Laura M. Crothers

Middle School Students’ Preferences for Anti-Bullying Interventions

In this study, 285 middle school students in the United States were surveyed to obtain their preferences regarding anti-bullying intervention strategies. Participants rated their preferences for 15 common anti-bullying intervention strategies involving teachers, students, and non-teaching staff. The strategies were generated based on a review of the literature. Overall, students rated seven of the 15 strategies as being ‘sometimes’ or ‘almost always’ helpful. Participants tended to prefer intervention strategies in which teachers effectively managed their classrooms, thereby deterring bullying, as well as providing direct assistance to students. The results were also suggestive of students desiring teachers to be proactive in helping them solve bully-victim conflicts. Students tended not to prefer strategies that involved non-teaching staff.

Tackling a Problematic Behavior Management Issue: Teachers' Intervention in Childhood Bullying Problems.

In coping with and addressing a common child behavioral problem, classroom teachers may benefit from viewing bullying as a behavior management issue in the educational setting. The authors offer eight suggestions that specifically address childhood bullying problems in the classroom. Teachers can add these to their toolkit of behavior management strategies.

Cliques, Rumors, and Gossip by the Water Cooler: Female Bullying in the Workplace

Aggression in the workplace has developed as a topic of interest to many in the past decade. Although aggression has been traditionally distinguished in the theoretical and empirical literature as sexual aggression (harassment) and nonsexual aggression, in this manuscript the authors will argue that there are also unique characteristics as well as effects upon recipients of a particular kind of nonsexual aggression: workplace bullying. In particular, a specific type of bullying primarily used by women, relational aggression, will be reviewed and recommendations for managers in addressing relational aggression and bullying in the workplace will be offered.

Development and Measurement Through Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Young Adult Social Behavior Scale (YASB): An Assessment of Relational Aggression in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

The Young Adult Social Behavior Scale was developed for the purpose of measuring self-reported relational and social aggression and behaviors of interpersonal maturity in adolescents and young adults (the sample included 629 university students; 66% female; 91.6% White). Despite previous research suggesting that relational and social aggression comprise a single paradigm, there is emerging evidence that indirect, social, and relational aggression are, in fact, separate constructs. In accordance with this more recent research, in this study, confirmatory factor analysis supports that the Young Adult Social Behavior Scale measures three internally consistent constructs: relationally aggressive behaviors, socially aggressive behaviors, and interpersonally mature behaviors.

Bullying and Evolutionary Psychology: The Dominance Hierarchy among Students and Implications for School Personnel.

Abstract The phenomenon of childhood bullyingisconceptualized from an evolutionary psychological perspective. In this manuscript, the research literature is examined regarding the role of the relationship between aggression, testosterone, and social status in the development and maintenance of dominance hierarchies, which involve a reciprocal relationship between physical, social, and psychological variables. The evolutionary advantage of the dominance hierarchy is explored, and it is contrasted with eminence, an alternative form of establishing social status. Childhood bullying is suggested to be one of the central mechanisms in the establishment of dominance hierarchies in school systems. Implications for prevention of and intervention in bullying for school personnel are discussed.

Maltreatment and depression in adolescent sexual offenders with an autism spectrum disorder

This study examined the self-reported presence and severity of abuse, neglect, and depressive symptoms for 43 adolescents adjudicated delinquent due to a sexual offense. Twenty-seven of the adolescent sexual offenders were also diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, and 16 did not carry an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Both groups reported moderate to high levels of abuse and neglect. Adolescent sexual offenders with an autism spectrum disorder reported significantly higher depressive symptoms than those without an autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, of the group with an autism spectrum disorder, those reporting severe levels of emotional abuse and/or emotional neglect were more likely to also have depressive symptoms. Results suggest a need to tailor treatment programs to match the unique needs of sexual offenders.

A Preliminary Study of Bully and Victim Behavior in Old-for-Grade Students: Another Potential Hidden Cost of Grade Retention or Delayed School Entry

Mounting evidence suggests that being an old-for-grade student, as a result of grade retention or delayed school entry, is related to negative outcomes across various domains of functioning. No known study has examined the relations between old-for-grade status and specific childhood/adolescent bully and victim behaviors. The first purpose of this preliminary study was to determine whether old-for-grade students engage in significantly more relational bullying, verbal bullying, and physical bullying compared with age-appropriate-for-grade peers. The second purpose was to establish whether old-for-grade students are more likely to play passive or aggressive/provocative victim roles compared with age-appropriate-for-grade students. A total of 16 public and private school teachers completed a bullying behavior questionnaire regarding each of their students. The authors analyzed data from 276 students; of these, 67 were old-for-grade students and 209 were age-appropriate-for-grade students. Findings suggest that old-for-grade status is related to significantly more bullying behavior and victim behavior compared with age-appropriate-for-grade peers. In addition, the authors discuss the critical implications of these research findings.

Callous and Unemotional Traits and Social Cognitive Processes in a Sample of Community-Based Aggressive Youth

Psychopathic traits are associated with violent, aggressive behaviors and recidivism in adulthood. To increase positive treatment outcomes, it is arguably beneficial to identify and treat psychopathy as early as possible. Furthermore, because research shows that the effectiveness of behavior modification is likely to be affected by the social information–processing patterns of aggressive children, it is important to understand the relationship between conduct-disordered traits and social cognitions. The results of this study showed that callous/unemotional traits in a community-based sample of behavior-disordered youth (57 male, 19 female; 10-19 years of age; 63% African American) significantly predicted values in obtaining a tangible reward and getting into trouble or being punished. However, callous/unemotional traits, impulsivity/conduct problems, and narcissism failed to predict positive expectations regarding receiving a tangible reward, reducing aversive treatment, and demonstration of dominance. Implications for these results are presented.

Femininity and Depression Mediated by Social and Relational Aggression in Late Adolescence

Although studies have found a relation between the use of relational aggression and depressive symptomatology, there is less evidence for the relation of the role of gender identity in these processes. Consequently, this study investigated the roles of social and relational aggression and feminine gender role identity in depressive symptoms among late adolescent females. For this study, authors designed and tested a model through path analysis, which involved the variables of femininity, relational aggression, and social aggression. Six hundred and ninety-seven female college students completed the Beck Depression Inventory—Second Edition, the Young Adult Social Behavior Scale, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Results indicated that although femininity is unrelated to relational and social aggression, the use of social and relational aggression by more feminine late adolescent females relates to higher levels of depression in this sample.

The Role of Mental Health Counselors in Promoting School–Family Collaboration Within the Tiered School-Wide Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (SWPBIS) Model:

Family–school collaboration has been shown to increase positive educational and social outcomes for students. We propose an integrated theoretical model from which mental health counselors may intervene within the tiered intervention levels of the School-Wide Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support framework. We describe the use of a structural family therapy (SFT) framework to both assess the relationship between family and school personnel and identify objectives for family collaboration. Finally, we describe how techniques and processes from SFT and solution-focused therapy can be used to enhance the relationship and collaboration between families and school personnel.