Development of individual psychosocial competence in a high school setting

The development of the competent self in adolescence, the interrelationship of psychotherapeutic and psychoeducational change, and the role of the high school counselor as a mental health gatekeeper were explored in a pre-post experimental-control design study of group counseling. 147 exemplary ("getting their lives together well and handling school well") and marginal ("having trouble getting their lives together and managing school") high school students participated. Precounseling assessments and patterns of change over the counseling period supported the 1st author's hierarchical competence configuration model of psychosocial functioning, consisting of self-attitudes, world-attitudes, and relevant behavioral attributes. Overall effectiveness of counseling was indicated at multiple levels by significant goal attainment (Kiresuk-Sherman Goal Attainment Scale) and by increased self-efficacy (Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale). The impact of counseling was significantly different for exemplary than for marginal students and for students from different race and sex subgroups. These findings confirm the interrelation of change patterns at behavioral and personality levels, the importance of sociocultural factors in individual psychosocial change patterns, and the potential therapeutic impact of relatively brief psychoeducational-psychotherapeutic interventions. (22 ref)