Julia A Bryan | Penn State University (original) (raw)
Papers by Julia A Bryan
The Family Journal
To explore the relationships between complex trauma, family cohesion, family environment, resilie... more To explore the relationships between complex trauma, family cohesion, family environment, resiliency, and depression, the authors employed hierarchical multiple regression and mediation analysis were employed with a sample of 485 young adults. The sample consisted of three groups of participants based on the amount of trauma experienced, those who reported 1–3 trauma experiences, those who reported 3 or more trauma experiences, and those who did not report trauma. Analyses indicated that despite complex trauma experiences, families were still able to cultivate strong family environment and family cohesion, which enhanced resilience in individuals and in turn reduced depression symptoms. Future research, as well as important implications for family counseling with the aim of enhancing family resilience and decreasing depression symptoms, especially as a trauma response, are discussed.
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 2021
This study examined counselors’ openness to discussing issues of race, ethnicity, and culture by ... more This study examined counselors’ openness to discussing issues of race, ethnicity, and culture by setting (e.g., school, clinical mental health, and counselor trainee) using the Broaching Attitudes and Behavior Scale. School counselors and White counselors reported significantly higher mean scores on the Avoidant subscale, a measure of counselors’ perceptions that discussions about race, ethnicity, and culture are unwarranted. Significant main effects resulted for counselor setting. Implications for counseling are addressed.
Journal of Asia Pacific Counseling , 2021
This study identified the socio-demographic factors and level of risk that Asian American (AA) hi... more This study identified the socio-demographic factors and level of risk that Asian American (AA) high school students experienced which shaped their help-seeking behaviors regarding meeting with a school counselor. Using a nationally representative sample of 937 AA high school students, multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that specific socio-demographic factors (e.g., Asian ethnicity, immigration, first generation) and level of risk students experience (e.g., moderate level of risk, high level of risk) were significantly associated with student-counselor contact for academic, social/emotional, and college/career counseling. Implications for school counselors as empowering institutional agents are discussed.
Group Work in Schools, Apr 17, 2024
Psychoeducational groups for students provide unique learning experiences that support the tradit... more Psychoeducational groups for students provide unique learning experiences that support the traditional learning that occurs in school settings. This chapter provides information about psychoeducational groups with a focus on both small group and large group formats, and strategies for enhancing the delivery of classroom or large group guidance. A group model, Achieving Success Every Day (ASE), and strategies for incorporating bibliotherapy into group work are provided to promote students’ academic success. The chapter begins with an operational definition and rationale for psychoeducational groups, enumerates strategies for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of psychoeducational groups, examines issues of diversity in psychoeducational groups, discusses strategies for classroom guidance and management, and describes two models and their application to psychoeducational groups.
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 2023
This study examined the effects of school counseling college-going culture (SCCGC) on Black male ... more This study examined the effects of school counseling college-going culture (SCCGC) on Black male students' college outcomes using a sample from the High School Longitudinal Study, and whether these effects differed for males versus females. Regression analyses revealed that different aspects of SCCGC were more salient for Black males compared to Black females. For example, counselor expectations appeared more important for males and school connectedness for females suggesting the dangers of a one-size-fits-all approach to college going.
Handbook on Caribbean Education , 2021
This chapter focuses on key issues impacting school counseling in Barbados and describes findings... more This chapter focuses on key issues impacting school counseling in Barbados and describes findings that emerged from an ethnographic study of the roles, practices, challenges, and demands of school counselors in Barbados. School counseling was officially implemented in Barbados' secondary schools in 1988, but in the 32 years since, no research studies exist about school counselors, their work or the school counseling profession in Barbados. Therefore, the current ethnographic study was conducted to gain an understanding of school counselors' experiences in Barbados and to explore their roles, practices, challenges, and demands. Interviews, observations, and field notes were the main data collection tools and a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was employed to analyze the data. Three themes with several subthemes emerged from the data: Roles, Responsibilities, and Requirements (the 3R's); Problematizing the Policies, Politics, and Culture; and School-Family-Community Contexts. The authors discuss the implications of the findings for school counselors, counselor educators, and policymakers and a 21st-century Caribbean school counseling model. Key Issues Impacting School Counseling in Barbados Barbados has one of the highest literacy rates in the world at 99%, with almost all youth attending secondary school (99%), as the government instituted universal access to primary education in the early 1970s (Rieble, 2019). Barbados is known for its strong education system, although she still maintains a selective secondary school system, left over from the colonial period. Children must pass a national common entrance exam at 11 years to determine which secondary schools they go to, with those scoring the highest marks tracked to attend the "best" or elite schools (Pilgrim et al., 2018). This inherited archaic British-influenced colonial system from the 19 th century is rife with inequities and has led to exclusivity, with a small number of
Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 2022
Black women are at heightened risk for intimate partner violence and murder by an intimate partne... more Black women are at heightened risk for intimate partner violence
and murder by an intimate partner. For these women,
the relationships between race, gender, and class and its impact
within larger society are reinforced by threats to their survival
within their own homes. This qualitative study queries contributors
to Black women’s resilience. Applying Black feminist theory
as an analytical framework that fosters insights from the
experiences of six Black women with histories of intimate partner
violence, we highlight tools that aid in the survival and
navigation of intimate partner violence. With resilience as the
topic of inquiry, we illustrate three prominent categories: contributors
to resilience, endurance strategies, and self-defining
features of resilience. The results highlight important considerations
that may support the building of collaborative counseling
relationships that reflect strength-based, culturally
relevant, and trauma-informed service for Black women with
histories of intimate partner violence.
Professional School Counseling , 2023
This study examined how the culture in school counseling programs or departments shapes the colle... more This study examined how the culture in school counseling programs or departments shapes the college-related outcomes of high school students including students of color. With data from the High School Longitudinal Study 2009, we investigated two major steps in the college-going process: (a) whether students see the counselor for financial aid counseling and (b) whether they seek college admissions counseling in 12th grade. We discuss the literature on the role of school counselors in college access, especially support for students of color, and how school counseling contextual variables and school counselor mindsets, which we term school counseling college-going culture (SCCGC), affect students' college-going decisions. We conducted logistic regression analyses by racial/ethnic groups among 9170 high school students from the High School Longitudinal Study 2009-2016 dataset. The results indicated that counselor expectations, priorities, student-counselor contact prior to 12th grade, college and career readiness activities, and constraints affect students' college outcomes differently across racial and ethnic backgrounds. This study has implications regarding what interventions, mindsets, and practices school counselors need in order to improve college-going outcomes (e.g., student-counselor contact for college admissions and financial aid counseling) for students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 2022
We investigated the relationship between Asian parent empowerment and their children’s college en... more We investigated the relationship between Asian parent empowerment and their children’s college enrollment in a sample of 357 Asian parents from various ethnic sub- groups using the High School Longitudinal Study 2009. A multinomial logistic regression indicated differences in Asian students’ college enrollment by ethnic subgroup and income and in the role of personal and community parent empowerment in college enrollment. The results indicate the danger of the model minority myth in masking disparities among Asian students.
School counselors are challenged to cultivate critical consciousness (CC) among youth engaged in ... more School counselors are challenged to cultivate critical consciousness (CC) among youth engaged in anti-racist advocacy (American School Counselor Association. (2016; Ieva et al., 2021; Moss & Singh, 2015; Ratts et al., 2007; Singh et al., 2010). However, review of youth-led anti-racist initiatives reveals a lack of clarity regarding intervention factors that promote consciousness. Recognizing this void, we turn to critical race pedagogy (CRP) as a potential framework for systematizing elements of CC development within advocacy interventions. The current study examines the effects of an anti-racist youth advocacy program grounded in CRP on the development of CC. Results demonstrate significant gains in consciousness among participating adolescents and provide practical insight into the integration of CRP with anti-racist programming.
Professional School Counseling, 2020
Over the past two decades, research on urban schools has focused predominantly on achievement gap... more Over the past two decades, research on urban schools has focused predominantly on achievement gaps. However, achievement gaps exist because of gaps in opportunities for urban, low-income, and racially/ethnically diverse students. Partnerships among schools, families, and communities can provide the enrichment opportunities, support, resources, and programs that students need to be educationally resilient despite adversity. School counselors are in a unique position to promote resilience through equity-focused school–family–community partnerships and parent/family–school compacts based on empowerment, democratic collaboration, social justice, and strengths-based principles. This article describes a step-by-step, equity-focused partnership model that school counselors can implement as part of their school counseling program.
Jamaican immigrant students are highly represented in U.S. public schools, primarily in regions c... more Jamaican immigrant students are highly represented in U.S. public schools, primarily in regions concentrated throughout the east coast. Many of these students and their families have personal and social concerns that have implications for school counselors. In particular, scholars suggest that among this population, harsh methods of child discipline (e.g., corporal punishment) are prevalent and have ramifications for academic achievement, child abuse reporting, and socialization within the school. Few studies, however, document the disciplinary techniques of Jamaican immigrants in the United States. This exploratory study was developed to fill this gap in the literature. Results challenge prevailing assumptions about the universality of corporal punishment among Jamaican immigrants. Participants in the current study reported using a variety of disciplinary techniques and corporal punishment was not among the most used. Implications for school counselors and future research are discu...
International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement, 2016
Professional School Counseling, 2018
Using a national sample of 155 school counselors, we examined the relationships between school co... more Using a national sample of 155 school counselors, we examined the relationships between school counselors’ personal and environmental factors and their involvement in partnerships with families of color. We found positive correlations between school counselor self-efficacy, multicultural competence, and involvement in partnerships. Multiple regression analysis indicated that self-efficacy about partnerships and multicultural knowledge served as predictors of school counselor involvement in partnerships with families of color. We discuss implications for school counselor efforts in establishing these partnerships.
Professional School Counseling, 2017
This study investigated the relationships of parent networks and parent empowerment to the academ... more This study investigated the relationships of parent networks and parent empowerment to the academic performance of the children of Asian immigrant parents in U.S. schools. It also examined the role of parent networks in explaining the association between parent empowerment and children’s academic performance. We conducted multinomial logistic regression and path analysis on responses of 317 Asian immigrant parents from the Parent and Family Involvement Survey of the National Household Education Survey, 2007. Parent networks and some parent empowerment components (i.e., competence, parent contact with the school counselor) were significantly related to academic performance. Findings suggest the importance of school counselors utilizing empowerment strategies to help those Asian immigrant parents who need support with their children’s education.
Professional School Counseling, 2010
Professional School Counseling, 2007
The Family Journal
To explore the relationships between complex trauma, family cohesion, family environment, resilie... more To explore the relationships between complex trauma, family cohesion, family environment, resiliency, and depression, the authors employed hierarchical multiple regression and mediation analysis were employed with a sample of 485 young adults. The sample consisted of three groups of participants based on the amount of trauma experienced, those who reported 1–3 trauma experiences, those who reported 3 or more trauma experiences, and those who did not report trauma. Analyses indicated that despite complex trauma experiences, families were still able to cultivate strong family environment and family cohesion, which enhanced resilience in individuals and in turn reduced depression symptoms. Future research, as well as important implications for family counseling with the aim of enhancing family resilience and decreasing depression symptoms, especially as a trauma response, are discussed.
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 2021
This study examined counselors’ openness to discussing issues of race, ethnicity, and culture by ... more This study examined counselors’ openness to discussing issues of race, ethnicity, and culture by setting (e.g., school, clinical mental health, and counselor trainee) using the Broaching Attitudes and Behavior Scale. School counselors and White counselors reported significantly higher mean scores on the Avoidant subscale, a measure of counselors’ perceptions that discussions about race, ethnicity, and culture are unwarranted. Significant main effects resulted for counselor setting. Implications for counseling are addressed.
Journal of Asia Pacific Counseling , 2021
This study identified the socio-demographic factors and level of risk that Asian American (AA) hi... more This study identified the socio-demographic factors and level of risk that Asian American (AA) high school students experienced which shaped their help-seeking behaviors regarding meeting with a school counselor. Using a nationally representative sample of 937 AA high school students, multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that specific socio-demographic factors (e.g., Asian ethnicity, immigration, first generation) and level of risk students experience (e.g., moderate level of risk, high level of risk) were significantly associated with student-counselor contact for academic, social/emotional, and college/career counseling. Implications for school counselors as empowering institutional agents are discussed.
Group Work in Schools, Apr 17, 2024
Psychoeducational groups for students provide unique learning experiences that support the tradit... more Psychoeducational groups for students provide unique learning experiences that support the traditional learning that occurs in school settings. This chapter provides information about psychoeducational groups with a focus on both small group and large group formats, and strategies for enhancing the delivery of classroom or large group guidance. A group model, Achieving Success Every Day (ASE), and strategies for incorporating bibliotherapy into group work are provided to promote students’ academic success. The chapter begins with an operational definition and rationale for psychoeducational groups, enumerates strategies for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of psychoeducational groups, examines issues of diversity in psychoeducational groups, discusses strategies for classroom guidance and management, and describes two models and their application to psychoeducational groups.
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 2023
This study examined the effects of school counseling college-going culture (SCCGC) on Black male ... more This study examined the effects of school counseling college-going culture (SCCGC) on Black male students' college outcomes using a sample from the High School Longitudinal Study, and whether these effects differed for males versus females. Regression analyses revealed that different aspects of SCCGC were more salient for Black males compared to Black females. For example, counselor expectations appeared more important for males and school connectedness for females suggesting the dangers of a one-size-fits-all approach to college going.
Handbook on Caribbean Education , 2021
This chapter focuses on key issues impacting school counseling in Barbados and describes findings... more This chapter focuses on key issues impacting school counseling in Barbados and describes findings that emerged from an ethnographic study of the roles, practices, challenges, and demands of school counselors in Barbados. School counseling was officially implemented in Barbados' secondary schools in 1988, but in the 32 years since, no research studies exist about school counselors, their work or the school counseling profession in Barbados. Therefore, the current ethnographic study was conducted to gain an understanding of school counselors' experiences in Barbados and to explore their roles, practices, challenges, and demands. Interviews, observations, and field notes were the main data collection tools and a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was employed to analyze the data. Three themes with several subthemes emerged from the data: Roles, Responsibilities, and Requirements (the 3R's); Problematizing the Policies, Politics, and Culture; and School-Family-Community Contexts. The authors discuss the implications of the findings for school counselors, counselor educators, and policymakers and a 21st-century Caribbean school counseling model. Key Issues Impacting School Counseling in Barbados Barbados has one of the highest literacy rates in the world at 99%, with almost all youth attending secondary school (99%), as the government instituted universal access to primary education in the early 1970s (Rieble, 2019). Barbados is known for its strong education system, although she still maintains a selective secondary school system, left over from the colonial period. Children must pass a national common entrance exam at 11 years to determine which secondary schools they go to, with those scoring the highest marks tracked to attend the "best" or elite schools (Pilgrim et al., 2018). This inherited archaic British-influenced colonial system from the 19 th century is rife with inequities and has led to exclusivity, with a small number of
Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 2022
Black women are at heightened risk for intimate partner violence and murder by an intimate partne... more Black women are at heightened risk for intimate partner violence
and murder by an intimate partner. For these women,
the relationships between race, gender, and class and its impact
within larger society are reinforced by threats to their survival
within their own homes. This qualitative study queries contributors
to Black women’s resilience. Applying Black feminist theory
as an analytical framework that fosters insights from the
experiences of six Black women with histories of intimate partner
violence, we highlight tools that aid in the survival and
navigation of intimate partner violence. With resilience as the
topic of inquiry, we illustrate three prominent categories: contributors
to resilience, endurance strategies, and self-defining
features of resilience. The results highlight important considerations
that may support the building of collaborative counseling
relationships that reflect strength-based, culturally
relevant, and trauma-informed service for Black women with
histories of intimate partner violence.
Professional School Counseling , 2023
This study examined how the culture in school counseling programs or departments shapes the colle... more This study examined how the culture in school counseling programs or departments shapes the college-related outcomes of high school students including students of color. With data from the High School Longitudinal Study 2009, we investigated two major steps in the college-going process: (a) whether students see the counselor for financial aid counseling and (b) whether they seek college admissions counseling in 12th grade. We discuss the literature on the role of school counselors in college access, especially support for students of color, and how school counseling contextual variables and school counselor mindsets, which we term school counseling college-going culture (SCCGC), affect students' college-going decisions. We conducted logistic regression analyses by racial/ethnic groups among 9170 high school students from the High School Longitudinal Study 2009-2016 dataset. The results indicated that counselor expectations, priorities, student-counselor contact prior to 12th grade, college and career readiness activities, and constraints affect students' college outcomes differently across racial and ethnic backgrounds. This study has implications regarding what interventions, mindsets, and practices school counselors need in order to improve college-going outcomes (e.g., student-counselor contact for college admissions and financial aid counseling) for students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 2022
We investigated the relationship between Asian parent empowerment and their children’s college en... more We investigated the relationship between Asian parent empowerment and their children’s college enrollment in a sample of 357 Asian parents from various ethnic sub- groups using the High School Longitudinal Study 2009. A multinomial logistic regression indicated differences in Asian students’ college enrollment by ethnic subgroup and income and in the role of personal and community parent empowerment in college enrollment. The results indicate the danger of the model minority myth in masking disparities among Asian students.
School counselors are challenged to cultivate critical consciousness (CC) among youth engaged in ... more School counselors are challenged to cultivate critical consciousness (CC) among youth engaged in anti-racist advocacy (American School Counselor Association. (2016; Ieva et al., 2021; Moss & Singh, 2015; Ratts et al., 2007; Singh et al., 2010). However, review of youth-led anti-racist initiatives reveals a lack of clarity regarding intervention factors that promote consciousness. Recognizing this void, we turn to critical race pedagogy (CRP) as a potential framework for systematizing elements of CC development within advocacy interventions. The current study examines the effects of an anti-racist youth advocacy program grounded in CRP on the development of CC. Results demonstrate significant gains in consciousness among participating adolescents and provide practical insight into the integration of CRP with anti-racist programming.
Professional School Counseling, 2020
Over the past two decades, research on urban schools has focused predominantly on achievement gap... more Over the past two decades, research on urban schools has focused predominantly on achievement gaps. However, achievement gaps exist because of gaps in opportunities for urban, low-income, and racially/ethnically diverse students. Partnerships among schools, families, and communities can provide the enrichment opportunities, support, resources, and programs that students need to be educationally resilient despite adversity. School counselors are in a unique position to promote resilience through equity-focused school–family–community partnerships and parent/family–school compacts based on empowerment, democratic collaboration, social justice, and strengths-based principles. This article describes a step-by-step, equity-focused partnership model that school counselors can implement as part of their school counseling program.
Jamaican immigrant students are highly represented in U.S. public schools, primarily in regions c... more Jamaican immigrant students are highly represented in U.S. public schools, primarily in regions concentrated throughout the east coast. Many of these students and their families have personal and social concerns that have implications for school counselors. In particular, scholars suggest that among this population, harsh methods of child discipline (e.g., corporal punishment) are prevalent and have ramifications for academic achievement, child abuse reporting, and socialization within the school. Few studies, however, document the disciplinary techniques of Jamaican immigrants in the United States. This exploratory study was developed to fill this gap in the literature. Results challenge prevailing assumptions about the universality of corporal punishment among Jamaican immigrants. Participants in the current study reported using a variety of disciplinary techniques and corporal punishment was not among the most used. Implications for school counselors and future research are discu...
International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement, 2016
Professional School Counseling, 2018
Using a national sample of 155 school counselors, we examined the relationships between school co... more Using a national sample of 155 school counselors, we examined the relationships between school counselors’ personal and environmental factors and their involvement in partnerships with families of color. We found positive correlations between school counselor self-efficacy, multicultural competence, and involvement in partnerships. Multiple regression analysis indicated that self-efficacy about partnerships and multicultural knowledge served as predictors of school counselor involvement in partnerships with families of color. We discuss implications for school counselor efforts in establishing these partnerships.
Professional School Counseling, 2017
This study investigated the relationships of parent networks and parent empowerment to the academ... more This study investigated the relationships of parent networks and parent empowerment to the academic performance of the children of Asian immigrant parents in U.S. schools. It also examined the role of parent networks in explaining the association between parent empowerment and children’s academic performance. We conducted multinomial logistic regression and path analysis on responses of 317 Asian immigrant parents from the Parent and Family Involvement Survey of the National Household Education Survey, 2007. Parent networks and some parent empowerment components (i.e., competence, parent contact with the school counselor) were significantly related to academic performance. Findings suggest the importance of school counselors utilizing empowerment strategies to help those Asian immigrant parents who need support with their children’s education.
Professional School Counseling, 2010
Professional School Counseling, 2007
Curriculum Vitae, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • Internationally known scholar on school-family community partnerships • Over ... more EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • Internationally known scholar on school-family community partnerships • Over 25 peer reviewed publications since tenure (over 50 peer-reviewed publications) • ACA Extended Research Award • ACES Locke-Paisley Outstanding Mentor Award • AERA Div. E Early Career Faculty mentoring program, co-chair • Faculty Senate, senator and vice-chair standing committee, Educational Equity & Campus Environment • Faculty Council member and chair • Program coordinator, School Counseling master's program • Research Initiation Grant (RIG) • Served on over 50 dissertation committees • Reviewer on three peer-reviewed counseling journals, ad-hoc/guest reviewer for numerous journals • Fulbright Program mentor and content expert