Chiaki Konishi

Do School Bullying and Student—Teacher Relationships Matter for Academic Achievement? A Multilevel Analysis

In extending our understanding of how the social climate of schools can affect academic outcomes, this study examined the relationship between school bullying, student— teacher (S-T) connectedness, and academic performance. Using data collected in Canada as part of a larger international study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, participants included 27,217 students aged 15 years and 1,087 school principals. Results of multilevel analyses revealed that math achievement was negatively related to school bullying and positively related to S-T connectedness. For boys, there was a significant interaction between bullying and S-T connectedness, suggesting a buffering effect of S-T connectedness on the relationship between school bullying and math achievement. Similar results were evident for reading achievement. Pour élargir notre compréhension de comment le climat social de l’école peut avoir un impact sur la réussite scolaire, cette étude examine la relation entre l’intimidation à l’école, la relation élève-enseignant et le rendement scolaire. Les données utilisées ont été recueillies au Canada pour une étude internationale plus large menée par l’Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, les participants incluent 27 217 élèves âgés de 15 ans et 1 087 directeurs d’école. Les résultats des analyses multi-niveaux révèlent que le rendement en mathématiques est négativement relié à l’intimidation à l’école et positivement relié à la relation élève-enseignant. Pour les garçons, il y avait une interaction significative entre l’intimidation et la relation élève-enseignant suggérant un effet tampon de la relation élève-enseignant sur la relation entre l’intimidation à l’école et le rendement en mathématiques. Des résultats similaires ont été observés pour le rendement en lecture.

Bullying and Stress in Early Adolescence: The Role of Coping and Social Support.

Prior research from Norway and Japan has demonstrated positive relationships between stress and bullying—The more stress students experience, the more they engage in bullying. The modest correlations, however, suggest that other variables may moderate the stress-bullying link, serving as protective factors that make such negative responses to stress less likely for some individuals. This study examined the stress-buffering roles of coping and social support in reducing the likelihood of bullying in response to stress. Students in Grades 5-7 (N = 312) completed questionnaires assessing stress levels (daily hassles, stressful events), coping strategies (active, avoidance, distraction, support seeking), social support (from peers, family, teachers), and bullying. Consistent with previous research, correlational analyses indicated that stress is significantly related to self-reported bullying but not to peer-assessed bullying. Regression analyses revealed that family support moderated and distraction coping amplified the stress-bullying relationship.

Still a Target: Sexual Diversity and Power of Caring.

This study examined the link between victimization and sexual orientation and how this link contributes to social-emotional health, extending to school-related outcomes among adolescents. Of additional interest was whether having caring adult support was a protective factor in reducing the risk for high levels of distress or enhancing positive aspects of life experiences. Participants included 27,245 students (14,114 girls) in grades 7 to 12 in Western Canada. Results of logistic regression revealed that Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual youth who had experiences of being victimized were at greatest risk for social-emotional and school-related problems, including educational aspiration and activity engagement. Our results also showed that having caring support from a parent or teacher significantly contributed to reducing the likelihood of experiencing social-emotional and educational difficulties even among victimized sexual minority students as well as heterosexual youth.

Investigating associations between school climate and bullying in secondary schools: Multilevel contextual effects modeling:

This study examined how student reports of bullying were related to different dimensions of school climate, at both the school and the student levels, using a contextual effects model in a two-level multilevel modeling framework. Participants included 48,874 secondary students (grades 8 to 12; 24,244 girls) from 76 schools in Western Canada. Results revealed significant associations for student perceptions of all school-climate dimensions at the student level and for a majority of the aggregated school-climate dimensions (except adult-related variables) at the school level in relation to bullying, when each school-climate dimension was included as the sole predictor in the contextual effects model. When examining the roles of all school-climate dimensions together, results showed that, at the school level, the effects of three school-climate variables – peer support, discipline/fairness/clarity of rules, and school safety – remained significant predictors of being bullied and bullying others, controlling for the effects of other school-climate dimensions at both the school and the student levels. The implications of these findings for building a safe and caring school environment are discussed.

Changes in Bullying in Relation to Friends, Competitiveness, and Self-Worth

The relationship between social-emotional experiences — number of friends, competitiveness, and self-worth — and changes in bullying behaviour was investigated among students in Grades 5 to 7. This two-wave study included 235 students for the first data collection and 237 students for the second data collection, with a final sample of 227 students who had participated at both time points. Following Zumbo, results of multiple regression analyses, using residualized difference scores, indicated that changes in the school variables (number of friends, competitiveness, and self-worth) were associated with changes in reported bullying behaviour from the middle to the end of the school year. In particular, children’s beliefs about their self-worth were important in predicting changes in bullying behaviour, with increased self-worth being associated with a decrease in reported bullying behaviour.

Anger and anger regulation among adolescents: A consideration of sex and age differences.

Although adolescents often struggle to regulate their anger, few studies have examined anger regulation within the period of adolescence. In view of this, this study explored potential sex and age differences in anger experience, expressions, and control among Grades 8–12 adolescents (n = 766) in Western Canada. Anger regulation was evaluated by the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Three separate multivariate analyses of variance and post hoc tests were performed. Results revealed that Grade 12 students experienced more anger than Grade 8 students. Furthermore, Grades 10–12 students engaged in greater levels of anger-expressive suppression compared with those in Grade 8; Grade 12 students also suppressed their anger more than Grade 9 students. Lastly, girls were less likely to control their outward anger as compared with boys. These results provide important implications for intervention efforts by suggesting nonlinear developmental patterns in anger experience and expressions as well as sex differences in anger control. Alors que les adolescents ont souvent du mal à gérer leur colère, peu d’études se sont penchées sur la gestion de la colère pendant l’adolescence. À cet égard, la présente étude a exploré les différences potentielles selon le sexe et l’âge chez des adolescents allant de la 8e année à la 12e année (n = 766) dans l’ouest du Canada. La gestion de la colère a été évaluée au moyen de l’Inventaire des expériences de colère trait-état. Trois analyses multivariées distinctes de tests de variance et à postériori ont été effectuées. Les résultats ont révélé que les élèves de 12e année éprouvaient plus de colère que les élèves de 8e année. Qui plus est, les étudiants de la 10e à la 12e année ont affiché de plus hauts taux de répression de la colère comparativement à ceux de la 8e année; les étudiants de la 12e année ont aussi réprimé leur colère davantage que ceux de la 9e année. Enfin, les filles étaient moins susceptibles de contrôler leur colère extérieure que les garçons. Ces résultats comportent des implications importantes pour ce qui est des efforts d’intervention en suggérant des modèles de développement non linéaire pour l’expérience et l’expression de la colère ainsi que des différences au niveau des sexes pour ce qui est du contrôle de la colère.