Sarah Lindstrom Johnson

Improving the school environment to reduce school violence: A review of the literature

BACKGROUND School violence can impact the social, psychological, and physical well-being of both students and teachers and disrupt the learning process. This review focuses on a new area of research, the mechanisms by which the school environment determines the likelihood of school violence. METHODS A search for peer-reviewed articles was made in six databases and the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions report on school-violence interventions. Twenty-five articles that attempted to understand the influence of either the school social or physical environment in determining teacher and student perceptions of safety and experiences of violence were included. RESULTS Most of the included articles were cross-sectional surveys of junior high or high school students and staff. As articles used different measures of the school physical and social environment, a classification system was created. Using this system, studies show that schools with less violence tend to have students who are aware of school rules and believe they are fair, have positive relationships with their teachers, feel that they have ownership in their school, feel that they are in a classroom and school environment that is positive and focused on learning, and in an environment that is orderly. CONCLUSION The school social and physical environment appears to offer intervention opportunities to reduce school violence. However, the lack of consistency in school environment variables as well as the lack of longitudinal and experimental research designs limits the applicability of these findings.

Measuring School Climate in High Schools: A Focus on Safety, Engagement, and the Environment.

BACKGROUND School climate has been linked to multiple student behavioral, academic, health, and social-emotional outcomes. The US Department of Education (USDOE) developed a 3-factor model of school climate comprised of safety, engagement, and environment. This article examines the factor structure and measurement invariance of the USDOE model. METHODS Drawing upon 2 consecutive waves of data from over 25,000 high school students (46% minority), a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses examined the fit of the Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools Climate Survey with the USDOE model. RESULTS The results indicated adequate model fit with the theorized 3-factor model of school climate, which included 13 subdomains: safety (perceived safety, bullying and aggression, and drug use); engagement (connection to teachers, student connectedness, academic engagement, school connectedness, equity, and parent engagement); environment (rules and consequences, physical comfort, and support, disorder). We also found consistent measurement invariance with regard to student sex, grade level, and ethnicity. School-level interclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.04 to .10 for the scales. CONCLUSIONS Findings supported the USDOE 3-factor model of school climate and suggest measurement invariance and high internal consistency of the 3 scales and 13 subdomains. These results suggest the 56-item measure may be a potentially efficient, yet comprehensive measure of school climate.

Examining the Link between Neighborhood Context and Parental Messages to their Adolescent Children About Violence

PURPOSE Living in violent neighborhoods has been shown to alter adolescents social cognitions and increase aggressive behavior. A similar process may also occur for parents and result in parental support of aggressive behavior. This research examines the influence of perceived neighborhood violence and neighborhood collective efficacy on parental attitudes toward violence and the messages they give their adolescent children about how to resolve interpersonal conflict. METHOD Data were collected from 143 African American parents and their adolescent children recruited from three inner-city middle schools to participate in a parenting intervention. Models were fit using structural equation modeling in Mplus. RESULTS Contrary to expectations, exposure to neighborhood violence was not predictive of either aggressive attitudes or conflict solutions for parents or adolescents. Rather, a mixed effect was found for neighborhood collective efficacy, with higher perceived neighborhood collective efficacy related to less violent attitudes for adolescents but not for parents. Collective efficacy also predicted the messages that parents gave their adolescents about interpersonal conflict, with higher collective efficacy related to messages that were less supportive of violence. CONCLUSION Parent and adolescent perception of neighborhood collective efficacy influences the messages that adolescents receive about interpersonal conflict resolution. This suggests that for parents living in violent neighborhoods, their appraisal of the neighborhood is more important in shaping conflict resolution messages than their own experiences with violence. Parent- and family-based programs to prevent youth violence need to address neighborhood factors that influence the messages adolescents receive about how to resolve conflict.

Future orientation: a construct with implications for adolescent health and wellbeing.

Abstract Multidisciplinary research has supported a relationship between adolescent future orientation (the ability to set future goals and plans) and positive adolescent health and development outcomes. Many preventive strategies – for example, contracepting, exercising – are based on taking actions in the present to avoid unwanted or negative future consequences. However, research has been hampered by unclear and often divergent conceptualizations of the future orientation construct. The present paper aims to integrate previous conceptual and operational definitions into a conceptual framework that can inform programs and services for youth and efforts to evaluate future orientation as a target for intervention. Recommendations focus on furthering the study of the construct through measurement synthesis as well as studies of the normative development of future orientation. Also suggested is the need to pair environmental intervention strategies with individual level efforts to improve future orientation in order to maximize benefits.

Examining the Association Between Bullying and Adolescent Concerns About Teen Dating Violence

BACKGROUND The school environment is an important context for understanding risk factors for teen dating violence. This study seeks to add to the growing literature base linking adolescent experiences with bullying and involvement with teen dating violence. METHODS Data were collected from 27,074 adolescents at 58 high schools via a Web-based survey. RESULTS Three-level hierarchical linear models indicated that adolescents who had been bullied were more concerned about both physical and emotional dating violence among students at their school. Schools that were perceived by students as safer were rated as having lower levels of teen dating violence. Older students and male students consistently reported greater concerns about dating violence. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that adolescents who experience bullying may also have concerns about violence in teen dating relationships. Findings also indicate that schools perceived as being unsafe may be an important context for targeting dating violence prevention efforts.

Urban African American Parents’ Messages About Violence:

Family socialization, which includes parental control and support, plays an important role in reducing the likelihood of adolescent involvement in conflict. This study examined the strategies that urban parents living in neighborhoods with high crime rates suggest to help their adolescent children avoid or deescalate conflict. Data came from 48 African American parent/adolescent dyads recruited through the youths’ middle school. Dyads responded to three video-taped scenarios depicting youth in potential conflict situations. Qualitative methods were used to identify 11 strategies parents suggested to help youth avoid or deescalate conflict. Although the majority of parents advocated for nonviolent solutions, these same parents described situations in which their child may need to use violence. These findings have important implications for family-focused violence prevention programs.

The Role of Bystander Perceptions and School Climate in Influencing Victims' Responses to Bullying: To Retaliate or Seek Support?

In order to reduce aggressive responses to bullying, schools nationwide have begun to implement bullying prevention programs that advise students to tell an adult, walk away, or ask the bully to stop. While previous work has demonstrated that individual differences (e.g., gender) influence the likelihood of students choosing assertive responses in lieu of aggressive responses, there has been less research on understanding how aspects of the school climate affect students’ responses to bullying. This study explores how perceptions of teacher and student intervention as well as perceptions of school safety and connectedness influence students’ likelihood of responding aggressively (i.e., retaliating) or seeking support from an adult. These data come from an online school climate survey administered to 25,308 students in 58 high schools. Three-level hierarchical linear modeling was conducted on a subset of 6,493 students who reported being bullied in the past year. Results suggest that bystander perceptions and school climate play a role in influencing students’ responses to bullying, both by decreasing the likelihood of victims using an aggressive response and increasing their likelihood of seeking support from school staff. Interventions that focus more holistically on changing school climate may better interrupt the cycle of violence.

A Focus on Implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in High Schools: Associations With Bullying and Other Indicators of School Disorder

Abstract. There is growing interest in the use of a multitiered system of supports framework to address issues related to school climate and bullying. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is one such model that has received considerable attention; however, nearly all of the extant literature has focused on elementary and middle schools, with limited research on high schools. Furthermore, research on PBIS implementation in high schools, particularly in relation to school context, is scant. The current article examined the adoption and implementation of PBIS in 31 high schools randomly assigned to implement PBIS, within the context of a larger 58 high school randomized trial. We first present descriptive data on the rollout of the core features of PBIS, as measured by a set of research-based implementation tools administered by outside observers. We then explore the extent to which baseline rates of bullying and other school-level indicators of disorder were associated with the adoption of the multitiered PBIS framework over the course of 2 years. Multilevel analyses on the longitudinal implementation data indicated that schools with higher baseline rates of bullying generally implemented PBIS with greater fidelity over time. This suggests that schools with increased bullying may be particularly motivated to adopt PBIS. However, other baseline indicators of disorder were generally not associated with PBIS implementation and thus do not appear to be barriers to adoption. Implications for implementation research and practice in high schools are discussed.

Research and statistics: a question of time: cross-sectional versus longitudinal study designs.

1. Sarah Lindstrom Johnson, PhD* 1. *General Academic Pediatrics Fellow, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. You are seeing a 12-year-old boy who has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Like so many of his peers, he loves video games and spends many hours a day playing. You know that gamers spend an average of 8 hours each week playing. Besides the lost opportunity to exercise, you begin to wonder about the effect of video games on behavior. Are children who play video games more likely to have ADHD? Embedded in your question are two possible lines of inquiry: 1) Does video game playing cause ADHD? and 2) Are children who have ADHD more likely to play video games? Each question suggests a slightly different study design (Table). View this table: Table. Summary of Designs In cross-sectional study designs, data collection occurs at one point in time. In longitudinal study designs, subjects are followed over time, with data collection occurring …

Exploring the Patient and Staff Experience With the Process of Primary Care

PURPOSE Previous studies suggest that the highest-risk patients value accessible, coordinated primary care that they perceive to be of high technical quality. We have limited understanding, however, of how low-income, chronically ill patients and the staff who care for them experience each individual step in the primary care process. METHODS We conducted qualitative interviews with uninsured or Medicaid patients with chronic illnesses, as well as with primary care staff. We interviewed 21 patients and 30 staff members with a variety of job titles from 3 primary care practices (1 federally qualified health center and 2 academically affiliated clinics).] RESULTS The interviews revealed 3 major issues that were present at all stages of a primary care episode: (1) information flow throughout an episode of care is a frequent challenge, despite systems that are intended to improve communication; (2) misaligned goals and expectations among patients, clinicians, and staff members are often an impediment to providing and obtaining care; and (3) personal relationships are highly valued by both patients and staff. CONCLUSIONS Vulnerable populations and the primary care staff who work with them perceive some of the same challenges throughout the primary care process. Improving information flow, aligning goals and expectations, and developing personal relationships may improve the experience of both patients and staff.