Bystander behaviour in response to traditional/cyber bullying scenarios: a consideration of victimisation/perpetration, empathy and severity

The current study aimed to investigate bystander behaviour across traditional and cyber bullying scenarios that changed in severity: mild, moderate and severe. Participant’s victimisation/perpetration and emotional/cognitive traits were also measured and considered in respect to bystander behaviour. A total of 868 adolescent pupils’ (males: N = 458, females: N = 410) completed a self-report questionnaire comprising of three hypothetical traditional and cyber bullying scenarios respectively that increased in severity. Victimisation/perpetration and emotional/cognitive trait items were also included within the questionnaire. The findings showed that positive bystander behaviour was higher in cyber compared to traditional bullying, with females showing higher positive bystander behaviours in both traditional and cyber bullying scenarios. No relationship of age was found. A positive relationship was found between victimisation and perpetration experience in both types of bullying, although victimisation experience was not associated with positive bystander behaviour. With the exception of traditional perpetration, cyber perpetration was associated with negative bystander behaviour where males had higher perpetration scores compared to females in both types of bullying. No gender differences on victimisation were found. Findings to support previous literature on empathy were found. It was found that severity did have an effect on bystander behaviour with more severe scenarios leading to positive bystander behaviour in both types of bullying, although no difference between severe traditional or cyber were found. The practical application of these findings encourages educators and intervention developers to utilise adolescent’s bystander knowledge to reduce bullying acts in the school environment. Future research should examine the effect of bystander awareness training on adolescent’s positive bystander behaviour across two time periods

Disruptive Behavior Disorders

Disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) refer to a group of conditions that typically share difficulties in modulating aggressive conducts, self-control, and impulses, with resulting behaviors that constitute a threat to others’ safety and to social norms. Problematic issues with self-control associated with these disorders are commonly first observed in childhood, but may often persist into adolescence and adulthood, or pose a developmental risk for subsequent negative outcomes. The clinical management of DBD in childhood and adolescence has seen great advances in recent years, and research has also focused on identifying early signs, predictors, and risk factors, which may help clinicians to disentangle and subtype the heterogeneous manifestations of BDB. This has allowed significant progress to be made in defining specific developmental trajectories, targeted prevention programs, and timely treatment strategies. The principal aims of this Special Issue were thus to address three core features of DBD clinical management, the multidimensional assessment of callous–unemotional traits, empathic faults and emotional dysregulation, and the available treatment options. In this Special Issue, twelve relevant contributions, including ten original articles, one systematic review, and one study protocol, which provide novel insights for the assessment and treatment of DBD in clinical practice, have been collected by the editors

We learned we can do something to reduce bullying: Children designing anti-bullying mobile apps to empower their peers

Mobile applications have thoroughly pervaded the lives of today's children, who live and learn through and with them. However, limited research has been conducted on children designing such apps and not only using those designed by adults. Inviting children to design such apps is the focus of our study. Moreover, in contemporary society, it is emphasized that children should be empowered to take civic action and engage in making the world a better place. In the literature, however, less emphasis has been placed on how children can be invited to do so through the means of digital technology, particularly mobile application design. In this study, 13–15-year-old children are invited to take civic action to address the serious societal problem of bullying through the design of mobile apps. We discussed the design process and analyzed the applications the children designed from the viewpoint of how they aim to tackle bullying. We examined how their app designs aim at empowering other children in the context of bullying, and thus considered what kinds of opportunities emerge for children to learn skills related to the prevention or management of bullying in the apps they have designed. We showed that the children's app designs informed us of the seriousness of bullying in children's lives and that they advocate for the empowerment of other children in different ways. Hence, we have increased our understanding of how smart, interactive technologies designed by children address the learning and empowerment of other children, i.e., application users. We also studied the children's learning from both their and their teachers' perspectives. This study showcases an alternative way educators can integrate digital technologies and apps in school settings to educate children on important societal matters and digital technology

International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022

This conference proceedings gathers work and research presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022 (IASSC2022) held on July 3, 2022, in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. The conference was jointly organized by the Faculty of Information Management of Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch, Malaysia; University of Malaya, Malaysia; Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta, Indonesia; Universitas Ngudi Waluyo, Indonesia; Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, Philippines; and UCSI University, Malaysia. Featuring experienced keynote speakers from Malaysia, Australia, and England, this proceeding provides an opportunity for researchers, postgraduate students, and industry practitioners to gain knowledge and understanding of advanced topics concerning digital transformations in the perspective of the social sciences and information systems, focusing on issues, challenges, impacts, and theoretical foundations. This conference proceedings will assist in shaping the future of the academy and industry by compiling state-of-the-art works and future trends in the digital transformation of the social sciences and the field of information systems. It is also considered an interactive platform that enables academicians, practitioners and students from various institutions and industries to collaborate

COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Acceptance in Ethnic Minority Individuals in the United Kingdom: a mixed-methods study using Protection Motivation Theory

Background: Uptake of the COVID-19 booster vaccine among ethnic minority individuals has been lower than in the general population. However, there is little research examining the psychosocial factors that contribute to COVID-19 booster vaccine hesitancy in this population.Aim: Our study aimed to determine which factors predicted COVID-19 vaccination intention in minority ethnic individuals in Middlesbrough, using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, in addition to demographic variables.Method: We used a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected using an online survey. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews. 64 minority ethnic individuals (33 females, 31 males; mage = 31.06, SD = 8.36) completed the survey assessing PMT constructs, COVID-19conspiracy beliefs and demographic factors. 42.2% had received the booster vaccine, 57.6% had not. 16 survey respondents were interviewed online to gain further insight into factors affecting booster vaccineacceptance.Results: Multiple regression analysis showed that perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 was a significant predictor of booster vaccination intention, with higher perceived susceptibility being associated with higher intention to get the booster. Additionally, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs significantly predictedintention to get the booster vaccine, with higher conspiracy beliefs being associated with lower intention to get the booster dose. Thematic analysis of the interview data showed that barriers to COVID-19 booster vaccination included time constraints and a perceived lack of practical support in the event ofexperiencing side effects. Furthermore, there was a lack of confidence in the vaccine, with individuals seeing it as lacking sufficient research. Participants also spoke of medical mistrust due to historical events involving medical experimentation on minority ethnic individuals.Conclusion: PMT and conspiracy beliefs predict COVID-19 booster vaccination in minority ethnic individuals. To help increase vaccine uptake, community leaders need to be involved in addressing people’s concerns, misassumptions, and lack of confidence in COVID-19 vaccination

2018 Abstract Booklet

Complete Schedule of Events for the 20th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Examining the Relationships Between Distance Education Students’ Self-Efficacy and Their Achievement

This study aimed to examine the relationships between students’ self-efficacy (SSE) and students’ achievement (SA) in distance education. The instruments were administered to 100 undergraduate students in a distance university who work as migrant workers in Taiwan to gather data, while their SA scores were obtained from the university. The semi-structured interviews for 8 participants consisted of questions that showed the specific conditions of SSE and SA. The findings of this study were reported as follows: There was a significantly positive correlation between targeted SSE (overall scales and general self-efficacy) and SA. Targeted students' self-efficacy effectively predicted their achievement; besides, general self- efficacy had the most significant influence. In the qualitative findings, four themes were extracted for those students with lower self-efficacy but higher achievement—physical and emotional condition, teaching and learning strategy, positive social interaction, and intrinsic motivation. Moreover, three themes were extracted for those students with moderate or higher self-efficacy but lower achievement—more time for leisure (not hard-working), less social interaction, and external excuses. Providing effective learning environments, social interactions, and teaching and learning strategies are suggested in distance education

Cyberbullying in educational context

Kustenmacher and Seiwert (2004) explain a man’s inclination to resort to technology in his interaction with the environment and society. Thus, the solution to the negative consequences of Cyberbullying in a technologically dominated society is represented by technology as part of the technological paradox (Tugui, 2009), in which man has a dual role, both slave and master, in the interaction with it. In this respect, it is noted that, notably after 2010, there have been many attempts to involve artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize, identify, limit or avoid the manifestation of aggressive behaviours of the CBB type. For an overview of the use of artificial intelligence in solving various problems related to CBB, we extracted works from the Scopus database that respond to the criterion of the existence of the words “cyberbullying” and “artificial intelligence” in the Title, Keywords and Abstract. These articles were the subject of the content analysis of the title and, subsequently, only those that are identified as a solution in the process of recognizing, identifying, limiting or avoiding the manifestation of CBB were kept in the following Table where we have these data synthesized and organized by years