Modelling bullying propagation in Spain: a quantitative and qualitative approach

[EN] Bullying in schools can be defined as a category of aggressive behaviour with an imbalance of power, and aggression event is repeated over time. Bullying occurs as a social process in nature, and takes place in groups. Attacks are mostly unprovoked, and can be physical or verbal, direct or indirect. This paper focuses on modelling the propagation of bullying in the Spanish school population aged [12, 18] during the period July 2015¿January 2020, and on identifying and quantifying its main drivers. Thus, a population dynamics model is built to forecast and quantify the magnitude of the bullying problem in Spain over the July 2015¿January 2020 period by taking into account qualitative and quantitative factors; e.g., demography, economy, socio-cultural behaviour, consumption of drugs and alcohol, social contagion and technology. 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Excessive aggression as model of violence:a critical evaluation of current preclinical methods

<p>Preclinical experimental models of pathological aggressive behavior are a sorely understudied and difficult research area.</p><p>How valid, reliable, productive, and informative are the most frequently used animal models of excessive aggressive behavior?</p><p>The rationale, key methodological features, supporting data, and arguments as well as their disadvantages and limitations of the most frequently used animal models for excessive aggressive behavior are summarized and their validity and reliability are evaluated.</p><p>Excessive aggressive behavior is validly and reliably seen in (1) a proportion of feral-derived rats and selectively bred mice; (2) rats with compromised adrenal function resulting in a hypoglucocorticoid state; (3) a significant minority of mice, rats, and monkeys after consumption of a moderate dose of alcohol; and (4) resident animals of various species after social instigation. Limitations of these procedures include restrictive animal research regulations, the requirement of expertise in surgical, pharmacological, and behavioral techniques, and the behaviorally impoverished mouse strains that are used in molecular genetics research. Promising recent initiatives for novel experimental models include aggressive behaviors that are evoked by optogenetic stimulation and induced by the manipulation of early social experiences such as isolation rearing or social stress.</p><p>One of the most significant challenges for animal models of excessive, potentially abnormal aggressive behavior is the characterization of distinctive neurobiological mechanisms that differ from those governing species-typical aggressive behavior. Identifying novel targets for effective intervention requires increased understanding of the distinctive molecular, cellular, and circuit mechanisms for each type of abnormal aggressive behavior.</p>

The Proof is in the Punch: Gender Differences in Perceptions of Action and Aggression as Components of Manhood

Two studies test the hypotheses that men, relative to women: 1) see manhood as a more elusive, impermanent state than womanhood, and 2) understand aggression as a means of proving or re-establishing threatened manhood, but not threatened womanhood. In Study 1 (N = 175 Northeastern U.S. undergraduates), men’s (but not women’s) sentence completions revealed tendencies to define manhood by actions and womanhood by enduring traits. In Study 2 (N = 113 Southeastern U.S. undergraduates), men were more likely than women to explain a man’s physical aggression in primarily situational terms, whereas men and women did not differ in the attributions they made for a woman’s physical aggression. Results suggest that men perceive active and aggressive behaviors as integral parts of manhood and its defense

The Impact of Cyberbullying and Cyber Harassment on Academic Achievement

Cyberbullying is commonly measured by either an inventory of manifest variables (i.e. cyber harassment) or the use of global items covering cyberbullying in general. This study aimed to compare these two approaches in terms of how they predict academic achievement. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to build recursive models including variables of academic achievement, traditional and cyber harassment, cyberbullying, socio-economic status, perceived quality of life at school, and sex. Our findings reveal an impact of cyberbullying and cyber harassment on academic skills, and furthermore suggest that the choice of method (manifest variables vs. global items) is of less importance in this regard. Furthermore, the impact of cyberbullying and cyber harassment on academic achievement appears to be mainly mediated through the victims’ perceived quality of life at school