Coping with verbal and social bullying in middle school

Becoming a victim of verbal and social bullying in middle school can lead to illness, psychological stress, and maladjustment. The coping strategies that students utilize when they are bullied may influence the likelihood and severity of these negative effects. In this study, we examined the predictions made by students in two middle schools about the ways that they would cope with becoming a victim of verbal and social bullying. We also analyzed influences for coping strategies and student willingness to seek help with bullying at school. The results show that middle school students generally expect that they will utilize adaptive approach strategies in trying to solve the problem or obtain support from others, but those who had been victimized in the last month were more likely than those not involved in bullying, to predict that they would engage in maladaptive avoidance coping strategies if victimized in the future. Willingness to seek help was found to be enhanced by approach coping strategies, less aggressive attitudes, and lower perceptions of school bullying. Policy implications for efforts to encourage approach coping strategies in middle school students through educational interventions and school counseling are discussed.peer-reviewe

A Multicultural Grassroots Effort to Reduce Ethnic and Racial Social Distance among Middle School Students

Raising tolerance for people of different ethnic and racial groups is the goal of the Multicultural Mosaic program, a grass-roots multicultural education effort initiated by a small group of middle school teachers in a private school in the northeast. After years of enjoying the comforts of a modern, but European-based, curriculum, these teachers took the initiative to pursue an ambitious transformation of their entire school\u27s approach to pedagogy. Not only would the English teachers introduce new texts by foreign authors and the social studies teachers introduce new materials on the history of non-Western cultures, but also the teachers of mathematics and physical education would integrate specific foreign cultures to their teaching in the classroom and on the playground. Extracurricular activities, many of which rely upon the support of parents and volunteers, would be changed also to reflect specific themes in the multicultural movement at the school

¿Cuándo es la Agresión entre Iguales Bullying”? Un análisis del Discurso de Estudiantes Educación Primaria y Secundaría sobre Acoso Escolar

Many forms of peer aggression are referred to as "bullying" by students, parents and adults, and this can be a source of confusion in schools. The main purpose of this study is to explore the circumstances under which students characterize peer aggression as “bullying” incidents. A secondary goal is to examine the feelings students have about the effectiveness of reporting peer aggression to adults. Both objectives are intended to reveal information that will enhance communication about peer aggression and bullying between students and adults. Six focus groups with 54 students in grades three through eight were conducted. The groups were organized in patterns based on grade level and gender, and qualitative methods were used to analyze the results. The findings showed that although the students defined bullying in ways that are similar to the criteria in the literature, they chose different words to describe them. Younger students also expressed greater faith in the ability of adults to respond effectively to bullying situations. Older students preferred to confront a bully with equal force or to reason with a bully to stop the aggression.Algunas formas de agresión entre iguales son llamadas de “acoso escolar” por estudiantes, familias y adultos, y esto puede ser una fuente de confusión en las instituciones educativas. El principal propósito de este estudio es explorar las circunstancias en las cuales los estudiantes caracterizan la agresión entre iguales como casos de acoso escolar. Una meta secundaria es examinar los sentimientos que los estudiantes tienen sobre la eficacia de denunciar la agresión entre iguales a los adultos. Ambos objetivos intentan revelar información que permita mejorar la comunicación entre adultos y estudiantes sobre la agresión entre iguales y el acoso escolar. Se realizaron seis grupos de discusión con 54 estudiantes entre los cursos de tercero a octavo en el sistema educativo de Estados Unidos de América. Los grupos fueron organizados basados en el patrón del nivel del curso, el género, y el método cualitativo usado para el análisis. Los hallazgos muestran que aunque los estudiantes definen el acoso escolar con criterios similares a la literatura científica, ellos lo describen con un vocabulario diferente. Los estudiantes jóvenes también expresan mayor fe en la habilidad de los adultos para responder efectivamente a las situaciones de acoso escolar. Los estudiantes mayores prefieren confrontar al abusón con la fuerza de los iguales o razonando para que el acosador detenga la agresión

Rapid Intradermal Delivery of Liquid Formulations Using a Hollow Microstructured Array

Purpose The purpose of this work is to demonstrate rapid intradermal delivery of up to 1.5 mL of formulation using a hollow microneedle delivery device designed for self-application. Methods 3M’s hollow Microstructured Transdermal System (hMTS) was applied to domestic swine to demonstrate delivery of a variety of formulations including small molecule salts and proteins. Blood samples were collected after delivery and analyzed via HPLC or ELISA to provide a PK profile for the delivered drug. Site evaluations were conducted post delivery to determine skin tolerability. Results Up to 1.5 mL of formulation was infused into swine at a max rate of approximately 0.25 mL/min. A red blotch, the size of the hMTS array, was observed immediately after patch removal, but had faded so as to be almost indistinguishable 10 min post-patch removal. One-mL deliveries of commercial formulations of naloxone hydrochloride and human growth hormone and a formulation of equine anti-tetanus toxin were completed in swine. With few notable differences, the resulting PK profiles were similar to those achieved following subcutaneous injection of these formulations. Conclusions 3M’s hMTS can provide rapid, intradermal delivery of 300–1,500 µL of liquid formulations of small molecules salts and proteins, compounds not typically compatible with passive transdermal delivery. KEY WORDS transdermal drug delivery. microneedles. intradermal. hollow microstructures. MT

Effect of Population Heterogenization on the Reproducibility of Mouse Behavior : A Multi-Laboratory Study

Peer reviewe

The role of achievement motivation and locus of control in shaping sportspersonship behaviors among competitive activity participants

The purpose of this study is to examine the roles of achievement motivation and locus of control in shaping sportspersonship behaviors among male competitive activity participants in both athletic and non-athletic contexts. To a significant extent, the present research attempts to extend the prior findings and formulations of Bredemeier and Shields (1995) who put forth a 12-component model of character development and moral action that is based on the model of moral action proposed by Rest (Rest, 1984). One of the components, achievement motivation, is raised when a person decides which moral value to uphold. Nicholls\u27 (1989, 1992) delineates two types of motivational orientations, ego and task. An “ego orientation” is one in which a person is motivated to achieve in order to surpass the achievements of others, while a “task orientation” is characterized by a concern for achievement to satisfy one\u27s own goals. Locus of control (Rotter, 1966, Lefcourt, 1966, 1971; Joe, 1971) differentiates people on a continuum according to how much they attribute the cause of events in their lives to their own actions (internal control) vs. how much they assume the cause of these events to be determined by other forces (external control). Various researchers have looked at these factors in an athletic context. However, there is no research on how achievement motivation and locus of control relate to sportspersonship with students who participate in nonathletic competitive activities. In order to study the relationship between these variables, 87 male high school students were given the Motivational Orientations Scale (Nicholls, 1989; Duda and Nicholls, 1992), the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale (Nowicki & Strickland, 1973), and the Multidimensional Sportspersonship Orientations Scale (Vallerand, Briere, Blanchard, and Provencher, 1997). In addition, an extensive demographic data questionnaire (Rosenzweig Novick, 1998) was given to assess participation in competitive activities. Based on this questionnaire, the subjects were split into three groups: males participating in athletic competitive activities, males participating in non-athletic competitive activities, and males participating in both athletic and non-athletic competitive activities. Results indicated that those subjects with a task orientation were more likely to have an internal locus of control. They were also more likely to show greater commitment, more respect for social conventions, and approach their competitive activity in a more positive way than those subjects with an ego orientation and an external locus of control. Competitive activity choice had no significant main effect on either achievement motivation type or locus of control, but those who participated in non-athletic competitive activities did show more respect for rules and officials and had a more negative approach than those subjects engaged in athletic competitive activities. Additional analyses revealed a significant interaction effect between competitive activity choice and locus of control on the sportspersonship variable of Commitment. The findings of this study suggest that it is increasingly important for school psychologists to understand the motivational and personality-trait aspects of students participating in competitive activities as their role in assessment of risk, primary prevention and early intervention extends beyond the classroom to non-academic school sponsored activities