“I h 8 u”: Findings from a five-year study of text and e-mail bullying

Copyright @ 2010 British Educational Research Association. The final version of this article is available at the link below.This study charts reports of nasty or threatening text and e-mail messages received by students in academic years 7 and 8 (11-13 years of age) attending 13 secondary schools in the North of England between 2002-2006. Annual surveys were undertaken on behalf of the local education authority (LEA) to monitor bullying. Results indicated that, over five years, the number of pupils receiving one or more nasty or threatening text messages or e-mails increased significantly, particularly among girls. However, receipt of frequent nasty or threatening text and e-mail messages remained relatively stable. For boys, being a victim of direct-physical bullying was associated with receiving nasty or threatening text and e-mail messages; for girls it was being unpopular among peers. Boys received more hate-related messages and girls were primarily the victims of name-calling, Findings are discussed with respect to theoretical and policy developments, and recommendations for future research are offered

Social Media and Depressive Symptoms in Childhood and Adolescence: A Systematic Review

Concerns are increasingly raised in academic and lay literature about the impact of the internet on young people’s well-being. This systematic review examined empirical research on the relationship between social media use and depressive symptoms in the child and adolescent population. A systematic search of Medline, PsycInfo and Embase databases yielded eleven eligible studies. Relevant results were extracted from each study, with a total sample of 12,646. Analysis revealed a small but statistically significant correlation between social media use and depressive symptoms in young people. However, studies varied widely in methods, sample size and results, making the clinical significance of these findings nuanced. Over half of the studies were cross-sectional, while those of longitudinal design were of limited duration. This review justifies further investigation of this phenomenon, with a need for consensus on variables and measurement

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Precision Measurements of the Nucleon Strange Form Factors at Q2∼0.1 GeV^2

We report new measurements of the parity-violating asymmetry APV in elastic scattering of 3 GeV electrons off hydrogen and He4 targets with ⟨θlab⟩≈6.0°. The He4 result is APV=(+6.40±0.23(stat)±0.12(syst))×10−6. The hydrogen result is APV=(−1.58±0.12(stat)±0.04(syst))×10−6. These results significantly improve constraints on the electric and magnetic strange form factors GsE and GsM. We extract GsE=0.002±0.014±0.007 at ⟨Q2⟩=0.077  GeV2, and GsE+0.09GsM=0.007±0.011±0.006 at ⟨Q2⟩=0.109  GeV2, providing new limits on the role of strange quarks in the nucleon charge and magnetization distributions