Target Peer Research Articles

"He did girls' things!" Hong Kong and Canadian children's reasoning about moral judgments of peers' gendered behaviors.

Children show less positivity toward gender-nonconforming (GN) than gender-conforming (GC) peers. Yet, little is known about children's reasoning about peers of varying gender expressions, including age-, gender-, and culture-related influences. We investigated how children aged 4- to 5- and 8- to 9-years-old in Hong Kong and Canada (N = 678) reason about their moral judgments of GC and GN peers. After viewing vignettes describing GC and GN boys and girls, we asked children whether each target peer's behavior was right or wrong and why they thought so. We coded children's reasoning using a new coding scheme developed via inductive content analysis. Overall, children's most commonly used reasoning styles were global standard, personal choice, gender stereotypes, "don't know," and others' welfare. Children used more gender stereotype-related reasoning when they were older and from Hong Kong, appraising the GN boy, or when they perceived the target's behavior as wrong. In contrast, children reasoned based on personal choice more when they were from Canada or when they perceived the target's behavior as right. These findings inform how age-, gender-, and culture-related factors are associated with children's reasoning about the acceptability or appropriateness of varying kinds of childhood gendered behavior. They provide insights regarding children's appraisals of different gender expressions by illuminating not only how they view GC and GN peers but also, from their own perspectives, why they do so. These insights have implications for strategies aimed at decreasing gender-related biases and increasing children's acceptance of gender diversity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Teacher–student relationships and peer victimization among Chinese children: The roles of peer status and gender

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that peer victimization causes a great variety of severe adverse effects on children's development, and it is necessary to explore the influential factors and mechanisms of peer victimization. This study examined the associations between teacher–student relationships and peer victimization, as well as the roles of peer status and gender in China. The participants were 734 primary school students from Grades 5 ~ 6. Structural equation models were conducted to test the roles of peer status in the associations between teacher–student relationships and peer victimization, as well as the gender differences in the above associations. The findings showed that teacher–student closeness negatively predicted peer victimization, and teacher–student conflict positively predicted peer victimization. It was also found that teacher–student conflict but not closeness could negatively predict peer status, which was in turn negatively associated with peer victimization. The above associations did not vary across genders. The findings indicated that both teacher–student closeness and conflict were directly associated with children's peer victimization, and teacher–student conflict was indirectly associated with peer victimization via peer status. This implies that interventions for decreasing children's peer victimization should not only focus on improving teacher–student relationships but also target peer status.

An application of the ecological model to sexual harassment in informal areas of Cairo, Egypt.

Street-based sexual harassment is a prevalent but understudied form of gender-based violence that restricts women's access to public spaces. Drawing on adaptations of the ecological model that identify the root causes of gender-based violence in patriarchy, in this study, we explore the causes of street harassment in informal areas of Greater Cairo. Our analysis is based on qualitative interviews and focus groups with male and female youth aged 13-29 years, parents of youth and community leaders in two informal areas. We supplement the qualitative data with descriptive analysis of a representative, 2016 survey of youth in informal areas of Cairo that measured experiences with and attitudes toward harassment. Harassment was prevalent in the study areas, and respondents tended to place the blame for harassment at the individual level of the ecological model, particularly women's behavior. However, there were also community- and societal-level factors that contributed to the prevalence of harassment. Patriarchal norms and stigmatization of women who are harassed reinforced victim-blaming, such that most young women were afraid to report experiences of harassment due to social censure. In this context, educational or awareness raising interventions are unlikely to be effective in combating harassment, which is widely acknowledged to be a problem. Rather, interventions are needed along the different levels of the ecological model to target peer group and community norms that encourage harassment, address harassment in schools and strengthen reporting mechanisms.

Online knowledge distillation with elastic peer

Knowledge distillation is a highly effective method for transferring knowledge from a cumbersome teacher network to a lightweight student network. However, teacher networks are not always available. An alternative method called online knowledge distillation, which applies a group of peer networks to learn collaboratively with each other, has been proposed previously. In this study, we revisit online knowledge distillation and find that the existing training strategy limits the diversity among peer networks. Thus, online knowledge distillation cannot achieve its full potential. To address this, a novel online knowledge distillation with elastic peer (KDEP) strategy is introduced here. The entire training process is divided into two phases by KDEP. In each phase, a specific training strategy is applied to adjust the diversity to an appropriate degree. Extensive experiments have been conducted on individual benchmarks, including CIFAR-100, CINIC-10, Tiny ImageNet, and Caltech-UCSD Birds. The results demonstrate the superiority of KDEP. For example, when the peer networks are ShuffleNetV2-1.0 and ShuffleNetV2-0.5, the target peer network ShuffleNetV2-0.5 achieves 57.00% top-1 accuracy on Tiny ImageNet via KDEP.

Is honesty always the best policy? Children's perceptions of negative performance feedback

AbstractChildren tend to discount negative feedback about their performance even when the feedback is delivered by an expert. This indifference toward feedback could hinder self‐improvement. We examined whether children would be receptive to negative feedback from an expert when provided with an explicit reason why it was given. One‐hundred twenty‐one 4 to 8 year olds heard about a target peer whose work product was evaluated negatively by an expert peer and positively by either a single layperson or a consensus of laypersons (also peers). Children were assigned to one of the three conditions in which the reason for the negative feedback varied: the expert promised to tell the truth about the work, the expert was a designated “helper,” or no explanation was provided. Children judged whether feedback from the expert and layperson(s) should be shared with the teacher and the target. Across ages, children indicated that the expert should share negative feedback with the teacher when the expert promised to tell the truth. Only 6 to 8 year olds reported that an expert who promised to tell the truth should convey this feedback to the target. Implications for children's interpretation of evaluative content in social learning situations are discussed.

Learning through design using collaborative Intervention Mapping with acceptability evaluation: the case of a group-based farm safety intervention

ABSTRACT Purpose To systematically develop a farm safety intervention for farmer peer learning groups, to support safe working practice adoption. Design/Methodology/Approach An iterative, multi-actor process was used, guided by the Intervention Mapping framework and the Socio-Ecological Model. The target peer learning groups were Irish dairy farmer discussion groups (DDGs). Literature review, semi-structured interviews, surveys, and participant observation informed an initial intervention design, which provided a starting point for collaborative intervention development. The final design comprised two intervention approaches, A and B, differing in frequency and discussion length. In a seven-month cluster-randomised, controlled pilot study, 76 DDGs implemented the design. Findings The designs were standardised but adaptable to individual group interests and schedules. Pre-pilot feedback from farm advisors (intervention deliverers), and farmer and advisor recruitment, indicated good intervention acceptability initially. Challenges were experienced during implementation, but 52% of DDGs participating in the infrequent, long discussions approach (‘A’) and 72% of those in the frequent, short discussions approach (‘B’) completed at least some of the protocol. Practical implications The multi-actor approach resulted in two flexible, acceptable designs, responsive to group culture and dynamics. Frequent, short discussions were acceptable to a greater number of groups than infrequent, long discussions. Theoretical implications The Socio-Ecological Model, combined with multi-actor Intervention Mapping, provided a robust framework for the development of acceptable, practical, evidence-based farm safety and health promotion initiatives. Originality/Value The systematic public health research-driven approach evolved iteratively to a DDG practice-driven approach, through integration of Intervention Mapping with collaborative multi-actor design.

Target shareholder gains, peer firm values, and merger and acquisition announcements

AbstractAn average M&A announcement increases the target's peer firm stock prices. While it is documented that an increased takeover likelihood increases the peer firm values, it is also possible that an increase in the expected shareholder gains, conditional on receiving an acquisition offer, affects the valuation of peer firms. In this paper, I document that peer firm abnormal returns during the announcement period are positively affected by the target firm announcement return and offer premium, which reflect target shareholder gains from the announced deal. Moreover, I find that target announcement returns are lower, on average, when the offer premium is lower than those of recent transactions in the industry. This paper highlights that investors reflect not only the increased takeover likelihood but also the revised expectations on the gains from a potential takeover bid in the valuation of peer firms.

Declarative Semantics for P2P Data Management System

The paper presents a logic-based framework for modeling the interaction among peers. It is assumed that each peer consists of a database, a set of standard logic rules, a set of mapping rules allowing to import a maximal set of atoms not leading to inconsistency and a set of integrity constraints. The proposal relies on previous works in Calvanese et al. (in: PODS, 2004) and Caroprese et al. (in: FLAIRS, 2006) where a (declarative) semantics for P2P systems is defined. Under this semantics, only facts not making the local databases inconsistent can be imported—Weak Models. This mechanism leads to the concept of Maximal Weak Models that are weak models in which peers import maximal sets of facts not violating integrity constraints. Different extensions to the basic framework, that aim at introducing significant mechanisms of preferences among different scenarios in the case of conflicting information, can be provided. This paper presents the basic framework of Maximal Weak Models and two extensions: the Trusted Weak Model Semantics and the Dynamic Weak Model Semantics. The Trusted Weak Model Semantics stems from the observation that the framework proposed in Calvanese et al. (in: PODS, 2004) and Caroprese et al. (in: FLAIRS, 2006) does not provide any mechanism to set priorities among mapping rules, rules that “integrate” data of a source peer into the database of a target peer. Anyhow, while collecting data, it is quite natural for a source peer to associate different degrees of reliability to the portion of data provided by its neighbor peers. Therefore, this paper enhances the basic semantics by using priority levels among mapping rules in order to select the weak models containing a maximum number of mapping atoms according to their importance. We will call these weak models, Trusted Weak Models, and we will show they can be computed as stable models of a logic program with weak constraints. The Dynamic Weak Model Semantics further enhances the basic framework by introducing aggregates and different levels of preference criteria that are not rigid, i.e., fixed a priori at design time, but depends on the database instance. The extended framework allows to model concepts like “in the case of conflicting information, it is preferable to import data from the neighbor peer that can provide the maximum number of tuples” or “in the case of conflicting information, it is preferable to import data from the neighbor peer such that the sum of the values of an attribute is minimum” without selecting a priori preferred peers. We will call these weak models, Dynamic Weak Models, and we will show they can be computed as stable models of a logic program with a list of sets of priorities.

Peer selection as a mechanism for preventing adolescent substance use: Current approaches and future directions

• One third of lessons in the prevention programs examined focused on peer selection. • Behavioral similarity was the most frequently targeted peer selection process. • Reflection was often encouraged when peer selection was targeted. • Peer selection holds great promise as a mechanism for preventing substance use. Despite previous research highlighting the importance of peer selection and socialization as distinct processes contributing to adolescent substance use, prior research indicates that universal school-based substance use prevention programs focus more heavily on socialization when compared to selection. This content analysis examining the peer selection processes targeted by prevention programs is guided by the following research questions: (1) To what extent do current evidence-based programs target peer selection? (2) When peer selection is targeted, what underlying mechanisms are the focus? (3) What level of depth is reached when peer selection is targeted by prevention programs? Using the Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development database, two programs meeting our inclusion criteria were included in this study. Thirty-three percent of program lessons included a focus on the peer selection process. Behavioral similarity was targeted more frequently than selection based on popularity. When peer selection was targeted, reflection was often encouraged. Peer selection is a promising mechanism for the development of future prevention programs. Future intervention research that helps to test the malleability of peer selection processes would help to better understand how to best incorporate peer selection processes into prevention program content.

Protocol to efficiently prevent illegal flow of objects in P2P type of publish/subscribe (PS) systems

In a P2PPS (P2P (peer-to-peer) type of topic-based PS (publish/subscribe)) model, each peer exchanges event messages including objects to target peers with no centralized coordinator where the objects are held as replicas by the target peers. Suppose an event message e carrying an object o on some topic t is delivered to a target peer $$p_i$$ which is not allowed to subscribe the topic t. Here, the object o is illegal at the peer $$p_i$$. In this paper, we newly propose an ETOBSCO (efficient topics-of-objects-based synchronization with causally ordering delivery) protocol where target peers deliver no illegal object. In addition, a peer distributes event messages to update every replica of an object after the peer updates the object. If a peer updates an object without changing topics, the object is referred to as altered. Here, an update event message for the altered object is meaningless since peers check only topics to exchange event messages. In this paper, update event messages of objects are published only if topics of the objects are updated. In the evaluation, we show about 30% of the total number of event messages delivered in the TOBSCO protocol are reduced in the ETOBSCO protocol while it takes about twice the amount of time to update replicas of altered objects in the ETOBSCO protocol compared with the TOBSCO protocol.

Causally ordering delivery of event messages in P2PPSO systems

In topic-based PS (Publish/Subscribe) model, each peer process (peer) specifies subscription topics and publishes an event message with publication topics. A peer only receives an event message whose publication topics include some common topic with the subscription topics. In the P2PPSO (P2P (peer-to-peer) type of topic-based Publish/Subscribe with Object concept) model, each peer exchanges objects by publishing and receiving event messages with no centralized coordinator. Here, objects are denoted by topics and event messages are characterized by topics of the objects in the event messages. Suppose an event message ej published by a peer pj carries objects on some topics into a target peer pi. Information, i.e. objects in the peer pj illegally flows to the peer pi if the peer pi is not allowed to subscribe the topics. An illegal object of a peer pi is an object whose topics the peer pi is not allowed to subscribe. In the TOBS (Topics-of-Objects-Based Synchronization) protocol, illegal objects are not delivered to target peers, but every event message is assumed to be causally delivered in the underlying network. In this paper, we newly propose a TOBSCO (TOBS with Causally Ordering delivery) protocol where the function to causally deliver every pair of event messages is added to the TOBS protocol. In the evaluation, we show every pair of event messages are causally delivered and it takes longer to deliver event messages in the TOBSCO protocol.

Information flow control in object‐based peer‐to‐peer publish/subscribe systems

SummaryIn this paper, we propose a P2PPSO (P2P [peer‐to‐peer] type of topic‐based Publish/Subscribe with Object concept) model, where each peer process (peer) exchanges objects by publishing and receiving event messages with no centralized coordinator. In addition, objects are characterized by topics. Suppose an event message ej published by a peer pj carries an object on some topics into a target peer pi. Here, information in the peer pj illegally flows to the peer pi if the target peer pi is not allowed to subscribe the topics. An illegal object is an object whose topics a target peer is not allowed to subscribe. Even if an event message is received by a target peer by checking topics, objects carried by the event message may be illegal at the target peer. In this paper, we propose a TOBS (topics‐of‐objects–based synchronization) protocol to prevent target peers from receiving illegal objects in the P2PPSO model. Here, even if an event message is received by a target peer, illegal objects in the event message are not delivered to the target peer. In the evaluation, we show how many event messages carry illegal objects in the TOBS protocol.

Elementary students’ perceptions of classroom resilience-promoting factors in China and the United States

ABSTRACTThis study used ClassMaps Survey to investigate third to fifth grade elementary students’ perceptions of five relational (e.g., teacher-student relationships and peer friendships) and three individual (e.g., academic self-efficacy and behavioral self-control) resilience-promoting factors in classrooms in China and the United States. Examination of measurement equivalence indicates that the seven-factor model excluding peer aggression has acceptable strong factorial measurement equivalence. Comparison of group means revealed common strengths in teacher–student relationships, peer friendships, challenges in behavioral self-control, and peer conflict across the two cultural groups. Interventions should be built upon positive relationships and target behavioral self-control and peer conflict.

How have target pupil, peer and school level outcomes related to peer-mediated interventions for pupils with ASD been evaluated?

There is an increasing interest in the role of peers in facilitating the social interaction skills of pupils with autism spectrum disorder through peer-mediated interventions (PMI). Several reviews provide promising evidence for the effectiveness of this approach; however, there has been limited consideration of the range of outcome foci and methods used to evaluate PMI. The purpose of the current review is to provide an overview of methods used to evaluate the impact of PMI and illuminate key examples of innovative practice. Database and web searches were conducted between July and August 2015 to identify PMI studies published between 2000 and 2015. Ten studies met criteria for inclusion. The review found that although measuring the outcome of PMI at the level of target pupils has been a focus, less attention has been given to exploring the experiences of participants; the impact on peers and the extent to which PMI can truly be implemented within an educational context. Implications for future methods of evaluating PMI are discussed.

Bullying Involvement and Empathy: Child and Target Characteristics

AbstractThis study investigated how the bullying involvement of a child and a target peer are related to empathy. The role of gender was also considered. We hypothesized that empathy primarily varies depending on the bullying role of the target peer. Participants were 264 7–12‐year‐old children (Mage = 10.02, SD = 1.00; 50% girls) from 33 classrooms who had been selected based on their bullying involvement (bully, victim, bully/victim, noninvolved) in the classroom. Participants completed a cognitive and affective empathy measure for each selected target classmate. We found no differences in cognitive and affective empathy for all targets combined based on children's own bullying involvement. However, when incorporating the targets’ bullying involvement, bullies, victims, and bully/victims showed less empathy for each other than for noninvolved peers. Noninvolved children did not differentiate between bullies, victims and bully/victims. Girls reported more cognitive and affective empathy for girls than boys, whereas boys did not differentiate between girls and boys. The results indicated that children's empathy for peers depends primarily on the characteristics of the peer, such as the peer's bullying role and gender.

Adolescents' beliefs about the fairness of exclusion of peers with mental health problems

Stigma research suggests that exclusion of peers with mental health problems is acceptable, however, no research has explored young people's beliefs about the fairness of exclusion. Group interviews with 148 adolescents explored judgements about the fairness of excluding peers with ADHD or depression from dyads and groups. Young people evaluated exclusion of peers with ADHD or depression from dyads and groups, with the exception of group exclusion of the peer with ADHD, as mostly unfair. Beliefs about the fairness of exclusion were influenced by the attributions that they applied to the target peer's behaviour, social obligations and loyalty within friendships and concerns about the adverse psychological effects of exclusion. Furthermore, their evaluations were influenced by personal beliefs about the social and personal costs of including the target peer. Evaluations of exclusion highlight novel avenues for to develop knowledge on the stigma of mental health problems.

Using a Collaborative Approach to Unite Physical Health Needs and Mental Health Care of People with Severe Mental Illness

The aim of the Mental Health Clinical Collaborative (MHCC) was to apply a quality improvement methodology to improve the assessment of physical health for consumers of adult mental health services across Queensland. It is well documented that people with severe mental illness are at increased risk of early mortality due to poor physical health, including cardiovascular disease and other chronic physical health disorders (Brown, Kim, Mitchell & Inskip, 2010; Foley et al, 2013). It was proposed that encouraging the monitoring of physical health would increase staff focus on the physical health as well as the mental health needs of this population. A collaborative methodology was used to bring together sixteen public mental health service organisations across Queensland to implement service improvement activities and improve physical health assessments in people with serious mental illness. A clinical indicator was developed and data from existing Queensland Health databases were used to provide six-monthly reports on statewide and individual service progress. In conjunction with this, statewide forums, individual service presentations and a secure intranet site were provided to enable networking, collaborative target setting and peer review. Improvement in the MHCC Physical Health Assessment clinical indicator was demonstrated across the state over a two-and –half year period with an increase in the number of physical health assessments recorded from 12% to 49%. Significant improvement was demonstrated in fifteen services across the state. The results suggest that the implementation of a collaborative methodology for targeted aspects of clinical work in mental health can assist with statewide service improvement. Moreover, providing services a regular opportunity, at statewide forums, for services to showcase the local implemented changes allows for demonstration of local ownership of these improvements. It would seem that the introduction of a physical health monitoring indicator increased the focus of mental health staff on the importance of addressing the physical health needs as part of routine care for people with serious mental illness.

Cooperative oriented learning in inclusive physical education

In this study the implementation of cooperation directed learning of peer tutoring in elementary general inclusive physical education (GPE) setting in three elementary city schools in Sweden was studied. The purpose was to assess the impact of peer tutoring on the interaction behaviours between students with and without disabilities in GPE. A design of multiple case study with elementary school age students with moderate disabilities (n = 4) was used. Peer tutors (n = 37) were students without disabilities who voluntary participated in a peer tutor training programme. The programme included the collaborative learning values, teaching instructions and communication skills served as the independent measure. Dependent measures were multiple interactions between students with and without disabilities. Data to the case studies were collected through a design of mixed methods, containing both quantitative and qualitative data. Totally 43 observation sessions of inclusive GPE settings were collected on videotapes and analysed using the Computerized Evaluation Protocol of Interactions in Physical Education (CEPI-PE). In addition, interviews with school personnel and children served as a complementary study outcome. The percentage of interactions between target students and peer tutors significantly increased (3.2–11.8%, respectively, p < .05) during peer tutor intervention. This study indicated that peer tutor arrangements can contribute the successful cooperation between students with and without disabilities in inclusive GPE in Swedish elementary school. All four students with moderate disabilities maintained high percentage of activities done independently throughout baseline and intervention phase (50.5 and 57.6%, accordingly). Qualitative data throughout field notes and interviews with school personnel and pupils confirmed a positive class climate change and improvement in peer relation culture.

Social Problems as a Mediator of the Link Between Reactive Aggression and Withdrawn/Depressed Symptoms

The current study examined whether social problems accounted for the relation between reactive aggression and withdrawn/depressed symptoms in a sample of 147 children (54.4% male) ranging from 5 to 13 years of age (M = 8.22 years) who attended a community based after-school program. Findings suggested that indeed social problems mediated the link between reactive aggression and withdrawn/depressed symptoms, such that high levels of reactive aggression are associated with high levels of social problems, which in turn are associated with high levels of withdrawn/depressed symptoms. Findings suggest the need to target peer relationships in the prevention of subsequent negative emotions for children who exhibit high levels of reactive aggression.

Impact of Discussion on Peer Evaluations: Perceptions of Low Achievement and Effort

The authors placed 5th-grade students into small groups of 3 in order to examine the impact of group discussion and displayed effort on children's evaluations of a low-achieving peer. Low effort by a target peer resulted in negative evaluations across attributional, affective, help-giving, and social response dimensions. Children who participated in group discussion before making individual evaluations exhibited a polarizing effect in which more extreme evaluations were made than when children did not participate in group discussion. Although all children were affected by both effort level and discussion conditions, gender differences were observed. These findings (a) highlight the importance of addressing the role of the peer group when working with low-achieving children and (b) underscore the impact of effort attributions and low achievement on peer perceptions among elementary-age children.