Poor performance in physical education - a risk factor for bully victimization. A case-control study

Momentary clumsiness and attention: Everyday interactions (and risks) in the world

Typically, explorations into risk-taking involve the conscious undertaking of actions that are potentially harmful. Rarely considered in such risk-taking contexts, however, are everyday, innocuous behaviors that nevertheless have the potential to cause some level of harm to actors; such behaviors could be considered as lying on a continuum of risky activity. The current study explored individual and developmental differences in one such category of behavior, entitled "momentary clumsiness". Momentary clumsiness refers to a tendency to perform movements involving non-optimal motor control, such as knocking over a glass of liquid or tripping while walking up stairs. This project explored the link between such behaviors and attentional factors. Specifically, twenty participants in three age groups (7- and 8-year-olds, 11- and 12-year-olds, and young adults) completed the experiment in 2 testing sessions. Momentary clumsiness was assessed by a 2-week daily phone interview, and was correlated with Stroop performance. The incidence of momentary clumsiness remained steady with age and was not related to motor ability or anthropometric measures. A high incidence of momentary clumsy behaviors was associated with a narrow focus of attention, and specifically, the tendency to ignore irrelevant and distracting stimuli. These findings are interpreted with respect to the relation between action and attentional focus, and provide a basis for extending our conceptualizations of injury proneness and risk-taking into a continuum of behaviors, varying in their degree of riskiness.

Korean autistic persons facing systemic stigmatization from middle education schools: daily survival on the edge as a puppet

Introduction

Korean autistic persons who have endured an integrated secondary education system have been exposed to school bullying, causing trauma and stigma to them. It also blocks them from entering a tertiary education system and a decent work, resulting in a lower quality of life. However, research on how it affects autistic persons has not yet been conducted in Korea.

Methods

Fourteen adult autistic persons in the Republic of Korea participated in the semi-structured focused group interviews. Their conversations were analyzed through qualitative coding.

Results

The interview results show the rare voice of Korean autistic people. Although interviewees experienced physical, verbal, and sexual violence against them during the secondary education period, they could not get substantial assistance from schools and society. Interviewees agreed that bullying is inherent in the secondary education system of Korea, even in Korean culture. They experienced the cause of bullying being attributed to them as victims rather than perpetrators, and impunity is given to the bullying assailants. Early analyses of this article confirm that such experiences are combined with the sociocultural climate of elitism, meritocracy, and authoritarianism in the Republic of Korea.

Conclusion

The study confirmed that the autistic person's bullying experience does not come from the social inability of autistic people but the "profound" competition and discriminative atmosphere of the society. The result urges further studies on the bullying experience of East Asian autistic persons and the construction of Korean intervention strategies to prevent school violence against Koreans with disabilities, especially autistic pupils.

Correlates of Bullying Behavior Among Children and Adolescents in Physical Education: A Systematic Review

Background and Objective

Bullying is notably prevalent among children and adolescents, especially within the context of physical education (PE) environments. Understanding the underlying factors that trigger bullying behavior is essential in designing strategies to prevent bullying and formulating more effective interventions in PE. There is a lack of integrated findings regarding the wide range of correlates of bullying behavior among children and adolescents within the PE context. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to synthesize the correlates of bullying behavior among children and adolescents within the context of PE.

Methods

We conducted a systematic search across four databases (EBSCOhost, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science) for relevant studies published before August 2023. Two reviewers independently examined the articles, assessed their methodological quality, and performed data extraction.

Results

A total of 23 articles met the inclusion criteria. It is found that demographic, physical movement, physical appearance, psycho-cognitive, teacher-related, and contextual factors emerged as six prominent influential factors affecting adolescent bullying behavior. Specifically, demographic factors mainly encompassed age and gender; physical movement factors primarily include physical activity, sedentary behavior, physical exercise, and sports competence; physical appearance factors primarily include being overweight, too thin, too tall, or too short; psycho-cognitive factors chiefly involved cognitive empathy, motivation, enjoyment of physical activity; teacher-related factors primarily comprised activity choices, teachers competence, controlling style, autonomy support; and contextual factors primarily cover desolate climate, perceived caring climate, strong sense of competition and winning setting.

Conclusion

The results indicate that bullying is a complex and multifaced behavior primarily determined by demographic, physical movement, physical appearance, psycho-cognitive, teacher-related, and contextual factors. Future studies need to enhance the diversity of research samples and comparative studies on the factors influencing bullying behavior among children and adolescents in different countries. Additionally, a more extensive range of intervention studies addressing bullying behavior among children and adolescents is warranted.

A novel tablet-based motor coordination test performs on par with the Beery VMI subtest and offers superior temporal metrics: findings from children with pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome

Neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders are often associated with coordination problems. Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) constitutes a specific example of acute and complex symptomatology that includes difficulties with motor control. The present proof-of-concept study aimed at testing a new, bespoke tablet-based motor coordination test named SpaceSwipe, providing fine-grained measures that could be used to follow-up on symptoms evolution in PANS. This test enables computationally precise and objective metrics of motor coordination, taking into account both directional and spatial features continuously. We used SpaceSwipe to assess motor coordination in a group of children with PANS (n = 12, assessed on in total of 40 occasions) and compared it against the motor coordination subtest from the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery VMI) 6th edition, traditionally used to follow-up symptomatology. Using a bivariate linear regression, we found that 33 s of the directional offset from tracking a moving target in SpaceSwipe could predict the Beery VMI motor coordination (VMI MC) raw scores (mean absolute error: 1.75 points). Positive correlations between the predicted scores and the VMI MC scores were found for initial testing (r_adj = 0.87) and for repeated testing (r_adj = 0.79). With its short administration time and its close prediction to Beery VMI scores, this proof-of-concept study demonstrates the potential for SpaceSwipe as a patient-friendly tool for precise, objective assessment of motor coordination in children with neurodevelopmental or neuropsychiatric disorders.

Victims and Perpetrators of Bullying in Physical Education Lessons: The Role of Peer Support, Weight Status, Gender, and Age in Polish Adolescents

Physical education is a space in which adolescents may become the victims or perpetrators of bullying. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between being a victim or perpetrator of physical, verbal, or social bullying in physical education, and peer support, gender, weight status, and age. The sample consisted of 2, 848 adolescents (1, 512 girls and 1, 336 boys) aged 14-16 from Poland. The participants' body mass index was determined based on their measured height and weight. The Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children questionnaire was used to assess whether the participants were victims or perpetrators of bullying. Peer support during physical education was assessed using the modified Teacher and Classmate Support Scale. The analysis of logistic regressions revealed that low peer support increased the probability of being the victim of physical, verbal, and social bullying (odds ratio [OR], 1.58-2.91) and becoming a perpetrator of bullying (OR, 1.14-1.37) in physical education. Additionally, being overweight increased the likelihood of being a verbal victim (OR, 1.39) and being obese raised the probability of becoming social victim (OR, 1.60). Boys more often experienced (OR, 1.12-2.06) and caused bullying (OR, 1.25-1.89) than girls. Moreover, victims were mainly younger (14-year-old) students (OR, 1.16-1.21), while perpetrators were more often older (15- and 16-year-old) adolescents (OR, 1.12-1.20). This research indicated that peer support can play a key role in preventing bullying in physical education. Physical education teachers should pay special attention to unpopular and rejected students because they most often become the victims and perpetrators of bullying. Creating a climate that fosters the development of high peer support might protect adolescents from becoming a victim-and a perpetrator-of bullying in physical education.

Below average motor skills predict victimization from childhood bullies: A study of adults with ADHD

Children with ADHD are frequently clumsy and involved in bullying, both as victims and perpetrators. The relationship between motor skills and bully status is poorly understood. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of motor skills in childhood on bully victimization/perpetration in those with ADHD. In this cross-sectional study, 403 adults diagnosed with ADHD filled out a questionnaire on their recall of bully victimization, bully perpetration, performance in physical education (PE) (defined as performance below average in i.e., ball dexterity, coordination or agility) as a proxy for motor skills, and academic skills at age 12, as compared to their peers. Of the current sample, 63% remembered being victimized and 31% noted they were perpetrators. Thirty-two percent recalled that they performed below average in PE. Being diagnosed with ADHD and having poor motor skills was strongly associated with bully victimization (OR = 2.63; 95% CI:1.62, 4.27, p < .001). Victimization was more common during all measured time periods, from nursery school until the age of 15, among those with poor performance in PE as compared to those without poor performance. No relationship was found between poor motor skills and bully perpetration. CONCLUSION: A crucial role of the cerebellum is coordination and the linking of sequenced motor actions through milli-second timing. Aberrations in this ability makes a person present as "different", which was stated as the most common reason for social exclusion by other children. Therefore, subtle clumsiness (presumed by poor performance in PE class) is suggested to mirror deficits in social skills, which is intuitively observed by peers, leading to victimization.

Autism spectrum in patients with schizophrenia: correlations with real-life functioning, resilience, and coping styles

BACKGROUND

Previous researches highlighted among patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) a significant presence of autistic traits, which seem to influence clinical and functional outcomes. The aim of this study was to further deepen the investigation, evaluating how patients with SSD with or without autistic traits may differ with respect to levels of functioning, self-esteem, resilience, and coping profiles.

METHODS

As part of the add-on autism spectrum study of the Italian Network for Research on Psychoses, 164 outpatients with schizophrenia (SCZ) were recruited at eight Italian University psychiatric clinics. Subjects were grouped depending on the presence of significant autistic traits according to the Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum (AdAS Spectrum) instrument ("AT group" vs "No AT group"). Other instruments employed were: Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), Specific Levels of Functioning (SLOF), Self-Esteem Rating scale (SERS), Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), and brief-COPE.

RESULTS

The "AT group" reported significantly higher scores than the "No AT group" on SLOF activities of community living but significantly lower scores on work skills subscale. The same group scored significantly lower also on SERS total score and RSA perception of the self subscale. Higher scores were reported on COPE self-blame, use of emotional support and humor domains in the AT group. Several correlations were found between specific dimensions of the instruments.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest the presence of specific patterns of functioning, resilience, and coping abilities among SSD patients with autistic traits.

Predicting Bullying through Motivation and Teaching Styles in Physical Education

From the theoretical framework offered by the self-determination theory, the objective of the study was to test a predictor model of bullying behaviors based on the physical education teacher’s supportive style, the students’ satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and self-determined motivation. A total of 608 students of both sexes, between 11 and 15 years of age, from primary and secondary schools in the province of Alicante (Spain) voluntarily completed questionnaires to measure each of the variables under study. The design of the study was cross-sectional. The results showed that the autonomy supportive style positively predicted the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, which, in turn, positively predicted self-determined motivation towards physical education. The latter negatively predicted bullying perpetration and bullying victimization. The controlling style presented inverse relationships to those of the autonomy supportive style. These results are in line with the positions of the self-determination theory and underline the potential responsibility of physical education teachers in the struggle against bullying, and how, by supporting autonomy and avoiding a controlling style, they can help reduce bullying perpetration and victimization.

Teaching Styles in Physical Education: A New Approach to Predicting Resilience and Bullying

The main objective of this study was to analyze student-perceived teaching styles’ power to predict students’ resilience and the emergence of bullying behaviors in physical education class. A total of 537 students of both sexes, between 11 and 15 years of age, from primary and secondary schools in the province of Alicante (Spain), participated in the study. The design of the study was cross-sectional. The results showed that bullying was positively predicted by students’ perceptions of a more controlling style and negatively by a greater perception of an autonomy-supportive style in physical education classes. Victimization was negatively predicted by greater resilience and positively by students’ perception of a teacher’s more controlling style. Finally, the mediation analysis showed that the perception of autonomy support indirectly and negatively predicted victimization, with resilience acting as a mediator. These findings provide useful information for physical education teachers interested in preventing bullying, and have important practical implications about the teaching style recommended for this purpose.

Impact of the Physical Activity on Bullying

Relationship problems among school children can lead to bullying situations. In this regard, it should be noted that, among healthy lifestyle habits, sports practice (non-competitive) promotes responsibility and improves coexistence. The objective of the present study was to analyze the incidence of the frequency of practice of healthy physical activity on the risks of students directly involved in school bullying (harasser and victim) by gender. The participants of the study were 1,248 students of Compulsory Secondary Education with ages between 11 and 18 (M = 14.42, SD = 1.43), being 50.8% males. The results of the study indicated that students who practiced physical activity in the recommended frequency rated as healthy, at least four or more times per week, had higher values in the indicators of aggressiveness than students who practiced with a lower frequency, appreciating a greater relationship between both variables in male rather than in female students. The study will make progress in preventive and intervention programs whose central axis is the promotion of physical activity and healthy sport (non-competitive) among students involved in situations of bullying. Likewise, teacher training in the recognition of bullying is considered a priority, providing them with guidelines for action.

Autism Spectrum Disorder and School Bullying: Who is the Victim? Who is the Perpetrator?

While a growing number of studies indicate associations between experiences of bullying and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is not clear what roles comorbid behavioral problems may play. We investigated the experiences of children with ASD as victims and/or perpetrators of bullying. Children with ASD epidemiologically ascertained participated in a cross-sectional study. Although children with ASD showed significantly increased risk for bullying involvement compared to community children, after controlling for comorbid psychopathology and other demographic factors, increased risks for being perpetrators or victim-perpetrators disappeared while risk for being bullied/teased continued to be significantly elevated. This finding will help guide medical, educational and community personnel to effectively identify children with ASD at risk for school bullying and develop interventions.

A connective tissue disorder may underlie ESSENCE problems in childhood

BACKGROUND

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome hypermobility type, also known as Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (EDS-HT/JHS), is the most common hereditary disorder of the connective tissue (HDCT). It is characterized by tissue fragility, joint hypermobility and a wide range of articular and non-articular manifestations, which often appear in infancy. The clinical picture of EDS-HT/JHS is poorly known by the medical community, as is the presence of "ESSENCE" (Early Symptomatic Syndromes Eliciting Neurodevelopmental Clinical Examinations) problems in affected children.

AIM

The present work reviews the clinical and empirical evidence for ESSENCE difficulties in children with EDS-HT/JHS.

METHOD

A narrative review of the literature was undertaken following a comprehensive search of scientific online databases and reference lists. This included publications of quantitative and qualitative research.

RESULTS

Motor abnormality, hyperactivity/hypoactivity, inattention, speech/language, social interaction, behavioral, sleep, feeding and emotional problems are ESSENCE difficulties for which there is some evidence of an association with EDS-HT/JHS.

CONCLUSION

Children with EDS-HT/JHS present ESSENCE problems that often coexist and tend to be recognized before the HDCT. Clinicians encountering children with ESSENCE problems should consider the possibility of an underlying HDCT such as EDS-HT/JHS, probably influencing neurodevelopmental attributes in a subgroup of children. Awareness of these interconnected clinical problems might help improve early referral, diagnosis and treatment of EDS-HT/JHS.

Childhood neurodevelopmental problems and adolescent bully victimization: population-based, prospective twin study in Sweden

Bully victimization is a common problem among children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder. Previous research was mostly cross-sectional and seldom accounted for co-morbid psychopathology, which makes it difficult to draw conclusions about causality and specificity of any association. Using a genetically informative prospective design, we investigated the association between various neurodevelopmental problems (NDPs) in childhood and bully victimization in adolescence, and the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to this association. We obtained parent-reports of NDPs at age 9/12 years and self-reported bully victimization at age 15 for 3,921 children participating in the The Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS). Structural equation modelling was used to control for NDP co-morbidity and bully victimization at baseline. Cholesky decomposition was used to analyse genetic and environmental contributions to observed associations. Because most of the NDPs were associated to later bully victimization, a common effect of all NDPs was summarized into a general NDP factor. Controlling for this general factor, only problems with social interaction and motor control uniquely predicted subsequent bully victimization in girls. General and unique associations were influenced by both genetic and unique environmental factors. NDPs in general and social interaction and motor problems in particular predicted later bully victimization. The longitudinal design and twin analyses indicated that these associations might be causal. Knowledge of these vulnerabilities may be important when designing risk assessment and prevention strategies.

Humor Style and Motor Skills: Understanding Vulnerability to Bullying

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of humor style and motor skills in vulnerability to bullying. 729 adults responded to the Humor Style Questionnaire (HSQ) and items retrospectively addressing their motor skills and bullying experiences during childhood. Consistent with recent research, poorer motor skills were associated with a greater extent of having been bullied. An association between stronger motor skills and affiliative humor was found, lending support to a shared biological basis theory underlying social and motor competency processes. Most importantly, being bullied was associated with higher self-defeating humor and lower affiliative humor. This supports earlier theoretical work by Klein and Kuiper (2006) and highlights the role that humor styles play in social interactions that can promote positive peer acceptance and wellbeing.

Poor motor skills: a risk marker for bully victimization

Children who are clumsy are often bullied. Nevertheless, motor skills have been overlooked in research on bullying victimization. A total of 2,730 Swedish adults (83% females) responded to retrospective questions on bullying, their talents in physical education (i.e., coordination and balls skills) and school academics. Poor talents were used as indicators of poor gross motor skills and poor academic skills. A subset of participants also provided information on educational level in adulthood, childhood obesity, belonging to an ethic minority in school and socioeconomic status relative to schoolmates. A total of 29.4% of adults reported being bullied in school, and 18.4% reported having below average gross motor skills. Of those with below average motor skills, 48.6% were bullied in school. Below average motor skills in childhood were associated with an increased risk (OR 3.01 [95% CI: 1.97–4.60]) of being bullied, even after adjusting for the influence of lower socioeconomic status, poor academic performance, being overweight, and being a bully. Higher odds for bully victimization were also associated with lower socioeconomic status (OR 2.29 [95% CI: 1.45–3.63]), being overweight (OR 1.71 [95% CI: 1.18–2.47]) and being a bully (OR 2.18 [95% CI: 1.53–3.11]). The findings indicate that poor gross motor skills constitute a robust risk-marker for vulnerability for bully victimization. Aggr. Behav. 39:453–461, 2013. © 2013 The Authors. Aggressive Behavior Published by Wiley-Blackwell

Physical education issues for students with autism: school nurse challenges

Extant studies indicate persons with autism have difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, repetitive behaviors, and poor ability to generalize learned skills. Obesity has also been identified as significantly affecting children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Negative experience in physical education (PE) may be the antecedent behavior to lack of activities that are mediators to sedentary lifestyles and contributors to the chronic illnesses associated with overweight and obesity. Students with ASD often cannot perform required activities to meet required PE standards. It is imperative school nurses be aware of the many challenges students with ASD bring into a PE class. School nurses provide education for the members of the school community, including the Individualized Education Plan team, regarding the need for attention to limitations, including physical activity, of students with ASD.

Aggressive interactions during free-play at preschool of children with and without developmental coordination disorder

This aim of this study was to investigate an unexpected finding from a larger study examining the play of preschool children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD). We found that children with DCD were more frequently involved in aggressive incidents during free-play than their peers. Children with (n=32) and without DCD (n=31) were videotaped during free-play at preschool and their play was assessed using the Play Observation Scale. A post hoc analysis was conducted using a specifically developed rating instrument to examine the aggressive incidents captured on video. Videos from 18 children with DCD and 8 typically developing children without DCD were found to contain aggressive incidents. Children with DCD were significantly more often involved as both aggressor (p=.016) and victim (p=.008) than children without DCD (p=.031). This is the first study to identify victimization and aggression as being problematic for children with DCD as young as 4 years of age and needs replication. Given the negative consequences of involvement in aggression and victimization, play-based early intervention focusing on prevention needs to be developed and implemented.

Childhood clumsiness and peer victimization: a case-control study of psychiatric patients

BACKGROUND

Poor motor and social skills as well as peer victimization are commonly reported in both ADHD and autism spectrum disorder. Positive relationships between poor motor and poor social skills, and between poor social skills and peer victimization, are well documented, but the relationship between poor motor skills and peer victimization has not been studied in psychiatric populations.

METHOD

277 patients (133 males, 144 females), mean age 31 years, investigated for ADHD or autism spectrum disorder in adulthood and with normal intelligence, were interviewed about childhood peer victimization and examined for gross motor skills. The parents completed a comprehensive questionnaire on childhood problems, the Five to Fifteen. The Five to Fifteen is a validated questionnaire with 181 statements that covers various symptoms in childhood across eight different domains, one of them targeting motor skills. Regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between motor skills and the risk and duration of peer victimization, adjusted for sex and diagnosis.

RESULTS

Victims were described as more clumsy in childhood than their non-victimized counterparts. A significant independent association was found between reportedly poor childhood gross motor skills and peer victimization (adjusted odds ratio: 2.97 [95% confidence interval: 1.46-6.07], n = 235, p = 0.003). In adulthood, the victimized group performed worse on vertical jumps, a gross motor task, and were lonelier. Other factors that were expected to be associated with peer victimization were not found in this highly selected group.

CONCLUSION

Poor gross motor skills constitute a strong and independent risk factor for peer victimization in childhood, regardless of sex, childhood psychiatric care and diagnosis.

Motor proficiency and emotional/behavioural disturbance in autism and Asperger's disorder: another piece of the neurological puzzle?

The relationship of motor proficiency with emotional/behavioural disturbance, autistic symptoms and communication disturbance was investigated in children diagnosed with autism and Asperger's disorder (AD). The Movement Assessment Battery for Children was used as a measure of motor impairment, and the Developmental Behavioural Checklist was used as a measure of emotional/behavioural disturbance in the following groups: AD (n = 22), high functioning autism (HFA) (n = 23), LFA (n = 8) and typically developing children (n = 20). The HFA group had more difficulty with motor items, such as ball skills and balance, than did the AD group. There were significant positive correlations between impairments in motor proficiency (in particular ball skills and balance) and emotional/behavioural disturbance, autistic symptoms and communication disturbance. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that there are qualitative and quantitative differences in the motor profile between autism and AD. In addition, the association between motor proficiency impairment and emotional/behavioural disturbance in autism and AD emphasizes the importance for screening of co-occurring emotional/behavioural symptoms in individuals with motor difficulties. These findings have implications for the potential use of adjunct motor measures in the diagnosis and definition of autism spectrum disorders.