Individual and familial risk and protective correlates of physical and psychological peer victimization

The purpose of this study was to explore the association between youth characteristics, parenting behavior, and family violence and risk of physical and/or psychological peer victimization using a sample of 856 adolescents aged 10–17. Additionally, we examined whether the relation between parenting behaviors and victimization was moderated by age and gender. Data for this study were drawn from the first wave of the Developmental Victimization Survey. The results revealed unique associations between youth and familial correlates and odds for experiencing physical, psychological, and both types of victimization. Gender was found to be a statistically significant moderator of the relation between parental monitoring and odds of experiencing both physical and psychological peer victimization. Implications for bully prevention and intervention are discussed.     

The protective role of teacher–student relationships against peer victimization and psychosocial distress

This study examined whether teacher–student relationships protect against peer victimization and its negative psychosocial effects (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress). Additionally, the influence of teacher–student relationships, peer relationships, and students’ perceptions of school order and discipline was investigated as these variables were expected to be negatively related to the former. Data were collected from high school‐aged adolescents (N = 539; 51% female) in the U.S. Southwest. Study results indicate that teacher–student relationships buffered against experiencing psychosocial distress associated with peer victimization. Although positive teacher–student relationships, peer relationships, and students’ perceptions of school order and discipline all were negatively associated with peer victimization and psychosocial distress, teacher–student relationships were robustly related to peer victimization and psychosocial distress over the influence of the previous variables. In other words, as a key study finding, teacher–student relationships may reduce the impact of peer victimization by mitigating its negative psychosocial effects in a robust yet relatively unexplored way. Therefore, although more research is needed, fostering positive teacher–student relationships might be an effective way to reduce peer victimization as well as its negative effects.     

Assessing the links between punitive parenting,peer deviance,social isolation and bullying perpetration and victimization in South Korean adolescents

Children who are abused at home are at an increased risk of bullying perpetration and bullying victimization. Within that context, the purpose of the present study was to test Agnew’s general strain theory and the peer deviancy training hypothesis by utilizing structural equation modeling to empirically examine pathways linking punitive parenting to bullying perpetration and bullying victimization. This study adds to the literature in two important ways. First, potential mediating linkages between punitive parenting and bullying perpetration and bullying victimization were examined, including socially withdrawn behavior and deviant peer affiliation. Second, these relationships were considered in a longitudinal sample of South Korean adolescents, which is a novel examination given that parenting in South Korea is guided largely by Confucianism which reinforces parental control, restrictiveness, and a punitive nature. Results indicate that: (1) punitive parenting is directly related to bullying perpetration but not bullying victimization; (2) punitive parenting was found to have indirect effects only on bullying perpetration; (3) deviant peer affiliation increased the likelihood of bullying perpetration and victimization; and (4) socially withdrawn behavior only affected bullying perpetration via its effect on deviant peer affiliation.     

Kid's stuff: the nature and impact of peer and sibling violence on younger and older children

OBJECTIVE: It is widely presumed that when children are hit by peers or siblings, it is not as serious as similar acts between adults or older youth, which would be termed, "assaults" and "violent crimes". The goal of this study was to compare the violent peer and sibling episodes of younger children to those of older youth in terms of their seriousness and association with symptoms that might indicate traumatic effects. METHOD: The study collected reports of past year's violent victimizations and childhood symptoms in a national probability telephone sample of 2030 children and youth ages 2-17. The experiences of 10-17-year olds were obtained via self-reports and those of the 2-9-year olds from caregivers. RESULTS: The younger children's peer and sibling victimizations were not less serious than the older youth on the dimensions of injury, being hit with an object that could cause injury or being victimized on multiple occasions. Younger children and older youth also had similar trauma symptom levels associated with both peer and sibling victimization. CONCLUSION: There was no basis in this study for presuming peer and sibling victimizations to be more benign when they involve younger children. The findings provide justification for being concerned about such peer and sibling violence in schools and families and for counting such victimizations in victimization inventories and clinical assessments.     

Resilience to bullying victimization: The role of individual,family and peer characteristics

Little research attention has been paid to bullied students who function better than expected and are therefore defined as “resilient”. The present longitudinal study aimed to identify individual, family and peer factors that predict fewer than expected levels of depression and delinquency following experiences of bullying victimization. The sample consisted 3,136 adolescents. Self-report data were used to measure bullying victimization at age 13 and 14 and depression and delinquency at age 14. We examined the effects of gender, self-esteem, social alienation, parental conflict, sibling victimization and number of close friends on levels of emotional and behavioral resilience following bullying victimization. The resilience measures were derived by regressing depression and delinquency scores at age 14 on levels of bullying victimization at age 13 and 14, respectively. The adolescents who reported low depression despite frequently experiencing bullying tended to be male, had higher self-esteem, were feeling less socially alienated, were experiencing low levels of conflict with parents and were not victimized by siblings. On the other hand, the adolescents who reported low delinquency despite frequently experiencing bullying tended to be female, had higher self-esteem, were experiencing low levels of conflict with parents, were not victimized by siblings and had less close friends. Relationships with parents and siblings continue to play some role in promoting emotional and behavioral adjustment among victims of bullying and, therefore, interventions are more likely to be successful if they target both the psychosocial skills of adolescents and their relationships with their family.     

An intervention for relational and physical aggression in early childhood: A preliminary study

A preventive intervention for reducing physical and relational aggression, peer victimization, and increasing prosocial behavior was developed for use in early childhood classrooms. Nine classrooms were randomly assigned to be intervention rooms (N = 202 children) and nine classrooms were control rooms (N = 201 children). Classroom was the unit of analysis and both observations and teacher-reports were obtained at pre and post-test. Focus groups were used to develop the initial program. The 6-week program consisted of developmentally appropriate puppet shows, active participatory sessions, passive concept activities and in vivo reinforcement periods. Preliminary findings suggest that the “Early Childhood Friendship Project” tended to reduce physical and relational aggression, as well as physical and relational victimization and tended to increase prosocial behavior more for intervention than control classrooms. Teachers and interventionists provided positive evaluations of the program and there is evidence for appropriate program implementation.     

Parenting styles and bullying. The mediating role of parental psychological aggression and physical punishment

Studies concerning parenting styles and disciplinary practices have shown a relationship between both factors and bullying involvement in adolescence. The scarce available evidence suggests that abusive disciplinary practices increase teenagers’ vulnerability to abuse in school or the likelihood of them becoming abusers of their peers in the same context. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the indirect effect of parenting styles in adolescents’ bullying involvement through disciplinary practices, although a relationship between parenting styles and disciplinary practices has been shown. The aim of this research was to determine the mediating role of punitive parental discipline (physical punishment and psychological aggression) between the dimensions of parents’ parenting styles and their children's involvement in bullying victimization and aggression. We used a sample comprising 2060 Spanish high school students (47.9% girls; mean age = 14.34). Structural equation modeling was performed to analyze the data. The results confirmed the mediating role of parental discipline between the parenting practices analyzed and students’ aggression and victimization. Significant gender-related differences were found for aggression involvement, where boys were for the most part linked to psychological aggression disciplinary practices and girls to physical punishment. Victimization directly correlated with parental psychological aggression discipline behavior across both sexes. In conclusion, the results seem to suggest that non-democratic parenting styles favor the use of punitive discipline, which increases the risk of adolescents’ bullying involvement. Therefore, intervention programs must involve parents to make them aware about the important role they play in this process and to improve their parenting styles.     

Experiences of psychological and physical aggression in adolescent romantic relationships: Links to psychological distress

ObjectiveThis research examined links between adolescents’ experiences of psychological and physical relationship aggression and their psychological distress. Experiences of psychological and physical aggression were expected to correlate positively with symptoms of psychological distress, but experiences of psychological aggression were expected to partially account for the association between experiences of physical aggression and psychological distress. In addition, psychological aggression was hypothesized to be perceived as more unpleasant and less playful than physical aggression.MethodParticipants were 125 high school students. Relationship aggression was assessed over an 8-week period using two methods: (1) a retrospective method based on a single assessment at the end of the 8-week period, and (2) a cumulative method based on multiple assessments conducted during the 8-week period. Adolescents’ appraisals of the aggression were also measured, as were their reports of symptoms of psychological distress.ResultsAdolescents’ experiences of psychological and physical relationship aggression correlated positively, but inconsistently, with their symptoms of psychological distress. In analyses considering both forms of aggression simultaneously, psychological aggression was related to adolescents’ distress, but physical aggression was not. This finding emerged across both methods of assessing for relationship aggression. Psychological aggression was more likely than physical aggression to be rated as unpleasant, and less likely to be attributed to the partner “playing around.”ConclusionsThe study of adolescent relationship aggression will benefit by expanding the focus of aggression to include psychological aggression as well as physical aggression, and by examining adolescents’ appraisals of the aggression they experience.Practice implicationsThe findings highlight the importance of a broad view of aggression in adolescent relationships. Psychological aggression appears to be at least as important to adolescent well-being as physical aggression in dating relationships. In addition, it may be useful to consider how adolescents’ interpret the intent of the aggression that they experience.     

In the eye of the beholder: The relationship between perceived peer language skills,provided peer feedback and peer grading in secondary education

Students involved in peer assessment have interpersonal relationships, partly consisting of reciprocal perceptions. In the domain of argumentative writing, little is known about the way peer assessment is affected by the assessor’s perception of the assessee’s language skills. Dutch 10th grade students (N = 176, age = 15–16) provided feedback and grades on two texts, being under the illusion that the texts had been written by two classmates whom the assessors perceived as a peer with either stronger or weaker language skills than their own (within-subjects design). In reality, students assessed similar texts, created by the researchers. Assessors did not provide different feedback to the two types of assessees. Simultaneously, they provided higher grades to peers perceived to have stronger language skills than their own than to peers perceived to have weaker language skills than their own. Future research should capture assessors’ rationale behind the composition of feedback and grades.     

The cycle of victimization: The relationship between childhood maltreatment and adolescent peer victimization

Child maltreatment has been demonstrated to have many short- and long-term harmful consequences for victims, but whether or not child abuse is associated with an increased risk of peer victimization during adolescence is unclear. This study analyzed prospective data from 831 children and parents participating in the Longitudinal Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) to investigate the relationships between child physical and sexual abuse and adolescent victimization by peers, as well as the potential for gender to moderate these relationships. Results from ordinal logit regression models indicated that children who were physically abused prior to age 12, based on official reports, parent reports, and child reports, had a greater risk of experiencing more intimidation and physical assault by peers at age 16. Having a history of sexual abuse predicted more physical assault but not intimidation. There was no evidence that gender moderated these relationships; in all cases, the relationship between abuse and revictimization was similar for boys and girls. The findings emphasize the need to provide victims of abuse with assistance to help prevent a cycle of victimization.     

Harsh parenting and peer acceptance in Chinese early adolescents: Three child aggression subtypes as mediators and child gender as moderator

This study examined the mediating roles of three types of child aggression in the relation between harsh parenting and Chinese early adolescents’ peer acceptance as well as the moderating role of child gender on this indirect relation. 833 children (mean age = 13.58, 352 girls) with their parents were recruited as participants from two junior high schools in Shandong Province, People’s Republic of China. The results showed that paternal harsh parenting was only associated with boys’ aggressive behaviors and maternal harsh parenting was only associated with boys’ and girls’ verbal aggression. Adolescents’ verbal and relational aggressions were negatively associated with their peer acceptance. Verbal aggression was more strongly and negatively associated with girls’ peer acceptance. The results imply that in the Chinese cultural context, paternal harsh parenting may compromise boys’ peer acceptance through boys’ verbal and relational aggression as mediators, whereas maternal harsh parenting may impair children’s peer acceptance through children’s verbal aggression as a mediator, especially for girls. These results provide a theoretical basis for ameliorating the negative effect of harsh parenting on early adolescents’ peer acceptance by reducing their aggressive behaviors, with different strategies between boys and girls.     

Pupil and staff perceptions of bullying in secondary schools: comparing behavioural definitions and their perceived seriousness

Effects of a peer-led intervention campaign against school bullying, carried out by eight peer counsellors, were studied in an upper-level comprehensive school in southern Finland. The study was conducted in the seventh and eighth grades, the total number of participating classes being 12 and the total number of participants 196 (89 girls and 107 boys). The core of the intervention campaign was a one-week period during which a series of events and activities were organized at the school and in each individual class. In all parts of the campaign, the peer counsellors emphasized each individual's responsibility, as well as their potential to affect whether or not bullying occurs in their school or class. The results showed that the campaign was especially effective among girls. This was most clearly shown by decreases in both self- and peer-reported bullying, as well as an increase in 'power attitudes', i.e. attitude items reflecting the students' self-perceived potential and willingness to influence bullying problems in their class. Among boys, on the other hand, there was a slight decrease in self-reported bullying, not confirmed by peer reports and, unfortunately, there was an increase in pro-bullying attitudes, such as 'bullying might be fun sometimes'. Evaluating the campaign, girls also perceived it as more beneficial and more effective than boys did. Most students who reported being bullied before the intervention were satisfied with the campaign and thought it was helpful.     

Prevalence of family violence and mental health and their relation to peer victimization: A representative study of adolescent students in Southwestern Uganda

BackgroundDespite global efforts to end violence against children in all settings, reports reveal that violence against children is still highly prevalent, especially in low-and middle- income countries. Violence in childhood is associated with a host of negative outcomes, and exposure in one setting can easily spill over to other contexts. For instance, exposure to family violence was not only related to mental health problems but also seems to be a risk factor for peer victimization.ObjectivesThe present study aimed to examine the prevalence of maltreatment within the family and adolescents’ mental health problems and their relation to peer victimization. We also aimed to gain new insights into the perceptions of adolescents concerning maltreatment within their families.MethodsData were collected from April to November 2017 in a representative sample of 702 students from 12 public secondary schools in Southwestern Uganda who responded to self-administered questionnaires.ResultsOverall, 95% of the students experienced at least one type of family violence in the past month. Students (81.3%) had endorsed some level of acceptance of violent discipline as a valid strategy in response to any misbehavior. Maltreatment within the family was related to peer victimization (β = .47) and this relation was mediated by mental health problems (0.002, 95%-CI: 0.001–0.004).ConclusionsThe results indicated a high prevalence of maltreatment within Ugandan families that was associated with peer victimization. This underscores the need to implement interventions aiming to reduce maltreatment and violence in order to protect children from potentially negative consequences.     

Observing aggression of teachers in school teams

To fill the gap in theoretical and empirical knowledge on workplace aggression by teachers working in teams, this study explored its components, its targets, and its contextual determinants. Data were collected through three observations at different schools and at different times on 29 math, homeroom, language, and science studies teams. Qualitative analysis found the components of team teachers’ aggression to include obstructionist behaviors and expressions of hostility to colleagues. Determinants of the aggression such as injustice and sense of workload were identified. Theoretical and practical implications for the educational system and educational research are suggested. Principals are strongly encouraged to establish a school environment that promotes justice and reduces work overload. Educational leaders should create workshops for teachers coping with the negative effects of aggression and implement dispute resolution systems. New directions for research on teachers’ role in preventing aggression are offered.     

Explicitness of criteria in peer assessment processes for first-year engineering students

This article will outline the motives for the implementation of peer assessment as put into action at the first year of the Civil Engineering course of the University of Minho. The implementation of new assessment methods was a consequence of the successful implementation of peer assessment at other engineering courses. During the semester, three assessment moments took place, in which students assessed the work of their peers. Assessment criteria were defined in a negotiation process between students and teacher. The students subsequently graded the work of their colleagues and had to provide a clear justification for each given grade. The aim of this method is to involve students in the subject, enhance their motivation and deepen their learning. Advantages and disadvantages of peer assessment are discussed. The results that have been obtained so far draw attention to the nature of assessment criteria and the corresponding explicitness.     

Primary prevention of reading failure: Effect of universal peer tutoring in the early grades

Reading is typically considered a survival skill in our technology- and literacy-bound culture. Individuals who struggle with learning to read are at significantly elevated risk for a number of negative outcomes, including school failure, under- and unemployment, and special education placement. Thus, those who do not learn to read fluently will likely be a greater drain on society's resources. The authors examined the effects of a universal (school district-wide) implementation of a well-validated peer-tutoring reading intervention as a system-wide prevention measure in kindergarten through Grade 3 in a small metropolitan area in Canada. Results suggest that nearly all children demonstrated improved reading fluency over time. Yet those at highest-risk for poor outcomes, including those living in poverty and those who face learning challenges due to English as a second-language status or special education enrollment, did not make parallel gains to same-age peers in more affluent schools. Implications for educational policy are discussed.     

A case study of peer learning in higher aeronautical education

In order to improve student learning in an advanced course in aeronautics, lectures are replaced with more student-centred sessions based on peer learning. The course is organised in student teams, with the main task of delivering lecture requests for full class discussions. For the same reason, the written theory exam is replaced by a peer review of student reports. The new approach is found to result in a substantial increase of student–student and student–teacher interaction, leading to observable improvements in the course results. Finally, some feedback from the students is presented, being in great favour of the peer learning approach.     

Exploring the value of peer feedback in online learning for the provider

This paper reviews studies of peer feedback from the novel perspective of the providers of that feedback. The possible learning benefits of providing peer feedback in online learning have not been extensively studied. The goal of this study was therefore to explore the process of providing online peer feedback as a learning activity for the provider. We concluded that (1) providing online peer feedback has several potential learning benefits for the provider; (2) when providing online peer feedback, students use different cognitive processes; (3) the cognitive processes and the potential learning benefits can be realised when students use specific elements in the feedback they provide.     

Parenting and childhood aggression in the Chinese context: an examination of parental responses,physical coercion and warmth

Parental response, physical coercion and warmth and their relationships with childhood aggression were assessed with 277 children (142 boys; M age = 56.5 months, SD = 10.93 months) in Hong Kong. Results indicated that both fathers and mothers reported significantly more intervention strategies in response to hypothetical vignettes of physical aggression than relational aggression. Both fathers’ and mothers’ self-reported physical coercion was positively correlated with boys’ and girls’ composite scores of physical and relational aggression as reported by teachers, fathers and mothers, whereas fathers’ self-reported warmth was associated with a lower level of physical and relational aggression in boys. Furthermore, maternal warmth moderated the association between physical coercion and girls’ relational aggression. Findings suggest that parents’ normative beliefs regarding relational aggression should be challenged and the general acceptability of parental control in the Chinese context does not necessarily imply the absence of a link with childhood aggression.