Adolescent Victim Types Across the Popularity Status Hierarchy: Differences in Internalizing Symptoms

Previous studies have called attention to the fact that popular youth are not immune to peer victimization, suggesting there is heterogeneity in the popularity of victims. Yet, no study to date has determined whether victims with different levels of popularity status can be identified using person-oriented analysis. Such analysis is critically needed to confirm the existence of popular victims. Further, there remains a paucity of research on internalizing indices of such popular victims, especially compared to other victim and non-victim groups. To address this gap in the research literature, the current study used latent profile analysis to identify subgroups of victims based on victimization (self- and peer-report) and popularity (peer-report). This study sought to verify the existence of popular victims and to compare victim subgroups on loneliness and self-esteem. Participants were 804 Dutch adolescents (50.2% boys, Mage = 13.65 years, ranging from 11.29 to 16.75 years). The results revealed six subgroups, including a group of popular self-identified victims. Popular self-identified victims were generally less lonely than other victims, but had higher loneliness and lower self-esteem than non-victims. Implications are discussed for understanding the victimization experiences of high-status youth

The Longitudinal Interplay Between Attention Bias and Interpretation Bias in Social Anxiety in Adolescents

Background: Cognitive biases are found to play a role in the onset and maintenance of social anxiety. However, particularly in adolescence, the link between different biases and their role in predicting social anxiety is far from clear. This study therefore investigated the interplay between attention bias and interpretation bias in relation to social anxiety in adolescence across three years. Methods: 816 adolescents in grade 7 to 9 participated at three yearly waves (52.8% boys, Mage grade7 = 12.60). Social anxiety was measured with a self-report questionnaire. Attention bias was measured with a visual search task with emotional faces. Textual vignettes assessed interpretation bias. Results: Cross-lagged models showed that negative interpretation bias at grade 7 predicted an increase in social anxiety at grade 8. This effect was not found from grade 8 to 9. Attention bias did not predict social anxiety. Attention bias and interpretation bias were not longitudinally related to each other, nor did they interact with each other in predicting social anxiety. Conclusions: Thus, no evidence was found for the Combined Cognitive Bias Hypothesis in social anxiety in adolescents. Instead, our results suggest that interpretation bias rather than attention bias contributes to the increase of social anxiety over time

Structural brain correlates of childhood inhibited temperament: an ENIGMA-Anxiety Mega-analysis

NWORubicon 019.201SG.022Pathways through Adolescenc

Teacher Behavior With Upper Elementary School Students in the Social Margins of Their Classroom Peer Group

Students in the social margins of their classroom peer group, in the current study operationalized as students who are often by themselves, do not belong to a group of friends, and are unpopular, are hampered in their social development. In line with social referencing, which states that teachers can affect peer perceptions through their interactions with students, we hypothesized that teachers may contribute to the social participation and integration of these students, by modeling frequent and positive interaction with them. We therefore explored teacher behavior with socially marginalized students, and how these interactions were related to changes in the severity of their social marginality over time. Multilevel analyses were performed with a sample of Dutch 824 fifth-grade students (Mage = 10.63) and their 32 teachers. Teachers had less frequent interactions with students in the social margins of the group, particularly when these students were unpopular. Nonetheless, we found some evidence for a social referencing mechanism: latent growth modeling showed that when teachers acted less negatively toward socially marginalized as well as rejected students, they became more socially integrated in their peer-group over time

Testing how teachers’ self-efficacy and student-teacher relationships moderate the association between bullying, victimization, and student self-esteem

This study investigated how teachers’ self-efficacy for intervening in social dynamics and teacher-student relationships directly impact students’ self-esteem, and indirectly buffer the negative association between both bullying and victimization and students’ self-esteem. Teachers play a key role in shaping the peer relations in the classroom, and they might also be able to lessen the negative impact of bullying and victimization on students’ self-esteem. Multilevel regression analysis on a sample of 59 Dutch teachers and 1,490 of their 5th grade students indicated that student-reported bullying and victimization were negatively related to students’ self-reported self-esteem. Better student-perceived student-teacher relationships were related to higher self-esteem for all students, with additional increases in self-esteem for victims but decreases in the self-esteem of bullies. Teacher-reported self-efficacy was only related to lower self-esteem in bullies. Implications of these results and suggestions for further research are discussed

Personality and problem behaviours as predictors of adolescents’ social status: academic track and gender as moderators

This study examined adolescent personality and problem behaviours as predictors of two types of social status: social preference and popularity. Academic track (college preparatory and vocational) and gender were expected to moderate these associations. The sample included 693 students (49.0% female; M = 15.46 years) attending classrooms in two academic tracks (vocational and college preparatory). Participants completed self-report measures of personality and problem behaviours and peer-reports of preference and popularity. Results of structural path analyses indicated that academic track and gender moderated several associations. Specifically, externalising problems were associated with more popularity for males and less preference for females in college preparatory classrooms. Internalising problems were associated with popularity and preference for adolescents in vocational classrooms. The findings illustrate the complexities associated with predicting the social status of male and female adolescents attending different academic tracks. The salience of status norms and implications for intervention programmes are discussed

Neural patterns of threat response in adolescents predict vulnerability for and resilience against internalizing symptoms during COVID-19 waves

Defensive stress reactions, such as freezing and active fight-or-flight, are relevant for coping with threat. Action-preparatory activity supporting these reactions, including the amygdala, has been posited as a potential marker for stress-resilience. We considered the successive COVID-19 lockdowns as two pervasive stressors, to prospectively investigate the predictive value of neural threat-responses towards symptom development. Five years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 17-year-old adolescents (n = 64, Baseline-17) performed the fMRI-adapted Go/Nogo Under Threat (GUNT) task, where threat-anticipatory freezing reactions and transition to action are evoked to avoid a shock. A majority (n = 44) made themselves available for follow-up assessments before COVID (Baseline-20, age 20), during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the Netherlands (LD1, age 22.5), and during a second lockdown (LD2, age 23). The GUNT task quantified neural (thalamic, subcortical, amygdala) and physiological (bradycardia) markers of threat-anticipatory freezing and transition to action (mediated by anterior cingulate cortex). Threat-anticipatory amygdala responses (Baseline-17) were linked to stressor resilience, as quantified by self-reported anxiety symptoms between LD1 and LD2. However, stronger amygdala responses to low threat cues (Baseline-17) were associated with stronger anxiety symptoms. These effects occurred over and above early-life stress, COVID-19 stress burden, and overall symptom changes between age 17 and 20. These findings suggest that amygdala responses to acute threat provide a marker for resilience against real-life stressors, with adequate threat discrimination signaling resilience and stronger amygdala responses to low threat predicting vulnerability. The findings support the notion that neural responses to threat are instrumental for adaptive coping with pervasive stress

Erratum:Heightened neural sensitivity to social exclusion in boys with a history of low peer preference during primary school (Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (2019) 38, (S1878929318302676), (10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100673))

Contains fulltext : 221380.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Peer preference among classmates is a highly influential factor in children's social development and not being preferred by peers has long-term consequences for children's developmental outcomes. However, little is known about how a history of low peer preference during primary school is associated with neural responses to a new social exclusion experience in childhood. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we examined self-reported social distress and neural responses to social exclusion using the Cyberball paradigm in primary school boys (Mage = 10.40 years) with a history of low (n = 27) versus high peer preference (n = 28). Boys were selected from a longitudinal classroom-based study in which children’s peer social preferences were assessed in three consecutive years prior to this study. Neuroimaging results showed that low peer preferred boys exhibited increased activation in the lateral prefrontal cortex during early social exclusion relative to later social exclusion experiences as compared to high peer preferred boys. Increased neural activity was not accompanied by higher self-reported levels of social distress during social exclusion in low versus high peer preferred children. Findings of this study may provide insight into the neural processes associated with real-life peer experiences in children attending primary school.10 p