Effects of an intervention to prevent the bullying in first-grade secondary schools of Palermo, Italy: the BIAS study

The impact of resilience as a protective factor on Health-Related Quality of Life's psychological dimensions among adolescents who experience peer victimization

Peer victimization have a negative impact on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) during adolescence, however some personal skills such a person's resilience could play a significant role in this relationship. In this context, this study aims to analyse if resilience is a moderator of the relation between peer victimization and HRQoL's psychological dimensions. Sociodemographic data, peer victimization, psychological domains of HRQoL and resilience were measures in a sample of 1428 secondary school students using the following scales: "Adolescent Peer Relations Instrument-Bullying", "KIDSCREEN-52" and "Brief Resilient Coping Scale. Different multivariate analyses were carried out using linear regression. PROCESS tool was used to examine the moderating role of resilience, with John-Neyman post-hoc approach to quantify moderation. Results suggest that resilience could moderate the association between physical (β =  - 0.0021; p = 0.025) and verbal victimization (β =  - 0.0018; p = 0.024) and the "Mood and Emotions" dimension of adolescents' HRQoL. Nevertheless, this regulating influence appears to be faint (∆R2 0.004). Resilience showed no moderating effect between social victimization and psychological dimensions of HRQoL. We concluded that resilience could function as a protective factor that weakly regulates the negative association between physical and verbal victimization and the psychological sphere of adolescents' HRQoL.

Psychoeducation Reduces Alexithymia and Modulates Anger Expression in a School Setting

Bullying and violence are relevant issues in school settings and negatively impact students’ well-being and mental health. Psychoeducation and anti-bullying programs may prevent violence among students by addressing emotional expression and regulation, alexithymia, and anger. We describe the impact of a psychoeducational intervention delivered to 90 male and 101 female school youths (N = 191), aged 12–14 years old, and aimed to improve their emotional recognition and regulation, as well as to reduce alexithymia in order to prevent aggression and bullying episodes. A psychological assessment has been performed before (T0) and after (T1) the intervention including levels of alexithymia, measured with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), Empathy Quotient (EQ), and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Females have shown higher levels of alexithymia at baseline whereas other characteristics (anger, empathy quotient and emotional regulation) did not differ among sex groups. The psychoeducational program significantly increased the empathy quotient (+10.2%), the emotional regulation reappraisal (+20.3%), and the assertive anger expression (+10.9%); alexithymia significantly decreased after the intervention in all the samples (−14.4%), above all among students scoring ≥61 at TAS-20 (−48.2%). Limitations include a small sample from a single school setting, the lack of a control group without psychoeducation, and an assessment based on self-reported measures. We may conclude that psychoeducation has significantly reduced levels of alexithymia and improved empathy and emotional regulation among adolescents.

Prevalence and factors associated with bullying phenomenon among pre-adolescents attending first-grade secondary schools of Palermo, Italy, and a comparative systematic literature review

Background

Bullying is recognized as one of the most significant social and health problems in the school environment for children and adolescents. In Italy, bullying involved 2 in 10 kids between 11–17 years that referred to have been bullied two or more times in a month. In Sicily, the estimated prevalence of children aged 11 to 15 that suffered at least one act of bullying in the last two months was 14% in 2011.

Methods

A questionnaire consisting of 30 items investigating physical, verbal and indirect bullying, observers of bullying, resiliency, and prosociality was administered to preadolescents of ten first-grade secondary schools within the Palermo Province in order to analyze prevalence and factors associated with bullying phenomenon. Also, a systematic literature review (SLR) analyzing manuscripts that reported prevalence of the bullying phenomenon worldwide was conducted.

Results

Survey: a total of 867 students, belonging to 35 s and 31 third classes of ten different schools in Palermo, Italy, were recruited in the survey. The values of physical bullying are included between the 4% of the single question method and the almost forty percent detected by the score of 7 method. Verbal bullying oscillates between 15.9% and 66.3%. Observers average values varies from 15.8% to 47.5%.

SLR: the estimated prevalence showed a considerable fluctuation. The occurrence of the bullying phenomenon was low in some Northern European countries, while in Anglo-Saxon countries it affected over a quarter of the middle school student population (28% in Maryland, USA and 21% in the UK).

Conclusions

The prevalence of the bullying phenomenon recorded by this survey with the three different methods used is similar to observations in international literature. In the Sicilian context, a higher prevalence of bullying phenomena was observed in pre-adolescents attending major classes and in schools with lower socio-economic index. Though it remains difficult to obtain univocal data that clarifies the prevalence of different type of bullying, the continuous investigation of prevalence and factors associated with the phenomenon is a necessary starting point to introduce interventions and preventive measures in Public Health programs.

The school environment and bullying victimization among seventh graders with autism spectrum disorder: a cohort study

BACKGROUND

There is strong evidence to support the association between bullying and the onset of mental health conditions in students with ASD (autism spectrum disorder). In Taiwan, the seventh grade marks the first year of middle school, following elementary school. This period is also when peers tend to perform bullying behaviours to establish status among the peer group. Therefore, seventh grade is considered one of the most challenging times for students with ASD due to several changes within the school environment and the developmental changes that arise at this age. This study aims to assess the association between the school environment and bullying victimization among students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in regular classes in their first year of middle school.

METHODS

Data were obtained from the Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study database located in the Survey Research Data Archive of Academia Sinica. The analysis included one hundred eighty-four seventh graders with ASD who were in regular classes across Taiwan. The primary variables under study were whether the participants had experienced social exclusion, insults or teasing, extortion, or sexual harassment over the past semester.

RESULTS

Participants with a higher positive friendship quality (P = 0.027) and who had received more peer support upon encountering difficulties in school (P = 0.041) were less likely to experience social exclusion. Participants with a higher positive friendship quality (P = 0.001) and a more positive classroom learning environment (P = 0.031) were less likely to have experienced insults or teasing. However, participants with more friends were more likely to be extorted (P = 0.015) and sexually harassed (P = 0.001) than those with fewer friends. Furthermore, participants in regular classes on a part-time basis were 2.59 times more likely to report sexual harassment than those in regular classes on a full-time basis (P = 0.021).

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that a supportive school environment reduces the likelihood that seventh-graders with ASD will be bullied. Clinicians should consider the association between the school environment and bullying victimization among adolescents with ASD in regular classes during their first year of middle school.

Health Literacy and Health Behavior: Associated Factors in Surabaya High School Students, Indonesia

(1) Background: The health behavior (HB) of adolescents develops in the school or family setting and plays an important role in their future health status. Health literacy (HL) has been identified as an important factor in modifying health behavior in addition to socioeconomic factors. health-promoting school (HPS) programs also have a significant role in providing students with the means of learning the importance of knowledge, behavior, and skills for a healthy lifestyle. (2) Method: This study aims to identify the association between HB, HL measured in comprehensive health literacy (CHL) and functional health literacy (FHL), HPS programs, and socioeconomic factors among high school students in Surabaya, Indonesia. A cross-sectional study was conducted, and 1066 students were evaluated as respondents. (3) Result: The results of multivariate analyses showed that following factors were associated with better health behavior: female, better academic performance, higher grade, higher father’s education, lower allowance, and better CHL and FHL. The strongest association for HB was gender. CHL was especially associated with handwashing, physical activity, and drug abuse. FHL was associated with smoking and drug abuse. The implementation of HPS programs did not reach an optimum level and only influenced physical activity. (4) Conclusions: The findings confirm that CHL and FHL have a significant association with several HBs. HB intervention in the HPS program is recommended to incorporate the CHL and FHL for a better health impact.

The P.E.A.C.E. Pack Program in Italian High Schools: An Intervention for Victims of Bullying

Background: Bullying is a serious public issue, which mainly occurs in school with negative consequences for the students involved as victims. Very few teacher-delivered interventions have shown positive changes in the victims. The present study aimed at implementing the P.E.A.C.E. (Preparation, Education. Action, Coping, Evaluation) pack program, developed in Australia, in Italian high schools. Method: The effectiveness of the program was analyzed through an observational study (pre/post-intervention), involving 551 Italian high school students who completed a questionnaire on bullying victimization, self-efficacy, and bystander behavior. The students were divided into three groups (not involved students, occasional and severe victims) according to their self-reported victimization in the pre-intervention. Results: After the intervention, severe victims (victimized once/week or more often) showed a significant decrease in victimization and higher scores in self-efficacy, while an increase in victimization was observed in the not involved students. As reported by all the groups after the intervention, classmates were perceived more likely to intervene when a bullying episode occurred. By contrast, occasional and severe victims perceived their teachers as less likely to intervene. Conclusions: The P.E.A.C.E. pack is a promising program confirming in Italian schools the effectiveness already shown in other countries. This program is very useful for severe victims, supporting their self-confidence with a decrease in the frequency of aggressive episodes.