L. Christian Elledge

Effects of the KiVa Antibullying Program on Cyberbullying and Cybervictimization Frequency Among Finnish Youth

Cyberbullying among school-aged children has received increased attention in recent literature. However, no empirical evidence currently exists on whether existing school-based antibullying programs are effective in targeting the unique aspects of cyberbullying. To address this important gap, the present study investigates the unique effects of the KiVa Antibullying Program on the frequency of cyberbullying and cybervictimization among elementary and middle school youth. Using data from a group randomized controlled trial, multilevel ordinal regression analyses were used to examine differences in the frequencies of cyberbullying and cybervictimization between intervention (N = 9,914) and control students (N = 8,498). The effects of age and gender on frequencies of cyber behaviors were also assessed across conditions. Results revealed a significant intervention effect on the frequency of cybervictimization; KiVa students reported lower frequencies of cybervictimization at posttest than students in a control condition. The effect of condition on the perpetration of cyberbullying was moderated by age. When student age was below the sample mean, KiVa students reported lower frequencies of cyberbullying than students in the control condition. We also found evidence of classroom level variation in cyberbullying and cybervictimization, suggesting cyberbullying is in part a classroom-level phenomenon. KiVa appears to be an efficacious program to address cyber forms of bullying and victimization. We discuss several unique aspects of KiVa that may account for the significant intervention effects. Results suggest that KiVa is an intervention option for schools concerned with reducing cyberbullying behavior and its deleterious effects on childrens adjustment.

Individual and Contextual Predictors of Cyberbullying: The Influence of Children's Provictim Attitudes and Teachers' Ability to Intervene.

Electronic social communication has provided a new context for children to bully and harass their peers and it is clear that cyberbullying is a growing public health concern in the US and abroad. The present study examined individual and contextual predictors of cyberbullying in a sample of 16, 634 students in grades 3–5 and 7–8. Data were obtained from a large cluster-randomized trial of the KiVa antibullying program that occurred in Finland between 2007 and 2009. Students completed measures at pre-intervention assessing provictim attitudes (defined as children’s beliefs that bullying is unacceptable, victims are acceptable, and defending victims is valued), perceptions of teachers’ ability to intervene in bullying, and cyberbullying behavior. Students with higher scores on provictim attitudes reported lower frequencies of cyberbullying. This relationship was true for individual provictim attitudes as well as the collective attitudes of students within classrooms. Teachers’ ability to intervene assessed at the classroom level was a unique, positive predictor of cyberbullying. Classrooms in which students collectively considered their teacher as capable of intervening to stop bullying had higher mean levels of cyberbullying frequency. Our findings suggest that cyberbullying and other indirect or covert forms of bullying may be more prevalent in classrooms where students collectively perceive their teacher’s ability to intervene in bullying as high. We found no evidence that individual or contextual effects were conditional on age or gender. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Relationship Quality and the Mentoring of Aggressive, High-Risk Children

We used data from a randomized clinical trial to examine the degree to which relationship quality predicted outcomes for aggressive children in two different mentoring programs. Data were available for 145 aggressive children in Grades 2 and 3. Children were blocked by school and randomly assigned to PrimeTime (n = 75) or Lunch Buddy (n = 70) programs. PrimeTime combined community-based mentoring with child-focused skills training and consultation for parents and teachers, and mentors were extensively trained and supervised. Lunch Buddy was a stand-alone, school-based mentoring program that involved lunchtime visits and a different mentor each semester. PrimeTime children rated their mentors as more supportive than did Lunch Buddy children. Relationship conflict predicted changes in teacher-rated externalizing problems. Ratings of relationship quality interacted with treatment in predicting changes in parent-rated externalizing behavior for PrimeTime children only.

Social Risk and Peer Victimization in Elementary School Children: The Protective Role of Teacher-Student Relationships

Children not accepted or actively rejected by peers are at greater risk for peer victimization. We examined whether a positive teacher-student relationship can potentially buffer these children from the risk of peer victimization. Participants were 361 elementary school children in the 4th or 5th grade. Peer-report measures were used to assess teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ), social preference, and rejected sociometric status; peer victimization was assessed via self-, peer-, and teacher-reports. As expected, social preference assessed in the fall semester was a significant negative predictor of self- and peer-reported victimization measured in the spring, controlling for prior levels of peer victimization. TSRQ in the fall was not a significant unique predictor of self-, peer-, or teacher-reported victimization the following spring, controlling for fall victimization and social preference scores. We found a significant interaction between social preference and TSRQ in predicting self-, peer-, and teacher-reported peer victimization: Social preference significantly predicted peer victimization, but only for those children with relatively poor student-teacher relationships. Subgroup analysis revealed that children actively rejected by peers in the fall reported significantly less peer victimization in the spring (controlling for fall victimization scores) when their fall TSRQ scores were at or above the sample mean compared to rejected children whose TSRQ scores were low (i.e., < −0.5 SD below the mean). Findings offer preliminary support for the notion that teacher-student relationship quality can buffer children at social risk for continued peer victimization.

Further Evaluation of the Forms and Functions of Aggression Measure within a Child Inpatient Population

The current study evaluated the factor structure of the forms and functions of aggression measure developed by Little, Jones, Henrich, and Hawley (2003) in a clinical inpatient sample using child and caregiver reports. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted with a sample of 189 children ranging in age from 6–12 years residing in a child psychiatric inpatient facility. The factor structure was replicated in this sample for both child and caregiver reports of aggression. Child and caregiver reports of proactive, but not reactive, aggression were associated with conduct problems. The implications of our findings are discussed for both research and practice.

Cortisol Predicts Behavioral Dysregulation and Length of Stay Among Children Admitted for Psychiatric Inpatient Treatment

Individual differences in behavioral regulation system (BRS) and stress response system (SRS) functioning may reflect greater biological sensitivity to context. The current study tested whether childrens cortisol, a measure of the SRS, was related to observed dysregulated behavior, an indicator of the BRS, in a sample of children admitted for acute psychiatric inpatient care. In addition, cortisol and dysregulated behavior were tested as unique predictors of length of hospitalization over and above demographic factors, prior treatment history, and caretaker-reported psychiatric symptoms. The latter variables were tested as potential moderators of the relations of BRS and SRS functioning to length of hospitalization. Plasma cortisol was collected on the morning following hospital admission for 544 children (ages 6–12; 73% boys; 61% ethnic minority). Dysregulated behavior was operationalized as the mean number of timeouts administered by staff for noncompliant behavior per day of hospitalization. Caretakers reported on youth internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Higher cortisol was modestly associated with greater dysregulated behavior. In a model including both cortisol and dysregulated behavior, each predicted longer hospitalization. Cortisol was positively related to length of stay only for children previously hospitalized, and the relation of dysregulated behavior to length of stay was stronger for older children. Dysregulated behavior and cortisol are related but independent predictors of acute psychiatric hospitalization duration. Direct measures of the SRS can add to the clinical picture regarding hospitalization in ways that observed behavior and caretaker report alone cannot.

Evidence for phase-based psychotherapy as a treatment for dissociative identity disorder comorbid with major depressive disorder and alcohol dependence

ABSTRACT We report on the treatment and successful outcome of a 58-year-old Native American male with a history of complex trauma presenting with dissociative identity disorder (DID) and major depressive disorder. The treatment included a trauma-informed phase-based psychotherapy as recommended by the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation for treating DID. We assessed symptoms at baseline and at three additional time points over the course of 14 months. We utilized the Reliable Change Index to examine statistically significant change in symptoms over the course of treatment. Significant symptom improvements were realized posttreatment across all measured domains of functioning, including dissociative symptoms, alcohol abuse, depression, anxiety, and emotion regulation skills. Moreover, the client no longer met criteria for DID, major depressive disorder, or alcohol abuse. Results are discussed in terms of the effectiveness of trauma-focused, phase-based treatment for DID for cases of complex trauma with comorbid disorders.

The associations between bullying victimization and internalizing distress, suicidality, and substance use in Jamaican adolescents: The moderating role of parental involvement

The present study investigated whether bullying victimization and parental involvement were associated with internalizing distress, suicidal thoughts and behavior, and substance use in Jamaican adolescents as well as whether parental involvement moderated the relation between bullying victimization and measures of psychological and behavioral distress. Analyses were based on a sample of 1,595 adolescents who were participating in the 2010 Global School-Based Student Health Survey. Data were collected using a complex survey design. Regression models were estimated using weighted data, which allowed us to draw conclusions about the population of Jamaican adolescents. Consistent with findings from international studies, bullying victimization was uniquely and positively associated with feelings of loneliness, sleep difficulties due to worry, smoking frequency, and suicidality for both male and female adolescents as well as with alcohol use frequency for female adolescents. Our pattern of findings also suggested that parental involvement is a more robust correlate of psychological and behavioral adjustment for female adolescents. Female adolescents who reported higher levels of parental involvement were less lonely and less likely to consider or plan suicide. For boys, parental involvement was only negatively related to loneliness. Finally, we found evidence that parental involvement moderated the relation between bullying victimization and cigarette use and considering suicide, although the latter finding was at the level of a nonsignificant trend. Our findings suggest parental involvement may attenuate the relation between bullying victimization and considering suicide but may strengthen the relation between bullying victimization and smoking. We discuss our findings in the context of Jamaican cultural socialization and with an appreciation for the social challenges faced by adolescents experiencing bullying victimization.

Functions of Aggression and Peer Victimization in Elementary School Children: the Mediating Role of Social Preference

This study examined whether social preference was a mechanism that explained the relation between proactive and reactive aggression and peer victimization. Participants were 494 children in grades 2–5. Proactive and reactive aggression was assessed via a self-report measure and indices of social preference and peer victimization were assessed via a peer nomination inventory. Data was collected during the fall and spring of two academic years. The relations among aggression, social preference, and peer victimization varied as a function of aggression and gender. For girls, reactive aggression was a significant negative predictor of social preference. Findings also revealed social preference mediated the relation between reactive aggression and peer victimization for girls. This pathway did not hold for boys. There was some evidence that proactive aggression was negatively associated with peer victimization, but only for girls. Findings from the current study suggest social preference may be a key mechanism through which reactive aggression is associated with future victimization for girls. Boys’ aggression was not related to subsequent peer victimization. Future research and intervention efforts should consider gender differences and the function of aggression when investigating children’s peer victimization experiences.