The provision of online career information and guidance is becoming more popular among career counselling practitioners and policy makers targeting the postschool transitions of youth. Internet-based career exploration and guidance systems provide convenience and economy to both individuals confronted with career decision making as well as those assisting them in the process. However, the usefulness of these systems in improving the career uncertainty of young people is under-researched. This article presents the results of a cross-sectional survey conducted with high school students in Years 9–12 (N = 706) from 12 schools in New South Wales, Australia. Analyses reveal that: the majority of students are unaware of the online career guidance services targeted towards them; the personal characteristics, school type, and sector of participants differed between websites recalled; and that there are no significant relations between listed web resources and students’ career certainty. The article concludes with implications for career counselling practitioners and policy makers.

This study utilized the 2x2 achievement goal model (mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, performance-avoidance goals) to explore the relationships between achievement goals and self-reported personal and social responsibility behaviors in high school physical education settings. Two hundred and twenty one Turkish students completed questionnaires assessing their achievement goals, personal and social responsibility behaviors. Results of the one-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant differences among the four achievement goals, F(3, 660) = 137.05, p < .001, η2 = .39. The result also revealed that students were more likely to endorse the mastery-approach goal than three other goals. The simple correlations revealed mastery-approach and performance-approach goals were positively related to students’ self-reported personal (r = .54, p < .001; r = .37, p < .001, respectively) and social responsibility (r = .38, p < .001; r = .22, p < .001, respectively) behaviors. However, hierarchical regression analyses indicated only the mastery-approach goal emerged as the significant positive predictor, b = .52, t(216) = 7.19, p < .001 for personal responsibility behaviors, and b = .41, t(216) = 5.23, p < .001 for social responsibility behaviors. These findings seem to provide convergent evidence that mastery-approach goals are positively related to positive educational outcomes.

During the last few years, entrepreneurship has gained an important role in many economic and social policies, with the consequent growth of entrepreneurial research in many social areas. However, in the Spanish psychometric context, there is not an updated scale including recent contributions to entrepreneurship attitudes literature. The aim of this study is to present and validate a new scale named Escala de Actitudes Emprendedoras para Estudiantes-EAEE, (Entrepreneurial Attitudes Scale for Students, EASS), in two samples of high school and university Spanish students. Data comes from a cross-sectional survey of 524 high school and undergraduate students, from Valencia (Spain). Two confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were estimated, together with reliability and validity evidence of the scale. Results offered evidence of the adequate psychometric properties of the EASS. The CFAs showed overall and analytical adequate fit indexes (χ2 (120) = 163.19 (p < .01), GFI = .906, CFI = .959, SRMR = .044, RMSEA = .040 [CI .022-.054]); reliability indices of the entrepreneurial attitudes were appropriate for most of the entrepreneurial attitudes (α were between .63 and .87 for the different dimensions); and external evidence relating entrepreneurial dimensions to personality traits was similar to in previous studies. The scale could be a useful instrument both for previous diagnosis and effectiveness assessment of programs on entrepreneurship promotion.

While increasing numbers of young high school students engage in part-time work, there is no consensus about its impact on educational outcomes. Indeed, this field has had a dearth of research. This paper presents a review of recent research, primarily from Australia and the United States, although it is acknowledged that there are considerable contextual differences. Suggestions for school counsellors to harness students' experiences to assist in educational and career decision-making are presented.

The vitamin B6 status of high school students and its relationship with dietary intake were investigated in this cross-sectional study by face-to-face interview. A total of 157 healthy students aged 16–18 years (eighty-three boys and seventy-four girls) were randomly recruited from two out of nineteen senior high schools in Tainan, Taiwan. Vitamin B6 intakes were calculated from three 24-h dietary records. Direct and indirect vitamin B6 status indicators were measured in plasma, erythrocytes and urine. The anthropometric data, being similar to those of the first Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (1993–1996), showed the normal growth and development of these students. All students except one girl (28·7 nmol/l) had plasma pyridoxal-5′-phosphate (PLP) levels >35 nmol/l, indicating an adequate vitamin B6 status. The mean dietary vitamin B6 intakes of boys and girls were 1·04 (sd 0·29) and 0·96 (sd 0·27) mg/d, respectively. Vitamin B6 status indicators, including plasma PLP, erythrocyte alanine aminotransferase activity coefficient (EALT-AC), aspartate aminotransferase activity coefficient (EAST-AC) and urinary 4-pyridoxic acid (4-PA), were correlated with vitamin B6 intake. Students with adequate values of plasma PLP (>35 nmol/l), EALT-AC ( < 1·25), EAST-AC ( < 1·8) and urinary 4-PA (>3·0 μmol/d) had median intakes of 1·08 and 1·01 mg/d, respectively, for boys and girls. This study suggests that vitamin B6 requirements for boys and girls aged 16–18 years were approximately 1·1 and 1·0 mg/d, respectively.

This study examined academic stress in female Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) students in terms of somatic symptoms and mood disturbance before, during, and after the midyear examination period and also examined the role of self-efficacy, number of social supports, social support satisfaction, and health behaviours in mediating the effects of stress on symptoms and mood disturbance. It was hypothesised that (a) student would report increased somatic symptoms and mood disturbance during the examination period and that (b) self-efficacy, social support (number and satisfaction), and health behaviours would account for a significant proportion of variance for somatic symptoms and mood disturbance before, during, and after the exam period. The participants were 51 VCE students from a large Catholic girls’secondary college in Melbourne. Four weeks before the exam period, the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, Reported Health Behaviours Checklist, Short Form Social Support Questionnaire, Symptoms Checklist, and Profile of Mood States were administered.The Symptoms Checklist and Profile of Mood States were administered again during the exam week and four weeks after the exam period. Statistical analyses showed that the VCE examination period was associated with significantly increased self-reports of somatic symptoms and mood disturbances that were strongly indicative of high levels of stress. Self-efficacy was found to have a weak role in mediating the stress response during the exam week. Social support did not account for any of the variation in academic stress. Health behaviours accounted for a small but significant proportion of the variance in stress after the exam period. It was concluded that there is a need to study other factors that may attenuate the academic stress response in adolescent secondary school students. The perceptual and cognitive appraisal of academic stressors is suggested as an area that may be worthy of examination.The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the impact that academic stress may have on adolescents’ health during this critical period of development.