Adaptation to chronic physical conditions : Why should we ask the children, and how?

This paper argues for a need to explore children's own vies of living with a chronic condition, an approach consonant with a view of children as active copers and construers of their experiences rather than victims and passive health care recipients.E

The old and mentally ill in Australia : Doubly stigmatised

This review proposes that the stigma attached to being old and having a mental illness has a disproportionate impact on those who are categorised as both. A brief historical account is given of what it means to have a mental illness and, separately, what it means to be old. Next, the stigmatising attitudes and their implications for the two separate groups will be reviewed, with discussion of the Australian media's portrayal of mental illness and old age. It is further argued that the implications of double stigma may be multiplicative, having even more of an impact on elderly mentally ill people than a separate consideration of these categories might suggest. Finally, some suggestions are made for beginning to address the double stigma attached to being both old and having a mental illness in Australia. © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd.C

Teacher responses to bullying in relation to moral orientation and seriousness of bullying

Background. Little research has focused on factors influencing teachers' decisions about whether and how to intervene in bullying incidents. Such factors have the potential to influence the role of teachers as agents in counteracting bullying. Aims. To examine: (a) whether moral orientation predicts teachers' responses to bullying, (b) the role of perceived seriousness of an incident in moderating responses to bullying and (c) factors that are important to teachers when deciding whether to intervene. Sample. Primary, middle and high school teachers (N = 127) were recruited during staff meetings at five schools. Methods. Moral orientation was measured using a modified version of Caputo's (2000) Sanctioning Voice Index (SVI); other questionnaires were specifically designed for this study. Correlational and hierarchical multiple regression analyses examining how moral orientation and seriousness predict teachers' responses to bullying were performed. Results. As anticipated, care moral orientation predicted a problem-solving response, while justice orientation predicted a rules-sanctions response. Care and justice orientations also interacted to predict rules-sanctions, but not problem-solving responses. However, seriousness of an incident accounted for the majority of variance (46% for rules-sanctions and 40% for problem-solving responses). Seriousness did not moderate the relationship between moral orientation and responses to bullying. Conclusions. While teachers' moral orientation does impact upon the kinds of responses to bullying they choose, seriousness of the incident is more important. However, seriousness as perceived by teachers may not be consistent with impact on students. Implications for teacher education and policy are discussed. © 2007 The British Psychological Society

Mental health and wellbeing: Educational perspectives

Mental Health and Wellbeing: Educational Perspectives provides a significant overview of the matter of mental health and wellbeing with particular relevance to educational contexts. Comprising peer-reviewed chapter contributions from prominent Australian and international researchers and practitioners, this book presents an authoritative and diverse account of: • links between wellbeing and learning • interventions and initiatives in the field • evidence based practice guidelines • policy and practice exampleshttps://research.acer.edu.au/saier/1023/thumbnail.jp

School peer victimization of young people with craniofacial conditions : A comparative study

Young people with and without craniofacial conditions were compared on perceived incidence and frequency of school-based peer victimization and resultant distress; the relationship of craniofacial disfigurement severity to victimization incidence and frequency was also assessed. A deliberately biased sample-over-representing greater disfigurement-of 85 young people (9 to 16 years of age), continuing or having completed treatment for a craniofacial condition, were rated on current disfigurement severity, and responded to an extended version of the Direct and Indirect Aggression Scale (DIAS) presented as a structured telephone interview. Fifty-five matched school peers without craniofacial conditions responded to the same interview. Greater craniofacial disfigurement was associated with greater likelihood and frequency of being targeted with certain aggressive behaviours identified from the craniofacial literature. However, no more young people with, than without, craniofacial conditions experienced frequent victimization, considerable emotional distress or references to their appearance. This study provides a social comparison for victimized young people with craniofacial conditions. Knowing that those without disfigurement are also victimized may help ease their disfigurement-related cognitions. This study highlights the limitations of surgical correction for disfigurement, and promotes a more realistic view for victimization experiences and intervention options. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd.C

Anger or compromise? Adolescents' conflict resolution strategies in relation to gender and type of peer relationship

This study examined gender differences in conflict resolution across three types of adolescent peer relationship. We predicted that adolescents would vary in their use of overt anger and compromise in accord with gender stereotypes, depending on the type of peer relationship under consideration. It was predicted that, in conflicts with opposite-gender friends, adolescents would modify the strategies typically used with same-gender friends to more closely match those of the opposite gender. Furthermore, it was predicted that, in romantic relationships, compared with cross-gender friendships, adolescents would use more compromise and less overt anger. Broad support for these propositions was found, the main exception being girls' greater use of overt anger than expected, in all three types of peer relationships. Possible reasons posited were changing male and female roles in society and the use of overt anger questionnaire items that reflect social aggression. It was concluded that efforts to promote constructive conflict resolution by adolescents should consider reasons why young people choose different conflict resolution strategies in different types of peer relationships. © 2006 A B Academic Publishers.C

Adolescents with Chronic Illnesses: School Absenteeism, Perceived Peer Aggression, and Loneliness

Frequent school absence is often cited as a risk factor for peer relationship problems in youngsters with chronic illnesses, but this assumption has not been subjected to quantitative empirical examination. This issue was examined in the present study by exploring the relationship between school absenteeism, peer aggression, and loneliness in adolescents with chronic illnesses. Forty-one adolescents with chronic illnesses completed a modified version of the Direct and Indirect Aggression Scale and the Asher Loneliness Scale. Details of school absences and hospitalizations were obtained from parents and school and hospital records. No evidence was found to support the notion that peer aggression and loneliness are related to absenteeism, but social aggression (for both boys and girls) and verbal aggression (more markedly for girls) were associated with loneliness. Of the group, 19% reported experiencing verbal aggression and 12% social aggression at least weekly; informal qualitative data suggesting that such aggression is often related to limited sporting ability and appearance. Interventions at both the individual and school community level are warranted

Cognitive Specificity in Trait Anger in Relation to Depression and Anxiety in a Community Sample

The current research explored 16 of Young's schemas in relation to trait anger and to anxiety and depression symptoms among 262 non-clinical Australian adults with low-level symptomatology and average anger levels. The study partially replicated previous work with a sample of Spanish students that investigated the relationship between anger, depression, and anxiety and Young's schemas. Predictions derived from Beck's notion of cognitive specificity were examined using structural equation modelling and showed that of the sixteen schemas, Vulnerability was linked to anxiety, Social Isolation and Enmeshment were linked to depression, and Entitlement, Insufficient Self-Control, Mistrust and Abuse, Subjugation (negatively), and Abandonment were linked to anger. The discrepancies between these and the Spanish findings and the difficulties of other researchers in establishing higher order aggregations of Young's schemas prompted further consideration of the range of such schemas with respect to anger, depression, and anxiety, and the possibility that sample characteristics may play a critical role in determining the varying affect-schema relationships. © 2011 The Australian Psychological Society

"In the eye of the beholder...": Girls', boys' and teachers' perceptions of boys' aggression to girls

Because children and young teenagers usually associate in same-sex groups, psychological research concerned with adolescent aggression has often concentrated on within-sex relationships. However, during adolescence, boys and girls increasingly interact socially. This paper reports a study of boy-to-girl aggression as perceived by girls, boys and their teachers. Focus group discussions were conducted with groups of Grade 9 adolescents (aged between 14 and 15 years) across four middle class schools in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, and individual interviews were conducted with their teachers. Thematic analyses revealed different understandings by girls, boys and teachers of the same behaviour. Girls and teachers reported that boys frequently use verbally offensive language including sexual harassment toward girls but boys argued that they were often not being malicious but rather just joking and that girls over-reacted. Girls, boys and teachers agreed that boys often harassed girls in order to impress other boys and for their own entertainment or fun. Teachers also emphasised home and cultural background factors in influencing boys' behaviour toward girls. All three groups agreed that boys' behaviour toward girls could have devastating effects on the girl victims. Girls' appearance was reported as a major contributing factor associated with boys' victimisation such that, while physical attractiveness could protect a girl from boys' meanness, over-weight girls or those seen as being unattractive or 'uncool' were vulnerable. However, girls were not seen universally as passive victims. Girls, boys and teachers reported that many girls responded assertively and even matched boys' aggression. Girls and boys agreed that teacher intervention was often not helpful. In contrast, teachers reported the effectiveness of school anti-harassment policies and a range of successful interventions. This study highlights the importance of understanding behaviour from different perspectives and confirms research that emphasises the crucial role of the peer group in influencing aggressive interactions among students in schools. © 2005 Shannon Research Press.C