Purpose: An increasing non-drinker population is developing, but much research focusses on alcohol misuse, rather than the experiences of those who abstain or consume little alcohol, particularly within student populations. This student co-constructed qualitative research aimed to understand alcohol abstainer and light drinking students'…

A common theme across psychological research on belonging in school has been a focus on the social--on the quality of students' connections to others in the school environment. In this review, I argue that when a student indicates that they do or do not "feel like I belong at my school," social connections are necessary but not…

The sense of belonging satisfies the need for relatedness which is one of the three basic psychological needs. It is considered to be a foundation for success in higher education. One of the predictors of sense of belonging from a psychological perspective is students' personality in the sense of Big Five traits. There are three modes in which…

Research has established the significance of social achievement goals in shaping adolescents' academic engagement. However, the precise mechanisms underpinning this connection remain incomplete. In two studies involving U.S. middle school students (Study 1 N = 212, Study 2 N = 318), we explored the relationship between social achievement goals,…

Children live complex social lives that has various aspects, including intimate friendships, peer-acceptance and bullying dynamics which is usually studied separately in research. This study aims to investigate the interplays of these three important fields by analyzing the moderating effects of number of friendships on the relation between…

Persistence across undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs is exceptionally low. Recent studies have shown that social support and sense of belonging are particularly important for students who are historically underrepresented in STEM, yet few interventions have directly targeted or investigated these…

Despite the importance of centering autistic perspectives in educational decision-making for autistic children, few studies have directly assessed autistic perspectives on the social acceptability of early childhood practices. We conducted an online survey to recruit perspectives of autistic adults on a current, comprehensive range of educational…

The purpose of this study was to explore how peer support schemes can be used to facilitate meaningful relationships and a sense of belonging for underrepresented students. Using three case studies, the study explored and compared peer support leaders' narratives about their experiences at three universities: one in the United Kingdom (UK), one in…

Bullying in school has become a public health problem. Among the various bullying's risk factors, the vulnerabilities associated with socio-emotional skills stand out. The present study aims to explore the relationship between bullying, victimization, self-concept, and empathy; to test differences in victimization and bullying between boys and…

Sense of belonging is a fundamental human need that can raise the chances of self-actualization and academic success in college. Latine and other historically underrepresented student groups may experience greater challenges in this area than White students due to a greater propensity for feelings of belonging uncertainty, perceptions of…

This paper aims to analyze the impact of body dissatisfaction on communication competencies among engineering college students and to put forth remedial strategies. As body dissatisfaction is still a grey area in research-related communication competencies, the researchers have focused on this arena. Sixty-one heterogeneous participants (male = 30…

Background: Negative outcomes of peer dislike may be especially severe in early adolescence, when peers play a crucial role in individual adjustment. However, it remains unclear whether peer dislike predicts later emotional and motivational aspects of school adjustment, and if the negative outcomes are more pronounced in certain gender contexts.…

A list of 16 things the author believes about students with gifts and talents are described in this column. These beliefs stem from research that he and/or others have conducted or from his own personal experiences. In this column, he comments on each of these statements that he has come to believe are true.

There are a significant number of toddlers participating in early childcare (ECE) services in New Zealand. At the same time, there is a dearth of research examining these toddlers during their first ECE experiences. The extant literature has predominantly focused on adult-child relationships rather than toddlers' experiences with their peers. A…

The present study investigated cross-sectionally, through a mediation model, the role of perceived school context-related factors (school connectedness, peer acceptance) and cyberbullying involvement (as victim/bully) in school adjustment of native and immigrant students in elementary and secondary education. Overall, 819 elementary (50.2%…