School social cohesion, student-school connectedness, and bullying in Colombian adolescents

Risk Factors Associated With Bullying in Context of a Territory Exposed to Armed Conflict: A Cross-sectional Study

School violence and bullying are current and problematic events during adolescence. They are likely to have a marked presence in places highly exposed to armed conflict and violent environments, representing a double public health problem. The study aims to estimate the prevalence of different types of school violence perpetrated and experienced by school adolescents in a community with a history of exposure to armed conflict. Two thousand one hundred eighty-five school adolescents from a municipality in Colombia (males = 54.1%, 14-16 years = 38.6%) participated in the study. Nine educational institutions were included. A systematic random sampling was designed, with a proportional allocation of 35% within each school year from sixth to eleventh grade. The School Coexistence and Circumstances Affecting it-ECECA survey was applied. The prevalence and risks of bully and bullying were estimated. RRa were calculated with the 95% confidence interval adjusted for the other confounding variables. Analyses were constructed from generalized linear models, under the Poisson family and a logarithmic link function. We found a 9.3% of bullying victimization and a 3.5% prevalence of bully. A higher risk of bully was found among males, persons between 10 and 14 years of age, residents of rural or urban dispersed areas, residents of violent neighborhoods, alcohol consumers at school, and victims of aggression in childhood (RRa > 1.0, p-values <.05). The risk of victimization of bullying was higher in students younger than 15 years old, as residents of urban areas, having a history of childhood aggression, suffering abuse by a close person, and as alcohol users at school. This study provides evidence of risk factors for aggression and bullying that have implications for possible prevention measures in multiple social domains, including the individual, the family, and the school environment.

School Connectedness and E-cigarette Susceptibility/ Ever Use in Texas 6th-Grade Students

Objectives: We examined the association between school connectedness (SC) and e-cigarette susceptibility/ ever use in a diverse sample of Texas 6^th graders, with a secondary aim to explore the association stratified by gender and classroom setting (in-person vs remote). Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted of CATCH My Breath baseline data, representing 985 6^th -graders from 21 public schools. SC was based on National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health measures; e-cigarette susceptibility/ever use was based on the FDA's definition of "at-risk" for long-term use. We conducted multi-level logistic regression analyses.Results: Over half the sample was Hispanic (57.6%), with 36.2% reporting susceptibility/ever use. Lower SC was associated with increased odds of e-cigarette susceptibility/ever use (low SC: aOR: 5.17, 95% CI: 3.54, 7.55; medium SC: aOR: 2.15, 95% CI: 1.44, 2.91; high SC= referent). The association held across gender groups, with low SC girls reporting the highest odds of susceptibility/ever use (aOR: 7.83, 95% CI: 4.51, 13.61). Low SC in- person and remote students were 6 and 4 times, respectively, more likely to report susceptibility/ever use as high SC students (p<.05). Conclusion: SC protected against e-cigarette susceptibility/ever use in this sample.

Depression and sleep disorders among AIDS orphans in an HIV/AIDS high-epidemic area in China

BACKGROUND

The Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture is home to the largest population of Yi ethnic minority within mainland China. Due to the high HIV/AIDS epidemic, many Yi children become AIDS orphans who lost one or both parents to AIDS-related causes. This study explored the prevalence and correlates of AIDS orphans' depressive symptom, sleep disorders and their comorbidity.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect pertinent information from 467 AIDS orphans and 856 non-orphans of Yi ethnic minority. Depressive symptoms were screened by a two-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2). The symptoms of insomnia were assessed by the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), which was complemented by one item from the Pittsburgh Quality Sleep Index (PSQI) to measure the frequency of nightmare.

RESULTS

The prevalence of depression (26.8% vs. 20.4%, P = 0.009) and comorbidity of depression, insomnia and nightmare (7.5% vs. 4.3%, P = 0.046) was significantly higher for AIDS orphans than for non-orphans. Risk factors such as ostracization and self-reported poor physical health had stronger effects on depressive symptoms and sleep disorders for AIDS orphans than for non-orphans. On the other hand, peer support, as an important protective factor, was significantly and negatively associated with depressive symptoms and sleep disorders for AIDS orphans.

CONCLUSIONS

AIDS orphans of Yi ethnic minority reported higher levels of depressive symptoms and comorbidity of depression and sleep disorders than their non-orphan counterparts. These symptoms were exacerbated by ostracization and self-rated poor physical health but lowered by peer support.

How the Popularity of Bullies Influences the Self-Esteem of Their Classmates: A Study of First-Year Middle School Students in South Korea

This study investigated whether and how classroom-level bullies' friendship networks, which reflect the popularity of bullies, were associated with the self-esteem of middle school students in the classroom. We analyzed survey data from 2,444 students in 101 classrooms from 22 middle schools in Korea. Respondents reported their friends' and bullies' names from their classroom. For each student, we generated the number of close friends that a respondent reported (outdegree) and the number of classmates who nominated him or her as a close friend (indegree). Bullies' popularity was measured by the sum of all the bullies' indegrees in a classroom. The findings showed that students in a classroom of bullies with larger popularity had a lower level of self-esteem. Moreover, bullies' popularity was harmful to nonvictims' self-esteem as well as victims' self-esteem. This study suggests that even indirect exposure to bullying in a classroom can decrease the self-esteem of nonvictims by leading to negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, fear, and/or guilty feelings.

School Bullying in Urban China: Prevalence and Correlation with School Climate

School violence and bullying in China is under investigated, though it has become a national concern recently. Using updated national representative survey data collected in 2016 from seven provinces across China, covering students from all pre-college school types (primary, middle, high and vocational schools), this paper analyzes the prevalence of school bullying and the correlation with several school attributes. The incidences of reported bullying, bullying others and witnessing bullying are 26.10%, 9.03% and 28.90%, respectively. Primary school students are more likely to be involved in bullying behaviors. Students from elite schools (leading schools) are also more likely to be involved. Relation with teachers, relation with peers and perceived academic achievement are protective factors. Being a boy is the only significant predictor of school bullying among the family and demographic characteristics used. The results highlight the importance of school climate on preventing school violence and bullying, and a whole-school intervention approach is needed for future intervention.

Assessing environmental assets for health promotion program planning: a practical framework for health promotion practitioners

Conducting a health needs assessment is an important if not essential first step for health promotion planning. This paper explores how health needs assessments may be further strengthened for health promotion planning via an assessment of environmental assets rooted in the multiple environments (policy, information, social and physical environments) that shape health and behavior. Guided by a behavioral-ecological perspective- one that seeks to identify environmental assets that can influence health behavior, and an implementation science perspective- one that seeks to interweave health promotion strategies into existing environmental assets, we present a basic framework for assessing environmental assets and review examples from the literature to illustrate the incorporation of environmental assets into health program design. Health promotion practitioners and researchers implicitly identify and apply environmental assets in the design and implementation of health promotion interventions;this paper provides foundation for greater intentionality in assessing environmental assets for health promotion planning.