Depression is common among adolescents more so during the transition to secondary school, and the psychosocial and emotional changes that accompany adolescence. This study sought to assess the prevalence and predictors of depression among students joining public secondary schools in Nairobi County. The study was carried out at five selected public…

Peer victimization is associated with unwanted outcomes including less school belongingness and lower academic ability and school achievement. This study expanded on previous research by investigating how a perception of defending by peers and teachers interacted with peer victimization to predict four aspects of student subjective wellbeing:…

Mental health is a significant concern among young people, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, mental health problems can significantly reduce student performance in school, including both engagement and achievement. Both mental health problems and reduced student performance often arise due to "peer victimization," which…

Bystanders to bullying perpetration are considered an extremely important group to engage in bullying prevention and intervention. It is important to understand the key differences between students who are proactive bystanders, who try to stop the bullying and those bystanders who observe but take no action to help the student being bullied. Of…

Previous research suggests both social contextual and individual difference variables contribute to chronic peer victimization. We tested whether two individual difference variables--anxiety sensitivity (AS) and internalizing symptoms (IS)--predicted persistent peer victimization in elementary school children. Participants were 677 fourth-grade…

This short-term longitudinal study aims to expand our understanding of the role of peer victimization, student-level perceived school climate, covitality, and mental health difficulties among 897 Chinese elementary school students (3rd to 6th graders, M[subscript age] = 9.91 years, SD = 1.16 years, 57.44% boys). Results of the latent-moderated…

Campus sexual assault (CSA) is a pervasive problem among US college students. Large scale, methodologically similar studies frequently find that between 20-25% of women and 6-7% of men are sexually victimized during their time at 4 year colleges and universities in the US (Cantor et al., 2015, 2019; Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000; Krebs et…

Background: Relational victimization (RV) is a significant threat to adolescent mental health and social adaptation in China. However, its developmental characteristics during the school transition period are poorly understood. Finkelhor's developmental victimology framework provides a comprehensive lens to explore factors influencing RV's…

Guided by the social-ecological perspective, we examined familial, peer, and school-related predictors of bullying victimization among a large sample of U.S. White, Black, and biracial adolescents. Data were drawn from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children study, drawn from adolescents who self-identified as White, Black, or biracial. Of the…

Although teachers are key in bullying intervention, little is known about their responses to bullying and how students perceive them. This study investigated whether experimentally manipulated teacher responses in vignettes (i.e., non-response, comforting victim, correcting bully, both comforting victim and correcting bully) predict differences in…

This study assessed the prevalence of weapon-related behaviors and experiences in secondary schools in California, their intercorrelations, and predictors at the individual and school levels. This study is based on a representative sample of 889,726 secondary school students in California based on the California Healthy Kids Survey. Prevalence…

A lack of empathy for victimized individuals has been cited as a reason for why bystanders fail to intervene when they witness bullying. However, limited research has addressed how different empathic and compassionate responses could account for diverse bystander behaviors. In this study, we investigated the unique associations of empathic…

An expanded Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB; Ajzen, "Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes" 50:179-211, 1991, Ajzen, "Journal of Applied Social Psychology" 32:665-683, 2002) which incorporates affective, moral, and personal belief variables with Ajzen's original social, behavioural, and cognitive factors has not…

During the immediate period following psychiatric hospitalization, adolescents are at increased risk for suicide attempts and rehospitalization. Because most adolescents return to school during this time, school-related experiences are important considerations during the transition from inpatient hospitalization. This study sought to understand…

Collegiate esports communities are as prone to bullying as other campus social spaces are. This pilot study surveyed student members of competitive online gaming clubs on a midsized university campus. Participants self-reported bullying experiences both in and out of game and indicated whether they primarily play support roles or core roles within…