Internet Use and Perceived Parental Involvement among Adolescents from Lower Socioeconomic Groups in Europe: An Exploration

Internet usage is a salient developmental factor in adolescents’ lives. Although relevant correlates of Internet use have been documented earlier, there is a lack of information on lower socioeconomic status groups. This is important, as these adolescents have increased risk of negative online experiences. The current survey aimed to explore Internet use and parental involvement amongst adolescents from areas of socio-economic disadvantage in 30 urban schools across five European countries. A total of 2594 students participated, of whom 90% were 14–16 years. Virtually all adolescents of socioeconomic disadvantage had Internet access, with 88.5% reporting spending more than two hours per day online, often on apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. Almost one-third of adolescents did not talk with their parents about their Internet use and almost two-thirds indicated that their parents were only a little or not interested in their Internet use. A consistent finding across countries was that girls more often talked with their parents about their Internet use and more often reported that their parents were interested in their Internet use than boys. The results suggest that parents have an important task in explicitly showing interest in their adolescents’ Internet use, with special attention needed for boys

Stay Safe and Strong: Characteristics, Roles and Emotions of Student-Produced Comics Related to Cyberbullying

The present study aimed at giving voice to students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds using a co-participatory approach. Participants were 59 adolescents (52.5% males) aged between 14 and 16 from five European countries who created ten comics to illustrate cyberbullying for a broader audience of peers. We analyzed texts and images according to four primary themes: cyberbullying episodes (types, platforms, co-occurrence with bullying), coping strategies, characters (roles, gender, and group membership), and emotions. The content analysis showed that online denigration on social media platforms was widely represented and that cyberbullying co-existed with bullying. Social strategies were frequently combined with passive and confrontational coping, up to suicide. All roles (cyberbully, cybervictim, bystander, reinforcer, defender) were portrayed among the 154 characters identified, even if victims and defenders appeared in the vignettes more often. Males, females, peers, and adults were represented in all roles. Among the 87 emotions detected, sadness was the most frequently expressed, followed by joy, surprise, anger, and fear. Emotions, mainly represented by drawings or drawings with text, were most often represented in association with cybervictims. The results are discussed in terms of their methodological and practical implications, as they emphasize the importance of valorizing young peoples’ voices in research and interventions against cyberbullying

Psychological determinants of pregnancy-related lumbopelvic pain: a prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE: To study whether pregnancy-related lumbopelvic pain outcomes at 36 weeks of gestation can be predicted by psychological determinants earlier in pregnancy. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Nine midwifery practices in different regions of the Netherlands. POPULATION: A cohort of 223 low-risk pregnant women in the Netherlands was followed from week 12 of gestation until 36 weeks of gestation. METHODS: Both psychological determinants and lumbopelvic pain symptoms were investigated with a set of questionnaires at 12, 24 and 36 weeks of gestation. Psychological determinants were measured with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90), the Pregnancy-related Anxiety Questionnaire (PRAQ), and the Utrecht Coping List (UCL). Lumbopelvic pain outcomes were measured with the Pregnancy Mobility Index (PMI) and the Overall Complaints Index (OCI). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Lumbopelvic pain symptoms and their impact at 36 weeks of gestation. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in scores on both the PMI and OCI across the three sampling occasions in pregnancy. Lumbopelvic pain outcomes showed significant associations with the psychological determinants perceived stress and recently perceived psychological and physical distress at all three times during pregnancy. Pregnancy-related anxiety was not a significant predictor of lumbopelvic pain outcomes, neither was coping. CONCLUSIONS: Lumbopelvic pain symptoms and their impact on daily activities at 36 weeks of gestation can be predicted by psychological determinants earlier in pregnancy; the combination of perceived stress and physical disability at 24 weeks of pregnancy seems to be the best predictor of disability in later pregnancy

Tackling bias-based bullying in children using a serious game approach: Results from the GATE-BULL project'

Background: Bias-based bullying is a serious phenomenon having a negative impact on the well-being of children with socially devaluated identities or attributes. Driven by social-cognitive factors of stigma, intergroup theories and strategies are needed to tackle this form of bullying. The aim of the GATE-BULL project was to develop and evaluate a serious game and classroom lesson plan to encourage bystander intervention in weight-, ethnicity-, and religion-based bullying situations. Methods: The intervention was a 4-week school-based intervention targeted at 9–13-year-olds tested using a quasi-experimental design. In total, 578 children from The Netherlands, Scotland and Greece were included in analyses. Measures on self-efficacy and intention were self-construed; measures on intergroup anxiety and attitudes, moral disengagement, and peer norms were adapted from other research. Hypotheses were tested using MRA. Findings: Results of The Netherlands show that children in the intervention group reported a more positive peer norm (p=.048, d=0.40); minority children reported higher confidence to defend other minority children (p=.010, d=0.65); and majority children reported to be less anxious towards Muslim children (p=.037, d=0.41). In Scotland, children reported higher intention to defend overweight children (p=.01, d=.25). In Greece, no effects were found. Discussion: The intervention was received well by teachers and children and had some important effects on determinants of bystander behavior. The intervention was less effective in Scotland and Greece, which could be attributed to only white schools being included in the trial. The intervention shows much potential in setting a more inclusive classroom norm. However, additional research is recommended. GATE-BULL: Using a GAmes approach to TEach children about prejudice-based BULLyin