Elian Fink

The effects of peer ostracism on children's cognitive processes

In adults, experiences of social exclusion have been shown to not only adversely affect mood and threaten primary needs, but also to disrupt cognitive processes. The aim of this study was to provide an initial test of the effects of social exclusion on cognitive processes in children (N = 55; aged 8–12 years). Ostracism was simulated experimentally using the Cyberball paradigm—a computer-based ball-throwing game that participants believed they were playing with two peers over the internet. Following this, participants were administered subtests from the Working Memory Test Battery for Children. Girls who were ostensibly ignored during the game demonstrated poorer cognitive performance than those who were included by their co-players, while boys did not. Findings are discussed in relation to those previously reported in adult research and evidence of gender-specific correlates of relational aggression in children and adolescents.

False-Belief Understanding and Social Preference Over the First 2 Years of School: A Longitudinal Study

The role of false belief in establishing childrens social relationships during the transition to school was examined and compared to other social cognitive constructs. One hundred and fourteen 5-year-olds were recruited during their 1st year of school (Time 1); 106 children were retained 1 year later. False belief, emotion expression recognition, empathy, verbal ability, and peer-rated social preference were measured at both times. False belief at Time 1 had a direct influence on concurrent social preference, over and above the influence of emotion expression recognition and empathy. False belief made no independent contribution to later social preference accounting for stability in social preference. The role of social cognitive development is discussed with respect to how children establish and maintain their position in a peer group.

Feedback from Outcome Measures and Treatment Effectiveness, Treatment Efficiency, and Collaborative Practice: A Systematic Review

Due to recent increases in the use of feedback from outcome measures in mental health settings, we systematically reviewed evidence regarding the impact of feedback from outcome measures on treatment effectiveness, treatment efficiency, and collaborative practice. In over half of 32 studies reviewed, the feedback condition had significantly higher levels of treatment effectiveness on at least one treatment outcome variable. Feedback was particularly effective for not-on-track patients or when it was provided to both clinicians and patients. The findings for treatment efficiency and collaborative practice were less consistent. Given the heterogeneity of studies, more research is needed to determine when and for whom feedback is most effective.

Assessing the bullying and victimisation experiences of children with special educational needs in mainstream schools: Development and validation of the Bullying Behaviour and Experience Scale

Children with special educational needs (SEN) are more likely to experience victimisation at school and there is some evidence to suggest that these children are also more likely to engage in bullying behaviours; however, no measure of bullying experiences has been designed specifically for use with these children. The Bullying Behaviour and Experiences Scale (BBES) was specifically developed as a self-report measure of victimisation and bullying behaviour for children with SEN. This study examines the initial psychometric properties of the BBES using a sample of 348 children (67 of which had SEN, mean age=10 years), and compares the incidence of both victimisation and bullying in children with SEN to their peers, controlling for behavioural and emotional difficulties. Overall, the BBES showed favourable psychometric properties using multi-group confirmatory factor analyses and differential item functioning. Comparing the frequency of victimisation and bullying using the BBES showed that children with SEN were not more likely to experience victimisation compared to their peers but when extant behavioural and emotional difficulties were controlled for then they were significantly more likely to report victimisation. Conversely, children with SEN were more likely to report bullying compared to their peers, but this effect disappeared when extant behavioural and emotional difficulties were controlled. Overall, the BBES appears to be a promising measure of victimisation and bullying for children with SEN. This study also highlights the need to consider SEN status independently of behavioural and emotional problems to help understand the nature and extent of bullying and victimisation in this important population of children.

Bullying-related behaviour in a mainstream high school versus a high school for autism: Self-report and peer-report:

This study examined the frequency of bullying, victimisation and defending behaviours among children with autism spectrum disorder and normal intelligence, using both self-report and peer-report information. Peer-report and self-report data were collected on a single classroom of 26 early adolescent boys attending a special school for children with autism and compared with 23 typically developing boys attending a single mainstream secondary school. Results showed that self- and peer-reported bully and victimisation rates did not differ between boys with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing boys. However, self-reported defending behaviour was less likely to be reported by boys in the autism spectrum disorder school compared to boys in the mainstream school, although there was no such difference for peer-reported defending.

Young Children’s Affective Responses to Another’s Distress: Dynamic and Physiological Features

Two descriptive studies set out a new approach for exploring the dynamic features of children’s affective responses (sadness and interest-worry) to another’s distress. In two samples (N study1 = 75; N study2 = 114), Kindergarten children were shown a video-vignette depicting another child in distress and the temporal pattern of spontaneous expressions were examined across the unfolding vignette. Results showed, in both study 1 and 2, that sadness and interest-worry had distinct patterns of elicitation across the events of the vignette narrative and there was little co-occurrence of these affects within a given child. Temporal heart rate changes (study 2) were closely aligned to the events of the vignette and, furthermore, affective responses corresponded to distinctive physiological response profiles. The implications of distinct temporal patterns of elicitation for the meaning of sadness and interest-worry are discussed within the framework of emotion regulation and empathy.

Blood volume pulse (BVP) derived vagal tone (VT) between 5 and 7 years of age: A methodological investigation of measurement and longitudinal stability

The present study evaluated the possibility of collecting cardiac vagal tone data using a photoplethysmograph, and its stability and continuity in a longitudinal sample of early-school aged children. A method for the optical (i.e., blood volume pulse) estimation of heart rate was established in a pilot study. Then the longitudinal stability and continuity in photoplethysmograph-derived vagal tone was assessed in 114 children (56 girls) at three sessions between 5 and 7 years of age. Results indicate that this method possesses substantial measurement reliability and individual stability, as children report low intra-individual variation over time. Children also report a mean decrease in vagal tone from 5 to 7 years of age, consistent with increased attentional capacity. Overall, this suggests blood volume pulse estimation of vagal tone is both accurate and appropriate for naturalistic developmental research.

Child- and school-level predictors of children’s bullying behavior: A multilevel analysis in 648 primary schools

A great deal of bullying behavior takes place at school, however, existing literature has predominantly focused on individual characteristics of children associated with bullying with less attention on school-level factors. The current study, comprising 23,215 children (51% boys) recruited from Year 4 or Year 5 (M = 9.06 years, SD = .56 years) from 648 primary schools in England, aimed to examine the independent and combined influence of child- and school-level predictors on bullying behavior in primary school. Children provided information on bullying behavior and school climate. Demographic characteristics of children were obtained from the National Pupil Database, and demographic characteristics of schools were drawn from EduBase. Multilevel logistic regression models showed that individual child gender, ethnicity, deprivation and special educational needs status all predicted bullying behavior. Of the school-level predictors, only overall school deprivation and school climate were predictive of bullying behavior once child-level predictors were taken into account. There was a significant interaction between child- and school-level deprivation; high-deprivation schools were a risk factor for bullying only for children that came from nondeprived backgrounds, whereas deprived children reported engaging in bullying behavior irrespective of school-level deprivation. Given the independent and combined role of child- and school-level factors for bullying behavior, the current study has implications for targeted school interventions to tackle bullying behavior, both in terms of identifying high-risk children and identifying high-risk schools.

Bullying-related behaviour in adolescents with autism: Links with autism severity and emotional and behavioural problems

This study examined the association between peer-reported bullying-related behaviours (bully, victim, outsider and defender), age, gender, autism severity and teacher-rated emotional and behavioural problems in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, using a multi-informant approach. The sample comprised 120 adolescents (11% girls, Mage = 15.6 years, standard deviation = 1.89 years) attending a special school for children with autism. Results show that bullying decreased with age and was associated with behavioural problems, while victimisation was only associated with peer problems – a pattern of results comparable to studies exploring these associations in typically developing children. However, there were few associations among study variables for outsider or defender behaviours in this sample. Notably, children’s autism severity did not significantly predict bullying-related behaviours.