We investigated the role of physical characteristics of kindergartens' outdoor play areas in teacher-rated physical aggression (PAgg) among 423 children followed annually from ages two to four years. We used data from the Behaviour Outlook Norwegian Developmental Study which follows children from southeast Norway, a country where almost all two-…

The goal of this prospective longitudinal study was to explore whether co-occurrent internalizing difficulties and aggression in early childhood convey increased risk for later mental health problems in middle childhood. Participants were mothers from the "Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study" (MoBa), who provided assessments…

Feeling safe in school is important for students' learning, well-being, and quality of life. Variables possibly associated with feeling unsafe in school, such as mental health problems, traditional bullying, cyberbullying, and various health problems, were explored. Altogether, 2,028 adolescents (M[subscript age] = 14 years, 50% boys) from 72…

The aim of this study is to use Q methodology to explore how school staff experience the behaviours of children with Smith-Magenis Syndrome (SMS) in school and how they manage working with these children. Q methodology utilises by-person factor analysis to investigate subjectivity. Fourteen school staff of students with SMS in Norway participated…

Purpose: This study aims to examine the unique lived experiences of international graduate students in light of COVID-19 and the recent sociopolitical climate in the USA (e.g. Black Lives Matter movement, protests against anti-Asian hate crimes and gun violence). Design/methodology/approach: The authors used an exploratory qualitative design…

This study examined the role of: (1) empathic concern for victims of relational aggression (ECV); and (2) perspective taking (PT) in explaining self- and peer-reported relational aggression (RA) and relational inclusion (RI) in a sample of 345 adolescents. The direct association among ECV, PT and self- and peer-reported RA and RI was investigated.…

Although boys too are involved in relational aggression, their experiences are overshadowed by the focus on relational aggression among girls. This paradox mirrors the empirical puzzle that forms the starting point for this article: while teachers saw relational aggression as a 'girl problem', we found a vast undercurrent of relational aggression…

The aim of this study is to explore how students' reports of proactive aggressiveness and mental health problems are associated with their perception of classroom interaction when controlling for socioeconomic status, gender and grade level. Classroom interaction is understood in terms of teachers' emotional support, monitoring and instructional…

This article addresses school resistance in ethnic minority girls. Girls' school opposition is mostly described as covert. If described as hostile, it is rarely understood in terms of femininity. Through psychosocial analyses of extensive fieldwork and interviews with students in a Norwegian upper-secondary school, the article describes an…

This article approaches newcomer migrant girls' experiences with social competition and relational aggression. This the authors do through a detailed analysis of the interactional practices that a group of preschool-aged girls make use of as they socially exclude one of two newcomer migrant girls from participating in a sharing activity involving…

Relational aggression is a destructive behaviour that increases during adolescence. In order to develop effective interventions aimed to combat relational aggression, there is an urgent need to study what motivates this behaviour. This study investigates the association between status stress, status goals, and relational aggressive behaviour in a…

The aim of this study was to explore Norwegian early childhood education and care (ECEC) practitioners' perceptions and practices regarding children's indoor and outdoor rough-and-tumble play (R&T) from a gender perspective. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used together in a mixed method design to provide quantitative data…

Teaching and learning are at stake when classrooms become highly disruptive and pupils ignore the teacher's instructions and leadership. Re-establishing teacher authority in a highly disruptive school class is an understudied area. This instrumental multiple case study aimed to reveal concepts and conceptual frameworks that are suitable for…

Parents (n = 141) and preschool workers (n = 81) completed a survey regarding their perspectives towards: (a) the existence of bullying in preschool, (b) interpretations of bullying, (c) the roles of bullies and victims, and (d) gender differences. Findings suggest that both groups largely believe that bullying occurs in preschool. Excluding…

Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in aggression. Catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met (COMT), a common, functional polymorphism, has been implicated in aggression and aggression traits, as have childhood experiences of adversity. It is unknown whether these effects are additive or interactional and, in…