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Perspectives on school bullying: context, definition, and treatment
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Social and educational disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated concerns about adolescents' mental health and suicidal behavior. Data from the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) indicate that 37.1% of U.S. high school students reported poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 19.9% considering and 9.0% attempting suicide in the preceding year (1). Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)* are associated with poor mental health and suicidal behaviors (2,3), and high prevalence of some ACEs have been documented during the pandemic (4). ACEs are preventable, potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (ages 0-17 years) such as neglect, experiencing or witnessing violence, or having a family member attempt or die by suicide. Also included are aspects of a child's environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding. Associations between ACEs occurring during the pandemic and mental health or suicidal behaviors among U.S. high school students were examined using ABES data. Experience of one to two ACEs was associated with poorer mental health and increased suicidal behaviors, and these deleterious outcomes increased with additional ACE exposure. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, adolescents who reported four or more ACEs during the pandemic had a prevalence of poor current mental health four times as high as, and a prevalence of past-year suicide attempts 25 times as high as, those without ACEs during the pandemic. Experience of specific ACE types (e.g., emotional abuse) was associated with higher prevalences of poor mental health and suicidal behaviors. Prevention and intervention strategies (5), including early identification and trauma-informed mental health service and support provision, for ACEs and their acute and long-term impacts could help address the U.S. child and adolescent mental health and suicide crisis.†.
Given the well-established health disparities between lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and gender-expansive (LGBTQ+) and cisgender, straight youth, scholars predicted the COVID-19 pandemic would disproportionately impact LGBTQ+ students. Yet, few studies have described changes in LGBTQ+ students’ school experiences and well-being during the pandemic. Using survey data from 40,904 middle and high school students, we examined changes from before (2018) to during (2021) the pandemic in peer victimization, anxiety, and suicide attempts. We conducted bivariate and multivariate regression analyses to assess changes between the two time points among LGBTQ+ and cisgender, straight students. We found LGBTQ+ students experienced more peer victimization, anxiety, and suicide attempts at both points, before and during the pandemic, than cisgender, straight youth. However, LGBTQ+ students reported increased anxiety, decreased peer victimization, and decreased suicide attempts in 2021, during the pandemic, compared to pre-pandemic 2018 reports. These findings suggest pandemic-related school disruptions may have provided LGBTQ+ students some relief from the harmful effects of poor, in-person school climates.
Question
Mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs) are an increasingly popular approach to improving mental health in young people. Our previous meta-analysis suggested that MBPs show promising effectiveness, but highlighted a lack of high-quality, adequately powered randomised controlled trials (RCTs). This updated meta-analysis assesses the-state-of the-art of MBPs for young people in light of new studies. It explores MBP’s effectiveness in active vs passive controls; selective versus universal interventions; and studies that included follow-up.
Study selection and analysis
We searched for published and unpublished RCTs of MBPs with young people (<19 years) in PubMed Central, PsycINFO, Web of Science, EMBASE, ICTRP, ClinicalTrials.gov, EThOS, EBSCO and Google Scholar. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted, and standardised mean differences (Cohen’s d) were calculated.
Findings
Sixty-six RCTs, involving 20 138 participants (9552 receiving an MBP and 10 586 controls), were identified. Compared with passive controls, MBPs were effective in improving anxiety/stress, attention, executive functioning, and negative and social behaviour (d from 0.12 to 0.35). Compared against active controls, MBPs were more effective in reducing anxiety/stress and improving mindfulness (d=0.11 and 0.24, respectively). In studies with a follow-up, there were no significant positive effects of MBPs. No consistent pattern favoured MBPs as a universal versus selective intervention.
Conclusions
The enthusiasm for MBPs in youth has arguably run ahead of the evidence. While MBPs show promising results for some outcomes, in general, the evidence is of low quality and inconclusive. We discuss a conceptual model and the theory-driven innovation required to realise the potential of MBPs in supporting youth mental health.
Bullying victimization is a form of psychological stress that is associated with poor outcomes in the areas of mental health and learning. Although the emotional maladjustment and memory impairment following interpersonal stress are well documented, the mechanisms of complex cerebral dysfunctions have neither been outlined nor studied in depth in the context of childhood bullying victimization. As a contribution to the cross-disciplinary field of developmental psychology and neuroscience, we review the neuropathophysiology of early life stress, as well as general psychological stress to synthesize the data and clarify the versatile dynamics within neuronal networks linked to bullying victimization. The stress-induced neuropsychological cascade and associated cerebral networks with a focus on cognitive and emotional convergence are described. The main findings are that stress-evoked neuroendocrine reactivity relates to neuromodulation and limbic dysregulation that hinder emotion processing and executive functioning such as semantic cognition, cognitive flexibility, and learning. Developmental aspects and interacting neural mechanisms linked to distressed cognitive and emotional processing are pinpointed and potential theory-of-mind nuances in targets of bullying are presented. The results show that childhood stress psychopathology is associated with a complex interplay where the major role belongs to, but is not limited to, the amygdala, fusiform gyrus, insula, striatum, and prefrontal cortex. This interplay contributes to the sensitivity toward facial expressions, poor cognitive reasoning, and distress that affect behavioral modulation and emotion regulation. We integrate the data on major brain dynamics in stress neuroactivity that can be associated with childhood psychopathology to help inform future studies that are focused on the treatment and prevention of psychiatric disorders and learning problems in bullied children and adolescents.
Disruptions and consequences related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including school closures, social isolation, family economic hardship, family loss or illness, and reduced access to health care, raise concerns about their effects on the mental health and well-being of youths. This report uses data from the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, an online survey of a probability-based, nationally representative sample of U.S. public- and private-school students in grades 9-12 (N = 7,705), to assess U.S. high school students' mental health and suicidality during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also examines whether mental health and suicidality are associated with feeling close to persons at school and being virtually connected to others during the pandemic. Overall, 37.1% of students experienced poor mental health during the pandemic, and 31.1% experienced poor mental health during the preceding 30 days. In addition, during the 12 months before the survey, 44.2% experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, 19.9% had seriously considered attempting suicide, and 9.0% had attempted suicide. Compared with those who did not feel close to persons at school, students who felt close to persons at school had a significantly lower prevalence of poor mental health during the pandemic (28.4% versus 45.2%) and during the past 30 days (23.5% versus 37.8%), persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness (35.4% versus 52.9%), having seriously considered attempting suicide (14.0% versus 25.6%), and having attempted suicide (5.8% versus 11.9%). The same pattern was observed among students who were virtually connected to others during the pandemic (i.e., with family, friends, or other groups by using a computer, telephone, or other device) versus those who were not. Comprehensive strategies that improve feelings of connectedness with others in the family, in the community, and at school might foster improved mental health among youths during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Childhood maltreatment is the most important preventable risk factor for psychiatric disorders. Maltreated individuals typically develop psychiatric disorders at an earlier age, have a more pernicious course, more comorbidities, greater symptom severity, and respond less favorably to treatments than non-maltreated individuals with the same primary DSM-5 diagnosis. Furthermore, maltreated individuals have alterations in stress-susceptible brain regions, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal response, and inflammatory marker levels not discernible in their non-maltreated counterparts. Hence, maltreated and non-maltreated individuals with the same primary DSM-5 diagnoses appear to be clinically and neurobiologically distinct. The failure to embody this distinction in DSM-5 has interfered with our ability to discover novel treatments, to recommend currently available treatments most likely to be efficacious, and has been a largely unrecognized confound that has thwarted our ability to identify the biological basis for major psychiatric disorders. Incorporating this distinction into DSM will help transform this sign and symptom-based classification system to a more etiologically informed nosology. We discuss several diagnostic alternatives and recommend the inclusion of a Developmental Trauma Disorder diagnosis for severely dysregulated individuals, of all ages, with numerous comorbidities, who experienced interpersonal victimization and disruptions in attachment, such as emotional maltreatment or neglect. For less severely affected maltreated individuals, we suggest using conventional diagnostic categories, such as major depression, but with an essential modifier indicating a history of childhood maltreatment, or early life stress, to delineate the ecophenotypic variant. Implementing this strategy should improve our ability to effectively diagnose and treat individuals with psychiatric disorders and to accelerate discovery.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a school-based mindful yoga program on socioemotional competence and response to stress among youth. Participants in this quasi-experimental study included 112 5th and 6th grade students from three private Catholic elementary schools located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Students in the intervention group received weekly lessons in mindfulness-based practices across the year from trained child yoga instructors. Participants completed self-report measures on empathic awareness, perspective-taking, and involuntary engagement with stress at pre- and post-test. Analyses suggest that the program was beneficial in preventing significant increases in rumination and intrusive thoughts for students in the intervention group. Physiological and emotional arousal also remained low among the intervention group, but the differences were not significant. Contrary to expectations, levels of empathic awareness and perspective-taking remained stable in the intervention group while increases were reported among students in the control group. School-based mindful yoga programming may support involuntary stress responses among youth and contribute to more informed self-reported socioemotional awareness.
Bullying varies in frequency, intensity, duration and hence severity, and contributes uniquely and directly to mental health problems, with severe and long-lasting consequences. Almost a half of school-age students report being bullied in the past year. All school staff, especially school counsellors, are uniquely positioned to reduce student bullying through proactive primary prevention, early intervention, and treatment. However, given the intensity of schools, and counsellors’ limited time and resources, robust evidence is needed to guide their unique contribution to a whole-school approach to reducing bullying behaviour. Since 1999, a pipeline of 18 Friendly Schools studies, including seven randomised control trials, have developed and tested ways to build all school staff’s capacity to effectively target and deliver evidence-based strategies across the prevention, early intervention and treatment continuum to reduce harm from all forms of bullying behaviour. This article describes the implications of Friendly Schools’ research findings relevant and applicable to the work of school counsellors, as part of a whole-school approach to bullying prevention. These implications demonstrate the interconnectedness of actions of all members of the school community, and the need for a whole-school commitment to preventing and reducing bullying, to realise the important synergistic contribution of school counsellors.
This study aimed to ascertain how the four domains of self-debasing cognitive distortion,
namely personalisation, catastrophising, overgeneralisation and selective abstraction,
could predict or inform emotional disturbance in the reactions of bystanders when
witnessing bullying behaviour. We utilised purposive sampling to select 10 bystanders of
school bullying for participation in the study and performed convenient sampling to select
a research site. We conducted interviews that were recorded on a voice recorder and
transcribed thereafter. Qualitative data was analysed through inductive thematic analysis.
Our findings revealed that personalisation evoked bystanders’ self-blame and feelings of
guilt, catastrophising amplified their anxiety and fear, overgeneralisation induced and
exacerbated their negative perception of school safety, and selective abstraction led to
indirect co-victimisation. Based on our findings, we recommend that school
psychologists, counsellors and behavioural healthcare service providers should teach
victims of bullying, especially bystanders, how to recognise, challenge and reappraise
negative and unhelpful thoughts and feelings related to their experiences.
Keywords: bystanders, cognitive distortions, emotional reactions, emotional
disturbance, school bullying
This study investigated the effect of bullying role, i.e., bully, victim, and bully-victim, on three measures of peer status; perceived popularity, social preference, and social impact. In addition to completing peer nominations for these measures of peer status, adolescents (n = 2,721) aged 11 to 16 years from 5 secondary schools completed an online survey that assessed bullying involvement (self- and peer-reported), self-esteem, and behavioral difficulties. Compared to uninvolved adolescents, all bullying roles had a greater social impact. Bullies scored higher than all other roles for perceived popularity, whereas victims and bully-victims were the lowest in social preference. These significant group comparisons remained when controlling for demographic variables, behavioral difficulties, self-esteem and prosocial behavior. Overall, the perceived popularity found for bullies suggests that these adolescents are socially rewarded by peers for their victimization of others. These findings highlight the need to address the whole peer system in raising the social status of those who are victimized, whilst reducing the rewards received by bullies for their behavior.
Bullying research has traditionally been dominated by largescale cohort studies focusing on the personality traits of bullies and victims. These studies focus on bullying prevalence, risk and protective factors, and negative outcomes. A limitation of this approach is that it does not explain why bullying happens. Qualitative research can help shed light on these factors. This paper discusses the findings from four mainly qualitative research projects including a systematic review and three empirical studies involving young people to various degrees within the research process as respondents, co-researchers and commissioners of research. Much quantitative research suggests that young people are a homogenous group and through the use of surveys and other large scale methods, generalizations can be drawn about how bullying is understood and how it can be dealt with. Findings from the studies presented in this paper, add to our understanding that young people appear particularly concerned about the role of wider contextual and relational factors in deciding if bullying has happened. These studies underscore the relational aspects of definitions of bullying and, how the dynamics of young people’s friendships can shift what is understood as bullying or not. Moreover, to appreciate the relational and social contexts underpinning bullying behaviors, adults and young people need to work together on bullying agendas and engage with multiple definitions, effects and forms of support. Qualitative methodologies, in particular participatory research opens up the complexities of young lives and enables these insights to come to the fore. Through this approach, effective supports can be designed based on what young people want and need rather than those interpreted as supportive through adult understanding.
Based on biological insights, Ludwig von Bertalanffy coined general systems theory (GST) and later expanded his perspective, exploring what GST could mean for other disciplines and other types of systems. We make a case for the relevance, or rather, the importance, of GST for coming to a new understanding of the resilience of social‐ecological systems and the possible forms of adaptive governance that might increase such resilience. After analyzing the conceptual structure of the resilience paradigm and of GST, we identify concepts in resilience thinking where GST provides new confirmation or modifies the perspective: complexity, evolution, self‐organization, and adaptation. We discuss post‐Bertalanffy developments in the interdisciplinary and twinned fields of systems theory and complexity studies that can provide bridging concepts between GST and resilience thinking. In conclusion, we emphasize the need for both cognitive and institutional resilience to foster adaptive governance. We highlight the management of couplings between systems and the switching between forms of understanding and forms of organization, where self‐organization and more centralized forms of steering can alternate and combine.
It is well documented that bullying victimization and perpetration are associated with mental health problems, including anxiety and depressive symptoms. Although the majority of students report witnessing bullying as bystanders, very few studies have investigated whether negative consequences associated with bullying extend beyond targets and perpetrators to students who are bystanders. The present study examined the association between witnessing bullying and anxiety and depressive symptoms among middle school students. Middle school students (N = 130; grades 6th through 8th) completed questionnaires assessing experiences as a bystander, target, and perpetrator of bullying, as well as anxiety and depressive symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine whether bystander status was associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms over and above the effects of victimization and perpetration and to examine bullying victimization and perpetration as moderators of these relationships. Analyses indicated being a bystander was associated with higher levels of anxiety (β = .40, p < .001) and depressive symptoms (β = .37, p < .001) even after controlling for frequency of being a target or perpetrator of bullying. Bystanders who were also targets of bullying reported the highest level of depressive symptoms; however, being a target of bullying did not moderate the relationship between being a bystander and anxiety. Furthermore, bullying perpetration did not moderate the relationship between being a bystander and anxiety or depressive symptoms. Findings indicate witnessing bullying uniquely contributes to anxiety and depressive symptoms for middle school students. For student bystanders who are also targets of bullying, depressive symptoms may be particularly high due to co-victimization or re-victimization experienced when witnessing bullying.
Background: Childhood peer victimization is a stressful life experience associated with long-lasting adverse psychological consequences. While there is some evidence that victimization is associated with alterations in brain function, little is known about effects on brain structure. This study explored the relationships between childhood peer victimization, cortisol, and adolescent ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) structure in a sample of healthy children.
Methods: A total of 50 (Mage = 9.29 years at baseline) children participated in this longitudinal study. We examined whether diurnal cortisol levels (assessed at baseline) moderated the link between children’s self-reported peer victimization (assessed at baseline) and vlPFC surface area, gray matter volume, and thickness 5 years later.
Results: For boys, cortisol levels moderated the association between victimization and brain structure. For boys with a low daily cortisol output (assessed as area under the curve; AUC), high victimization was associated with a smaller right vlPFC surface area, and for boys with a high AUC, high victimization was associated with a larger right vlPFC surface area. In addition, for boys with a steeper diurnal slope, high victimization was associated with a smaller right vlPFC surface area, and for boys with a low flatter diurnal slope, high victimization was associated with a larger right vlPFC surface area.
Conclusion: These results indicate the differential influence of cortisol on the relationship between victimization and brain structure. Findings suggest that victimization may have differential effects on brain development in boys who are more versus less biologically sensitive to stress.
The time has arrived for psychological science to translate the accumulating empirical research regarding sexual and gender minority (SGM) mental health into evidence-based affirmative treatments for this population. Far from the unscientific, homophobic theories of the early 20th century, several recent efforts in psychological science are starting to pave the way for evidence-based SGM-affirmative mental health treatments. These efforts include (a) identifying clear treatment targets for SGM, (b) conducting treatment studies that test the efficacy of therapy for SGM populations, (c) increased reporting of sexual orientation and gender diversity in existing randomized controlled trials conducted with the general population, and (d) reducing stigma itself, which has heretofore impeded the resources necessary to produce scientific evidence about SGM-affirmative treatments. This article reviews this progress and outlines future research directions needed to advance evidence-based practice for SGM, including determining whether and how existing evidence-based treatments need to be adapted to address SGM-specific concerns, why SGM-affirmative treatments work, and for whom and under what conditions SGM-affirmative treatments work best. A program of research is described that attempts to address these questions through randomized controlled trials with strong comparison conditions, psychotherapy process research of current SGM-affirmative practice, and tests of treatment moderators. To the extent that the mental health profession continues to pursue these solutions, it can ensure the continued flourishing of this population, whose visibility and vibrancy likely represent the surest route toward improving public acceptance and therefore its future mental health.
This research defines, through an extensive literature review, the roles played by the victim, bully, peer group, school, family and society in the dynamics of bullying. Finally, we conclude that the complexity and diversity of the actors should lead us to rethink the traditional definitions of school bullying, to stake out the focus of research projects and to reconstruct prevention and action policies.
Childhood bullying is a well-known public health problem worldwide. Research has described numerous health and mental health effects on victims, bullies, and bystanders. While there are studies of contemporaneous consequences, there is still much to be discovered in terms of the impact of childhood bullying lasting into adult life. This qualitative inquiry investigated the aftermath of childhood bullying for young adults in terms of their health, mental health, and relationship issues. Further, it asked participants for their definitions of bullying. The study was part of a mixed methods inquiry. For the qualitative portion, seventy-two graduate and undergraduate students in the U.S., ages eighteen to twenty-nine, participated as a purposive sample. The majority of participants were Caucasian and female, though twenty-eight percent represented minority groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted lasting approximately one hour each. A participatory action research approach was taken to understand the lived experiences and perceptions of the young adults. Grounded theory was utilized in reviewing the data for thematic responses. Member checks and triangulation were employed to substantiate credibility, authenticity, and coherence of the data. Content analysis revealed lasting 2 consequences in a) mental and psychological well-being b) eating disorders, weight, and body image, and c) relationship and trust issues. Results are indicative of the need for further research on childhood bullying as it affects later adolescent and young adult development. Understanding the aftermath of childhood bullying is important in informing bullying interventions and maintaining a focus on early prevention efforts.
Every school day millions of children board the bus from home and school oftentimes with 90 others including a bus driver. Perhaps not found in a bus drivers’ job description are the details to monitor and respond to all suspected bullying behaviors. Being bullied can have long-term negative consequences for both bullies and victims. The school bus has been identified as a potential hot spot for student bullying, wherein bus drivers may see, hear, and respond to several types of bullying on a daily basis that often require support from school officials. However, a bus driver’s ability to intercede effectively in cases of school bus bullying may be limited. This qualitative study used a nonprobability, purposeful sample to examine 18 urban African American school bus drivers’ and bus attendants’experiences in addressing school bus bullying within the context of their riders and school officials. Using focus groups, a definition of school bullying was read aloud to provide context to six questions from a semistructured interview guide that related bus drivers’ experiences in responding to acts of bullying. An interpretive phenomenology method was used throughout the data analysis process. Several key themes and practices emerged. Results suggest bus drivers’ reports were mostly passified and not taken seriously. Furthermore, these bus drivers’ experiences overwhelmingly reflected a lack of both being taken seriously and being included in decision making. This led to a key stakeholder: bus drivers, being left out of the process. From these drivers’ interviews, a model was developed to illustrate their lived experiences from behind the wheel to working with the school in responding to bullying.
The role of reactive and proactive aggression in school bullying perpetration remains unclear. In this study, we explore the predictive value of an expanded model of aggression motives based on the Quadripartite Violence Typology (QVT), which distinguishes between motivational valence (appetitive or aversive) and recruitment of deliberative self‐control to derive four classes of motives: Rage, Revenge, Reward, and Recreation. With a sample of 1,802 students from grades 7–9, we assessed aggression motives via self‐report, along with self‐report of bullying perpetration and victimization, which were used to assign students into categories of Pure Bully, Bully/Victim (B/V), Pure Victim, and Uninvolved. Two structural models were computed to examine the relationship between these four categories of bullying involvement and aggression motives, using conservative and liberal bullying cutoffs. As predicted, B/V status was more strongly related to Rage and Revenge motives. However, B/Vs had higher scores than Pure Bullies for almost all aggression motives, including Recreation. We discuss the implications of addressing Revenge and Recreation, as well as Reward and Rage (which map most clearly to proactive and reactive aggression, respectively) aggression motives, for bullying prevention and intervention strategies, especially among adolescents for whom extant bullying prevention strategies may be ineffective or counterproductive.
Although anti-bullying interventions are often effective, some children continue to be victimized. To increase knowledge of potential factors that might impede children’s benefiting from an anti-bullying intervention, we examined potential reasons for individual differences in victimization trajectories during a group-based anti-bullying intervention. Data stem from a five-wave survey among 9122 children (7–12 years old; grades 2–5) who participated in the KiVa anti-bullying intervention (n = 6142) or were in control schools (n = 2980 children). Three trajectories were found in the intervention sample, representing children who experienced stable high, decreasing, or stable low/no victimization. A two-trajectory model of high and low trajectories represented the control sample best. Multinomial regressions on the intervention sample showed that children who experienced particularly high levels of peer rejection, internalizing problems, and lower quality parent-child relationships decreased less in victimization; thus these characteristics appeared to contribute to persistent victimization. The results call for tailored strategies in interventions aiming to reduce victimization for more children.
The aim of this chapter is to explore the relevance of school climate in adolescents’ involvement in bullying and peer victimization. This chapter includes sections on the prevalence, types, and characteristics of bullying and peer victimization; components of the school climate including feeling safe, connectedness and engagement, and the physical environment; and bullying prevention programs and the school climate; this section examines the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, KiVa Anti‐Bullying Program, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, Creating a Peaceful School Learning Environment, and Second Step: Student Success Through Prevention (SS‐SSTP) Middle School Program. Promoting a safe school climate is a significant part of bullying prevention.
Objective
Reduced hippocampal volume and alterations in white matter tracts have been frequently reported in adults having the history of emotional maltreatment. We investigated whether these structural change occur in adolescents with previous verbal abuse (VA) experiences.
Methods
Hippocampal subfield volume and white matter structural connectivity measures were assessed in 31 first year male high school students with various degrees of exposure to parental and peer VA.
Results
The high VA group showed significant volume reduction in the left cornu ammonis (CA) 1 and left subiculum compared to the low VA group (p<0.05). Volumes of left hippocampal subfields CA1 and subiculum were negatively correlated with previous VA experiences (p<0.05). Increased mean diffusivity (MD) of the splenium of the corpus callosum was related to high VA score across all subjects (p<0.05). There was an inverse relationship between volume of the CA1 and subiculum and MD of the splenium (p<0.05).
Conclusion
Exposure to parental and peer VA may affect development of the left hippocampal subfields and the splenium of corpus callosum. These structural alterations can be discernible during adolescence.
Background:
We have known for some time that being bullied was associated with children's and adolescents' adjustment difficulties and well-being. In recent years, we have come to recognise that the impact of childhood bullying victimisation on the development of mental health problems is more complex. This paper aims to review the evidence for an independent contribution of childhood bullying victimisation to the development of poor outcomes throughout the life span, including mental, physical and socioeconomic outcomes, and discuss the implications for policy and practice.
Findings:
Existing research indicates that (a) being bullied in childhood is associated with distress and symptoms of mental health problems. This large body of evidence supports actions aimed at reducing the occurrence of bullying behaviours; (b) the consequences of childhood bullying victimisation can persist up to midlife and, in addition to mental health, can impact physical and socioeconomic outcomes. These new findings indicate that interventions should also focus on supporting victims of bullying and helping them build resilience; (c) research has identified some factors that predispose children to be targeted by bullying behaviours. These studies suggest that public health interventions could aim at preventing children from becoming the target of bullying behaviours from an early age.
Conclusions:
It is a truism to emphasise that further work is needed to understand why and how young people's aspirations are often cut short by this all too common adverse social experience. In parallel, we must develop effective strategies to tackle this form of abuse and its consequences for the victims. Addressing bullying in childhood could not only reduce children's and adolescents' mental health symptoms but also prevent psychiatric and socioeconomic difficulties up to adulthood and reduce considerable costs for society.
Bullying and school crime are important social problems that are receiving increased attention by scholars and policy makers. However, several critical questions remain unaddressed. First, does the public perceive bullying as a serious problem and judge schools—primary, secondary, and postsecondary—as safe or unsafe? Second, does the public use a “bullying lens” to judge school safety—that is, do citizens understand bullying as a serious threat to students’ well-being? Third, are there racial differences in these perceptions? Prior research identifies racial differences in the prevalence of bullying, as well as in students’ views of school safety and citizens’ fear of crime. Similar racial gaps may characterize public perceptions of bullying and school safety. This study begins to illuminate answers to these questions by analyzing data from a representative sample of Virginians. Multivariate regression analyses produce several notable findings. First, we find that members of the public believe bullying in schools is an increasingly serious problem, and their perceptions of bullying influence their judgments of whether schools and colleges/universities are safe. Second, Black members of the public are more likely than persons from other racial and ethnic backgrounds to perceive that bullying is increasing and is a serious problem in schools, and, in turn, to judge that schools and universities are less safe. Our results indicate that members of the public see bullying as a principal threat to student safety. They suggest there is a strong reservoir of public support for antibullying initiatives and, more broadly, efforts to increase student safety.
AIM
To identify health and psychosocial problems associated with bullying victimization and conduct a meta-analysis summarizing the causal evidence.
METHODS
A systematic review was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, ERIC and PsycINFO electronic databases up to 28 February 2015. The study included published longitudinal and cross-sectional articles that examined health and psychosocial consequences of bullying victimization. All meta-analyses were based on quality-effects models. Evidence for causality was assessed using Bradford Hill criteria and the grading system developed by the World Cancer Research Fund.
RESULTS
Out of 317 articles assessed for eligibility, 165 satisfied the predetermined inclusion criteria for meta-analysis. Statistically significant associations were observed between bullying victimization and a wide range of adverse health and psychosocial problems. The evidence was strongest for causal associations between bullying victimization and mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, poor general health and suicidal ideation and behaviours. Probable causal associations existed between bullying victimization and tobacco and illicit drug use.
CONCLUSION
Strong evidence exists for a causal relationship between bullying victimization, mental health problems and substance use. Evidence also exists for associations between bullying victimization and other adverse health and psychosocial problems, however, there is insufficient evidence to conclude causality. The strong evidence that bullying victimization is causative of mental illness highlights the need for schools to implement effective interventions to address bullying behaviours.
Objective:
Bullying threatens the mental and educational well-being of students. Although anti-bullying policies are prevalent, little is known about their effectiveness. This systematic review evaluates the methodological characteristics and summarizes substantive findings of studies examining the effectiveness of school bullying policies.
Method:
Searches of 11 bibliographic databases yielded 489 studies completed since January 1, 1995. Following duplicate removal and double-independent screening based on a priori inclusion criteria, 21 studies were included for review.
Results:
Substantially more educators perceive anti-bullying policies to be effective rather than ineffective. Whereas several studies show that the presence or quality of policies is associated with lower rates of bullying among students, other studies found no such associations between policy presence or quality and reductions in bullying. Consistent across studies, this review found that schools with anti-bullying policies that enumerated protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity were associated with better protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students. Specifically, LGBTQ students in schools with such policies reported less harassment and more frequent and effective intervention by school personnel. Findings are mixed regarding the relationship between having an anti-bullying policy and educators' responsiveness to general bullying.
Conclusions:
Anti-bullying policies might be effective at reducing bullying if their content is based on evidence and sound theory and if they are implemented with a high level of fidelity. More research is needed to improve on limitations among extant studies.
Youth who experience peer victimization are at risk of developing mental health problems. However, little is known about the emotional causal mechanisms linking peer victimization with these negative outcomes. This study investigated whether shame mediated this relationship. At three time points (T1-T3), 396 10- to 13-year-olds completed measures of peer victimization, shame (characterological, bodily, and behavioral; shame proneness), and mental health (depression, social anxiety, and externalizing behavior). Three multiple mediation models tested the indirect effects of T1 victimization on T3 mental health through the four T2 shame-related variables. Analyses revealed indirect effects for the shame-related mediators on depression, social anxiety, and externalizing behaviors. Specifically, indirect positive effects for characterological and bodily shame on depression and social anxiety were found, with greater bodily shame linked to higher levels of social anxiety in girls but not boys. In addition, an indirect negative effect for behavioral shame on externalizing problems was found, with higher levels of externalizing problems in victimized boys but not in girls. Finally, an indirect positive effect for shame proneness and externalizing problems was found. To clarify the directionality, three additional mediation models were run with mental health symptoms as predictors of shame and subsequent victimization. Indirect effects for the shame-related mediators were found for all outcomes, specifically bodily shame and shame proneness as mediators between internalizing and externalizing symptoms and victimization. These three models were compared and contrasted with the hypothesized models. In sum, findings support the role of shame as an underlying emotional mechanism of peer victimization, and may guide intervention programs to address the mental health concerns of victimized youth.
We analyzed developmental changes in outsider behavior, testing whether the likelihood that it turns into bullying or defending over time depends on the individual proneness to feel shame or guilt. Participants were 155 preadolescents (72 boys and 83 girls; mean age at T1 = 10.74 years). Bullying, defending, and outsider behaviors were assessed twice by peer nominations.
Shame- and guilt-proneness were assessed at T1 by a self-report questionnaire. All behaviors appeared quite stable; however, regression analyses revealed that shame and guilt were associated with outsider developmental pathway. In particular, students steadily presented outsider behavior after a 9-month
period if they showed low guilt or high shame at T1. Results are discussed in terms of future directions for research and interventions.
Gay–Straight Alliances (GSAs) may promote wellbeing for sexual minority youth (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning youth) and heterosexual youth. We considered this potential benefit of GSAs in the current study by examining whether three GSA functions—support/socializing, information/resource provision, and advocacy—contributed to sense of agency among GSA members while controlling for two major covariates, family support and the broader school LGBT climate. The sample included 295 youth in 33 Massachusetts GSAs (69 % LGBQ, 68 % cisgender female, 68 % white; Mage = 16.06 years). Based on multilevel models, as hypothesized, youth who received more support/socializing, information/resources, and did more advocacy in their GSA reported greater agency. Support/socializing and advocacy distinctly contributed to agency even while accounting for the contribution of family support and positive LGBT school climate. Further, advocacy was associated with agency for sexual minority youth but not heterosexual youth. Greater organizational structure enhanced the association between support/socializing and agency; it also enhanced the association between advocacy and agency for sexual minority youth. These findings begin to provide empirical support for specific functions of GSAs that could promote wellbeing and suggest conditions under which their effects may be enhanced.
Objective:
Depression disparities between heterosexual youth and lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and other non-heterosexual (LGBQ+) youth are robust and linked to discrimination in schools. Advocacy by school-based Gender-Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) to raise awareness of LGBQ+ issues and to counteract discrimination may reduce these disparities within schools, yet has not been investigated schoolwide. We considered whether GSA advocacy over the school year moderated sexual orientation differences in depressive symptoms at the school year's end for students in the general school population (i.e., students who were not members of the GSA).
Method:
Participants were 1,362 students (Mage = 15.68; 89% heterosexual; 52.6% female; 72.2% White) in 23 Massachusetts secondary schools with GSAs. Participants reported depressive symptoms at the beginning and end of the school year. Separately, GSA members and advisors reported their GSA's advocacy activities during the school year and other GSA characteristics.
Results:
LGBQ+ youth reported higher depressive symptoms than heterosexual youth at the school year's beginning. However, after adjusting for initial depressive symptoms and multiple covariates, sexual orientation was a weaker predictor of depressive symptoms at the school year's end for youth in schools whose GSAs engaged in more advocacy. Depression disparities were significant in schools whose GSAs reported lower advocacy, but were statistically non-significant in schools whose GSAs reported higher advocacy.
Conclusion:
Advocacy could be a means by which GSAs achieve school-wide impacts, benefiting LGBQ+ youth who are not GSA members. GSAs may therefore be a key resource for addressing the mental health needs of LGBQ+ youth.
Adolescent violence, including sexual violence, homophobic name-calling, and teen dating violence, are public health problems that cause harm to many adolescents in the United States. Although research on the perpetration of these forms of adolescent violence has increased in recent years, little is known about perpetration rates across gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. To address this gap, the current study descriptively examined perpetration rates between and across different identities, including self-identified race/ethnicity, sexual identity, and gender identity. In Fall 2017, 9th – 11th grade students (N = 4782) at 20 high schools in Colorado (United States) completed a survey that assessed demographics (e.g., race/ethnicity, sexual identity, and gender identity) and various forms of violence perpetration. Compared to female adolescents, male adolescents reported significantly higher perpetration rates for: any sexual violence (27% vs. 17%); sexual harassment (26% vs. 15%); unwanted sexual contact (8% vs. 4%); and homophobic name-calling (61% vs. 38%). Differences in perpetration rates were also observed among various racial/ethnic, sexual, and gender minority students compared to non-minority students. This emphasizes a need for more research on how minority stress that results from the dynamics of intersecting identities and societal systems of power–including racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia–contributes to violence perpetration. Evidence-based violence prevention approaches, particularly strategies targeted at changing social norms about violence, gender, and sexuality, need to be tailored and evaluated for students with diverse cultural and social identities to ensure safe school climates for all students.
Bullying among children and adolescents is a significant and serious social phenomenon that has continued to be a problem despite the implementation of current intervention programs. The words bullying and cyberbullying have been controversial terms with researchers and the general public holding different views of what they mean. The problem is that these differences could potentially lead to inconsistent responding approaches and impact the effectiveness of prevention and intervention measures. Previous research has found that parents and teachers may have a different understanding of the key concepts of bullying and cyberbullying than researchers and have difficulty in applying these definitions to complex real-life scenarios. However, there are an extremely limited number of studies that have investigated students’ understanding of bullying applied to real-life scenarios and even scarcer studies examining young people’s understanding of cyberbullying applied to complex scenarios. The current study thus used a scenario-based questionnaire which was constructed using the Delphi method (that is, a consensus of experts) to examine children and adolescents’ ability to accurately identify bullying and cyberbullying situations from non-bullying situations and their perceived seriousness of these situations. The impact of age and gender on identification and the level of serious of bullying scenarios was also examined. Results indicated that children and adolescents have a limited ability to apply a given standard researchers’ bullying and cyberbullying definition to real life scenarios. Findings also demonstrated that young people’s abilities differed significantly depending on their age, but not on their gender. Girls perceived both traditional and cyberbullying scenarios as more serious than boys, and the perceived level of seriousness also differed significantly based on their age.
Background:
Children and adolescents impacted by childhood trauma often demonstrate executive function difficulties, which negatively affect self-regulation and potentiate the risk for trauma-related psychopathology and functional impairment. Evidence-based treatments for traumatized youth such as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) aim to equip youth directly with skills for effective self-regulation and may thus also improve executive function. Moreover, adolescence is a sensitive period for executive function development, and interventions aimed at improving executive function may confer greater benefits for adolescents relative to school-aged children. No study has examined executive function improvements during TF-CBT or the potential differences in these outcomes between children and adolescents.
Objective:
In the current study, we examined changes in caregiver-reported executive function difficulties during TF-CBT among children ages 6 to 11 and adolescents ages 12 to 17.
Participants and setting:
Participants were 278 racially and ethnically diverse youth with interpersonal trauma histories and their caregivers enrolled in a community-based effectiveness trial of TF-CBT in an urban setting. Caregivers reported on youth executive function at pre, mid, and posttreatment assessments.
Results:
Both children and adolescents demonstrated reductions in global executive function difficulties during TF-CBT. Improvements were seen across domains of emotional, behavioral, and attentional control and problem solving, with larger effect sizes for adolescents. Follow-up analyses indicated that executive function improvements were positively associated with PTSD symptom reduction in adolescents, but not in children.
Conclusions:
Findings add to the growing evidence of the effectiveness of TF-CBT among youth and highlight caregiver-reported executive function as a potential treatment target during TF-CBT.
Bullying behavior is understood as a complex social phenomenon that includes many, and sometimes overlapping, bullying participant behaviors. The current study utilized latent profile analysis (LPA) at two time points approximately one year apart and examined what bullying participant behavior groups emerged based on students' reported levels of bullying, assisting, victimization, defending, and outsider behavior. Additionally, longitudinal latent profile analyses (LLPA) were utilized to examine potential changes in groups over time. Results suggested four groups found at two timepoints: (a) Uninvolved-Occasional Defending, with defending at a monthly rate and infrequent engagement in other behaviors; (b) Frequent Defending-Occasional Victimization, with monthly victimization and weekly defending behaviors; (c) Frequent Victimization-Occasional Broad Involvement, with weekly levels of victimization and monthly bullying, defending, and outsider behaviors; and (d) Frequent Broad Involvement, with weekly engagement in all of the bully participant behaviors (i.e., bullying, assisting, victimization, defending, and outsider behavior). The largest proportion of students (more than half) were in the Uninvolved-Occasional Defending group, which was also the most stable group over time. The smallest group (7%) was Frequent Broad Involvement, which was the least stable group over time, with students in this group typically moving to groups with at least occasional broad involvement of bullying participant behaviors. More male students than female students were in both broad involvement groups (i.e., Frequent Victimization-Occasional Broad Involvement; Frequent Broad Involvement) and more female students than male students, as well as more elementary students than secondary students, were in the Frequent Defending-Occasional Victimization group. The current study suggests that researchers should use caution when categorizing or conceptualizing simple bullying participant roles such as bully or victim, or even “bully-victim,” especially if the other bullying participant behaviors are not assessed. Practitioners should develop interventions that capitalize on the high proportions of students engaging in some level of defending and account for the complex social ecology that suggests that students are engaging in complex overlapping patterns of bullying participant behaviors.
Previous research has shown that many school-based anti-bullying programs are effective. A prior meta-analysis (Gaffney, Ttofi, & Farrington, 2019) found that intervention programs are effective in reducing school-bullying perpetration by approximately 19–20% and school-bullying victimization by approximately 15–16%. Using data from this prior meta-analysis, the aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between effectiveness estimates and specific elements of anti-bullying programs. Specific intervention components in line with a socio-ecological framework were coded as present or absent. Components were coded on the following levels: school, classroom, teacher, parent, peer, individual, and intervention. Meta-analytical subgroup comparisons analogous to ANOVA were computed to examine the relationship between the presence of specific components and the effectiveness in reducing bullying perpetration (n = 82) and victimization (n = 86). Results indicated that the presence of a number of intervention components (e.g., whole-school approach, anti-bullying policies, classroom rules, information for parents, informal peer involvement, and work with victims) were significantly associated with larger effect sizes for school-bullying perpetration outcomes. The presence of informal peer involvement and information for parents were associated with larger effect sizes for school-bullying victimization outcomes. Meta-regression analyses showed no significant relationship between effectiveness and the number of intervention components included in a program. The present report contributes to the understanding of 'what works' in reducing school-bullying perpetration and victimization. The impact of these findings on future anti-bullying research is discussed.
Adolescence is a developmental period in which disordered eating and negative body image are highly prevalent, yet their risk factors are insufficiently understood and targeted. Despite research implicating both teasing and bullying victimization in the development of eating disorders, these strands of research are yet to be integrated. This systematic review hence aimed to identify whether teasing and bullying victimization are associated with greater risk of eating disorders and body image disturbance for adolescents. Systematic searches of PsycINFO and PubMed databases identified 79 papers that included quantitative analyses of the relationship between weight-related or nonspecific teasing or bullying victimization and disordered eating or body image disturbance. Overall, studies indicated that adolescents who are teased or bullied are more likely to experience disordered eating and negative body image compared to nonvictimized adolescents. This was more consistently observed in cross-sectional studies than in longitudinal findings. We identify several methodological limitations of the literature, including the infrequent consideration of potential mediating and moderating variables. Finally, we outline future directions such as temporal sequencing of the complex interrelationships among teasing and bullying, disordered eating, and body image disturbance in adolescents.
Previous research indicates that victimized youth are reluctant to address their friends’ victimizing behaviors and are likely to remain in a victimizing friendship despite experiencing significant distress. Research investigating the complex factors underlying this commitment to victimizing friendships is required. To this end, a qualitative research design was used as previously victimized youth asynchronously contributed to an anonymous online discussion forum for 2 months. Guided by two theories used to understand staying/leaving processes in intimate partner violence and a social-ecological systems perspective, the data were captured into descriptive categories. The results demonstrate that adolescents ( N = 25) were reluctant to address their friends’ victimizing behaviors and many persisted in their victimizing friendships. The factors underlying this reluctance were categorized as cognitive, relational, and contextual. The results indicate that persisting in a friendship despite feeling victimized can seem paradoxical to outsiders but there are clear reasons underlying adolescents’ choices.
Background:
While prior research has demonstrated that peer victimization and bully perpetration contribute to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), it remains unclear whether these interpersonal processes differentiate self-injuring adolescent suicide ideators and attempters.
Methods:
The study included adolescents aged 13-18 years (n = 223; M = 15.31, SD = 1.34) recruited from an acute inpatient program. Participants were divided into two groups: (1) NSSISI (n = 106): endorsed past year NSSI, current suicide ideation, and no lifetime suicide attempts and (2) NSSISI+SA (n = 117): endorsed past year NSSI, current suicide ideation, and lifetime suicide attempts. Adolescents completed clinical interviews (i.e., mental disorders, NSSI, and STBs) and self-report measures assessing peer victimization, bully perpetration, and depression severity.
Results:
NSSISI+SA youth reported higher levels of peer victimization and bully perpetration than NSSISI youth (ps < 0.01, ds = 0.36-0.37). Among the NSSISI+SA youth, bully perpetration was associated with a greater number of past month suicide attempts (p = 0.02, RR = 1.07). Only peer victimization was associated with greater NSSI behaviors in the past month (p = 0.04, RR = 1.01).
Limitations:
The study is cross-sectional, and reports of peer victimization and bully perpetration rely on self-report assessment.
Conclusions:
Peer victimization and bully perpetration differentiated adolescent suicide ideators and attempters, highlighting the need to address bully perpetration in addition to peer victimization in suicide interventions and research.
Bullying has serious consequences for students, parents, teachers, and the wider community. This study assessed teachers’ and parents’ ability to accurately identify traditional bullying and cyberbullying scenarios. Perceived seriousness of scenarios was explored and gender differences were examined. Analyses revealed teachers were more accurate in identifying traditional bullying scenarios than parents, with no differences found for cyberbullying scenarios or perceptions of severity. Males were more accurate in identifying noncyberbullying scenarios. Females perceived the majority of traditional and cyberbullying scenarios as more serious. Results suggest understanding teachers’ and parents’ knowledge of traditional and cyberbullying is crucial to bullying research and intervention efforts, as their recognition of bullying and perceived severity impacts the likelihood they would intervene. Implications for the prevention and intervention of bullying are discussed.
Each year, an estimated 30% of school children experience bullying by their classmates. While research has explored the prevalence of bullying, the causes of bullying, and the consequences of bullying, less attention has been focused on understanding how students define bullying experiences. Utilizing a school-based sample of students ranging from fifth to eighth grade, we examine the concordance between the experience of situations defined as “bullying” to the opinions of students as to whether they felt “bullied.” On average, one third of students report a mismatch between their victimization experiences and their perceptions of being bullied. Logistic regression analyses suggest that the characteristics of students who do not label victimization experiences as bullying differ based on the bullying behavior specified. We examine the students most likely to label bullying and victimization differently and suggest how these findings can be incorporated by school administrators and researchers to better understand how students experience bullying.
A comprehensive and extensive systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of bullying prevention programs is presented. This report updates earlier research conducted by Farrington and Ttofi (2009). Systematic searches of online databases (i.e., Web of Science, PsychARTICLES, PsychINFO, EMBASE, DARE, ERIC, Google scholar, and Scopus) were conducted for primary studies published from 2009 to December 2016. Searches were also conducted for unpublished reports. To be included in the systematic review, primary studies must: (1) describe an evaluation of a school-based anti-bullying program; (2) utilize an appropriate operational definition of school-bullying (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014; Farrington, 1993; Olweus, 1992); (3) measure school-bullying perpetration and/or victimization behaviors using quantitative measures; and (4) use an experimental or quasi-experimental design with adequate control group. Following systematic screening of over 20,000 search results, a total of 100 evaluations (with 103 independent effect sizes) were eligible for inclusion in our meta-analysis. Most of the effect sizes are estimated from studies that used RCT designs (n = 45) or quasi-experiments (n = 44 effect sizes), with only 14 effect sizes from age cohort designs. Anti-bullying programs significantly reduce bullying perpetration (random effects OR = 1.309) and bullying victimization (random effects OR = 1.244). These results suggest that anti-bullying programs reduce school-bullying perpetration by approximately 19–20% ad school-bullying victimization by approximately 15–16%. Effect sizes vary greatly across studies, with a significant heterogeneity between studies for both bullying perpetration bullying victimization outcomes. This is anticipated given the variability in a range of moderators, for example, methodological designs, type of program used, or place of implementation. Analyses suggest no publication bias for either meta-analysis. Variability in effect sizes across different methodological designs is investigated. Primary studies employing age cohort designs (n = 14) provide the largest effects in reducing both bullying perpetration (OR = 1.474) and victimization (OR = 1.302). In relation to bullying victimization outcomes, before-after/experimental-control designs provide similar effects (OR = 1.225) to randomized controlled trials (OR = 1.21). Randomized controlled trials (OR = 1.244) are more effective in reducing bullying perpetration than before-after/experimental-control designs (OR = 1.187). In future, we aim to further explain differences across programs by correlating individual effect sizes with varying program components and varying methodological elements available across these 100 evaluations.
Middle-school-age children are faced with a variety of developmental tasks, including the
beginning phases of individuation from the family, building peer groups, social and emotional
transitions, and cognitive shifts associated with the maturation process. This article
summarizes how traumatic events impair and complicate these developmental tasks, which
can lead to disruptive behaviors in the school setting. Following the call by Walkley and
Cox for more attention to be given to trauma-informed schools, this article provides
detailed information about the Animating Learning by Integrating and Validating Experience
program: a school-based, trauma-informed intervention for middle school students.
This public health model uses psychoeducation, cognitive differentiation, and brief stress
reduction counseling sessions to facilitate socioemotional development and academic progress.
Case examples from the authors’ clinical work in the New Haven, Connecticut, urban
public school system are provided.
Introduction
Multi-systemic family therapy is a type of psychotherapy that base on the assumption that all kinds of difficulties in individuals are at least partly explained by dysfunctions in the family system and other systems to which the individual belongs.
Objectives
This study examined associations between bullying behavior and family ethos, and provides data for changes after treatment with Multi-systemic family therapy-Integrative model, as a culturally sensitive approach.
Methods
Thirty-six adolescents with bullying behavior and their families were evaluated. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups: Family therapy group (FT-G) and Control group (CG). The FT-G was treated with integrative model for 6 months; the focus of FT sessions was on proximity-control goals and plans, bugs in the plans, emotive, and types of relations between family members programs. The CG was treated with the same frequency as the FT-G, but with interventions consisting of a detailed survey of their mental health, adolescents’ feelings, daily routines and life events. Every month, data were collected through interviews, questionnaires, observation facilitating techniques and observations of a family play therapy.
Results
In the study participated 36 outpatient adolescents ages 14–16. Seventeen adolescents were male and 19 female ( Fig. 1 ).
Conclusions
At baseline, 70 percent of participants met criteria for more than one of the following disorders, by ICD-10: conduct disorder, substance use, bulimia, borderline personality disorder, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Six months after the baseline measurement, there was a significant decrease in bullying behavior, substance use, smoking, excessive social media use, and anger control for the FT-G compared with the CG.
Adolescents are subjected to bullying and harassment on a regular basis in their workplace, the school. This book takes a systems theory and grounded theory perspective in exploring this phenomenon. Vignettes are presented based on the lived experiences of adolescents. Suggestions for systemic change are presented.
While there is a great deal of research on the impact of bullying on children, much less is know about enduring effects that last into adulthood. Bullying Scars is based on interviews with hundreds of adults who experienced bullying as children or adolescents. They report varying consequences to their health and mental health and in their important relationships. Filled with poignant vignettes, the book gives a clear voice to the struggles adults are left with and demonstrates that childhood bullying can be traumatic. Scars can be seen in friendships and in intimate relationships. Interestingly, some participants for the study describe what they feel are positive outcomes as a result of the maltreatment they experienced at the hands of peers, parents, or teachers.
Today's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth come out at younger ages, and public support for LGBT issues has dramatically increased, so why do LGBT youth continue to be at high risk for compromised mental health? We provide an overview of the contemporary context for LGBT youth, followed by a review of current science on LGBT youth mental health. Research in the past decade has identified risk and protective factors for mental health, which point to promising directions for prevention, intervention, and treatment. Legal and policy successes have set the stage for advances in programs and practices that may foster LGBT youth mental health. Implications for clinical care are discussed, and important areas for new research and practice are identified. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology Volume 12 is March 28, 2016. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/catalog/pubdates.aspx for revised estimates.