Angela Costabile

Cross-national comparison of children's attitudes towards bully/victim problems in school

Using large-scale survey data from Italy, and England, findings are reported for attitudes to school bullying; specifically the extent to which children expect their teachers, or other children, to intervene in bullying; and the extent to,which children either empathise with victims of bullying, or state that they themselves would do something about it. Findings mere broadly similar in most respects, in the two countries. Teachers were thought to intervene fairly often, other children more rarely. Most children had sympathetic attitudes and behaviour toward victims of bullying, but a significant minority, including many self-reported bullies, did not. Girls were more empathic to victims than boys, but were not more likely to intervene. The main cultural difference was that older Italian children were more empathic than younger children, with the reverse difference in England. However in both countries, the likelihood of reported intervention was less with older children. The results are discussed in relation to theoretical viewpoints, and practical implications for schools.

Bullies and victims in schools in central and southern Italy

Anonymous questionnaires assessing the amount and nature of bullying/victimization were given to 1379 primary and middle school pupils (8–11; 11–14yrs) in two towns of Central and Southern Italy, Florence and Cosenza. The questionnaire closely followed the design of Olweus (1991) and Whitney and Smith (1993). Results were analysed in terms of percentages of bullying others and being bullied, types of bullying behaviour, where it occurred and who were the perpretators. Bullying was reported in both Italian areas at a more substantial level than found in other countries, including Norway, England, Spain and Japan, although it presented similar structural features to those reported elsewhere: being bullied decreased in older pupils, bullying others was most likely to be admitted by boys, the perpetretators were in the same class as the victims. Considering direct and indirect forms of bullying, year and gender differences are discussed for the two Italian areas and in cross-national perspective.

Cross-National Comparison of How Children Distinguish Serious and Playful Fighting.

Criteria used to distinguish between play fighting and serious fighting were investigated for 8- and 11-year-old children in Italy and England, using videotaped and questionnaire-based interviews. There was high consensus in describing most videotaped episodes as either playful or serious. Results were similar for Italian and English children (irrespective of whether a videotape of Italian or English children was used for cue generation) at both ages (older children showed slighly higher consensus) and for both sexes (boys more frequently and accurately judged episodes to be serious fighting). The most frequently cited criteria in the videotape study were the quality of physical actions and inference about affect or intent. The questionnaire study yielded further criteria of facial expression and verbalization

Cyberbullying and self-esteem

In this study, the cyberbullying risk related to self-esteem, social, and personal variables was investigated. Cyberbullying describes a pervasive form of aggressive behaviour aimed at offending victims who are unable to protect themselves. A considerable sample of Italian young people were interviewed using standardized questionnaires. The results of the current study showed that, although few subjects were affected by cyberbullying (perpetrators and victims), a relationship exists between lower levels of self-esteem and cyberbullying risks. The role of parental control represents a good opportunity for the subjects in preventing aggressive behaviour. In general, this study underlines the importance to design and realize specific didactical programs to prevent aggressive behaviour, and to increase parental awareness about cyberbullying risks. The study explored the cyberbullying risks among adolescent students.Standardized questionnaires to explore the cyberbullying effects were used.Survey data from 438 participants indicated that males and females showed cyberbullying risks.Parent control reduce the subjects risk to be involved in aggressive behaviour.Lower levels of self-esteem predicted cyberbullying risks.

I Look, You Smile: The First Mother–Child Communicative Interaction: A Longitudinal Study:

This article discusses the first development of communicative interaction between mother and child, by analyzing the connection between expression and smile. A total of 13 mother–child dyads, recruited at the moment of admission to hospital, participated in the study. Observations have been made when the children were 3, 6, and 9 months old. Mother and child were put in front of each other, and the mother was asked to play freely with her child using a set of toys. The sequential codification of the mother’s and the child’s behaviors (occurrence and duration) was encoded by two independent observers. Occurrences and durations were analyzed to verify the increase of the interactive dyadic exchange along the three follow-ups. The results highlight an increase in synchronic behaviors in the dyad as the child’s age increases, showing the circularity of the dyadic interaction: Mothers increase the occurrences of contingent responses and children increase their competences regarding emotional regulations.

Infant Sleep and Waking: Mothers’ Ideas and Practices in Two Italian Cultural Contexts

Sleep is structured by the central nervous system, but it is also shaped by the context in which we live. The infant sleep context is formed through physical factors like climate, temperature, and light, as well as human factors, such as parents’ personalities and ideas, which constitute what Harkness and Super (1996) called the “developmental niche.” Parenting and, particularly, mothers’ ways of setting, timing, and arranging infant sleep may influence that sleep and are related to their ideas about their infants’ needs, to what mothers believe to be right and healthy for their infants (Toselli, Farneti, and Salzarulo 1998; Sadeh, Tikotzky, and Scher 2010). Their ideas depend, in turn, on the cultural context, which states what is “right” for children and their care.