22 research outputs found

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

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    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

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    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)

    Association between empathy, social intelligence, moral disengagement and different forms of bullying behaviour in Italian adolescents.

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    The study focused on the role of empathy, social intelligence and moral disengagement on bullying and prosocial behaviour in a sample of Italian adolescents. Overt and covert bullying and defending behaviour were measured through peer nominations. Moreover, participants completed self-report measures for empathy [Davis\u2019s Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983) and the Basic Empathy Scale (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006)], social intelligence [the Troms\uf8 Social Intelligence Scale (Silvera, Martinussen, & Dahl, 2001)], and moral disengagement (Caprara et al., 1995). The aims of the study were: (a) to tested whether different levels of empathic responsiveness would be differently associated to bullying and defending behaviour; (b) to test whether social intelligence would be more significantly associated with covert forms of bullying (i.e., relational or indirect bullying) than with overt bullying (i.e., physical or verbal bullying); (c) to test whether the activation of moral disengagement mechanisms would moderate the relations between empathy, social intelligence and bullying; (d) to analyse possible gender differences in these paths of relations. Preliminary results confirmed that low levels of empathic responsiveness are associated to adolescents\u2019 frequent involvement in bullying others. In contrast, empathy is positively associated with the tendency to actively help victimized schoolmates. Results from the present study may have important theoretical and educational implications for developing effective anti-bullying intervention programs

    Longitudinal Links of Individual and Collective Morality with Adolescents’ Peer Aggression

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    Adolescents’ aggressive behavior has been often linked to biases in morality. However, limited knowledge is available regarding the relative strength of different moral correlates, both at the individual and class-level, in predicting different types of aggressive behavior over time. To address this gap, the present study tested the prospective associations of moral identity and moral disengagement with reactive and proactive aggression in a short-term longitudinal study. The sample consisted of 1158 Italian adolescents (48.7% females; Mage = 13.6 years, SD = 1.1). Participants completed self-report measures of moral identity, moral disengagement, perceived collective moral disengagement in the fall, and reactive and proactive aggression in the fall and in the spring. Multivariate multilevel analysis indicated that, at the individual level, after controlling for the stability of aggressive behavior, T2 (Time 2) reactive aggression was higher for students who reported lower moral identity and higher moral disengagement at T1 (Time 1). For proactive aggression, a significant interaction effect indicated that the negative association between T1 moral identity and T2 aggression was apparent only at high levels of T1 moral disengagement. Moreover, proactive aggression was significantly predicted by higher perceived collective moral disengagement. At the class-level, T1 collective moral disengagement helped explain between-class variability of T2 reactive and proactive aggressive behavior. How these results expand previous research on morality and aggressive behavior and their potential implications for prevention and intervention programs is discussed

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

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    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

    Longitudinal associations of social-cognitive and moral correlates with defending in bullying

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    Defending in bullying is a complex, yet important behavior that is likely associated with individual characteristics and group factors that operate simultaneously in the classroom microsystem. However, little research has longitudinally analyzed the role of multiple promoting factors at both the individual and classroom level. Drawing on the social-ecological theory and social-cognitive theory, the present study examined the prospective associations between Fall defending self-efficacy, moral disengagement, moral identity, and moral distress and Spring defending behavior. Participants were 1163 adolescents (48.7% females; Mage = 13.6, SD = 1.1) attending 67 classrooms in Italian public schools. Defending showed moderate stability over one school year. At the individual level, multilevel analyses showed that T1 self-efficacy for all students, and moral distress for male students, positively predicted T2 defending. Moreover, high moral disengagement negatively predicted T2 defending only when students also reported high levels of moral identity. At the class-level, T1 class defending and class moral identity explained between-class variability in T2 defending. The findings have multiple implications for interventions that aim to increase defending behavior
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