Longitudinal Relations between Students’ Social Status and Their Roles in Bullying: The Mediating Role of Self-Perceived Social Status

The study investigated the longitudinal relations between students’ roles in bullying (i.e., bullying, defending, and victimization) and social status within the class. Moreover, we tested the hypothesis that students’ perception of their own status may mediate these relations. A sample of 432 early adolescents completed peer nominations for behavior and status and a self-report on perceived social status. Path analysis showed a positive bidirectional relation between bullying others and popularity. Moreover, low popularity and low self-perceived social preference emerged as significant risk factors for victimization. Finally, defending behavior positively predicted social preference over time, but neither social preference nor popularity predicted this behavior 1 year later. However, students’ perception of being low in popularity and high in social preference acted as driving forces for defending. Findings highlighted perceived social status as an important construct in explaining the relationship between students’ role in bullying and their status within the class

Distance learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: The role of family, school, and individual factors

School closure and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic have posed several challenges to children. Drawing upon the social-ecological framework, in this preliminary study, we tested what factors may help to explain students' difficulties with distance learning during COVID-19 lockdown, by analyzing family, school, and individual variables. The final sample included 183 Italian middle-school students (97 girls and 86 boys; Mage = 11 years, 9 months; SDage = 8 months; range: 11-14 years), who completed online surveys before the pandemic (November 2019) and during lockdown (May 2020). Key findings indicate that students who showed fewer difficulties with distance learning reported a more positive family climate, a better relationship with their teachers, and were more able to regulate their emotions in stressful situations. The educational and policy implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Associations of traditional and peer cyber-victimization with adolescents\u2019 internet use: A latent profile analysis

Significant overlap exists between traditional victimization and peer cyber-victimization. Yet, they can also be somewhat differentiated. Adopting person-centered approaches, studies showed that multiple classes of peer victimization are distinguishable. In particular, this study analyzed the differences in Internet use, Internet motives and behavior and ethical media use of adolescents who are victimized only (or mainly) online (i.e., \u201ccyber-victims\u201d), their peers who are victimized at school (\u201ctraditional victims\u201d), students who are frequently victimized both offline and online (\u201cdual victims\u201d), and students who are not victimized. A sample of 1377 Italian adolescents (49.5% females, age M = 16.13, SD = 1.27) completed self-report questionnaires of traditional and peer cyber-victimization and a variety of Internet-related measures. Latent profile analysis yielded four distinct groups: non-victims (79.6% of the sample), traditional victims (9.2%), cyber-victims (9.1%), and dual victims (2.1%). Among the four groups, dual victims, that is, adolescents who are frequently victimized both at school and online, showed the most problematic use of information and communication technologies (ICT). Dual victims and cyber-victims also reported to engage more frequently than the other groups in a variety of Internet activities (e.g., role-playing games and visiting adult sites). Traditional victims reported more coping and conformity motives for using Internet compared to non-victims and, in the latter case, also to cyber-victims. The current findings may help to better understand the link between traditional victimization and peer cyber-victimization with adolescent\u2019s use of information and communication technologies and may inform prevention and educational programs about positive use of new technologies among adolescents