The effects of school bullying victimization on cognitive, school engagement, and friendship outcomes

The Effects of School Bullying Victimization on Cognitive, School Engagement, and Friendship Outcomes

Background: Peer bullying is a global problem affecting youth around the world that can impact youth development including school engagement. The relationship between child maltreatment and school bullying victimization and perpetration is well known. However, few studies have explored the extent of bullying among vulnerable groups of adolescents. Youth in orphanage care may be at higher risk of both maltreatment and bullying because of the circumstances and stigma that brought them into care. This study aimed to examine peer bullying victimization among adolescents residing in orphanage care compared to a national sample of adolescents in South Korea, and to investigate the mediating effect of bullying victimization on the relationship between child maltreatment and school engagement. This comparison allowed for an examination of how caregiving contexts may differentially influence the impact of maltreatment and bullying on school engagement. Methods: Data from the national Korean Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS) 7th wave (n = 521) and a study of 153 South Korean adolescents in orphanage care were merged into one dataset (n = 675). Analysis included descriptive and bivariate statistics, two simple mediation analyses, and multiple regression analysis to verify mediation effects using PROCESS Macro. Results: Adolescents in orphanage care reported significantly higher bullying victimization and lower school engagement than the national sample. Negative correlations were identified between child maltreatment, bullying victimization, and school engagement among adolescents in orphanage care. Importantly, bullying victimization significantly mediated the relationship between child maltreatment and school engagement within this group. Conclusions: These findings highlight the complex relationship between maltreatment and bullying victimization, emphasizing the need for comprehensive interventions addressing both maltreatment and peer bullying to enhance school engagement among vulnerable youth.

Efforts have been made to understand the underlying mechanism between bullying victimization and school engagement but primarily focused on the mediating effects of depression and anxiety, despite that low subjective well-being (SWB) is more commonly experienced among victims of school bullying. This study compared the mediating effects of SWB, depression, and anxiety in the association between bullying victimization and overall school engagement and examined how SWB was related to each dimension of school engagement with a sample of 232 Chinese adolescents (44.4% boys, age M = 14.4, SD = 1.1). The results showed that SWB was a stronger mediator than depression and anxiety in the association between bullying victimization and overall school engagement. Furthermore, SWB fully mediated the associations between bullying victimization and each of the five dimensions of school engagement. These findings suggest that being bullied may not directly lower one’s school engagement, but it significantly compromises one’s SWB, which then predicts decreases in school engagement across various dimensions.

School engagement and mental health are frequently linked, but within-person associations over time are largely unstudied. Emerging statistical techniques can better gauge how longitudinal changes in school engagement or mental health influence individual-level outcomes. Two cohorts of students (recruited in 2017 or 2018) in 5 Los Angeles high schools completed baseline surveys at the high school transition and 3 annual follow-up surveys through 11th grade. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models explored the strength and directionality of associations between school engagement (Student Engagement Instrument) and mental health (Mental Health Inventory). Among 431 participants, we observed between-person and within-person correlations between school engagement and mental health. Autoregressive effects of school engagement and mental health on future levels of these variables were identified, with more consistent effects in late high school. A single cross-lagged effect from mental health to school engagement across the high school transition was identified. Decreased school engagement may signal corresponding cross-sectional changes in mental health, presenting opportunities for monitoring and intervention. Changes in school engagement or mental health may influence later within-person changes in these constructs, but associations are likely weaker and less consistent than previously assumed based on techniques that conflate between-person and within-person effects. This study assesses bidirectional and longitudinal relationships between school engagement and mental health among rising high school students. Both school engagement and mental health impacted future levels of these variables with stronger effects observed in the later high school years. Relationships between school engagement and mental health were less frequently observed than in prior studies, with an effect of mental health on future school engagement seen only across the high school transition. Interventions that promote both school engagement and mental health may be particularly beneficial, and the high school transition may be a promising time to leverage these.

Previous research suggests connections between peer relationships and children’s engagement and learning within the classroom. However few studies have explored these connections in detail or considered the possible processes that may begin to explain the linkages. This study collected systematic data from different respondents within primary school settings to help clarify the role of peers in classroom engagement and learning. Over 800 pupils based in English primary schools were involved in a multi-method study. Peer-sociometric questionnaires provided measures of academic peer relations, informal-social peer relations, such as being accepted as a work partner and liked as a person to play with, playground group centrality and leadership. Self-report questionnaires provided data on school engagement, disengagement, and disaffection. Science attainment data were collected at the start and end of the year. Momentary behavioural engagement was observed in classrooms for a subsample of pupils who were also rated by their teachers in terms of their attention and behaviour in class. Findings revealed small to moderate associations between peer relations measures, multiple measures of school and classroom engagement, attainment, and progress. Multiple regressions examined peer relations measures relative to momentary, classroom and school engagement and learning outcomes. Findings highlight important overlaps and differences in the predictors of different types of engagement. They also highlight the variety of ways in which peer relationships, whether academically or socially focused, may have different implications for engagement at momentary, classroom, and school levels. Findings indicate that academic peer acceptance is predictive of engagement at the different levels and science attainment. However, informal-social peer relations were more highly connected with class disruption, school disengagement and disaffection and were negative predictors of attainment and progress over the year. This suggests different pathways for children with different types of relationships with peers relative to engagement and adjustment highlighting complex connections between social and academic life in school.

PROTOCOL: Education Support Services for Improving School Engagement and Academic Performance of Children and Adolescents with a Chronic Health Condition: A Systematic Review

Narratives of women’s retrospective experiences of teen pregnancy, motherhood, and school engagement while placed in foster care

Children in contact with the child welfare system (CWS) represent a vulnerable population that is at an increased risk of poor mental health and academic outcomes. Although the majority of research has focused on the academic benefits of school engagement, studies have also found a negative association between school engagement and youth mental health outcomes. Surprisingly limited research, however, has considered the possibility of a bidirectional relationship between school engagement and youth mental health, and even fewer studies have examined this relationship in high-risk populations, such as children in contact with the CWS. The present study addresses this issue by utilizing longitudinal data from a national sample of 2633 children in contact with the CWS, the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW I), to examine the possible bidirectional relationship between school engagement and mental health symptoms. Data were collected from this sample (mean age = 10.04; 52.3% female) over three time points (18 months apart). Structural equation modeling results indicated that students’ mental health (externalizing/internalizing symptoms) predicted subsequent school engagement levels. School engagement, on the other hand, was not a predictor of mental health symptoms at later time points. Findings point to the existence of a unidirectional relationship from mental health symptoms to school engagement for children in contact with the CWS. Directions for future mental health interventions for this population are discussed.

School engagement and intentional self-regulation: A reciprocal relation in adolescence

Over the past decade there has been an increase in studies of adolescents’ school engagement. However, fewer studies have focused on the relation between school engagement and adolescents’ perfectionistic characteristics. The present four-wave longitudinal study investigates the bidirectional relations between school engagement and perfectionistic self-presentation (as an personality characteristic) in a sample of 744 adolescents (M age = 15.2 years, SD = 1.9; 11–19 years). Cross-lagged analyses showed that behavioural engagement predicted relative decreases in adolescents’ use of perfectionistic self-promotion and nondisclosure of imperfection strategies. In contrast, cognitive engagement predicted relative increases in adolescents’ use of perfectionistic self-promotion, nondisplay of imperfection, and nondisclosure of imperfection strategies. Implications of the findings for the outcomes of school engagement are discussed.

To examine the prevalence of adverse family experiences (AFEs), their association with poor school engagement and performance, and whether behavioral health conditions mediate the association among US adolescents. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from adolescents aged 12-17years from the 2016-2018 National Survey of Children's Health (n = 41,648 unweighted). We first estimated the prevalence of AFEs, investigated the association of AFEs with school engagement and performance, and whether behavioral health conditions mediate such relationships, using multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression models. A mediation analysis was used and covariates included socio-demographic characteristics and co-morbid medical conditions. A total of 52.9% of US adolescents (nationally representative of 12.9 million adolescents nationwide) reported experiencing at least one form of AFE, the most common of which included parental divorce/separation (33.1%), economic hardship (22.0%) and living with a person with substance misuse problems (11.5%). Adolescents with ≥4 AFEs had poorer outcomes in school engagement and performance (p < 0.001 each) when compared to those with no AFEs. Behavioral health conditions (e.g., anxiety, depression, and conduct problems) partially mediated these relationships (p < 0.01 each). The indirect effect of behavioral health conditions accounted for 20.4% of the total effect in the association between AFEs and school performance (p < 0.001). AFEs are common among US adolescents, and cumulative AFEs are associated with behavioral health conditions, which may in turn reduce school engagement and performance. While reducing AFEs is important in children and adolescents, addressing potentially resultant behavioral health conditions is equally important in improving school engagement and performance.

Children with a history of maltreatment and placement into foster care face elevated risks of poor psychosocial outcomes including school failure, substance use, externalizing, and deviant peer association. For children in the general population, school engagement appears to be a promotive factor in preventing negative outcomes. In this study, differences in 3 dimensions of school engagement (behavioral, affective, and cognitive) in early elementary school were explored in maltreated children in foster care (n = 93) and a community comparison group of low-socioeconomic status, nonmaltreated children (n = 54). It was also hypothesized that these 3 dimensions of school engagement would mediate the association between being maltreated and in foster care and several outcomes in late elementary school (Grades 3-5): academic competence, endorsement of substance use, externalizing behaviors, and deviant peer association. Measures were multimethod and multi-informant. Results showed that the children in foster care had lower affective and cognitive school engagement than children in the community comparison group. Structural equation modeling revealed that both affective and cognitive school engagement mediated the association between group status and academic competence in late elementary school. Cognitive engagement also mediated the association between group status and engagement in risk behaviors. The identification of dimensions of early school engagement that predict later outcomes suggests potential points of intervention to change trajectories of academic and behavioral adjustment for maltreated children in foster care.

BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have severe negative impacts on childhood and adult health via worsened school engagement and educational outcomes. This study seeks to identify the relative importance of various ACEs in predicting school engagement.MethodsWe analyzed data from the National Survey of Children’s Health for school-aged children (ages 6-17) for 2018 and 2019. The primary outcome was school engagement, measured through three variables: repeating a grade, doing required homework, and caring about doing well in school. We conducted three logistic regression models with dominance analyses to identify the relative importance of ACE variables in predicting school engagement outcomes.ResultsIn unadjusted and adjusted dominance analyses, parental incarceration was the most important ACE in predicting repeating a grade. Living in a household in which it was hard to cover basics like food or housing was the most important ACE in predicting doing required homework and caring about doing well in school.DiscussionOur study points toward the large influence of out-of-school factors on school engagement. Parental incarceration and economic hardship, the most important predictors of engagement, are issues that can be addressed and mitigated through policy interventions. With limited funds available for education and public health interventions, it is crucial that these two ACEs be priority considerations when developing policy. A multi-faceted approach that reduces the incarcerated population, encourages economic well-being, and emphasizes early-childhood education has the potential to significantly improve school engagement in vulnerable populations and ultimately advance social equity.

In this study, in line with TIMSS 2019 data, 8th grade students' school engagement in the Turkish education system and various variables in the field of science and mathematics, which are thought to be related to school engagement, were examined with the Random Forest method, a method amongst data mining methods. This research focuses on student bullying, which includes psychological factors at school, such as whether students like or dislike their lessons, their confidence in science, their self-confidence, absenteeism, and the effects of teachers' teaching methods on SE. The sample of the study consisted of 3872 students in the science data set and 3802 students in the mathematics data set, which remained as a result of the lost data deletion and assignment processes from 4077 students who originally participated in the application. The open-source Python infrastructure was used in the analysis of the data. Orange 3.32 data mining program was employed for model setup. The model performance criteria MSE, RMSE, MAE and R2 values obtained as a result of the analysis. In both areas, the variables that contribute to the prediction of students' school engagement were ranked according to their importance levels, starting from the most important, also interpreted and discussed. It was observed that the performance criteria of the established model have values close to zero in the field of science (MSE: 2.775 RMSE: 1.666 MAE: 1.267) and mathematics (MSE: 2.240 RMSE: 1.497 MAE: 1.131). Variables explain school engagement at the rate of 69.6% in science and 75.7% in mathematics. The order of importance of the variables in both areas showed a great similarity. Student bullying was obtained as the most important variable. Prospective studies can also be planned towards collecting more in-depth data deploying qualitative data collection methods under a qualitative research model that also includes the opinions of self, peers, teachers and parents. For the education policies that the TES should produce toward increasing SE, it is weighty to reduce and prevent student bullying in schools with sustainable practices. Exclusively school administrations should focus on student bullying with the help of counselors, diagnose the problems and take measures in and out of school according to the types of bullying.

This research used four consecutive waves of data from the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to estimate linear time trends by gender in the prevalence of school and electronic bullying victimization among U.S. high school students (N = 61,042). Dependent variables were student self-reported school bullying victimization and electronic bullying victimization during the previous 12 months. Independent variables used to estimate multiple logistic regression models by gender were survey year, race/ethnicity, and grade level. Results showed the prevalence of school bullying increased significantly among females from 2009 (21.2%) to 2015 (24.8%), linear trend OR = 1.08 [1.04, 1.12]; and decreased significantly among males from 2009 (18.7%) to 2015 (15.8%), linear trend OR = 0.93 [0.89, 0.98]. Prevalence of electronic bullying was unchanged between 2011 to 2015 among both male and female students. Asian race, relative to White race, was associated with significantly lower rates of both school and electronic bullying victimization among females, but not males. The incidence of school and electronic bullying victimization was significantly lower among Black and Hispanic students, but not among multiple-race students, regardless of student gender. Healthy People 2020 set a goal to reduce school bullying victimization 10% by 2019. As of 2015, school bullying victimization decreased significantly among males (16% decrease); it significantly increased among females (17% increase). Future research should explore underlying factors related to these divergent trends, and develop effective strategies to reverse the alarming rise in female school bullying victimization.