Perceived Teachers' Responses to Bullying and Bullying Behavior: The Longitudinal Mediational Role of Anti-bullying Attitudes.

This paper presents the outcomes of a 4-hour activity day centred upon a short film entitled Bully Dance, a non-verbal animation featuring a unique soundtrack that focuses on identifying bullying behaviours and coping strategies, and understanding the role of the bystander. Participants were 34 year 6 children, aged 10/11 years old, from one primary school in a London Local Education Authority. The activity day consisted of an initial brainstorming session, with the whole class, entitled ‘what is bullying?’ followed by a viewing of the film. In groups of five or six, subsequent structured activities (brainstorming, poster making, letter writing, role-play, worksheets) were facilitated with the aim of stimulating discussion. Using the Children's Attitudes to Bullying scale, data were collected both before and after the activity day. Overall, the results suggested that children mostly expressed anti-bullying attitudes about bullying in schools; however, a minority reported pro-bullying attitudes. Anti-bullying attitudes did not significantly increase and, in the case of males, anti-bullying attitudes actually decreased. Females expressed higher anti-bullying attitudes than males, both before and after the activity day. The authors suggest that participating in the activity day may have had an impact upon knowledge and understanding of bullying, rather than attitudes as such. Furthermore, the results indicate that further consideration of the design and delivery of structured activities is required so that boys can be reached as effectively as girls can.

BackgroundSchool bullying remains a social problem and changing students’ attitudes towards bullying is crucial for effective prevention in schools. Based on social-ecological system theory, this study examines how school climate influences anti-bullying attitudes among students. Specifically, it studies how a competitive school environment influences these attitudes, and how students’ competitive attitudes mediate these attitudes.MethodsThe data for this study comes from The Programmed for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is a global student assessment initiative led by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The sample consists of 12,058 Chinese students from the 2018 PISA survey. Data analysis was conducted using STATA (version 14.0) software.ResultsSchool competitive climate has a positive and substantial impact on their anti-bullying attitudes (r = 0.1551, p < 0.001). Students’ competitive attitudes are also positively and significantly correlated with their anti-bullying attitudes (r = 0.2249, p < 0.001). Competitive attitudes partially mediate the relationship between the school bullying climate and students’ anti-bullying attitudes.ConclusionIn the context of Chinese education, a competitive school climate clearly has a positive effect on students anti-bullying attitudes. Students’ competitive attitudes also act as partial mediator in this relationship. These findings suggest that a healthy school ecosystem that reflects sound value guidance and fair rules is imperative for fostering anti-bullying attitudes in students.

School bullying does harm to the physical and mental health of bullied students, which cannot be ignored. It not only leads to a significant decline in the academic performance of bullied students and difficulties in academic adaptation, but also reduces their sense of self-worth and easily leads to emotional depression. In this paper, the influence mechanism of campus atmosphere on the phenomenon of school bullying among teenagers is studied, and the research adopts the way of questionnaire survey, taking teenagers as the research object. School bullying questionnaire, Campus Atmosphere Questionnaire and Self-esteem Scale were used to investigate the relationship among adolescents' perception of campus atmosphere, self-esteem and school bullying's behavior. The results show that there is a significant negative correlation between school bullying and the perception of campus atmosphere, that is, the more negative the perception of campus atmosphere, the higher the involvement of students in bullying and bullying others in school bullying. The sampling results based on Bootstrap show that school atmosphere has a negative predictive effect on school bullying of teenagers, and the direct effect is significant, with the intermediary effect accounting for 42.038% of the total effect. The results show that school administrators should create a supportive school atmosphere, so as to improve teenagers' social emotional ability and reduce their possibility of suffering from school bullying.

A conceptual framework is advanced that assumes that psychological symptoms emerge within multiple contexts, such as the workplace, and are influenced by the interplay of individual and situational risk and protective factors over time. This framework was utilized to examine the impact of work and work-family role stressors, coping, and work-related social support on psychological symptoms among 239 female, secretarial employees in the USA, using both cross-sectional and longitudinal structural equation models. Work stressors and avoidance coping were viewed as risk factors, and active coping and social support as protective factors. Work stressors contributed substantially to increased symptoms, primarily through a direct pathway in the cross-sectional model, but also indirectly to both Time 1 and Time 2 symptoms (4 months later) via pathways through active and avoidance coping. In both models, avoidance coping also predicted increased symptoms. Avoidance coping also served to partially mediate the relationship between work stressors and symptoms in the cross-sectional model, but not in the longitudinal model. Active coping was related to fewer psychological symptoms in both models, thereby reducing the negative effect of work stressors on symptoms. Likewise, work-related social support served an indirect protective function by contributing to lower levels of reported work stressors and greater use of active coping. Work stressors but not active coping mediated the relationship between social support and symptoms. Implications for future research and workplace interventions are discussed.

Previous literature indicates that even when teachers hold antibullying attitudes, they may fail to intervene, suggesting that self-efficacy is essential for successful intervention. This study explored the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between attitudes toward bullying and intervention efforts among teachers. A cross-sectional, mediational design was used with a convenience sample of 567 Jordanian teachers teaching students aged 12 to 17. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire that included the Bullying Attitude Questionnaire-Modified, Teachers' Self-Efficacy Regarding Bullying Scale, and the Handling Bullying Questionnaire. Mediation analysis with PROCESS Macro v4.2 revealed a nonsignificant total effect between teachers' attitudes and their interventions, but self-efficacy fully mediated this relationship. These findings highlight the importance of enhancing teachers' self-efficacy to ensure that antibullying attitudes translate to active intervention. School nurses can support this by helping teachers reflect on their attitudes, boosting their self-efficacy, and developing effective intervention strategies.

The objective of this study is to examine whether school bullying predicts increased internalizing and externalizing behavior through decreased school belonging and achievement in elementary school young people. The sample of this study comprised 389 elementary school students (52.1% girls) from an elementary school in an urban city, Turkey. Young people ranged between 10 and 15 years (M = 12.17, SD = 1.02). Results from the study showed that school bullying had a significant and negative predictive effect on youth internalizing and externalizing behaviors, as well as school achievement. Mediation analyses also revealed that school belonging also mitigated the adverse impact of bullying on youth mental health and achievement. However, school achievement only mitigated the effect of school bullying on externalizing behaviors. Visual modeling further showed that young people with higher levels of sense of belonging at school reported greater school achievement, lower levels of school bullying, and less internalizing and externalizing behaviors compared to those with low and moderate. Specifically, having a low level of school belonging was found as a risk factor for the development of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and experiencing challenges in school achievement. The findings indicate that school belonging is an essential source in promoting school achievement and reducing internalizing and externalizing symptoms in the face of school bullying experiences.

To test whether parent restriction, pressure to eat, and maternal concern for child weight mediated the positive association between food insecurity and child body mass index (BMI) in cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis. Data were from mother-child pairs (n = 202 at baseline). Children were M = 10.1 y (range 8-12) at baseline, 56% Hispanic, and 49% female; mothers were M = 41.2 y, and 58% had a college education or higher. Mediation models with maximum likelihood multiple imputation were conducted in MPlus, controlling for child age, child gender, and baseline scores on mediator and outcome variables (in longitudinal models). Greater maternal concern for child weight mediated the association between greater food insecurity and higher child BMI in the cross-sectional model (indirect effect = 0.115, p < .010) but not the longitudinal model (indirect effect = < .001, p =.960). No evidence of mediation was found for pressure to eat or restriction in cross-sectional or longitudinal models. In cross-sectional models, food insecurity was associated with higher child BMI (Brestriction model = 0.20; Bpressure model = 0.24; Bconcern model = 0.90, ps <.01); and greater concern with child weight (B = 0.19, p < .01, which was a precondition for mediation). Current findings suggest that food insecurity is associated with higher subsequent maternal concern for child weight and in turn higher child BMI (cross-sectionally). However, there was no support for feeding practices or concern as longitudinal mediators of food insecurity and child BMI change.

For over three decades, methodologists have cautioned against the use of cross-sectional mediation analyses because they yield biased parameter estimates. Yet, cross-sectional mediation models persist in practice and sometimes represent the only analytic option. We propose a sensitivity analysis procedure to encourage a more principled use of cross-sectional mediation analysis, drawing inspiration from Gollob and Reichardt (1987, 1991). The procedure is based on the two-wave longitudinal mediation model and uses phantom variables for the baseline data. After a researcher provides ranges of possible values for cross-lagged, autoregressive, and baseline Y and M correlations among the phantom and observed variables, they can use the sensitivity analysis to identify longitudinal conditions in which conclusions from a cross-sectional model would differ most from a longitudinal model. To support the procedure, we first show that differences in sign and effect size of the b-path occur most often when the cross-sectional effect size of the b-path is small and the cross-lagged and the autoregressive correlations are equal or similar in magnitude. We then apply the procedure to cross-sectional analyses from real studies and compare the sensitivity analysis results to actual results from a longitudinal mediation analysis. While no statistical procedure can replace longitudinal data, these examples demonstrate that the sensitivity analysis can recover the effect that was actually observed in the longitudinal data if provided with the correct input information. Implications of the routine application of sensitivity analysis to temporal bias are discussed. R code for the procedure is provided in the online supplementary materials. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Background The UK has higher rates of epilepsy deaths among children and young people than comparable countries, and poor care quality is a contributing factor a significant proportion of epilepsy-related deaths. Admission rates are widely used as a proxy measure of care quality in other paediatric conditions. For epilepsy, admission rates vary 4–5 fold between areas in England and the national clinical audit of paediatric epilepsy care (Epilepsy 12) shows wide variation in measures of care quality. It is not known whether better audit performance is associated with lower admission rates. Objective To investigate the degree to which better performance in the national clinical audit is associated with lower admission rates for children and young people (0–19 years) with epilepsy. Methods Independent variables:12 unit-level quality indicators including access to paediatric, specialist nurse and paediatric neurologist expertise.(Round 1=2009–12; Round 2=2014) n=144 units. Dependent variable: unit-level epilepsy admission rate (admissions calculated from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES 2011/12–2013/14); estimated unit catchment populations derived from age-specific, all-cause admissions and population data). Analyses Cross–sectional, multi–level regression models of Round 2 audit data and contemporaneous admission rates. Difference–in–difference analyses comparing time trends in performance measures and admission rates between 2011/12 and 2013/14. All analyses excluded tertiary centres. Results In 2013/14, matched data were available on 8685 epilepsy-related admissions across 144 units. In the longitudinal model, increased involvement of paediatric neurologists was associated with a small relative increase in admission rates over time (β=0.13 (95% CI: 0.03 to 0.22), p=0.007). There was no significant relationship between paediatric neurologist involvement and admission rates in the cross-sectional model (β=−0.04 (−0.14–0.05)). No other perfomance indicator from the Epilepsy12 audit was associated with adjusted, unit-level admission rates on either cross-sectional or longitudinal models. Conclusions Neither cross-sectional nor longitudinal models showed any consistent relationship between performance on the national clinical audit and unit-level admission rates for epilepsy among children and young people. This may reflect inconsistency in how the performance indicators are interpreted and measured, as well as the limitations of admission rates as a proxy for good seizure and quality of life among children and young people with epilepsy.

We examined the relationship between parent-perceived neighborhood safety and children's physical activity, sedentary behavior, body mass, and obesity status using 9 years of longitudinal data (1999-2007) on a cohort of approximately 19,000 US kindergartners from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Children's height and weight measurements and parent perceptions of neighborhood safety were available in kindergarten and in the first, third, fifth, and eighth grades. Dependent variables included age- and gender-specific body mass index percentile, obesity status, and parent- or child-reported weekly physical activity and television-watching. Pooled cross-sectional and within-child longitudinal regression models that controlled for child, family, and school characteristics were fitted. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal models indicated that children whose parents perceived their neighborhoods as unsafe watched more television and participated in less physical activity, although the magnitude of this association was much weaker in longitudinal models. However, there was no significant association between parent-perceived neighborhood safety and children's body mass index.

The present study examines the role of social goals of ringleader bullies on school bullying according to Social Information Processing Model as well as the role of proactive and reactive aggression. The sample consisted of 222 fifth-grade and sixth-grade elementary school students from Northern Greece, who completed self-report questionnaires and responded to questions regarding social scenarios of ambiguous intent shown on video. The results showed that boys choose revenge more often than girls. Furthermore, ringleader bullies and ringleader bully followers choose more often, than the uninvolved, revenge as a motive in a social scenario of ambiguous intent. It is noteworthy that ringleader bullies choose more often than ringleader bully followers the social goal of building a relationship, while both ringleader bullies and ringleader bully followers adopt both forms of aggression, proactive and reactive, more than the uninvolved. The findings underline the motivational role of social goals in bullying, contribute to the discussion regarding ringleader bullies’ social cognition and emphasize the necessity of intervention programs focusing on social motives of preadolescent bullies.

Spike height improves prediction of future seizure risk

Using the Wilson-Cleary model of patient outcomes as a conceptual framework, the impact of functional status on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among older adults was examined, including tests of the mediation provided by life-space mobility. Participants were enrollees in a population-based, longitudinal study of mobility among community-dwelling older adults. Data from four waves of the study equally spaced approximately 18months apart (baseline, 18, 36, and 54months) were used for participants who survived at least 1year beyond the 54-month assessment (n=677). Autoregressive mediation models using longitudinal data and cross-sectional mediation models using baseline data were evaluated and compared using structural equation modeling. The longitudinal autoregressive models supported the mediating role of life-space mobility and suggested that this effect is larger for the mental component summary score than the physical component summary score of the SF-12. Evidence for a reciprocal relationship over time between functional status, measured by ADL difficulty, and life-space mobility was suggested by modification indices; these model elaborations did not alter the substantive meaning of the mediation effects. Mediated effect estimates from longitudinal autoregressive models were generally larger than those from cross-sectional models, suggesting that mediating relationships would have been missed or were potentially underestimated in cross-sectional models. These results support a mediating role for life-space mobility in the relationship between functional status and HRQoL. Functional status limitations might cause diminished HRQoL in part by limiting mobility. Mobility limitations may precede functional status limitations in addition to being a consequence thereof.

The evidence on the relationship between social support and quality of life in female systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients is complex. The purpose of this study was to explore the impacts of distress disclosure and anxiety on the association between social support and quality of life among Chinese women with SLE. A cross-sectional study was conducted, and 237 samples were obtained. Measures included demographic characteristics, Lupus Quality of Life (LupusQoL), social support rate scale (SSRS), distress disclosure index (DDI), and self-rating anxiety scale (SAS). Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and moderated mediating effect analysis were carried out. The LupusQoL was negatively correlated with age, systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI), DDI, and SAS. SSRS had a positive predictive effect on the LupusQoL, while SLEDAI and DDI had the opposite effect. SAS had a negative predictive effect on the LupusQoL. There were interactive effects of SAS and DDI on LupusQoL. In the moderated mediation model, SAS played moderating effect in the role of DDI on LupusQoL; the DDI of female patients with SLE played a partial mediator role, the mediation effect was 0.19, and the mediation effect ratio was 33.3%. In conclusion, to pay attention to the QOL, we should consider the mediator role of distress disclosure and the moderating role of anxiety.

Agentic (status/independence) and communal (acceptance/connectedness) social goals are thought to shape how adolescents transact with their social environments. Despite their theoretical importance, little work has focused on the development of these higher order personality dimensions. Informed by developmental neuroscience and evolutionary psychology theoretical frameworks, the current study examined associations between pubertal status, a person's level of pubertal development at a single point in time, and agentic and communal social goals across early to middle adolescence. This longitudinal study consisted of 387 (55% female) adolescents (Wave 1M age=12.1) who were assessed annually across three waves. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine growth in pubertal status and agentic and communal goals and to distinguish between- and within-person associations between pubertal status and social goals. Within-person pubertal status was concurrently associated with higher levels of agentic and communal goals. In the cross-sectional and longitudinal models, between-person pubertal status was associated with higher levels of agentic social goals. No support was found for social goals prospectively predicting pubertal status. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that puberty, in part, may drive developmental shifts in the value adolescents place on close peer relationships and obtaining status and independence.