programs for teachers.

Loneliness in adolescence: a Rasch analysis of the Perth A-loneness scale.

PURPOSE: The psychometric properties of the Perth A-loneness Scale (PALs) have been extensively validated using classical test theory, but to date no studies have applied a Rasch analysis. The purpose of this study was to validate the PALs four subscales, using Rasch analysis. METHODS: Responses from 1484 adolescents (58% female, mean age = 12.8 years), 131 of whom had a diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder, from 10 Western Australian secondary schools were included in the Rasch analysis. Overall fit, individual item fit, local response dependence, dimensionality, operation of response categories, and differential item functioning (DIF) were examined. RESULTS: The Rasch analysis supported the factor structure of the PALs. A reasonable to high reliability was obtained for each of the subscales. Participants did not distinguish consistently between the higher categories 'very often' and 'always' on three of the subscales. No item showed Differential Item Functioning (DIF) for neurodevelopmental disorder status and age. One item on each of the Positive and Negative Attitude to Aloneness subscales showed DIF for gender. CONCLUSION: The results support the interval scale measurement properties of the PALs and provide clinicians and researchers with a measure to assess adolescent loneliness, a construct strongly associated with a constellation of mental health problems.

Trajectories of academic achievement for students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with negative social and occupational outcomes across the life course. However, there has been limited population-based research that quantifies the impact of ADHD on academic achievement and academic trajectories. AIMS: To compare academic performance and academic trajectories of students with ADHD with students without a mental disorder. SAMPLE: Data were drawn from Young Minds Matter, a national population-based sample of 6,310 Australian children and adolescents aged 4-17 years. Using linked achievement test data, the academic performance and trajectories of 327 students with ADHD were compared with those of 3,916 students without a mental disorder. METHODS: Survey data were combined with scores on national standardized tests for literacy and numeracy over an 8-year period. RESULTS: In Year 3, students with ADHD were on average 1 year behind students with no mental disorder in reading and numeracy, and 9 months behind in writing. In Year 9, the gaps were much larger with students with ADHD on average 2.5 years behind in reading, 3 years behind in numeracy, and 4.5 years behind in writing. CONCLUSIONS: Students with ADHD have substantially lower achievement in reading, writing, and numeracy. Writing was the most adversely affected domain. For example, in Year 9 students with ADHD were on average writing at a Year 5 level. Children and adolescents with ADHD need substantial support to manage inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Skilled remediation in literacy and numeracy is required throughout all school years.

Self-directed speech and self-regulation in childhood neurodevelopmental disorders: Current findings and future directions.

Self-directed speech is considered an important developmental achievement as a self-regulatory mediator of thinking and behavior. Atypical self-directed speech is often implicated in the self-regulatory challenges characteristic of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. A growing body of evidence provides snapshots across age-levels and diagnoses, often presenting conflicting results. This systematic review is undertaken to impose clarity on the nature, extent, and self-regulatory implications of self-directed speech interruption in children with developmental language disorder (DLD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).A rigorous search process of relevant databases (i.e., PsychInfo, PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC) uncovered 19 relevant peer-reviewed articles that investigate self-directed speech in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Consistent across the research, children with DLD, ASD, and ADHD present with differential development and use of self-directed speech.In its synthesis of findings, this systematic review clearly explicates the differential ontogenesis of self-directed speech in neurodevelopmental disorders and interprets the self-regulatory implications for children with DLD, ASD, and ADHD. Furthermore, the review spotlights important future research directions to better understand the mechanistic relationship between self-directed speech and self-regulation.

The Adapted Self-Report Delinquency Scale for Adolescents: Validity and Reliability Among Portuguese Youths.

Self-report delinquency scales have contributed greatly to the contemporary basis of our understanding of juvenile delinquency. Nevertheless, they have not been immune to criticism and further improvement and extensive measurement research is still necessary. The present study examined the psychometric properties of one such measure of self-reported delinquency, the Adapted Self-Report Delinquency Scale (ASRDS). The ASRDS was administered to a Portuguese sample of male youths ( N = 470, 12-20 years of age), subdivided into a forensic sample ( n = 217) and a school sample ( n = 253). The Portuguese version of the ASRDS demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties, in terms of its factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, criterion-related validity, and known-groups validity, thereby justifying its use among this population.

Reactive and proactive aggression as meaningful distinctions at the variable and person level in primary school-aged children.

Reactive and proactive aggression is a dichotomous classification of aggression in adults and children. This distinction has been supported by a number of variable-based and factor analytic studies. Due to high inter-correlations, however, the reactive-proactive aggression distinction may not be entirely useful for understanding how group or individual aggressive behavior varies in children and adolescents. Drawing on a sample of primary school-aged children (N = 242) aged 7-12 years, this study sought to determine whether reactive and proactive aggression could be distinguished at the variable-level and the person-level in children. Exploratory Factor Analysis of data from an aggression instrument measuring both functions and forms of aggression, found a two-factor construct of aggression constituted by a reactive and proactive aggression factor. A person-based analysis was then conducted after classifying children according to the presence of reactive and/or proactive aggression. Discriminant function analysis was used to discern whether classifications on the basis of aggression function produced meaningful distinctions in terms of antisocial traits and emotional valence and intensity measures. Two functions were identified which distinguished children with different combinations of reactive and proactive aggression. Reactive-only aggressive children were defined primarily by high levels of impulsivity, while proactive-only children were defined primarily by higher levels of antisocial traits. Children high in both types of aggression exhibited both the presence of antisocial traits and impulsivity. Contrary to recent findings, this suggests that differences in aggression functions remain meaningful at the person level in children. Implications for interventions are discussed.

Peer drug use and adolescent polysubstance use: Do parenting and school factors moderate this association?

AIMS: This study examined the association between peer drug use and adolescent polysubstance use, and investigated if this association was moderated by parenting and/or school factors. METHODS: The sample consisted of 9966 participants (mean age=14.3; 49.34% males) randomly selected from secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. Three 30-day polysubstance use profiles were derived from latent class analysis - no drug use (47.7%), mainly alcohol use (44.1%) and polysubstance use (8.2%). These profiles were then regressed on peer's drug use, family conflict, parental monitoring, parental disapproval of drug use, school commitment, reward for prosocial involvement in school and academic failure, and the interactions between peer's drug use and each of the parenting and school variables. RESULTS: Relative to non-users, peer's drug use was strongly associated with polysubstance use (OR=30.91, p<0.001), and this association was moderated by parental disapproval of drug use (OR=0.46, p<0.001). This indicated that high level of parental disapproval may mitigate the negative influence of drug using peers. School commitment and parental monitoring were significantly associated with reduced likelihood of polysubstance use (p<0.05), but they did not moderate the relationship between peer drug use and adolescent polysubstance use. All analyses were adjusted for key demographic factors such as age, gender, areas of residence, birth place and family affluence. CONCLUSION: Reinforcing parent disapproval of drug use may be an important strategy in reducing adolescent substance use. Parents may need to be more integrated into mainstream prevention programs.

Conceptualising loneliness in adolescents: development and validation of a self-report instrument.

This paper reports the development and psychometric evaluations of a multidimensional model of loneliness in Australian adolescents. In the first study a new instrument was designed and administered to 1,074 adolescents (ages 10-18 years, M = 13.01). An exploratory factor analysis from data supplied by 694 of these participants yielded a 4-factor structure (friendship, isolation, negative attitude to solitude, and positive attitude to solitude). Competing measurement models were then evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis with data from the remaining 380 participants; strong support was demonstrated for the conceptual model. Significant main effects were evident for geographical location (rural remote/urban), age and sex. In a second study, involving 235 Australian adolescents (ages 10.0-16 years, M = 13.8) the superiority of the first-order model represented by four correlated factors was confirmed. The findings have clinical and practical implications for professional groups represented by child and adolescent psychiatry, pediatric and clinical psychology services, researchers, and educators. Specifically, the new self-report instrument identifies adolescents who are at risk of loneliness and its associated adverse outcomes and in doing has the potential to offer new insights into prevention and intervention.

The multidimensional anxiety scale for children: a further validation with Australian adolescents with and without ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the factor structure of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) with Australian adolescents with and without ADHD. METHOD: The MASC was administered to 210 high school-aged adolescents (109 males, 101 females), 115 of whom were clinically diagnosed as ADHD (86 males, 29 females). The remaining 95 were non-ADHD community comparisons. RESULTS: Analyses supported a three-factor model, with a reduced item pool, which combined the Harm Avoidance and Separation Anxiety scales together. This model was invariant across younger and older participants, and across boys and girls. The model was largely invariant across ADHD and non-ADHD groups. The ADHD group had significantly higher Physical Symptom factor scores than the non-ADHD group. CONCLUSION: The MASC is useful for assessing anxiety in adolescents with and without ADHD, but items reflecting the Harm Avoidance and Separation Anxiety scales may need revising.

Goal setting and self-efficacy among delinquent, at-risk and not at-risk adolescents.

Setting clear achievable goals that enhance self-efficacy and reputational status directs the energies of adolescents into socially conforming or non-conforming activities. This present study investigates the characteristics and relationships between goal setting and self-efficacy among a matched sample of 88 delinquent (18 % female), 97 at-risk (20 % female), and 95 not at-risk adolescents (20 % female). Four hypotheses related to this were tested. Findings revealed that delinquent adolescents reported fewest goals, set fewer challenging goals, had a lower commitment to their goals, and reported lower levels of academic and self-regulatory efficacy than those in the at-risk and not at-risk groups. Discriminant function analysis indicated that adolescents who reported high delinquency goals and low educational and interpersonal goals were likely to belong to the delinquent group, while adolescents who reported high educational and interpersonal goals and low delinquency goals were likely to belong to the not at-risk group. The at-risk and not at-risk groups could not be differentiated. A multinomial logistic regression also revealed that adolescents were more likely to belong to the delinquent group if they reported lower self-regulatory efficacy and lower goal commitment. These findings have important implications for the development of prevention and intervention programs, particularly for those on a trajectory to delinquency. Specifically, programs should focus on assisting adolescents to develop clear self-set achievable goals and support them through the process of attaining them, particularly if the trajectory towards delinquency is to be addressed.