A scientific article developed by Rosário Serrão, in collaboration with Pedro Dias, Mhairi Bowe, Ana Andrés and Tyler Renshaw, as part of the International PhD in Applied Psychology at the Faculty of Education and Psychology of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (FEP‑UCP), was recently featured in World*Go*Round of the International School Psychology Association (ISPA), one of the most prestigious international associations in the field of School Psychology.
The article, published in the International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, presents the adaptation and validation for the Portuguese context of the Youth Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Screener (YIEPS), a universal psychological health screening tool designed for students in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education.
For the researcher, this recognition represents a particularly significant milestone in her academic and scientific career. “The recognition by ISPA’s journal is very important to me, as I have a special affection for this association, which has provided me with invaluable learning opportunities and international networks over recent years.”
An approach to “complete psychological health” in school settings
Entitled “Adaptation and Validation of the Youth Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Screener in Portugal: A Unified Psychological Health Screening Tool”, the scientific work aimed primarily to validate a tool that could support the work of school psychologists in identifying vulnerabilities in the psychological health of students in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education.
According to Serrão, the focus was on validating a questionnaire that would allow for an integrated view of psychological health in school contexts. “The main objective was to validate a tool for use by school psychologists as a universal screening instrument for students in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education, focused on psychological health difficulties (i.e. psychological distress), which could complement another screening tool focused, in turn, on indicators of psychological wellbeing,” she explains.
Responding to gaps in the school psychological support system
The adaptation of the Youth Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Screener (YIEPS) for Portugal emerged at a time when school psychology services are increasingly organised according to multi‑tiered systems of support, based on universal screening and data‑informed decision‑making.
At the beginning of her PhD, the researcher identified an important gap in this area, “the lack of a validated tool for our national context that encompassed indicators of ‘complete psychological health’ and met the criteria of a screening instrument (for example: being quick to administer and providing information that can be linked to multi‑tiered interventions).”
This study therefore forms part of an effort to make scientifically validated instruments available for practical use by Portuguese school psychologists.
What makes YIEPS‑Portugal a distinctive tool
YIEPS‑Portugal stands out from other psychological assessment instruments for several practical and scientific reasons. Firstly, it is a free and open‑access tool, available online or upon contact with the researcher. The questionnaire comprises only 16 items, which facilitates its application in school settings. Moreover, it was designed from the outset as a universal screening tool, aligned with multi‑tiered approaches, and assesses simultaneously internalising behaviours (such as anxiety and depressive symptoms) and externalising behaviours, particularly those associated with conduct problems.
Finally, another central feature is that it is a self‑report instrument, allowing direct access to students’ own perspectives on their psychological wellbeing and distress. This characteristic is especially relevant for the identification of internalising behaviours, which tend to be less visible to teachers and other adults in school.
Free access, equity and social justice
The researchers chose to make YIEPS‑Portugal freely available. “We understood that [charging for access] could be limiting for many schools and, consequently, for the psychologists working in them. Free access allows universal availability for any school of any socio‑economic context.”
Identifying those who do not ask for help: a challenge this tool can help to overcome
One of the problems highlighted by Rosário Serrão’s study, and identified in the literature, is the fact that many students at psychological risk are not referred by teachers, particularly those who do not display disruptive behaviours. “The literature shows that students who are most frequently referred are those who present externalising behaviours, whereas those with internalising behaviours are often not referred or detected,” she explains.
Through the universal and timely use of the YIEPS tool, it becomes possible to collect data directly from students regarding their self‑perceived psychological health, helping to reduce the number of young people who may, at times, remain “under the radar” within school support systems, despite being at risk of psychological distress.
A pathway towards the implementation of universal screening in educational contexts
According to the researcher, implementing psychological health screening using the YIEPS tool requires following several specific steps. Among the essential aspects are defining the group of students to be included in an initial screening and clarifying which indicators are intended to be collected.
As Rosário Serrão emphasises, it is crucial to involve the educational community by “defining a communication strategy with the educational community about the process”, and it is equally important to “anticipate how the data will be used”.
In addition, schools should plan in advance the procedures to be adopted in cases identified as high risk, and define and monitor the intervention strategies to be developed at different levels of priority. In this way, universal screening can become a central practice in the promotion of psychological health, enabling more preventive, equitable and sustained action throughout students’ educational pathways, and allowing school‑based supports to be aligned with the specific needs of each context.