Bullying Roles in Changing Contexts: The Stability of Victim and Bully Roles from Primary to Secondary School

The present study was conducted to predict bullying roles over a six years time period and across contexts differing in the degree of peer hierarchies. Out of two representative data sets from primary (N = 1525) and secondary school (N = 2958), 282 children (156 boys; 126 girls) were followed up longitudinally. Self reports on bullying experiences and peer reports about social status were assessed by a structured individual interview (in primary school) and by questionnaire given classwise (in secondary school). Risk analyses showed, that only a bully role in primary school yields a risk to be sustained in secondary school. However, victims in primary school classes with a more pronounced degree of hierarchical structuring proved stable in their role while the victim role was unstable from primary school classes with low hierarchical structuring. This interaction did not apply to bully role stability. Differential characteristics of the victim and the bully role in primary school and secondary school settings are discussed.Die vorliegende Untersuchung wurde durchgeführt, um Bullyingrollen über einen Zeitraum von sechs Jahren und Kontexte, die sich im Ausmaß der sozialen Strukturierung unterschieden, vorherzusagen. Auf der Grundlage von zwei repräsentativen Datensätzen aus der Grundschule (n= 1525) und der weiterführenden Schule (N= 2958) wurden dazu die Daten von 282 Kinder (156 Jungen, 126 Mädchen) längsschnittlich analysiert. Die Selbstberichte über Bullyingerfahrungen und Mitschülerberichte über den sozialen Status der Kinder wurden in der Grundschule durch ein strukturiertes Interview und in der weiterführenden Schule durch klassenweise Fragebogenerhebung erfasst. Riskikoanalysen zeigen, dass nur die Täterrolle in der Grundschule einen Risikofaktor für eine Täterrolle in der weiterführenden Schule darstellt. Eine Opferrolle war hingegen nur dann stabil, wenn die Opfer in Grundschulklassen mit schon ausgeprägten Dominanzstrukturen viktimisiert wurden, während aus Grundschulklassen mit geringer hierarchischer Strukturierung keine stabile Opferrolle vorhersagbar war. Dieses Interaktionmuster gilt nicht für die Stabilität der Täterrollen. Differentielle Charakteristika der Opferrolle und der Täterrolle in der Grundschule und der weiterführenden Schule werden diskutiert

Atypical hepatic vacuolated cell lesion in the white perch \u3cem\u3eMorone americana\u3c/em\u3e

This report details histopathological findings of atypical vacuolated hepatocytes in the white perch Morone americana. Vacuolated cell lesions have been reported from a number of species in association with degraded habitats, often in the presence of hepatic neoplasms. Extensive atypical vacuolated cell lesions assuming characteristic acinar or ductular configurations have been reported previously only from the winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus. Light microscopic findings, utilizing a variety of histochemical stains, suggest the identical nature of this lesion to that of winter flounder. The discovery of this lesion in a free-swimming species, feeding throughout the water column, is in direct contrast to that of the bottom dwelling pleuronectid, feeding from and constantly in contact with potentially contaminated sediments. While the winter flounder has become the sentinel fish species for pollution monitoring on the northeast coast, increased surveillance of other species may prove atypical vacuolated cell lesions represent a common mechanism of chronic cellular injury in relation to impacted environments

School mobility and prospective pathways to psychotic-like symptoms in early adolescence: a prospective birth cohort study

OBJECTIVE: Social adversity and urban upbringing increase the risk of psychosis. We tested the hypothesis that these risks may be partly attributable to school mobility and examined the potential pathways linking school mobility to psychotic-like symptoms. METHOD: A community sample of 6,448 mothers and their children born between 1991 and 1992 were assessed for psychosocial adversities (i.e., ethnicity, urbanicity, family adversity) from birth to 2 years, school and residential mobility up to 9 years, and peer difficulties (i.e., bullying involvement and friendship difficulties) at 10 years. Psychotic-like symptoms were assessed at age 12 years using the Psychosis-like Symptoms Interview (PLIKSi). RESULTS: In regression analyses, school mobility was significantly associated with definite psychotic-like symptoms (odds ratio [OR] =1.60; 95% CI =1.07-2.38) after controlling for all confounders. Within path analyses, school mobility (probit coefficient [β] = 0.108; p = .039), involvement in bullying (β = 0.241; p < .001), urbanicity (β = 0.342; p = .016), and family adversity (β = 0.034; p < .001) were all independently associated with definite psychotic-like symptoms. School mobility was indirectly associated with definite psychotic-like symptoms via involvement in bullying (β = 0.018; p = .034). CONCLUSIONS: School mobility is associated with increased risk of psychotic-like symptoms, both directly and indirectly. The findings highlight the potential benefit of strategies to help mobile students to establish themselves within new school environments to reduce peer difficulties and to diminish the risk of psychotic-like symptoms. Awareness of mobile students as a possible high-risk population, and routine inquiry regarding school changes and bullying experiences, may be advisable in mental health care settings

Experimental results on strangeness production in proton-proton collisions at COSY

The production of K+ and K- mesons in elementary proton-proton collision has been investigated at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY in Juelich. A high quality proton beam with low emittance and small momentum spread permitted to study the creation of these mesons very close to the kinematical threshold. The energy dependence of the total cross section is investigated using internal beam facilities providing a high accuracy particle momentum determination as well as an external non-magnetic detection setup with a large geometrical acceptance. The determination of the four-momentum vectors for all ejectiles of each registered event gives the complete kinematical information allowing to study the interaction of the outgoing particles. Results on the performed studies of the pp --> pp K+ K-, pp --> p Lambda K+ and pp --> p Sigma0 K+ reactions will be presented and their relevance to the interpretation of heavy ion collisions will be discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, plenary talk at 6th International Conference On Strange Quarks in Matter: '2001 - A Flavorspace Odyssey' (SQM2001), Frankfurt, Germany, September 25-29, 2001, to be published in J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phy

The influence of discharge power and heat treatment on calcium phosphate coatings prepared by RF magnetron sputtering deposition

Ca–P coatings with different Ca/P ratio and composition were successfully prepared by RF magnetron sputtering deposition. The Ca/P ratio, phase composition, structure and morphological properties were characterized by XRD, FTIR, EDS and SEM analyses. All the as-sputtered coatings were amorphous and after IR-irradiation the coatings altered into a crystalline phase. The obtained coatings had a Ca/P ratio that varied from 0.55 to 2.10 and different phase compositions or mixtures of apatite, beta-pyrophosphate and beta-tricalciumphosphate structures were formed. Evidently, the phase compositions of the sputtered coatings are determined not only by the discharge power ratio of the hydroxylapatite and calcium pyrophosphate targets but also by the annealing temperature

Organic–Inorganic Surface Modifications for Titanium Implant Surfaces

This paper reviews current physicochemical and biochemical coating techniques that are investigated to enhance bone regeneration at the interface of titanium implant materials. By applying coatings onto titanium surfaces that mimic the organic and inorganic components of living bone tissue, a physiological transition between the non-physiological titanium surface and surrounding bone tissue can be established. In this way, the coated titanium implants stimulate bone formation from the implant surface, thereby enhancing early and strong fixation of bone-substituting implants. As such, a continuous transition from bone tissue to implant surface is induced. This review presents an overview of various techniques that can be used to this end, and that are inspired by either inorganic (calcium phosphate) or organic (extracellular matrix components, growth factors, enzymes, etc.) components of natural bone tissue. The combination, however, of both organic and inorganic constituents is expected to result into truly bone-resembling coatings, and as such to a new generation of surface-modified titanium implants with improved functionality and biological efficacy

Investigating whether adverse prenatal and perinatal events are associated with non-clinical psychotic symptoms at age 12 years in the ALSPAC birth cohort

Background. Non-clinical psychosis-like symptoms (PLIKS) occur in about 15% of the population. It is not clear whether adverse events during early development alter the risk of developing PLIKS. We aimed to examine whether maternal infection, diabetes or pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, gestational age, perinatal cardiopulmonary resuscitation or 5-min Apgar score were associated with development of psychotic symptoms during early adolescence. Method. A longitudinal study of 6356 12-year-old adolescents who completed a semi-structured interview for psychotic symptoms in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort. Prenatal and perinatal data were obtained from obstetric records and maternal questionnaires completed during pregnancy. Results. The presence of definite psychotic symptoms was associated with maternal infection during pregnancy [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11–1.86, p=0.006], maternal diabetes (adjusted OR 3.43, 95% CI 1.14–10.36, p=0.029), need for resuscitation (adjusted OR 1.50, 95% CI 0.97–2.31, p=0.065) and 5-min Apgar score (adjusted OR per unit decrease 1.30, 95% CI 1.12–1.50, p<0.001). None of these associations were mediated by childhood IQ score. Most associations persisted, but were less strong, when including suspected symptoms as part of the outcome. There was no association between PLIKS and gestational age or pre-eclampsia. Conclusions. Adverse events during early development may lead to an increased risk of developing PLIKS. Although the status of PLIKS in relation to clinical disorders such as schizophrenia is not clear, the similarity between these results and findings reported for schizophrenia indicates that future studies of PLIKS may help us to understand how psychotic experiences and clinical disorders develop throughout the life-course

Effect of maternal panic disorder on mother-child interaction and relation to child anxiety and child self-efficacy

To determine whether mothers with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia interacted differently with their children than normal control mothers, 86 mothers and their adolescents (aged between 13 and 23 years) were observed during a structured play situation. Maternal as well as adolescent anxiety status was assessed according to a structured diagnostic interview. Results showed that mothers with panic disorder/agoraphobia showed more verbal control, were more criticizing and less sensitive during mother-child interaction than mothers without current mental disorders. Moreover, more conflicts were observed between mother and child dyadic interactions when the mother suffered from panic disorder. The comparison of parenting behaviors among anxious and non-anxious children did not reveal any significant differences. These findings support an association between parental over-control and rejection and maternal but not child anxiety and suggest that particularly mother anxiety status is an important determinant of parenting behavior. Finally, an association was found between children’s perceived self-efficacy, parental control and child anxiety symptoms

Mathematics difficulties in extremely preterm children : evidence of a specific deficit in basic mathematics processing

Background: Extremely preterm (EP, <26 wk gestation) children have been observed to have poor academic achievement in comparison to their term-born peers, especially in mathematics. This study investigated potential underlying causes of this difficulty. Methods: A total of 219 EP participants were compared with 153 term-born control children at 11 y of age. All children were assessed by a psychologist on a battery of standardized cognitive tests and a number estimation test assessing children’s numerical representations. Results: EP children underperformed in all tests in comparison with the term controls (the majority of Ps < 0.001). Different underlying relationships between performance on the number estimation test and mathematical achievement were found in EP as compared with control children. That is, even after controlling for cognitive ability, a relationship between number representations and mathematical performance persisted for EP children only (EP: r = 0.346, n = 186, P < 0.001; control: r = 0.095, n = 146, P = 0.256). Conclusion: Interventions for EP children may target improving children’s numerical representations in order to subsequently remediate their mathematical skills

Cortisol reactivity and negative affect among preterm infants at 12 months during a mother-infant interaction task

The purpose of this study was to investigate correlates of preterm (PT) infant’s cortisol reactivity and the association to infant negative affect, during a mother-infant interaction procedure. Participants included 48 infants born prematurely (gestational age < 37 weeks) and their mothers, assessed when infants were 12 months old corrected for prematurity. The examined variables comprised both neonatal and environmental dimensions including maternal interactive behavior. Infant negative affect and maternal interactive behavior were assessed with a standardized mother-infant interaction task. A baseline infant saliva sample was collected before the interaction began, and a second sample after the interaction episodes ended. Results revealed that decrease of infant’s cortisol concentration was significantly associated with the exposure to more sensitive, and less intrusive maternal behaviors. However, once controlled for neonatal risk, family SES and maternal psychological distress, the associations were rendered non-significant. Although the association between cortisol reactivity and negative affect trended toward significance, maternal intrusiveness was the only significant predictor of observed infant negative affect. Findings suggest the importance of primary relational experiences on PT infants' early regulatory competencies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio