The Importance of Developmental Science for Studies in Bullying and Victimization (original) (raw)
Related papers
Behavioral Patterns of Children Involved in Bullying Episodes
Frontiers in psychology, 2018
This study applied a systematic observation strategy to identify coercive behavioral patterns in school environments. The aim was to describe stability and change in the behavioral patterns of children identified as victims of bullying. To this end, the following specific objectives were defined: (1) to identify episodes of bullying based on the frequency of negative behaviors received and power imbalances between bully and victim; (2) to describe stability and behavioral changes in student victims based on their social and academic conduct and the aggression they receive from peers and teachers; and (3) to describe the functional mechanisms responsible for the process of social organization (i.e., the Social Effectiveness, Social Responsiveness, and Social Reciprocity Indexes). The sample consisted of nine children identified as victims, nine classified as bullies, and nine matched controls, all elementary school students from the study developed at the National Autonomous Universi...
Developmental Trajectories of Bullying and Associated Factors
Child Development, 2008
Trajectories in bullying through adolescence were studied along with individual, family, and peer relationship factors. At the outset, participants' ages ranged from 10 to 14; 74% identified as European Canadian with the remainder from diverse backgrounds. With 8 waves of data over 7 years, 871 students (466 girls and 405 boys) were studied to reveal 4 trajectories: 9.9% reported consistently high levels of bullying, 13.4% reported early moderate levels desisting to almost no bullying at the end of high school, 35.1% reported consistently moderate levels, and 41.6% almost never reported bullying. Students who bullied had elevated risks in individual, parent, and peer relationship domains. Risk profiles and trajectories provide direction for interventions to curtail the development of power and aggression in relationships.
Frequent Bullying Involvement and Brain Morphology in Children
Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2019
Background: Over the past few decades, bullying has been recognized as a considerable public health concern. Involvement in bullying is associated with poor long-term social and psychiatric outcomes for both perpetrators and targets of bullying. Despite this concerning prognosis, few studies have investigated possible neurobiological correlates of bullying involvement that may explain the long-term impact of bullying. Cortical thickness is ideally suited for examining deviations in typical brain development, as it has been shown to detect subtle differences in children with psychopathology. We tested associations between bullying involvement and cortical thickness using a large, population-based cohort. Methods: The study sample consisted of 2,602 participants from the Generation R Study. When children were 8 years old, parents and teachers reported on common forms of child bullying involvement (physical, verbal, and relational). Questions ascertained whether a child was involved as a perpetrator (n = 82), a target of bullying (n = 92), as a combined perpetrator and target of bullying (n = 47), or uninvolved in frequent bullying (n = 2,381). High-resolution structural MRI was conducted when children were 10 years of age. Cortical thickness estimates across the cortical mantle were compared among groups. Results: Children classified as frequent targets of bullying showed thicker cortex in the fusiform gyrus compared to those uninvolved in bullying (B = 0.108, p corrected < 0.001). Results remained consistent when adjusted for socioeconomic factors, general intelligence, and psychiatric symptoms. Children classified as frequent perpetrators showed thinner cortex in the cuneus region; however, this association did not survive stringent correction for multiple testing. Lastly, no differences in cortical thickness were observed in perpetrator-targets. Discussion: Bullying involvement in young children was associated with differential cortical morphology. Specifically, the fusiform gyrus, often involved in facial processing, showed thicker cortex in targets of frequent bullying. Longitudinal data are necessary to demonstrate the temporality of the underlying neurobiology associated with bullying involvement.
2011
Tackling behavioural problems and bullying in schools Antisocial behaviours at school have a significant impact on the wider learning environment, on the mental health of the victims, and on the perpetrators of such behaviours who could be excluded from educational provision at a great detriment to themselves and society at large [1]. Schools spend considerable resources managing disordered behaviour and many also have programmes aimed at promoting development of prosocial behaviour and empathy [2].
A developmental perspective on bullying
Aggressive Behavior, 2006
In this paper, we examined the forms and relationship contexts of bullying in adolescence. Using cross-sectional data, we assessed grade and sex differences in self-reports of bullying and sexually harassing peers, as well as reports of dating aggression from1896 students from early to late adolescence. Reports of bullying others were highest around the school transition, with lowest levels at the end of high school. Boys reported more bullying and sexual harassment than girls. Sexual harassment of same-and opposite-sex peers increased over the early adolescent years and leveled off in later high-school years. There were no sex differences in the prevalence of indirect or physical aggression with a dating partner. Adolescents who bullied were at increased risk for the other forms of relationship aggression. These data highlight bullying as a relationship problem and point to the need for prevention programs to curtail the use of power and aggression in adolescent relationships.
Development and Psychopathology, 2013
We investigated the antecedents and consequences of chronic victimization by bullies across a school transition using a genetically sensitive longitudinal design. Data were from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study (E-Risk), an epidemiological cohort of 2,232 children. We used mothers' and children's reports of bullying victimization during primary school and early secondary school. Children who experienced frequent victimization at both time points were classed as “chronic victims” and were found to have an increased risk for mental health problems and academic difficulties compared to children who were bullied only in primary school, children bullied for the first time in secondary school, and never-bullied children. Biometric analyses revealed that stability in victimization over this period was influenced primarily by genetic and shared environmental factors. Regression analyses showed that children's early characteristics such as preexistent adjustment dif...
Social–cognitive and behavioral attributes of aggressive victims of bullying
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 2005
This study examined the social-cognitive and behavioral attributes of children who are concurrently aggressive and victimized by their peers. The characteristics of these baggressive victimsQ were examined in comparison to bullies, passive victims, and normative comparison children. The sample included 240 urban Los Angeles elementary school children (mean age = 9.5 years), who completed a series of self-report inventories, a socialcognitive interview, and a peer nomination inventory. Ratings of behavioral adjustment were obtained from teachers and academic functioning was obtained through a review of school records. Subgroup comparisons indicated that aggressive victims were characterized by impairments in self-regulation as well as difficulties across domains of functioning. In contrast, bullies tended to exhibit aggression-related biases in social-cognitive processing, but did not suffer from other adjustment problems, and passive victims were characterized by nonassertive behaviors and low levels of social skills. Taken together, our findings highlight the distinctiveness and theoretical importance of the aggressive victim subgroup.
BULLYING RESEARCH 3 REVISED n FINAL
handling bullies through role-playing, classroom discussions about the motivation and effects of bullying to sensitize students and promote self-awareness thus, learning the proper ways to address bullying.