Parents who hit and scream: Interactive effects of verbal and severe physical aggression on clinic-referred adolescents’ adjustment

The goals of this study were first, to delineate the co-occurrence of parental severe physical aggression and verbal aggression toward clinic-referred adolescents, and second, to examine the interactive effects of parental severe physical aggression and verbal aggression on adolescent externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. This research involved 239 referrals of 11- to 18-year-old youth and their dual-parent families to a non-profit, private community mental health center in a semi-rural Midwest community. Multiple informants (i.e., adolescents and mothers) were used to assess parental aggression and adolescent behavior problems. More than half of clinic-referred adolescents (51%) experienced severe physical aggression and/or high verbal aggression from one or both parents. A pattern of interactive effects of mother-to-adolescent severe physical aggression and verbal aggression on adolescent behavior problems emerged, indicating that when severe physical aggression was present, mother-to-adolescent verbal aggression was positively associated with greater adolescent behavior problems whereas when severe physical aggression was not present, the links between verbal aggression and behavior problems was no longer significant. No interactive effects were found for father-to-adolescent severe physical aggression and verbal aggression on adolescent adjustment; however, higher father-to-adolescent verbal aggression was consistently linked to behavior problems above and beyond the influence of severe physical aggression. The results of this study should promote the practice of routinely assessing clinic-referred adolescents and their parents about their experiences of verbal aggression in addition to severe physical aggression and other forms of abuse.     

Susceptibility to peer influence during middle school: Links with social support,peer harassment,and gender

The present study explores concurrent relations between social support, gender, susceptibility to peer influence, and peer-based aggression and harassment in a socioeconomically and racially diverse sample of 774 seventh and eighth grade students. Results indicate that students perceiving lower support from their family or school were relatively more likely to be highly susceptible to peer influence, and to have friends who they believed were also highly susceptible to peer influence. Further, higher susceptibility to peer influence was associated with increased involvement in relational aggression and sexual harassment, both as a perpetrator and as a victim. Gender moderation effects were also found. The negative association of school support and susceptibility to peer influence was found greater in girls than boys. Girls who were highly susceptible to peer influence, or who had friends who were highly susceptible, had a relatively greater risk for involvement in relational aggression and sexual harassment, as compared with boys. Implications of these results for educators and school-based mental health professionals are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered.     

Measuring classroom climate: Validation of the CCQ-P for primary,middle school and high school levels,on the Romanian population

Several high-quality instruments are used for investigations on classroom climate. Out of these, none is valid on all three educational pre-tertiary levels (primary, middle school and high school). This situation limits our understanding about classroom climate along different educational levels. We collected responses on a large Romanian student sample (1003 students, 49.3 % boys), and we investigated the internal validity of the Classroom Climate Questionnaire – Primary (CCQ-P, Aldridge & Galos, 2018) using confirmatory factor analyses and measurement invariance analyses. The original model obtained a good fit and partially maintained structure across the three educational levels. Thus, this study opens the door for the investigation of this questionnaire for the three pre-university levels in other national contexts. This could impact how we look at the transition of students between levels and it could offer new input about the practical actions related to this process.     

Development of a social and emotional learning program using educational dance: A participatory approach aimed at middle school students

Participatory research with children and adolescents may increase their responsiveness toward interventions. This study focuses on the development of a program to promote social and emotional skills in middle school students, using educational dance. The main goal was to assess students’ social and emotional needs and their interests in education through art activities, duly supported by the opinions of experts. Initially, focus groups were conducted and a questionnaire given out to students (N = 22), in addition to interviews with school representatives (N = 2). Next, students (N = 6) participated in a workshop and responded to a questionnaire. Experts (N = 3) then evaluated the program. Results revealed (a) students’ social and emotional needs; (b) that music and dance matched students’ interests; (c) students’ high interest and satisfaction with the program; and (d) that the experts’ assessment served to validate the program. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Trajectories of the home learning environment across the first 5 years: associations with children's vocabulary and literacy skills at prekindergarten

Children's home learning environments were examined in a low-income sample of 1,852 children and families when children were 15, 25, 37, and 63 months. During home visits, children's participation in literacy activities, the quality of mothers' engagements with their children, and the availability of learning materials were assessed, yielding a total learning environment score at each age. At 63 months, children's vocabulary and literacy skills were assessed. Six learning environment trajectories were identified, including environments that were consistently low, environments that were consistently high, and environments characterized by varying patterns of change. The skills of children at the extremes of learning environment trajectories differed by more than 1 SD and the timing of learning experiences related to specific emerging skills.     

A coding tool for examining the substance of teacher professional learning and change with example cases from middle school science lesson study

Although lesson study is increasingly adopted in the United States (U.S.), the impact of lesson study on teacher learning is uncertain. This study presents a theoretically grounded set of codes to systematically document the various aspects of teacher learning and change (knowledge and beliefs, professional learning community, resources) in lesson study across contexts. To present examples of the codes in use, a subset of codes related to change in teacher knowledge and beliefs were applied to analyze teachers' professional discourse in three middle school science lesson study teams.     

Effects of the WhyTry social skills program on students with emotional and/or behavioral problems in an alternative school

Social skills training (SST) is an evidence-based intervention to help increase social competence for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), but there is limited research that addresses SST for students identified as experiencing EBD at alternative campuses. A mixed methods design was utilized to examine SST at an alternative campus for students identified as experiencing EBD. Pre-intervention data were collected for students' attendance, grades, office disciplinary referrals, and behavioral rating scales, after which the WhyTry SST program (Moore 2008 Moore, C. 2008. The WhyTry Program, Salt Lake City, UT: WhyTry.  [Google Scholar], WhyTry, Salt Lake City, UT, USA) was implemented. Following the intervention, the same data were collected. Non-parametric statistics guided the quantitative analysis, because of the small population being studied. Differences from pre- to post-intervention were examined. Students exhibited significant differences from pre- to post-intervention in the number of office disciplinary referrals and several areas on the behavioral rating scales. Triangulation methods drove the qualitative data collection through observations, student interviews, and teacher interviews. Insight into motivation and perceptions was gained through the qualitative analysis.