Evidence suggests that eating nuts may reduce the risk of CVD. This study was intended to pool the data of all randomised controlled trials (RCT) available to determine if pistachios confer a beneficial effect on anthropometric indices, inflammatory markers, endothelial dysfunction and blood pressure. Without language restriction, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library and Web of Science were searched for articles published from the earliest records to June 2019 investigating the effect of pistachio consumption on inflammation, endothelial dysfunction and hypertension. Mean difference (MD) was pooled using a random effects model. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to evaluate the quality of the studies. The meta-analysis of thirteen RCT with 563 participants indicated that pistachio consumption significantly decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP) (MD: −2·12 mmHg, 95 % CI −3·65, −0·59, P = 0·007), whereas changes in flow-mediated dilation (MD: 0·94 %, 95 % CI −0·99, 2·86, P = 0·813), diastolic blood pressure (MD: 0·32 mmHg, 95 % CI −1·37, 2·02, P = 0·707), C-reactive protein (MD: 0·00 mg/l, 95 % CI −0·21, 0·23, P = 0·942), TNF-α (MD: −0·09 pg/ml, 95 % CI −0·38, 0·20, P = 0·541), body weight (MD: 0·09 kg, 95 % CI −0·38, 0·69, P = 0·697), BMI (MD: 0·07 kg/m2, 95 % CI −0·16, 0·31, P = 0·553) and waist circumference (MD: 0·77 cm, 95 % CI −0·09, 1·64, P = 0·140) were not statistically significant. This systematic review and meta-analysis suggested the efficacy of pistachio consumption to reduce SBP levels. However, further large-scale studies are needed to confirm these results.

The increasing tendency of immigration and forced migration practices around the world has made countries’ populations culturally and linguistically diverse. Australia is considered one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. Consequently, the proportion of school-aged children with different culture and language is also increasing. Thus, school psychologists and guidance counsellors face the challenge of designing fair assessment practices and sound interventions for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) students who experience difficulties with their learning. Although many multicultural countries have extensive research regarding the assessment of learning difficulties in CALD students, Australia lacks this research. This study explored the most common assessment strategies that school psychologists and guidance counsellors usually implement in their assessment of CALD students. These results were then compared to a best practice model from the literature. In order to understand the current practices of school psychologists and counsellors in Australia who have assessed CALD children, a survey was administered to 34 school psychologists and counsellors. It was found that the reported strategies and protocols were very close to the ones proposed by experts, which was an unexpected outcome of this study. Implications for school psychologists and counsellors are discussed.

Adolescents experiencing excessive anxiety are often under-identified in the school context, and consequently under-referred for in-school counselling or other mental health support. This is despite anxiety being the most prevalent mental health condition currently experienced by adolescents. The purpose of this study was to explore secondary teachers’ ability to recognise the need to refer adolescents with excessive anxiety symptoms. One hundred and fourteen secondary school teachers completed a questionnaire with five vignettes describing students experiencing various degrees of anxiety. Statistical analysis of the data involved use of the one-sample Wilcoxon test and Spearman’s rank non-parametric correlation coefficients. Results indicated that teachers recognised the need to refer adolescents with very severe anxiety symptoms. However, they were less likely to correctly identify and refer students with severe, moderate or mild anxiety symptoms. There was no statistically significant difference between male and female teachers’ decision to refer students for school counselling. These findings are an important step forward in understanding how teachers decide whether or not to refer anxious children for support, and in identifying areas for further training and professional development. Implications are discussed for future professional development for secondary school teachers.

Beyond the basic information provided in foundation texts and test manuals, there is a notable scarcity of professional literature addressing complex issues and dilemmas in assessment. At times, psychologists need to make decisions based on their professional experience or personal preferences, and it is possible that some of these decisions are made without adequate justification or reflection. Intern psychologists may be confused by the differing advice they are given by university staff, supervisors and experienced practitioners. Our aim in this project was to identify specific issues in psychoeducational assessment that need clarity, guidance and reflection, not only during postgraduate training, but also across the professional lifespan. Focus groups with educational and developmental psychology interns revealed confusion about aspects of test administration and interpretation, as well as a number of challenging professional issues. The findings have implications for trainers and supervisors, as well as for experienced practitioners.

Well, I am delighted. Someone actually emailed me to say they had read the last editorial!!! AND we have two practitioner papers for the issue with another two in the system. Great news on both counts.

I was trying to think of a different way to start this issue's editorial instead of welcome to this edition. However, considering that most readers skip this section and go straight to the articles which interest them, I didn't give it considerable thought, so welcome to this edition!

Welcome to the second issue of the journal for 2017. In this issue, we again look at the mental health of students, followed by papers on career guidance and counselling in schools.

In this qualitative study, we explored the perspectives of 10 adolescents with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their experiences of bullying. Through individual semistructured interviews, they were asked to describe their understandings and experiences of bullying. Details of their experiences are described as well as the perceived impact on the students and their schooling. Data analysis revealed a number of common experiences including high rates of traditional bullying and more specifically verbal bullying, with fewer incidents of cyberbullying reported. In support of literature in the area, the results of the study indicate that bullying can be a significant inhibitor, which may prevent students with ASD from taking full advantage of their schooling. Listening to and reflecting on the voices and personal stories of adolescent students with ASD is critically important for developing more supportive approaches to their education and needs. The reports of bullying by students on the autism spectrum emphasises the need for more effective interventions and management strategies to be implemented in a whole-school approach as well as targeted strategies to prevent bullying experiences for this particular population of students.

All forms of bullying, physical, verbal, social, and cyber, are prevalent among youth worldwide. An especially vulnerable population for involvement in bullying is students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although there are some studies that have investigated bullying in these students, many of these are beset by methodological issues. We surveyed 104 students with ASD on their bullying experiences in all 4 forms of bullying and examined their roles as victim, perpetrator, and bully-victim, comparing them with a group of typically developing students matched for age and gender. It was found that students with ASD reported significantly more traditional victimisation (physical, verbal, and social) than their typically developing peers. Cyberbullying victimisation was similar for the 2 groups. There were no differences between the groups on traditional bullying perpetration; however, typically developing students reported more cyberbullying perpetration behaviours. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.

Welcome to the first issue of 2017, which happens to mark 10 years of my editorship. I hope you found the special edition last year on developmental disabilities interesting and helpful. This issue is a mixture of topics, again starting with mental health in different populations, then articles looking at counselling in schools and finishing off with three articles on bullying.

Students with developmental disabilities have many challenges with learning and adaptive behaviour, as well as a higher prevalence rate of mental health problems. Although there is a substantial body of evidence for efficacious interventions for enhancing resilience and promoting mental health in typically developing children, very few programs have been modified for use with students with developmental disabilities. In this article we present two interventions (Aussie Optimism and the Resourceful Adolescent Program) that have been rigorously tested with typically developing students and subsequently adapted and evaluated for their effectiveness for students with developmental disabilities. The article highlights the critical importance of using interventions with a robust evidence base, and the important role for school psychologists and counsellors in program selection, implementation, and evaluation.

Welcome to the first edition of the journal for 2016. Unfortunately the special edition on Developmental Disability is delayed and will be published in the next issue. However, there are many interesting papers which I hope you will enjoy reading and be useful for your practice in this edition.

A high level of parental involvement is widely considered to be essential for optimal child and adolescent development and wellbeing, including academic success. However, recent consideration has been given to the idea that extremely high levels of parental involvement (often called ‘overparenting’ or ‘helicopter parenting’) might not be beneficial. This study used a newly created overparenting measure, the Locke Parenting Scale (LPS), to investigate the association of overparenting and children's homework. Eight hundred and sixty-six parents completed online questionnaires about their parenting beliefs and intentions, and their attitudes associated with their child's homework. Parents with higher LPS scores tended to take more personal responsibility for the completion of their child's homework than did other parents, and ascribed greater responsibility for homework completion to their child's teacher. However, increased perceived responsibility by parents and teachers was not accompanied by a commensurate reduction in what they perceived was the child's responsibility. Future research should examine whether extreme parental attitudes and reported behaviours translate to validated changes in actual homework support.

The current study explored the reasons that primary school teachers reported were tipping points for them in deciding whether or not and when to refer a child to the school student support team for excessive anxiety. Twenty teachers in two Queensland primary schools were interviewed. Content analysis of interview transcripts revealed six themes reflecting teachers’ perceived reasons for deciding to refer anxious children: (1) impact on learning; (2) atypical child behaviour; (3) repeated difficulties that do not improve over time; (4) poor response to strategies; (5) teachers’ need for support; and (6) information from parents/carers. Teachers considered different combinations of reasons and had many different tipping points for making a referral. Both teacher- and system-level influences impacted referral decisions. Implications and future research are discussed.