Linda Bloomfield

The Association between Direct and Relational Bullying and Behaviour Problems among Primary School Children

The prevalence of direct and relational bullying and their differential relationship to behaviour problems in young primary school children was investigated. Individual interviews were conducted with 1982 children aged 6 9 years (mean age 7.6 years) and 1639 parents completed the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire regarding behaviour problems of their children. Of the 1639 children with both data sets, 4.3% were direct bullies, 39.8 % victims, and 10.2% both bullied and were victimised frequently (bully/victims). The rates for relational bullying were 1.1% bullies, 37.9% victims, and 5.9% bully/victims. All children involved in direct bullying had significantly increased total behaviour problems, hyperactivity, conduct problems, and peer problem scores, and lower prosocial behaviour scores compared to those not involved in bullying (neutrals). Findings were similar for relational bullying involvement and behaviour problems for bully/victims and victims but less pronounced. Relational bullies had the lowest behaviour problem scores while being rated the least prosocially inclined children, consistent with the concept of a cool manipulator. Overall, direct bully/victims and children who were involved in both direct and relational bullying behaviour had the highest rates of behaviour problems. No relationship between victimisation and increased emotional problems were found. Those involved in bullying behaviour who show externalising and hyperactivity problems in primary school may be at increased risk for persistent conduct problems. Different interventions may be needed for those involved in relational bullying only, both direct and relational bullying, and those with additional behaviour problems.

Bullying involvement in primary school and common health problems

AIMS To examine the association of direct (e.g. hitting) and relational (e.g. hurtful manipulation of peer relationships) bullying experience with common health problems. METHODS A total of 1639 children (aged 6–9 years) in 31 primary schools were studied in a cross sectional study that assessed bullying with a structured child interview and common health problems using parent reports. Main outcome measures were common physical (e.g. colds/coughs) and psychosomatic (e.g. night waking) health problems and school absenteeism. RESULTS Of the children studied, 4.3% were found to be direct bullies, 10.2% bully/victims (i.e. both bully and become victims), and 39.8% victims. Direct bully/victims, victims, and girls were most likely to have physical health symptoms (e.g. repeated sore throats, colds, and coughs). Direct bully/victims, direct victims, and year 2 children were most likely to have high psychosomatic health problems (e.g. poor appetite, worries about going to school). Pure bullies (who never got victimised) had the least physical or psychosomatic health problems. No association between relational bullying and health problems was found. CONCLUSIONS Direct bullying (e.g. hitting) has only low to moderate associations with common health problems in primary school children. Nevertheless, health professionals seeing children with repeated sore throat, colds, breathing problems, nausea, poor appetite, or school worries should consider bullying as contributory factor. Key messages Bullying is widespread among primary school children. Many bullies are also victims of bullying At primary school age, the effects of bullying on health and school absenteeism are less strong than reported for secondary school children “Pure” bullies are healthier children compared to victims and bully/victims, suggesting that they have a constitution that allows them to be dominant in inappropriate ways Health professionals seeing children with repeated sore throat, colds and coughs, breathing problems, nausea, poor appetite or worries about going to school should consider bullying as contributory factor

Parenting self-efficacy, parenting stress and child behaviour before and after a parenting programme

AIM To explore whether changes in parenting self-efficacy after attending a parenting programme are related to changes in parenting stress and child behaviour. BACKGROUND Adverse parenting is a risk factor in the development of a range of health and behavioural problems in childhood and is predictive of poor adult outcomes. Strategies for supporting parents are recognised as an effective way to improve the health, well-being and development of children. Parenting is influenced by many factors including the behaviour and characteristics of the child, the health and psychological well-being of the parent and the contextual influences of stress and support. Parenting difficulties are a major source of stress for parents, and parenting self-efficacy has been shown to be an important buffer against parenting stress. METHODS In all, 63 parents who had a child under the age of 10 years took part in the research. Of those, 58 returned completed measures of parenting self-efficacy, parenting stress and child behaviour at the start of a parenting programme and 37 at three-month follow-up. FINDINGS Improvements in parenting self-efficacy and parenting stress were found at follow-up, but there was less evidence for improvements in child behaviour. The findings clearly suggest a relationship between parenting self-efficacy and parenting stress; parents who are feeling less efficacious experience higher levels of stress, whereas greater parenting self-efficacy is related to less stress. This study adds to the evidence that parent outcomes may be a more reliable measure of programme effectiveness than child outcomes at least in the short term.

Efficacy of a group-based parenting program on stress and self-efficacy among Japanese mothers: A quasi-experimental study

Early child development and the impact of parenting on later life are of global concern. The rise in child abuse and maltreatment in Japan suggests that measures to increase self-efficacy and reduce stress would benefit Japanese parents. In this study, we explored if Japanese parents attending a 123Magic parenting program reported reduced stress and enhanced self-efficacy. Questionnaire data were collected from 49 mothers attending a parenting program conducted in public nursery schools in one prefecture in Japan. There were significant changes in parenting self-efficacy scores (P < 0.001) and parenting stress scores (P < 0.01). Focus groups with 16 parents also found that there were benefits to parents in terms of increased confidence and less stress. The findings provide support for the role of public health nurses in delivering group-based parenting support in Japan.

Evaluation of services for children with complex needs: mapping service provision in one NHS Trust.

AIM The aim of this paper is to identify and descriptively map the key characteristics of the model of service delivery in operation, and to explore the user, carer and professional experience of service provision. This included an exploration of congruity and mismatch between the different stakeholder groups. BACKGROUND In the United Kingdom (UK), 15% of the children under five years of age and 20% of the 5 to 15-year age group are reported to have a complex long-term condition, with the likelihood of having a condition increasing according to socio-economic circumstances. An increasing number of young people with complex needs are now surviving into late adolescence and early adulthood. However, service provision for children with complex needs is an area that, nationally, has been underdeveloped. METHODS An exploratory single-site case study was undertaken across one Primary Care Trust in the UK. Documentary and policy review were undertaken along with in-depth qualitative exploration. Eighteen in-depth interviews were undertaken with relevant stakeholders and professionals across the multidisciplinary teams. Families with children between 12 months and 16 years of age who have continuing complex care needs were invited to take part in an interview to give their views about the care they receive. Interviews focused on the family experience and understanding of the childs condition, transition between secondary and primary care, effectiveness of admission and discharge planning and the overall contribution of different professionals. Professionals were also asked about their experiences of delivering care. Findings This study highlighted issues of communication between professionals and with parents and children as a major factor in determining the quality of service provision. Key aspects relating to the model of service provision, namely, paucity of communication, interagency collaboration and the parent as health worker, are highlighted. CONCLUSIONS Parents experienced both health and social service communication challenges when seeking care for their child. These challenges can be located within a general systems theory and hierarchy approaches to understand the complexity of service provision.

TOPSE: the development of an instrument to measure parenting self­‐efficacy as an aid to evaluating the effectiveness of parenting programmes.

Objectives?The aim of this study is to develop robust outcome measures, which draw on well-developed theoretical constructs, that measure parents perceived ability to manage their children and which are applicable in the UK context. An instrument to measure parenting self-efficacy will enable a rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of different types of parenting programmes as well as pre- and post-course measures of individual programmes and will facilitate an evaluation of the longer-term effects on the well-being of parents and their children. Methods?Focus groups were conducted with a diverse range of parents and with parenting programme facilitators to discover what are the major challenges and difficulties surrounding parenting at different stages of being a parent from infancy through to school entry. We used the evidence base provided by the focus group discussions and from the literature on parenting and self-efficacy to inform the instrument. Self-efficacy statements were developed in Likert-format and a multi-method approach was used to test and refine the instrument. Instrument validity and cultural sensitivity were checked by a panel of experts from the fields of self-efficacy and parenting, and by parents. Internal and external reliability were analysed using SPSS. Results?In total 70 participants took part in twelve focus groups and a diverse range of consistent themes emerged surrounding behaviour management, self-control, self-acceptance, empathy and affection. Nine domain specific subscales of parenting self-efficacy were identified from the analysis of the focus group transcripts. Cronbachs alpha coefficients for the subscales ranged from 0.80 to 0.89, the full-scale alpha (82 items) was equal to 0.94. Spearmans correlation coefficients for a control group of parents ranged from rs?=?0.58, n?=?19, p<0.01 to rs?=?0.88, n?=?19, p<0.01. There was a significant difference in scores between parents identified as having parenting difficulties and the control group on all but one subscale. Conclusion?An instrument to measure parenting self-efficacy in the UK has been developed from the evidence provided by parents and parenting programme facilitators. The instrument has been developed from a sound theoretical framework and is currently being piloted to measure the effectiveness of parenting programmes in the UK.Objectives : The study was designed to investigate life satisfaction (l.s.) judgments as they occur spontaneously in everyday life, rather than being constructed in response to a researchers question. Methods : A convenience sample of 50 adults from Melbourne, Australia, was employed. Half had at least some university education; the other half did not. In an in-depth, structured interview, participants were asked to recall – if they could do so – an occasion when they had spontaneously made a judgment about their l.s. The circumstances in which the judgment had been made and the thoughts that had entered into it were elicited. Results : Main findings included : (a) All participants were able to recall an occasion when they had spontaneously made a l.s. judgment. (b) Judgments that life was good and that life was bad were equally common. (c) Judgments invariably involved comparisons with various standards (e.g., what one had versus what one wanted, what one had versus what one deserved, what one had versus what one expected to have). (d) However, upward and downward social comparisons were relatively rare. (e) Judgments were commonly based on events relating to just one or two areas of life, rather than a review of many different areas. (f) The areas of life involved were invariably those impacting very directly on participants. (g) While the thoughts entering into the judgment generally went beyond consideration just of a specific situation, they usually did not encompass large sweeps of time. (h) There was very little to distinguish judgments of more- and less-educated participants. Conclusions : Findings are compared and contrasted with those typically obtained using the more standard approach of asking participants to rate their 1.s.