Zopito A. Marini

Evolutionary perspective on indirect victimization in adolescence: the role of attractiveness, dating and sexual behavior

We studied indirect victimization from an evolutionary perspective by examining links between this type of victimization and several indicators of attractiveness (past sexual behavior, dating frequency and physical appearance). Two thousand three hundred and nineteen (56% female) students (ages 13-18) from a region of southern Ontario, Canada, completed self-report measures of indirect victimization, physical appearance, dating frequency, recent sexual behavior (number of partners in previous month) and past sexual behavior (number of lifetime partners minus number of partners in previous month) as well as indexes of depression, aggression and attachment security, which were used to control for psychosocial maladjustment. Consistent with an evolutionary framework, physical appearance interacted significantly with gender, wherein attractive females were at greater risk for indirect victimization, whereas for males physical attractiveness was a protective factor, reducing risk of victimization. Physical appearance also interacted with grade, being inversely related to indirect victimization for younger adolescents and having a nonsignificant association with victimization for older youth. Finally, recent sexual behavior was associated with increased risk of indirect victimization for older adolescents only, which we discussed with regard to peer perceptions of promiscuity and short-term mating strategies. These findings have important implications for the development of interventions designed to reduce peer victimization, in that victims of indirect aggression may represent a rather broad, heterogeneous group, including attractive individuals with no obvious signs of maladjustment.

Cognitive development : neo-Piagetian perspectives

1. From Piaget to the Neo-Piagetians. 2. The Theory of J. Pascual-Leone. 3. Structuralist Approaches to Developmental Stages. Problem Solving in Children. 4. The Cyclical Nature of Skill Development. 5. Structures and Processes in Cases Theory of Development. 6. Cognitive Development as Change in Representations. 7. Cognitive Development and Emotional Development. 8. Applications. 9. In Conclusion.

Working memory and children's developing understanding of mind

Abstract Recent work on the mechanisms underlying childrens developing theories of mind have identified information-processing capacity as a factor that contributes to childrens developing understanding of false belief (Davis & Pratt, 1995). One hundred children 3 to 5 years of age were given a set of false belief tasks and a measure of working memory. A major goal of the study was to replicate the findings of Davis and Pratt using a wider set of false belief tasks and a different measure of working memory. The present study tested the hypothesis that working memory would predict childrens performance on the false belief tasks. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that, when the effects of age were controlled for, working memory accounted for 7.4% of the variance in childrens false belief scores. The findings support those of Davis and Pratt, and extend them through the use of another measure of working memory. It is concluded that, while the findings indicate a role for working memory in the dev...

Peer relationships and internalizing problems in adolescents: mediating role of self‐esteem

This study examined whether self‐esteem mediated the association between peer relationships and internalizing problems (i.e., depression and social anxiety). A total of 7290 (3756 girls) adolescents (ages 13–18 years) completed self‐report measures of peer relationships, including direct and indirect victimization, social isolation, friendship attachment (alienation and trust) and friendship quality (conflict and support), as well as self‐esteem, social anxiety and depression. Regression analyses indicated that self‐esteem partially mediated the relations between social isolation, friendship attachment (alienation) and both depression and social anxiety, whereas friendship attachment (trust) was a partial mediator for depression only. Overall, linkages between peer relationships and depression were more strongly mediated by self‐esteem than those between peer relationships and social anxiety. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

Adolescent Bullying, Dating, and Mating

Traditionally believed to be the result of maladaptive development, bullying perpetration is increasingly being viewed as a potentially adaptive behavior. We were interested in determining whether adolescents who bully others enjoy a key evolutionary benefit: increased dating and mating (sexual) opportunities. This hypothesis was tested in two independent samples consisting of 334 adolescents and 144 university students. The data partly supported our prediction that bullying, but not victimization, would predict dating behavior. The data for sexual behavior more clearly supported our hypothesis that bullying behavior predicts an increase in sexual opportunities even when accounting for age, sex, and self-reports of attractiveness, likeability, and peer victimization. These results are generally congruent with the hypothesis that bullying perpetration is, at least in part, an evolutionary adaptive behavior.

Incivility in the practice environment: A perspective from clinical nursing teachers

This paper advances a notion of incivility as a precursor to a continuum of antisocial acts culminating in bullying behaviour. Clinical teachers (CTs), working with undergraduate nursing students in a variety of clinical settings from a large urban centre, were studied. Using a mixed method design, CTs were asked to define and describe the nature, type and frequency of uncivil encounters. Data was collected across four practice settings, which included, acute care, maternal child, community and mental health. To unpack the complex nature of incivility we applied a conceptual model based on bullying behaviour which permitted us to analyze CTs narratives for both form (i.e., direct vs. indirect incivility) and function (i.e., reactive vs. proactive). The results suggest that indirect incivility was the most prevalent subtype narrative reported. One of the implications of this study is that nurse educators can help new clinical students recognize the different subtypes of in/civility in the practice environment as an essential first step before targeted intervention programs can be developed and implemented to create civil learning and safer working environments.

Adolescent Non-Involvement in Multiple Risk Behaviors: An Indicator of Successful Development?

Based on the conceptualization of successful development as the joint maximization of desirable outcomes and minimization of undesirable outcomes (Baltes, 1997), the present study examined connections between adolescent non-involvement in multiple risk behaviors and positive developmental status. Results from a survey of 7290 high school students were used to define four profiles of risk behavior involvement (complete non-involvement, some involvement, some high-risk involvement, predominantly high-risk involvement) based on self-reported involvement in nine risk behaviors (alcohol, smoking, marijuana, hard drugs, sexual activity, minor and major delinquency, direct and indirect aggression). Groups were compared across intrapersonal (risk behavior attitudes, temperament, well-being, religiosity, academic orientation), interpersonal (parental relations, parental monitoring, friendship quality, victimization, unstructured activities), and environmental (school climate, neighborhood conditions) domains. Despite some similarities between the complete non-involvement and some involvement groups, the complete non-involvement group had the most positive self-reports compared to each of the other groups in each developmental domain. At the same time, higher levels of positive development were not exclusive to the complete non-involvement group. Implications for research and theory related to connections between adolescent non-involvement in risk behaviors and successful development are discussed.

Multiple Pathways to Bullying: Tailoring Educational Practices to Variations in Students’ Temperament and Brain Function

In this chapter we examine the characteristics of children with emotionally dysregulated or callous-unempathic temperaments, making reference to underlying neural models, with a view to illustrating the potential benefits of tailoring classroom management strategies to address different kinds of bullying. Drawing upon research examining parenting children with different temperaments, we suggest ways in which teachers may enhance the self-regulation abilities of emotionally dysregulated children who are prone to reactive aggression, including the use of reasoning and explanation in disciplinary situations, facilitating autonomous decision making and conflict resolution, teaching self-control and relaxation techniques, and modeling effective emotion regulation. Similarly, we use this research as a basis for advocating ways for teachers to prevent children with callous-unempathic temperaments from bullying in a proactive, premediated manner, emphasizing the cultivation of a positive teacher–student relationship and the development problem-solving skills in lieu of appeals to empathy and remorse.

Supporting fathering through infant massage

Fathers may feel dissatisfied with their ability to form a close attachment with their infants in the early postpartum period, which, in turn, may increase their parent-related stress. Our study sought to determine if an infant massage intervention assisted fathers with decreasing stress and increasing bonding with their infants during this time. To address the complex father‐infant relationship, we conducted a pilot study using a mixed methodology approach. Twelve infant‐father dyads participated in the intervention, and 12 infant‐father dyads populated a wait-list control group. Paternal stress was measured using the Parenting Stress Index at baseline and at postintervention. We found infant massage instruction significantly decreased paternal stress. Our findings were also supported by the qualitative data and suggest fathers may benefit from applied postnatal education.

Paternal Care May Influence Perceptions of Paternal Resemblance

Father-child resemblance is increasingly attracting attention from researchers interested in studying paternal investment. The current study sought to determine whether a quasi-experimental infant massage intervention would increase fathers perceptions of resemblance. The study included a dozen fathers in each of two groups: the first received an intensive series of lessons on infant-father massage along with their infants, while the second group served as a neutral control. We failed to find significant correlations between paternal investment and resemblance, but we found that fathers who participated in the infant massage intervention reported significantly larger post-study ratings of resemblance and lower ratings of paternal stress. This suggests that the relationship between father-child resemblance and paternal investment may be bidirectional.