The protective role of supportive friends against bullying perpetration and victimization

Bullying and depression among adolescents in East Asia: a scoping review on prevalence rates, risk and protective factors

Introduction

Bullying and victimization in adolescence is associated with mental health problems including depression. Depression in East Asian adolescents presents similarities and differences from that in Western adolescents. This review reports on the prevalence and psychosocial associations of bullying and depression in East Asian adolescents.

Methods

Electronic databases (Medline, and Embase) were searched for English language articles on bullying and its associations for a span of 10 years (1st January 2013 to 19th January 2024). Searches were limited to studies conducted in East Asia involving adolescents 10-19 years of age.

Results

Out of 1,231 articles initially identified, 65 full-text articles (consisting of 44 cross-sectional and 21 cohort studies) met the inclusion criteria and were included for qualitative synthesis & analysis. Prevalence rates of bullying ranged from 6.1% - 61.3% in traditional bullying victimization and 3.3% to 74.6% in cyberbullying victimization with higher rates in at-risk groups (e.g., adolescents with internet addiction). Psychosocial associations of bullying and depression which were similarly found in Western cultures include individual factors of coping style and gender; family factors of functioning and sibling relationships; and community factors of friendship and school-connectedness. In contrast, unique East Asian risk factors included being different (i.e., sexual minority status) and teachers as bullies.

Conclusion

Findings of this scoping review suggest that strong relationships within families, peers and the school community coupled with adolescents' positive coping style are protective against the negative effects of bullying. Conversely, poor parent-child attachment in the midst of family dysfunction, poor engagement with peers and the school community together with low self-esteem predispose East Asian adolescents to depressive symptoms as a result of victimization. Similar to Western cultures, adolescents who are bully-victims and poly-victims are most vulnerable to depression. As a significant proportion of bullying occurred in school, future research could focus on a whole-school intervention approach to counter bullying.

Family closeness and bullying perpetration: The roles of associating with antisocial peers, bullying victimization, exposure to community violence, and gender differences among African American adolescents

Bullying victimization and perpetration negatively affect African American students' physical and mental health. Among the many risk factors associated with bullying behaviors, associating with antisocial peers, and exposure to community violence may function as important contextual risk factors, particularly among African American youth residing in underserved urban communities. However, few studies have explored the degree to which family closeness may mitigate these risk factors and serve as a potential promotive mechanism. The current study applies an ecological systems model to assess the nature of associations among adolescents' family, community, and peer contexts with bullying victimization and perpetration while assessing for gender differences (moderation). Results based on a sample of African American adolescents (n = 637, mean age = 15.83, SD = 1.39; 45.6% boys) indicated that for both boys and girls, indirect effects suggested that bullying victimization partially explained the association of associating with antisocial peers and community violence exposure on bullying perpetration. For boys, a significant indirect effect was found from family closeness to bullying perpetration via community violence exposure, and for girls, a direct effect was found from family closeness to bullying perpetration. These latter findings supported the potential promotive functioning of family closeness. Additional implications are discussed.

Predicting bullying victimization among adolescents using the risk and protective factor framework: a large-scale machine learning approach

BACKGROUND

Bullying, encompassing physical, psychological, social, or educational harm, affects approximately 1 in 20 United States teens aged 12-18. The prevalence and impact of bullying, including online bullying, necessitate a deeper understanding of risk and protective factors to enhance prevention efforts. This study investigated the key risk and protective factors most highly associated with adolescent bullying victimization.

METHODS

Data from the Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) survey, collected from 345,506 student respondents in Utah from 2009 to 2021, were analyzed using a machine learning approach. The survey included 135 questions assessing demographics, health outcomes, and adolescent risk and protective factors. LightGBM was used to create the model, achieving 70% accuracy, and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values were utilized to interpret model predictions and to identify risk and protective predictors most highly associated with bullying victimization.

RESULTS

Younger grade levels, feeling left out, and family issues (severity and frequent arguments, family member insulting each other, and family drug use) are strongly associated with increased bullying victimization - whether in person or online. Gender analysis showed that for male and females, family issues and hating school were most highly predictive. Online bullying victimization was most highly associated with early onset of drinking.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides a risk and protective factor profile for adolescent bullying victimization. Key risk and protective factors were identified across demographics with findings underscoring the important role of family relationships, social inclusion, and demographic variables in bullying victimization. These resulting risk and protective factor profiles emphasize the need for prevention programming that addresses family dynamics and social support. Future research should expand to diverse geographical areas and include longitudinal data to better understand causal relationships.

Relationship matters: Using machine learning methods to predict the mental health severity of Chinese college freshmen during the pandemic period

BACKGROUND

Pandemics act as stressors and may lead to frequent mental health disorders. College student, especially freshmen, are particularly susceptible to experiencing intense mental stress reactions during a pandemic. We aimed to identify stable and intervenable variables including academic, relationship and economic factors, and focused on their impact on mental health severity during the pandemic period.

METHODS

We innovatively combined diverse machine learning methods, including XGBoost, SHAP, and K-means clustering, to predict the mental health severity of college freshmen. A total of 3281 college freshmen participated in the research. Discriminant analyses were performed on groups of participants with depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7). All characteristic variables were selected based on their importance and interventionability. Further analyses were conducted with selected features to determine the optimal variable combination.

RESULTS

XGBoost analysis revealed that relationship factors exhibited the highest predictive capacity for mental health severity among college freshmen (SHAPFamily Relationship = 0.373; SHAPPeer Support = 0.236). The impact of academic factors on college freshmen's mental health severity depended on their intricate interplay with relationship factors, resulting in complex interactive effects. These effects were heterogeneous among different subgroups.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed machine learning approach utilizing XGBoost, SHAP and K-means clustering methods provides a valuable tool to gain insights into the relative contributions of academic, relationship and economic factors to Chinese college freshmen's mental health severity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The result guide the development of targeted intervention measures tailored to meet specific requirements within each subgroup.

Similarities and Differences Between Bullying and Sexual Harassment in Schools: A Social-Ecological Review of Risk and Protective Factors

In this conceptual article, the authors provide a narrative review of literature on bullying and sexual harassment in K-12 schools framed through a comparative analysis of risk and protective factors for both forms of violence across the social-ecological spectrum. We find that a greater number of studies of both forms of violence focus on student and microsystem-level factors rather than on higher levels of the ecosystem including school boards, neighborhoods, and broader cultural norms. In addition, the research overwhelmingly identifies more risk factors than protective factors. Finally, we find more similarities than differences in risk and protective factors between the two forms of school-based violence. We identify implications of the findings for theory, research, and policy and suggest that preventing any form of harassment at school will benefit not only students but the entire school community. We argue that the causes of school-based harassment are complex and require comprehensive prevention, intervention, and response approaches that address shared risk and protective factors, particularly those at the community and mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem levels. Ultimately, we argue that all community stakeholders must be committed to and engaged in these endeavors for them to be successful.

The Combined Effects of Adverse and Positive Childhood Experiences on Adolescent Bullying Victimization and Perpetration

Bullying is a persistent social and behavioral problem in the United States. Bullying victimization and perpetration are linked to a host of negative physical, social, and emotional outcomes. Research suggests that a key risk factor for bullying behaviors is adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). On the other hand, positive childhood experiences (PCEs) may counter some of the negative effects of ACEs. This study (a) assesses the independent effects of ACEs and PCEs on adolescent bullying victimization and perpetration, and (b) examines whether ACEs and PCEs interact to affect bullying victimization and perpetration.We use data from the 2020 to 2021 National Survey of Children's Health, a nationally representative survey of children ages 0 to 17 in the United States. The analytic sample was limited to children who were 6 years old or older at the time of the survey (N = 60,809). Using caregiver reports of bullying victimization and perpetration, we created a cumulative ACEs scale comprised of 10 items and a cumulative PCEs scale comprised of eight measures. We then estimated a set of logistic regression models to predict bullying behaviors. The results showed that ACEs are associated with a higher likelihood of both bullying victimization and perpetration. Although PCEs have a slight mitigating effect, ACEs and PCEs interact such that even in the presence of PCEs, children with many ACEs still have a higher likelihood of both bullying victimization and perpetration. This highlights the considerable impact of ACEs on bullying behaviors. These findings suggest that enhancing ACE-aware care and ACE prevention is important because even promoting PCEs is unlikely to decrease bullying levels on their own.

The Moderating Effect of Peer Attachment on Associations Between Children's and Adolescents' Cyberbullying Victimization, Bystanding, and Depressive Symptoms

The primary objective of this short-term longitudinal study was to investigate how age groups affect the relationships between cyberbullying victimization, bystanding, and depression among a convenience sample of students across different educational levels; there was a total of 234 elementary school students (fourth and fifth graders), 363 middle school students (sixth to eighth graders), and 341 high school students (ninth to twelfth graders) from the United States who completed self-reported questionnaires on cyberbullying, depression, and peer attachment during 2020. Additionally, this study examined whether peer attachment acted as a moderator in these relationships. The results revealed that strong peer attachment significantly moderated the connections between cyberbullying involvement and depression, as measured six months later, with particularly pronounced effects among middle school students. In contrast, weaker peer attachment intensified the positive correlations between cyberbullying victimization, bystanding, and subsequent depression. These findings highlight the crucial role of cultivating strong peer relationships, especially during pivotal developmental phases such as middle school. Implementing programs that promote positive peer interactions and supportive networks can be effective at alleviating the psychological effects of cyberbullying.

Secure base script knowledge and friendship quality as protective factors for bullying and victimization in elementary school

This study examined how children's secure base script knowledge and friendship quality were related to bullying and victimization experiences and their emotional, academic, and behavioral adjustment. Participants were 581 children (49.6% males) aged 9 to 13 years old and one of their main caregivers (74% mothers, 23.6% fathers, 2.4% legal guardians) recruited through cluster sampling in Singapore. Most of the children were ethnic Chinese (58.2%), along with Malays, Indians, and Others (e.g. Eurasians). Children's secure base script knowledge was related to less bullying and victimization, which in turn was related to greater positive emotional state, better academic achievement, less aggression, and fewer social problems. Friendship quality did not add unique variance, highlighting the central protective role of attachment representation in the context of school bullying. The findings provide support for the security-competence link in an Asian context, and point to the importance of enhancing children's familial experiences as part of preventive efforts in combating school bullying.

Can classroom seating arrangements help establish a safe environment for victims? A randomized controlled trial

Students around the globe still experience bullying daily. Teachers play a key role in supporting victimized students and they could do so using their classroom seating arrangement. Common teacher strategies are to separate victims and bullies and to seat victims close to supportive others, but research has not examined whether these strategies support victims' wellbeing. Therefore, the current study tested an intervention in which victims in experimental classrooms were seated far away from their bullies and next to their best friends, whereas a random seating arrangement was implemented in control classrooms. The underlying reasoning was that victims would experience a sense of safety next to their best friend and to limit bullies' opportunities to harass the victim. The outcomes were classroom comfort, internalizing problems, academic engagement, and victimization frequency. We used a sample of 1746 Dutch upper elementary school students (Mage = 10.21) of whom 250 students reported to be chronically and frequently victimized (Mage = 9.96 years). Ethical and practical reasons rendered the conditions similar regarding victims' distances to their bullies. Consequently, the intervention in the end tested the effect of victims sitting next to their best friend. Several mixed-effects models showed that no support was found for the effectiveness of this intervention. Additional exploratory analyses testing the effect of victims' continuous distances to their bullies on their wellbeing also found no effects. These findings suggest that changing victims', bullies', and best friends' seats do not improve victims' classroom wellbeing. Alternative explanations, directions for future research, and practical implications are discussed.

Perceived Social Support and Health Care Spending as Moderators in the Association of Traditional Bullying Perpetration with Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying Victimisation among Adolescents in 27 European Countries: A Multilevel Cross-National Study

Existing research has documented the association between bullying perpetration and bullying victimisation. However, it is still unclear how different sources of social support moderate the association between bullying perpetration and bullying victimisation at a cross-national level. Using multilevel binary logistic regression models, this study examined the moderating role of public health care spending and perceived social support (i.e., family and teacher support) in the association between traditional bullying perpetration and victimisation by traditional bullying and cyberbullying among adolescents across 27 European countries. Country-level data were combined with 2017/18 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey data from 162,792 adolescents (11-, 13-, and 15-year-olds) in 27 European countries. Results showed that adolescents who perpetrated traditional bullying had a higher likelihood of being victimised by traditional bullying and cyberbullying than adolescents who did not bully others. Results also indicated that the magnitude of the positive association between traditional bullying perpetration and victimisation by traditional bullying and cyberbullying was mitigated among adolescents with more family, teacher, and public health care support. These findings support the notion that multilayered systems of social support could play a vital role in bullying prevention and intervention strategies to address bullying among adolescents.

The social contexts of behaviors and relationships: The relation of classroom and cyber victimization to number of classroom and cyber friends

Behaviors and relationships exist within a variety of social contexts. More specifically for the current research, victimization and friendships occur in classrooms and, increasingly, in online virtual contexts. The current research examined how the number of classroom friends and number of cyber friends related to the extent of classroom victimization and extent of cyber victimization. Research has demonstrated the importance of face-to-face friendships in relation to being a victim; much less is known about the role of cyber friends in relation to being a cyber victim or how these relationships may play a role in cross-context victimization. Participants were 350 children from Grades 3 through 5 (188 girls and 162 boys). Children indicated classroom friends on a classroom roster, reported the number of their cyber friends, and indicated the extent of their cyber victimization. Peers nominated classmates for classroom victimization behaviors. A path analysis revealed that number of classroom friends was negatively associated with both extent of classroom victimization and extent of cyber victimization. Number of cyber friends was positively associated with extent of cyber victimization and was negatively related to extent of classroom victimization. Discussion of results includes the construction, use, and adaptation of social skills within and between social contexts.

A Path to Inclusiveness - Peer Support Groups as a Resource for Change

Being bullied is associated with anxiety, depression symptoms, and long-term negative health outcomes. The aim of this qualitative pilotstudy was to explore bullied children's experiences of support groups and how participating in a group affected the children. The sample consisted of 24 children aged 11-13 years. Four of them were bullied, while 20 participated in support groups. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted. The main theme identified was that support groups provide an opportunity for change and can help children to be included among peers. The changes were achieved through encouragement and support from peers. The children participating in the support groups reported a feeling of being selected. The groups provided fellowship, and an opportunity for change. Both getting support from and being part of a support group contributed to inclusion, strength, and valuable experiences. The findings suggest that a systemic approach to bullying is advantageous.

The Role of School Connectedness and Friend Contact in Adolescent Loneliness, and Implications for Physical Health

The current study investigated how adolescents' loneliness relates to school connectedness, classmate support, teacher support, and offline and online communication with friends. We also examined the association between loneliness, physical health, and sleep. Data came from the Scottish Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC). The total sample was 2983 adolescents (F = 1479 [49.6%]) aged 14-17 years (M = 15.66, SD = 0.39) from 117 secondary schools in Scotland. Results showed that (1) higher teacher support, classmate support, and offline contact with friends predicted lower levels of loneliness, (2) online friendship engagement predicted higher levels of loneliness, and (3) poor health and sleep were positively associated with loneliness. The study offers new findings, highlighting the role played by classmates/peers and teachers in reducing loneliness. Supporting previous research, we also found associations between loneliness, poor sleep, and worse physical health.

The longitudinal associations between bullying perpetration, bullying victimization, and internalizing symptoms: Bidirectionality and mediation by friend support

Internalizing symptoms have been linked to bullying perpetration and victimization in adolescence. However, the directions of any causal relationships remain unclear, and limited research has identified the mechanisms that explain the associations. Given the salience of peer relationships during the teenage years, we examine whether perceived support from friends is one such mechanism. By using a transactional framework and four waves of longitudinal panel data on over 900 youth, we test both cross-lagged and indirect associations between bullying perpetration, bullying victimization, internalizing symptoms, and perceived friend support. Our method represents one of the most rigorous tests to date of the mutual influences among these factors. The results show that internalizing symptoms and perceived friend support were reciprocally linked to bullying victimization, but perceived support did not predict internalizing symptoms, and bullying perpetration neither preceded nor followed perceived support or internalizing symptoms. There were no significant indirect paths between bullying involvement and internalizing symptoms through perceived friend support. The results provide only partial support for a transactional model in which bullying victimization, support, and internalizing symptoms are reciprocally related. The implications of these findings for theory, future research, and practice are discussed.

The Relationship between a Competitive School Climate and School Bullying among Secondary Vocational School Students in China: A Moderated Mediation Model

School bullying is widespread in countries around the world and has a continuous negative impact on the physical and mental health of students. However, few studies have explored the influence mechanism of a competitive school climate on school bullying among Chinese secondary vocational school students. This study aims to explore the relationship between a competitive school climate and bullying in secondary vocational schools in the Chinese context, as well as the mediating role of school belonging and the moderating role of gender. Logit regression analysis and a moderated mediation model were used to analyze 1964 secondary vocational students from China based on PISA 2018 data from Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu, China. (1) The detection rate of school bullying in secondary vocational schools in China is 17.8%, lower than the world average. (2) A competitive school climate is significantly and positively correlated with secondary vocational school students' exposure to school bullying. (3) A moderated mediation model suggests that school belonging is an important mechanism by which a competitive school climate influences the occurrence of school bullying, whereas gender moderates the direct effect of a competitive school climate and the indirect effect of school belonging, which mitigates the negative effects of a competitive school climate to some extent. The research results show that creating a healthy competitive climate in schools, cultivating students' sense of belonging, and facing up to gender differences are helpful to prevent school bullying in secondary vocational schools.

Association of Friendly School and Family Contexts and Reducing Health Risk Behaviors Among Adolescents: A Cross-National Study in Europe, North America, and China

BACKGROUND

Social factors play an important role in adolescents' behaviors. This study aims to understand percentages of health risk behaviors across country in Europe, North America, and China; explore the associations between friendly school and family contexts and involvement for several health risk behaviors among adolescents.

METHODS

Data derived from health behavior in school-aged children cross-sectional surveys and China Education Panel Survey in 2014-2015. Hierarchical generalized linear modeling was used to analyze data.

RESULTS

The highest percentages of health risk behaviors including unhealthy diet, smoking or alcohol, screen-based sedentary behaviors, and violent behaviors across country ranged from 28.62% to 65.24%. National classmate friendliness was negatively associated with 5 out of 9 health risk behaviors prevalence rates in 41 countries (p < 0.05). Adolescents' perceived peer friendly and helpful were common protective factor for engaging in several health risk behaviors (p < 0.01). Individual family contexts were associated with 3 types of health risk behaviors involvement (p < 0.001).

SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Health risk behaviors among adolescents reducing was associated with the implementation of friendly school and family contexts, emphasizing the significance of the goals of embedding friendly adolescents, along with the home-school collaboration.

CONCLUSIONS

Public health strategies should promote national climate of friendship and individual perceived friendly school contexts to reduce health risk behaviors.

The longitudinal relationship between social support and victimization among latino teens

PURPOSE

This study examines the relationship between social support and victimization of Latino youth over time, utilizing the stress prevention and support deterioration models.

METHODS

To address the research questions we utilized data from Waves 1 and 2 (n = 574) of the Dating Violence among Latino Adolescents (DAVILA) study, a national bilingual phone survey of self-identified Latino youth and their caregiver. Cross-lagged panel modeling was used to assess the fit of the two theoretical models to observed patterns of covariance among the victimization and social support variables specified.

RESULTS

Results show that victimization at Wave 1 was positively and strongly related to victimization at Wave 2 and social support at Wave 1 was positively and moderately associated with social support at Wave 2. As hypothesized, higher levels of victimization at Wave 1 were significantly related to decreases in social support at Wave 2 (β = -.15). Wave 1 social support was not significantly related to victimization at Wave 2.

CONCLUSIONS

We did not find support for the stress prevention model but did find support for the support deterioration model. Teens who were victimized tended to have lower levels of subsequent social support, highlighting the need to equip peers, family, and significant others to adequately respond to victimization disclosures.

Peer victimization and children's internet addiction in China: a moderated mediation model

Background

Peer victimization used to be considered as a crucial risk factor for children addicted to the internet. Whereas some victimized ones are function better than would be expected. Variability across individuals indicates that it is necessary to understand how children cope with being bullied and why they do not exhibit maladaptive outcomes.

Objective

We explored the underlying mechanisms by testing whether subjective well-being was a mediator between peer victimization and Internet addiction and whether the mediation effects conditioned on the levels of parent-child relationship (PCR).

Methods

Data were collected from 65, 868 elementary school students in China (Mage = 9.56 years, SD = 0.62, 54.0% male) using four questionnaires.

Results

We found that: (1) subjective well-being can partially mediate the relationship of the two variables; and (2) PCR can moderate direct path and second half of the intermediary process. These moderating effects were stronger for children with higher PCR vs. lower PCR, as a strong PCR can help children to deal with intense emotions and to access effective resources to obtain support.

Conclusion

This study deepens our understanding of how peer victimization leads to internet addiction, identifies a supportive PCR as a crucial factor that strengthens the resilience of child victims, and highlights the value of focusing on improving the relationship between parents and children in intervening internet addiction related to peer victimization.

Acute Stress Modulates Social Approach and Social Maintenance in Adult Zebrafish

Stress alters social functioning in a complex manner. An important variable determining the final effects of stress is stressor intensity. However, the precise relationship between stressor intensity and social behavior is not well understood. Here, we investigate the effects of varying acute stressor intensity exposure on social behavior using adult zebrafish. We first establish a novel test using adult zebrafish that allows distinguishing fish's drive to approach a social cue and its ability to engage and maintain social interaction within the same behavioral paradigm. Next, we combined this test with a new method to deliver an acute stress stimulus of varying intensities. Our results show that both social approach and social maintenance are reduced in adult zebrafish on acute stress exposure in an intensity-dependent manner. Interestingly, lower stress intensity reduces social maintenance without affecting the social approach, while a higher stress level is required to alter social approach. These results provide evidence for a direct correlation between acute stressor intensity and social functioning and suggest that distinct steps in social behavior are modulated differentially by the acute stress level.

Community indicators for mental health in Europe: a scoping review

Background

Community indicators may predict and influence individuals` mental health, and support or impede mental health management. However, there is no consensus on which indicators should be included in predictions, prognostic algorithms, or management strategies for community-based mental health promotion and prevention approaches. Therefore, this scoping review provides an overview of relevant community-level indicators for mental health in the general as well as risk populations in a European context.

Methods

We conducted a scoping review in the following electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, and PsycInfo. Eligible studies focused on context factors such as either the physical or social environment, reporting at least one mental health outcome and referring to a European population. Publications between 2012 and March 8, 2022 are considered.

Results

In total, the search yielded 12,200 identified records. After the removal of duplicates, 10,059 records were screened against the eligibility criteria. In total, 169 studies were included in the final analysis. Out of these included studies, 6% focused on pan-European datasets and 94% on a specific European country. Populations were either general or high-risk populations (56 vs. 44%, respectively) with depressive disorder as the main reported outcome (49%), followed by general mental health (33%) and anxiety (23%). Study designs were cross-sectional studies (59%), longitudinal (27%), and others (14%). The final set of indicators consisted of 53 indicators, which were grouped conceptually into 13 superordinate categories of community indicators. These were divided into the domains of the physical and social environment. The most commonly measured and reported categories of community indicators associated with mental health outcomes were social networks (n = 87), attitudinal factors toward vulnerable groups (n = 76), and the characteristics of the built environment (n = 56).

Conclusion

This review provides an evidence base of existing and novel community-level indicators that are associated with mental health. Community factors related to the physical and social environment should be routinely recorded and considered as influencing factors or potentially underestimated confounders. The relevance should be analyzed and included in clinical outcomes, data, monitoring and surveillance as they may reveal new trends and targets for public mental health interventions.

Sex Differences in Patterns of Childhood Traumatic Experiences in Chinese Rural-To-Urban Migrant Children

BACKGROUND

Children and adolescents are likely to be exposed to various types of childhood traumatic experiences (CTEs) with gender-specific patterns. Rural-to-urban migrant children have been demonstrated a greater risk of CTE exposure than local children. However, no study has investigated sex differences in the patterns of CTEs and predictive factors among Chinese children.

METHODS

A large-scale questionnaire survey of rural-to-urban migrant children (N = 16,140) was conducted among primary and junior high schools in Beijing. Childhood trauma history, including interpersonal violence, vicarious trauma, accidents and injuries was measured. Demographic variables and social support were also examined. Latent class analysis (LCA) was utilized to examine patterns of childhood trauma, and logistic regression was used to examine predictors.

RESULTS

Four classes of CTEs were found among both boys and girls, labeled low trauma exposure, vicarious trauma exposure, domestic violence exposure, and multiple trauma exposure. The possibility of various CTEs in the four CTE patterns was higher among boys than girls. Sex differences also manifested in predictors of childhood trauma patterns.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings shed light on sex differences in CTE patterns and predictive factors in Chinese rural-to-urban migrant children, suggesting that trauma history should be considered along with sex, and sex-specific prevention and treatment programs should be developed.

Child Maltreatment, Peer Victimization, and Mental Health: Neurocognitive Perspectives on the Cycle of Victimization

Children who experience maltreatment are at increased risk of revictimization across the life span. In childhood, this risk often manifests as peer victimization. Understanding the nature of this risk, and its impact on mental health, is critical if we are to provide effective support for those children who are most vulnerable. A systematic scoping review was conducted using Google Scholar and PsycINFO. Studies on adults, psychiatric, and/or inpatient populations were excluded. Included studies concerned all forms of child maltreatment and peer victimization. We found 28 studies about the association between maltreatment experience and peer victimization as well as peer rejection. We review the evidence documenting the relation between these adverse childhood experiences and mental health. The evidence suggests that maltreatment and peer victimization have additive effects on mental health outcomes. A number of theoretical developmental frameworks that delineate putative mechanisms that might account for an association are considered. Building on prior research, we then discuss the role of recent neurocognitive findings in providing a multilevel framework for conceptualizing mental health vulnerability following maltreatment. In addition, we consider how altered neurocognitive functioning following maltreatment may shed light on why affected children are more likely to be victimized by their peers. Specifically, we consider the threat, reward, and autobiographical memory systems and their role in relation to stress generation, stress susceptibility, and social thinning. Such a mechanistic understanding is necessary if we are to reduce the likelihood of peer victimization in children exposed to maltreatment, and move to a preventative model of mental health care.

Cyberbullying Involvement and Depression among Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and University Students: The Role of Social Support and Gender

One aim of this study was to investigate differences in cyberbullying involvement (i.e., victimization, bystanding, perpetration) across four age groups, including 234 elementary school students (4th and 5th grades; 51% female), 363 middle school students (6th through 8th grades; 53% female), 341 high school students (9th through 12th grade; 51% female), and 371 university students (all four years; 60% female). Another aim was to examine the age group differences in the associations between cyberbullying involvement and depression, as well as the moderating effect of social support from parents and friends. Participants completed questionnaires on cyberbullying involvement, depression, and social support from parents and friends. Findings revealed that middle school students were more often involved in cyberbullying as victims, bystanders, and perpetrators, followed by high school and university students, and elementary school students. High school and university students did not differ on their cyberbullying involvement. Gender moderated these relationships for elementary school students, with boys more often involved in cyberbullying perpetration and victimization than girls. In addition, female university students witnessed cyberbullying more so than males. Social support from parents buffered against the negative effects of cyberbullying involvement on depression across all age groups. Results were similar for social support from friends, but only for middle school and high school students. Gender did not influence the associations among age groups, cyberbullying involvement, and depression. The results have implications for designing prevention and intervention programs and ensuring that such programs consider age.

Dimensions of Parenting and Children's Bullying Victimization: A Look at the Racial/Ethnic and Grade Level Differences

The associations between the various dimensions of parenting and adolescent bullying have been widely studied, but it is unclear whether these associations vary by race/ethnicity and grade. The current study utilized the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children data in the United States for the investigation. The findings show that supportive parenting and permissive parenting were negatively associated with bullying victimization. However, controlling parenting and neglectful parenting were positively associated with bullying victimization. The results further revealed that the dimensions of parenting were similarly associated with bullying victimization across racial/ethnic groups. Parenting was also similarly associated with bullying victimization for both middle and high school students, except for supportive parenting, where middle school students with more parental support reported less bullying victimization. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Prevalence and factors associated with loneliness among Indonesian female adolescents: a cross-sectional study

Background

Loneliness, or the perception of social disconnectedness, is a public health concern and is reported to be a frequent experience during adolescence (10–19 years). This study investigates the prevalence of loneliness and associated health-risk behaviors among Indonesian female adolescents.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study, data for which were extracted from the WHO’s Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS), which uses a globally standardized cross-sectional methodology to provide accurate data on behaviors and protective factors among students. Data from 4993 female students aged 13–17 years old from 74 schools were extracted from the 2015 survey in Indonesia and analyzed. Loneliness was used as a single measure, as happens in other studies using GSHS data. Descriptive analysis was done for age, socioemotional issues, health-risk behaviors, and contextual factors. This was followed by multiple logistic regression analysis to identify loneliness-associated factors.

Results

Approximately 6.5% of Indonesian female adolescents experience loneliness most of the time or always. Adolescents experiencing loneliness had a higher rate of sleep disturbance (37.6%), suicide ideation (21%), suicide plan (20.8%), smoking behavior (15%), and alcohol use (15.7%) than the general population. Multiple regression analysis confirms that adolescents who have no close friends, have been bullied during the past month, experience sleep disturbance, have had suicide ideation and suicide plans, are always feeling hungry, are exposed to passive smoking, and are engaged in a sedentary lifestyle are at a higher likelihood of suffering from loneliness (p < 0.05). On the other hand, having kind and helpful classmates served as a useful protection against loneliness (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The rate of loneliness in Indonesian female adolescents is relatively lower than previously reported elsewhere. Several health-risk behaviors and contextual factors are associated with loneliness. It is important to gain insight into the exact interplay between factors and loneliness since that could inform future intervention development and lead to better well-being among female adolescents.

Personality pathology in adolescence: relationship quality with parents and peers as predictors of the level of personality functioning

BACKGROUND

The dimensional approach to personality pathology opens up the possibility to investigate adolescence as a significant period for the development of personality pathology. Recent evidence suggests that symptoms of personality pathology may change during adolescence, but the negative consequences such as impaired social functioning persist later on in life. Thus, we think that problems in social functioning may further predict personality impairments. The current study aimed at investigating the role of relationship quality with parents and peers for the prediction of the level of personality functioning across adolescence. We hypothesized that 1) relationship quality with both parents and peers will significantly account for the level of personality functioning in adolescence and 2) the importance of relationship quality with peers for the relation to impairments in personality functioning will increase with age.

METHODS

A community sample consisting of 855 adolescents aged 11-18 (M = 14.44, SD = 1.60; 62.5% female) from different regions in Lithuania participated in this study. Self-report questionnaires included the Levels of Personality Functioning Questionnaire to investigate personality impairments and the Network of Relationships Questionnaire to assess the quality of dyadic relationships.

RESULTS

Discord in the parent, but not peer relationships, was related to a more severe level of personality functioning across adolescence. Lower levels of closeness with parents accounted for higher impairments in personality functioning. The importance of closeness with peers for the explanation of the level of personality functioning increased with age.

CONCLUSIONS

During the sensitive period for the development of a personality disorder, relationship quality with the closest adults and peers both remain important for the explanation of impairments in personality functioning.

Body mass index and bullying victimization as antecedents for depressive symptoms in a Swedish youth cohort

Aim

The bidirectional association between obesity and depression seen in adults is not clearly established in adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate the longitudinal association between body mass index (BMI), depressive symptoms and interactions between bullying victimization and BMI, taking gender differences into account.

Subjects and methods

In a Swedish county, self-reported bullying victimization, BMI and depressive symptoms from 1729 adolescents ($$ \overline{y} $$ y ¯ = 14.4, 56% females) were collected in 2012 (wave 1), in 2015 (wave 2) ($$ \overline{y}=17.3 $$ y ¯ = 17.3 ) and in 2018 (wave 3) ($$ \overline{y} $$ y ¯ = 19.9). Longitudinal associations were assessed using binary logistic regression models controlling for confounding factors. Interaction effects between BMI and victimization on depressive symptoms were also assessed.

Results

Wave 1 obese males had approximately six times increased odds ratio compared to normal weight, for wave 2 depressive symptoms. W1 overweight was associated with an odds ratio of 1.5 in all participants for wave 3 depressive symptoms. Victimization was consistently associated with higher odds ratio for future depressive symptoms. We found interaction effects between bullying victimization and BMI for future depressive symptoms with different patterns depending on sex.

Conclusion

Given the present findings, bullying needs to be prevented, and, if it occurs, it needs to be stopped at an early stage to prevent future depressive symptoms.

Latent Class Analysis of Victimization Patterns and Associated Protective Factors among LGBTQ Youth

Youth victimization in schools remains a fervent public health issue, despite increased awareness of this issue, and this is especially true for marginalized populations like lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Youth violence has been studied widely, but less research has sought to understand factors protective of violence victimization, particularly protective factors shared across multiple forms of violence. In the current study, we utilized latent class analysis to test patterns of three types of victimization: peer victimization (PV), homophobic name-calling victimization (HNCV), and sexual harassment victimization (SHV). In addition, we tested protective factors associated with experiencing these types of violence. Our sample included 4778 9-11th graders in the United States, of which about 15% identified as LGBTQ. Three unique classes of victimization emerged, suggesting that concurrent forms of violence occur among some groups of adolescents. LGBTQ youth were more likely to be members of classes which demonstrated higher levels of victimization. Consistent with previous literature, medical access, counseling access, family support, peer support, and spirituality emerged as significant protective factors associated with a lower risk of victimization. We discuss the implications of our findings with specific attention to protecting the wellbeing of SGM youth.

Does Friend Support Matter? The Association between Gender Role Attitudes and School Bullying among Male Adolescents in China

This study investigated the association between gender role attitudes, perceived friend support, and school bullying among male adolescents from 11 schools in two cities in China. A total of 3172 Chinese adolescents between 12 and 20 years of age (48.80% girls and 51.20% boys) completed questionnaires that included measures of bullying, gender role attitudes, and perceived social support. In terms of outcome measures, the Chinese version of the Illinois Bully Scale (IBS), Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used to assess bullying perpetration, gender role attitudes, and perceived friend support, respectively. Based on masculinity theories and the stress-buffering theory, the study found that male adolescents held more traditional gender role attitudes (t = 30.78, p < 0.001) and reported higher prevalence of bullying behaviors (36.02%) than girls (31.20%). In addition, boys’ bullying behaviors were significantly predicted by gender role attitudes through perceived friend support. That is, male youth with more conservative gender role attitudes reported less perceived friend support (adjusted OR = 1.055; SE = 0.013), which elevated their risks of bullying perpetration (adjusted OR = 2.082; SE = 0.302). These findings have critical implications for bullying intervention and prevention through gender equity education.

Reciprocated Friendship as a Mediator of the Effects of Cooperative Learning on Peer Victimization in Middle School

Peer victimization represents a pervasive problem, particularly for students in middle school. Although curriculum-based prevention programs have generated small to moderate effects on victimization, these effects tend to weaken beginning with the transition to middle school. In this study, we evaluated cooperative learning (CL) as a mechanism to prevent victimization, and evaluated reciprocated friendships as a mediator of these effects. Using four waves of data from a cluster randomized trial of CL (7 intervention and 8 control middle schools; N=1,890 students, 47.1% female, 75.2% White), we found that CL significantly reduced victimization after two years, and these effects were mediated by growth in reciprocated friendship in the first year. We conclude that CL can reduce victimization by providing a means for students to engage in extended social interactions with a wider range of peers and thus creating opportunities for students to forge stronger (i.e., reciprocated) friendships.

Downward Spiral of Bullying: Victimization Timeline From Former Victims' Perspective

The present study aimed to investigate how those who had been chronic victims of bullying perceive their bullying experience from their initial attacks to their bullying exit, how they understood processes and actions causing a situation to become progressively worse, and how they interpreted their own coping behaviors. Nine individuals who were victimized for at least 6 years were interviewed. The grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data, which generated a grounded theory of the downward spiral of bullying, demonstrating hidden aspects of bullying-the victim's inner process as a response to external victimizing and accompanying events. The interdependence of those processes is presented in a timeline to show their cumulative nature as new vicious circles of bullying involving maladaptive coping strategies (e.g., self-blame), which form an overriding pattern of behavior that renders victims unable to break it even if they enter a new peer group. In terms of policy implications, the findings suggest the need to introduce school transition programs supporting school adaptation, identify chronic victims, and take every victimhood narrative seriously.

School bullying victimization-associated anxiety in Chinese children and adolescents: the mediation of resilience

BACKGROUND

School bullying victimization is associated with increased risk of anxiety in children and adolescents. However, little is known about the role of resilience in this association. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible mediation by resilience in this association in a large group of Chinese children and adolescents.

METHODS

A population-based cross-sectional study adopting two-stage simple random cluster sampling was implemented in Yunnan province, southwestern China. A comprehensive questionnaire was used to collect information from the participants. Among all the participants, 4624 were included in the final analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to present general characteristics of the study participants. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were adopted to estimate crude and adjusted associations among bullying victimization, anxiety, and resilience. A path model was used to analyze the hypothesized mediation by resilience in the association between bullying victimization and anxiety.

RESULTS

Analytical results of multivariate logistic regression models suggested that bullying victimization was significantly associated with anxiety in Chinese children and adolescents; compared with individuals who had not been bullied, victims of bullying were more likely to experience anxiety symptoms, with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 3.02 (95% CI 2.46-3.71). Path analysis revealed a prominent mediating effect of resilience in the association between bullying victimization and anxiety, accounting for 31.89% of the total association. Further analysis indicated that, among the five dimensions of resilience, emotional regulation, interpersonal assistance, and family support were significant mediators, accounting for 30.34%, 10.79%, and 8.35% of the total association.

CONCLUSIONS

Our major findings highlighted the promising role of resilience-based intervention measures in reducing the risk of anxiety associated with school bullying victimization in Chinese children and adolescents.

Social Connectedness, Cyberbullying, and Well-Being: Preliminary Findings from the Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study

Social connectedness is well established as an important aspect of adolescence, with higher levels typically resulting in positive mental health and well-being. Cyberbullying is a prevalent concern during adolescence and is a significant contributor to poor mental health outcomes during this important phase of life. Research shows that social connectedness may act as a protective factor for mental health and well-being when young people experience cyberbullying. However, further research is required to elucidate associations between social connectedness, well-being, and cyberbullying over time. This article outlines preliminary findings from the Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study (LABS). Data are reported from N = 64 LABS participants recruited at age 12 and assessed at four timepoints over a 12-month period, with a total of 204 completed assessments. Structural equation modeling revealed a mediating effect of social connectedness on the relationship between cyberbullying and well-being. In other words, the negative influences of cyberbullying and cybervictimization on well-being scores over time are influenced by levels of social connectedness. The present findings highlight that increased social connectedness in young people is vital to promoting positive well-being over time and can protect well-being in those experiencing cyberbullying and/or cybervictimization. Findings can inform cyberbullying education programs, health care practitioners, parents, and educators on the importance of young people remaining socially connected when experiencing cyberbullying and/or cybervictimization.

Peer Victimization, Internalizing Problems, and the Buffering Role of Friendship Quality: Disaggregating Between- and Within-Person Associations

Although many studies have shown an association between peer victimization and internalizing problems, which may be buffered by friendship quality, it is unclear whether these associations apply to within-person processes as well. This would mean that at times when adolescents experience more victimization than they usually do, they also experience more internalizing problems. The current study disaggregated between- and within-person variation to examine the association between peer victimization and symptoms of depression and anxiety, and the protective effect of friend support and conflict. Participants were 497 Dutch adolescents (56% boys) with a mean age of 13.03 (SD_age = 0.45, ranging from 11.68 to 15.56 at Wave 1). They participated in a 6-wave questionnaire study, with each wave taking place approximately one year after the previous. The results showed that peer victimization was associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety across adolescence, both between and within persons. Friend support buffered this association at the between-person level, but not the within-person level. This study highlights the impact of peer victimization and suggests that friend support may partly protect adolescents from the effects of peer victimization.

Moderating Effects of Friendship and Family Support on the Association Between Bullying Victimization and Perpetration in Adolescents

School bullying can cause severe mental health problems for both victims and perpetrators. However, the association between bullying victimization and perpetration has rarely been discussed, and no study has investigated the effects of social support, such as friendship and family support, in moderating this association. Therefore, the authors examined the moderating effects of friendship and family support on the association between bullying victimization and perpetration in adolescents. Data were obtained from the 2009 Project for the Health of Adolescents. Through multistage stratified cluster sampling, 13 junior and 10 senior high schools in southern Taiwan were selected, resulting in a representative sample of 6,445 students from grades 7 to 12. School bullying and family support were examined using the Chinese version of the School Bullying Experience Questionnaire and the Family adaptability, partnership, growth, affection, resolve instrument, respectively. Friendship support was measured using the subscale of the Taiwanese Quality of Life Questionnaire for Adolescents and adolescents' number of friends, time spent with friends, and friend distributions. Linear regression modeling and the Johnson-Neyman technique were used to examine the moderating effects of friendship and family support on the association between bullying victimization and perpetration. For active bullying, having fun and talkative friends and friends outside school negatively moderated the intensity of the association between bullying victimization and perpetration (regression coefficients: -0.02 to -0.05), whereas, for passive bullying, only friends outside school negatively moderated the intensity of the association (regression coefficient: -0.05). By contrast, some components of friendship support positively moderated the associations. These findings suggest that higher friendship quality and having more friends outside of school attenuate the association between bullying victimization and perpetration in adolescents, thus increasing the understanding of the moderating role that social support play in such associations.

A Qualitative Study of How Adolescents' Use of Coping Strategies and Support Varies in Line With Their Experiences of Adversity

Background

Adolescence is associated with a rise in the incidence of mental health issues. Thus, the factors, processes, and contexts that protect and promote positive mental health in adolescence are of key interest to policymakers.

Objective

Our aim was twofold: First, to explore the coping strategies and sources of support that adolescents identify as protective (or not) in the face of difficulty over a three-year period; second, to examine how and why this may vary in line with the levels of adversity that they report experiencing in life.

Methods

Participants were attending schools in England implementing a mental health prevention programme called HeadStart. 93 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 adolescents (age 11-12 at the outset of the study; 58% female) once per year over three years. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results

Six coping strategy themes (e.g., 'Disengaging from problems') and five support themes (e.g., 'Parents as a source of comfort and advice') were derived from the interviews. The types, quality, and consistency of reported coping strategies and support varied in line with whether adolescents were experiencing higher or lower levels of adversity in life over time, and according to the resources that they had available within their physical and social contexts.

Conclusions

Our findings underscore the importance for mental health prevention programmes of bolstering both individual-level coping strategies and the resources available within adolescents' environments to help them to manage adversity.

Associations Between Weight-Based Bullying, Developmental Internal Assets, and Perceived Social Support Among Youth

BACKGROUND

Youth with obesity are likely to experience weight-based bullying victimization, and adolescents have the highest obesity rates among children. Factors that protect youth from traditional bullying victimization may protect youth from weight-based bullying victimization: internal assets such as positive identity and social competence, and external assets such as perceived support from parents and friends.

METHODS

To examine this proposition, data from 8th, 9th, and 11th graders were obtained from the 2016 Minnesota Student Survey (N = 126,495). Logistic regressions were conducted to identify the relationship between assets and weight-based bullying and to determine possible moderation by weight status.

RESULTS

Results demonstrate that positive identity, parent support, and friend support were associated with lower odds of experiencing weight-based bullying victimization. Moderation analyses revealed that perceived parent support was most protective against experiencing weight-based bullying victimization among youth with obesity compared to youth with overweight, normal weight, or underweight.

CONCLUSION

School administrators, counselors, and teachers should be aware of the increased risk of weight-based bullying for youth with obesity and underweight. Results underscore the need to foster youth's internal assets like positive identity to promote a strength-based approach for prevention. Parent involvement is warranted in weight-based bullying prevention efforts.

School-Age Bullying Victimization and Perpetration: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies and Research

Twenty-three samples from 22 longitudinal studies assessing both bullying perpetration and bullying victimization were selected from a sample of 1,408 candidate studies using several prespecified criteria (i.e., participants ≤ 18 years of age; self-reported bullying victimization and perpetration assessed with a lag of at least 1 month but no more than 24 months; not a treatment or program study). A random effects meta-analysis was then performed on the concurrent and cross-lagged longitudinal associations between bullying victimization and perpetration in the 23 samples. A large pooled effect size (r = .40, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [.34, .45]) was obtained for the concurrent association between bullying victimization and perpetration, whereas modest to moderate effect sizes (victimization to perpetration: r = .20, 95% CI [.17, .24]; perpetration to victimization: r = .21, 95% CI [.17, .24]) were obtained for the two cross-lagged longitudinal correlations. The results did not change when analyses were conducted separately for traditional bullying and cyberbullying outcomes. These findings indicate that bullying victimization and perpetration correlate strongly and that their cross-lagged longitudinal relationship runs in both directions, such that perpetration is just as likely to lead to future victimization as victimization is to lead to future perpetration. Different theoretical models are proposed in an effort to explain these results: cycle of violence, general strain, and social cognitive theories for victimization leading to perpetration and risky lifestyles, routine activities, and peer selection theories for perpetration leading to victimization.

Bidirectional associations between biased language exposure and school-based relationships across gender

Students often hear their peers use biased language regarding race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability status in the school setting. Prior research has indicated that biased language is related to school climate, and specifically to school-based relationships between peers and between students and their teachers. This study investigated the longitudinal associations among student-student relationships, teacher-student relationships, and being the target of or hearing biased language in middle school students. Students (N = 501; 46.5% White, 21.8% Hispanic, 13% African American, and 15% Multi-Racial; 48.7% female) reported on how much they were targeted or heard biased language related to race/religion, sexual orientation, and disability status. Students also reported on their relationships with their peers and teachers. Using a cross-lagged panel model with the overall sample, a negative unidirectional association from being the target of or hearing biased language and student-student relationships and teacher-student relationships was identified. Separate models for boys and girls identified unique patterns. For boys, biased-language exposure predicted more negative student-student relationships and teacher-student relationships, whereas for girls, biased-language exposure was not associated with school-based relationships. Implications include addressing language use and building positive student-student and teacher-student relationships.

Perceived friend support buffers against symptoms of depression in peer victimized adolescents: Evidence from a population-based cohort in South Korea

BACKGROUND

Peer victimization is associated with an increased risk for depression, but there is less evidence on how certain factors such as friend support can buffer this association. This study investigated the associations between friend support and depressive symptoms among victimized and non-victimized adolescent girls and boys from South Korea.

METHODS

Participants includes 2258 students from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey, a nationally representative sample of middle school students in South Korea. Self-reported perceived friend support, depressive symptoms and peer victimization were measured using validated scales during middle school year 3 (mean age= 15.7 years).

RESULTS

The association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms varied by sex (p for sex by peer victimization interaction<0.05). Peer victimization was more strongly associated with same year depressive symptoms in girls (β=0.55) than boys (β=0.24). After controlling for key confounders, including prior year mental health symptoms, higher levels of friend support were found to attenuate the association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms (p for friend support by peer victimization interaction <0.05). Peer victimization was associated with more depressive symptoms for adolescents with low and moderate friend support, but not those with high friend support.

LIMITATIONS

Peer victimization, depressive symptoms, and friend support, were self-reported and measured the same year.

CONCLUSIONS

Friend support protects victimized South Korean adolescents from the negative effect of peer victimization on depressive symptoms, hence contributes to closing the gap in depression between victimized and non-victimized adolescents.

The Impact of Childhood Bullying Trajectories on Young Adulthood Antisocial Trajectories

Long-term outcomes of childhood bullying perpetration have been explored, but heterogeneity in outcomes reflecting nonclinical antisocial tendencies including indirect aggression, psychopathic personality, and interpersonal relations have not been examined from a person-centered approach. Accordingly, latent class growth analyses were used to examine trajectory groups of childhood bullying perpetration across ages 10 to 18 and multi-trajectory groups of young adulthood outcomes across ages 19 to 23 (indirect aggression, psychopathic personality, interpersonal relations). In a sample of 701 participants (52.9% girls/women) followed annually, the majority of individuals reflected a low stable trajectory of bullying (81.2%) and fewer reflected moderate increasing bullying (18.8%). In young adulthood, the majority of participants reflected a prosocial multi-trajectory profile (61.6%; below average decreasing indirect aggression, below average decreasing psychopathy, above average stable interpersonal relations). Fewer participants reflected a below average antisocial profile (21.6%; below average decreasing indirect aggression, below average stable psychopathy, below average stable interpersonal relations) or an above average antisocial profile (16.8%; above average decreasing indirect aggression, above average decreasing psychopathy, below average stable interpersonal relations). Individuals following the moderate bullying trajectory in childhood had a significantly higher odds of following the above average antisocial profile but not the prosocial profile in young adulthood, when contrasted against the below average antisocial profile. These findings indicate that the prevention of childhood bullying can help prevent the continuity of an antisocial profile in young adulthood that is characterized by continued aggressive behavior, higher psychopathy, and poorer quality relationships.

Bully-Victims: An Analysis of Subtypes and Risk Characteristics

Bully-victims are often found to be the most high-risk group involved in bullying, yet limited prior research has explored differences among bully-victims. This study aims to fill that gap by exploring within-group differences of youth involved in both bullying perpetration and victimization. In a nationally representative sample of 165 youth ages 5 to 17, four bully-victim types were created using cutoff points based on the amount of perpetration and victimization reported: high bully-victims (n = 38), aggression predominant bully-victims (n = 67), victimization predominant bully-victims (n = 23), and moderate bully-victims (n = 37). Analyses revealed distinct differences among the groups, particularly relating to traumatic symptoms, types of bullying involvement, and nonvictimization adversity. The findings confirm that there is heterogeneity among bully-victims. The most substantial difference was found between the high group and the moderate group, with the high group significantly more likely to report depression (p < .05) and anxiety symptoms (p < .05), and more than two times more likely to experience past-year adversity than the moderate group. The findings from this study indicate that youth involved in high amounts of both perpetration and victimization are considerably more at risk of traumatic symptoms and nonvictimization adversity than youth involved in fewer bullying behaviors. These findings can be used to inform both research and practice, particularly in regard to targeted evidence-based interventions that meet the unique needs of each type.

Bullying and Victimization in Native and Immigrant Very-Low-Income Adolescents in Italy: Disentangling the Roles of Peer Acceptance and Friendship

Background

Very-low-income students are a population at a high risk of perpetrating and suffering bullying at school, and at the same time the peer group at school is often one of the few sources of support for these minors.

Objective

This two-wave study is aimed to disambiguate the two different roles of peer acceptance and friendship on bullying and victimization in very-low-income adolescents, exploring the possible differential role of immigrant background.

Method

An online survey was administered to 249 early to late adolescents living below the poverty threshold (Mage = 12.76; SDage = 2.34; 41.8% girls; 19.3% immigrants). A multivariate regression model with multi-group analyses was applied.

Results

Our results indicated that peer friendship was a protective factor against bullying as well as victimization, whilst peer acceptance was not protective. Only for natives (but not for immigrants), a high level of peer acceptance was a risk factor for bullying, and low school achievement was a risk factor for victimization. The persistence of victimization over time was significantly stronger for immigrants than for natives.

Conclusions

The study provides new insights for the unique protective role of classmates’ friendship in natives and immigrants, while acceptance appeared to be less relevant. Research and applied implications are discussed.

Exploring Predictors of Bullying and Victimization of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Findings from NLTS 2012

Research suggests that bullying victimization occurs at higher rates among students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than among their typically-developing peers. This study used data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 to explore differences in student and family characteristics between students with ASD and students with all other special education disability categories. The study also examined characteristics serve as predictors of bullying and victimization. Students with ASD were found to have greater difficulties with communication and social skills, as well as less-robust sense of themselves and their abilities than students with all other disabilities. Race, household income, social and communication skills, and self-concept were found to be associated with higher rates of bullying and victimization.

Analysis of factors affecting students going to school toilets in a rural primary school in China

Background

Several factors may affect students going to school toilets, but a few studies have analyzed the reasons for students using toilets. This study aimed to use a structural equation model to understand the factors that impacted children’s toilet behavior.

Methods

This study was performed in 12 rural nonboarding primary schools (6 schools in the northern and 6 schools in the southern regions of China). All students of the third and sixth grades (761 students) were examined. A questionnaire on students’ toilet behavior was used. The questionnaire included 33 perceptual items based on 5 factors: toilet facilities, cleanliness, hygiene practices, peer relationship, and experience. The questionnaire also covered the frequency of voiding and defecating by themselves. The exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and pathway analysis were used to analyze the causes of students’ toilet behavior.

Results

A statistically significant correlation coefficient of 0.300 indicated that cleanliness impacted the toilet frequency of students. The visual experience of the overall cleanliness of the toilet had the most significant impact on students’ toilet behavior (path coefficient, 0.81). Washing facilities and convenient handwashing had the least impact on toilet use (path coefficient, 0.52).

Conclusion

Cleanliness was the primary consideration for students’ toilet use on campus. The visual experience of the overall cleanliness of toilets had the most significant impact when students used toilets. No pre-survey was conducted to test the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Using self-reported data might be associated with potential recall errors.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-020-10099-4.