Witnessing violence in early secondary school predicts subsequent student impairment

Is lifetime abuse forgivable in old age?

Old age is characterized by reflection and a retrospective examination of the multiple meanings of various life experiences, including lifelong abuse. Forgiveness is found to have a salutary effect, especially for older adults. To understand the place and role of forgiveness in the reflective process during aging, we performed a secondary analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews (N = 78) with older women survivors of abuse. Inductive thematic analysis was based on concepts developed deductively from the literature review. The findings include three main themes: (1) The dimensions of forgiving: The victim as subject; (2) Being forgiven: Between lost forgiveness and hope; and (3) Self-forgiveness and the aging self. Despite the known salutary effect of forgiveness, we must consider that this is not a universally desirable process. We included the dimension of forgiveness in the study of abuse throughout the older person's life course and identified further complexities in addition to the "forgiveness"/"unforgiveness."

Comparisons of violence exposure within and across contexts in predicting depression among Chinese children and adolescents

BACKGROUND

Existing research has identified violence exposure as a risk factor for depression among children and adolescents. To date, however, we know little about whether these associations are influenced by the forms (witnessing and victimization) of violence exposure across different contexts (family, school, and community).

OBJECTIVE

The present study thus aimed to compare the effects of two forms of violence exposure across and within three contexts. Sex and age differences were also tested in the above associations.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participants (N = 906, 52.4 % boys, T1: M_age = 11.03) were children and adolescents recruited from elementary and junior schools in Zhejiang Province, China.

METHODS

All participants were asked to complete questionnaires about their experiences of various types of violence exposure and depression at two time points with a 12-month interval. SPSS and Mplus were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Considering the comparison within contexts, witnessing family violence was a more influential predictor than family violence victimization while school violence was the opposite. As for the comparison across contexts, no significant differences were found in the effects of different violence victimization, while the effect of witnessing family violence and community violence were more influential than witnessing school violence. No significant sex differences in the above associations were found. However, community violence victimization was more negatively related to depression among adolescents compared with children.

CONCLUSIONS

The associations between violence exposure and depression are influenced by the forms and contexts of violence as well as age groups.

Challenging the "'Mean Kid"' Perception: Boys' and Girls' Profiles of Peer Victimization and Aggression from 4th to 10th Grades

Student involvement in peer aggression is assumed to include the uninvolved, victims, aggressors, and victim-aggressor groups. Yet, evidence supporting this four-group configuration is equivocal. Although most studies report the four groups, several of the aggressor groups could have been labeled as moderate victim-aggressors. This study first reviews studies identifying subgroups of students involved in verbal, relational, and physical aggression. The study then assesses students' perceived involvement in elementary (n = 2,071; Grades 4-6) and secondary school (n = 1,832; Grades 7-10), as well as the associations with outcomes (school belonging, depressive thoughts, and perceived school violence). Latent profile analysis identified three profiles (uninvolved, victim-only, and victim-aggressor) across all grades and genders. In primary school, the uninvolved, victim, and victim-aggressor respectively included 54.56%, 37.51%, and 7.83% of the girls, and 44.23%, 31.92%, and 23.85% of the boys. In secondary school, the uninvolved, victim, and victim-aggressor respectively included 80.16%, 14.93% and 4.91% of the girls, and 64.31%, 22.95% and 12.74% of the boys. Victims and victim-aggressors reported poorer adjustment than uninvolved students. Victims and victim-aggressors reported lower levels of school belonging and higher levels of depressive thoughts than uninvolved students. Also, victim-aggressors perceived more violence in their school than victims and uninvolved students, and victims perceived more violence than uninvolved students. These findings question the existence of an aggressor-only profile, at least, according to student perception, suggesting the need for a new perspective when intervening with students involved in peer aggression.

Assaults in schools: Findings using a national data base

BACKGROUND

Assaults can occur at schools/educational facilities involving students, teachers and other school employees. It was the purpose of this study to correlate injury patterns with patient demographics in school assault victims. Understanding injury patterns with their associated demographics will not only be useful for health care providers but can also assist in proposing prevention strategies for both students and school employees.

METHODS

Emergency department data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System All Injury Program data for the years 2005 through 2015 were used in this study. Statistical analyses were performed with SUDAAN software to account for the weighted, stratified nature of the data.

RESULTS

There were an estimated 852,822 ED visits for school assaults. The median age was 13.8 years with 81.3% between 5 and 19 years old; 64.4% were male. After age 4, the number of females proportionately increased with increasing age. The most common diagnosis was a contusion/abrasion (38.6%). The injuries occurred in the head/neck (63.9%), upper extremity (19.0%), upper trunk (6.6%), lower trunk (5.5%), and lower extremity (4.9%). Firearm violence accounted for 0.1% of the assaults. Human bites occurred in 3.7%. Sexual assault was rare and proportionally the highest in those ≤4 years of age. Internal organ injuries were more common in females (13.1% vs 3.55) and for those admitted to the hospital (29.9% vs 19.9%). The incidence of ED visits for school assault decreased 50% from 2005 to 2015.

CONCLUSIONS

This study analyzed ED visits due to assaults occurring in schools. Firearm violence accounted for only 0.1% of the injuries, in contrast to media coverage regarding school assaults. The most common injury location was the head/neck (63.9%) and the most common diagnosis was a contusion/abrasion. This data can also serve as a baseline for further studies and the impact of potential reduction strategies.

Feeling Unsafe at School Among Adolescents in 13 Asian and European Countries: Occurrence and Associated Factors

BACKGROUND

Research on perceived school safety has been largely limited to studies conducted in Western countries and there has been a lack of large-scale cross-national studies on the topic.

METHODS

The present study examined the occurrence of adolescents who felt unsafe at school and the associated factors of perceived school safety in 13 Asian and European countries. The data were based on 21,688 adolescents aged 13-15 (11,028 girls, 10,660 boys) who completed self-administered surveys between 2011 and 2017. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals.

FINDINGS

The number of adolescents who felt unsafe at school varied widely across countries, with a mean occurrence of 31.4% for the total sample: 31.3% for girls, and 31.1% for boys. The findings revealed strong independent associations between feeling unsafe and individual and school-related factors, such as being bullied, emotional and behavioral problems and feeling that teachers did not care. The study also found large variations in perceived school safety between schools in many countries.

CONCLUSION

The findings emphasize the need to create safe educational environments for all students, based on positive relationships with teachers and peers. School-based interventions to prevent bullying and promote mental health should be a natural part of school safety promotion.

Understanding social inequalities in children being bullied: UK Millennium Cohort Study findings

Background

Children living in disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances (SEC) are more commonly victims of bullying, but pathways leading to social inequalities in being bullied are unclear. We assess how early life risk factors might mediate the increased risk of being bullied at age seven for children living in disadvantaged circumstances.

Material and methods

Using data from 5,857 children in the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) we calculate risk ratios (RR) for being bullied at age seven (child-reported), by household income quintile. Socially patterned risk factors for being bullied relating to social networks, family relationships and child characteristics from birth to age five were adjusted for to assess if they mediated any association between SEC and being bullied.

Results

48.6% of children reported having been bullied. Children living in the lowest income households were at 20% greater risk of being bullied compared to those from the highest (RR1.20, 95%CI 1.06,1.36). Controlling for social networks, family relationships and child characteristics attenuated the increased risk for children in low income households to aRR 1.19 (95%CI 1.05, 1.35), aRR 1.16 (95%CI 1.02,1.32) and aRR 1.13 (95%CI 1.00,1.28) respectively. Our final model adjusted for risk factors across all domains attenuated the RR by 45% (aRR 1.11,95%CI 0.97,1.26).

Conclusions

About half of children reported being bullied by age seven with a clear social gradient. The excess risk in children growing up in disadvantaged circumstances was partially explained by differences in their early years relating to their social network, family relationships and the child’s own abilities and behaviours. Policies to reduce inequalities in these risk factors may also reduce inequalities in the risk of being bullied in childhood.