Personality-specific pathways from bullying victimization to adolescent alcohol use: a multilevel longitudinal moderated mediation analysis

Bullying victimization is common in adolescence and has been associated with a broad variety of psychopathology and alcohol use. The present study assessed time-varying associations between bullying victimization and alcohol use through internalizing and externalizing symptoms and whether this indirect association throughout time is moderated by personality. This 5-year longitudinal study (3,800 grade 7 adolescents) used Bayesian multilevel moderated mediation models: independent variable was bullying victimization; moderators were four personality dimensions (anxiety sensitivity, hopelessness, impulsivity, and sensation seeking); internalizing symptoms (anxiety, depressive symptoms) and externalizing symptoms (conduct, hyperactivity problems) were the mediators; and alcohol use, the outcome. Results indicated significant between, within, and lagged effects on alcohol use through internalizing and externalizing symptoms. There were significant between and within effects on alcohol use through internalizing symptoms for adolescents with high anxiety sensitivity and hopelessness, and significant between, within, and lagged effects on alcohol use through externalizing symptoms for adolescents with high impulsivity and sensation seeking. These findings implicate two risk pathways that account for how bullying victimization enhances alcohol use risk and emphasize the importance of personality profiles that can shape the immediate and long-term consequences of victimization.

Bullying Perpetration and Victimization as Social Mechanisms in the Development of Borderline Personality Traits during Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study

INTRODUCTION

Borderline personality features are often associated with toxic social relationships and problematic peer functioning. Less is known, however, about the extent to which bullying experiences may shape the development and maintenance of borderline-related traits during crucial periods of rapid normative developments in impulse and emotion regulation skills. Given the core interpersonal character of borderline personality pathology (BPP), such research focus may be relevant to better understand possible causal social mechanisms in the development of personality difficulties within the borderline trait spectrum.

METHOD

The current longitudinal study examined whether experiences of both bullying perpetration and victimization in pre-adolescence mediated the developmental course of BPP traits between childhood and adolescence. To examine these associations, a sample of children (N = 242; 57% girls; Mage = 10.87 years) was recruited and followed up 1 and 4 years later.

RESULTS

Mediation analysis indicated that the prospective link between child and adolescent BPP trait vulnerability was shaped by pre-adolescent experiences of bullying victimization, but not by bullying perpetration.

DISCUSSION

These results indicate that the continuity between child and adolescent borderline trait features are partly explained by exposure to bullying victimization, indicating that the impact of environmental invalidation on BPP development also extends to the peer context.

Previous School Bullying-Associated Depression in Chinese College Students: The Mediation of Personality

Previous school bullying was associated with increased risk of depression in students. However, little was known about the role of the Big Five personality traits in this association. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible mediation by the Big Five personality traits in this association in a large group of Chinese college students, and to provide help for educators to prevent students from serious psychological and mental diseases caused by school bullying. Random stratified cluster sampling was used to survey 2152 college students ranging from freshmen to seniors at three universities in Qiqihar city, Heilongjiang Province, China. The risk factors for previous school bullying included gender, living expenses per month, caregivers, parents often quarreling, and divorced parents. Males were more likely to be bullied at school than females. The influencing factors of depression include gender, caregivers, living expenses per month, frequent parents quarreling, and parental divorce. Females were more prone to depression than males. Depression was significantly correlated with all dimensions of school bullying and the Big Five personality traits (p < 0.05). The Big Five personality traits were found to play a significant mediating role between depression and school bullying in up to 45% of cases involving depression. Our major findings highlighted the promising role of personality-based intervention measures in reducing the risk of depression associated with school bullying in Chinese students.

The Characteristics of Targets of Bullying Among Chinese Youth Attending Key Versus Non-Key Schools: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

The current study examined the characteristics of targets of bullying using a sample of students from two distinct school types (key vs. non-key), wherein key middle schools are defined as having better teaching resources and higher performing students than non-key middle schools. Open-ended, self-report surveys were collected from 322 Chinese students in sixth to 11th grades. Two cycle coding methods analyses generated 3,566 original codes in which 21 main categories and 77 subcategories were extracted. Five major themes emerged: multiple deviant personalities; prominent puniness and imperfect body characteristics accompanied by polarization of appearance; polarization school engagement and academic performance; psychological and behavioral problems; and problematic family and social contexts. Results of chi-square analysis indicated characteristics of targets of bullying were significantly different between key and non-key school in 12 main categories. Implications for ecological systems theory and person-group dissimilarity theory as well as bullying prevention approaches in schools are discussed.

Haters Gonna Hate, Trolls Gonna Troll: The Personality Profile of a Facebook Troll

Personality factors, such as the Dark Tetrad personality factors (Machiavellianism, narcissism and sadism) relate to greater online trolling. Other personality factors, such as the Big Five Personality factors, honesty–humility and negative social potency, may also play a role in cyberbullying, which is an aggressive behavior similar to trolling. The purpose of this study was to predict Facebook trolling behavior based on personality factors. A total of 139 participants completed a survey on their online behavior and personality factors. Online trolling behavior positively correlated with sadism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism, and negatively correlated with agreeableness, conscientiousness and honesty–humility. A hierarchical linear regression showed that sadism, Machiavellianism and negative social potency were the only unique predictors of online trolling behavior. Trolling was unrelated to the frequency of Facebook use and the frequency of commenting. Enjoyment of trolling fully mediated the relationship between Machiavellianism and the trolling behavior. The results thus suggested that Facebook trolling behaviors may be motivated by enjoying the manipulation of others.

HEXACO personality correlates of adolescents' involvement in bullying situations

Adolescents' involvement in bullying situations is—at least partially—personality trait‐activated. Although some studies investigated personality correlates of bullying and being victimized, little is known about personality correlates of bystander responses (i.e., reinforcing, outsider behavior, indirect defending, and direct defending). The present study investigated whether Dutch adolescents' self‐reported HEXACO personality traits could explain their peer‐reported involvement in bullying (N = 552; M_age = 13.4 years, SD = 0.8 years). The results show that bullying was negatively related to honesty‐humility, emotionality, agreeableness (for boys specifically), and openness, whereas reinforcing was only negatively related to honesty‐humility and openness. Conversely, direct defending and outsider behavior were positively related to honesty‐humility, emotionality, and openness, whereas indirect defending was only positively related to emotionality and openness. Furthermore, reinforcing was positively related to extraversion (for boys only), whereas outsider behavior was negatively related extraversion and positively to conscientiousness. Finally, being victimized was positively related to emotionality and negatively to extraversion. These findings contribute to our understanding of the heterogeneity in adolescents' involvement in bullying and fit the view of bullying and defending as strategic and goal‐directed behavior. Implications for bullying prevention programs are discussed.

Using a Mixed-Methods Approach to Analyze Traumatic Experiences and Factors of Vulnerability Among Adolescent Victims of Bullying

A number of studies have analyzed the bullying phenomenon among adolescent victims. Relatively few studies, however, have specifically addressed the associated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Our clinical practice and therapeutic encounters with adolescents reveal that the majority of bullied adolescents suffer from high levels of PTSD. The objective of this study is to further explore bullied adolescents' traumatic experiences. In an attempt to analyze these experiences, this article presents a mixed-methods approach. Such an approach will allow to analyze the PTSD that results from bullying as well as subjects' psychic and family-relevant vulnerabilities. First, bullying will be defined in the context of adolescence. Then the main studies on bullying will be presented. The objectives, tools and methods of analysis will be presented. The interviews will be analyzed according to the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) method. Projective tools, family drawings, Rorschach and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), will be analyzed using a psychoanalytic interpretation method. Each qualitative tool will be used alongside a validated quantitative tool. The Clinical Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-CA-5 questionnaire) and the interviews conducted will thus allow to analyze PTSD and traumatic experiences. The Family Assessment Device (FAD) and the family drawing test will enable to assess family functioning; lastly, the Symptom Check List (SCL-90) that will be used alongside Rorschach and TAT tests will allow to analyze individual psychological vulnerabilities. This approach will increase data validity. The originality of this research study is based on a mixed-methods approach, our methodology which is based on clinical psychology, and the choice of certain research tools which have received little attention to date. Ultimately, this study may help improve how bullying is identified and could contribute toward the reinforcement or revision of the criteria that characterize bullying. Lastly, it may help us explore various unexamined dimensions of bullying. A possible limitation is the complexity associated with such a protocol.

Workplace bullies, not their victims, score high on the Dark Triad and Extraversion, and low on Agreeableness and Honesty-Humility

Most past research has focused mainly on the personality of the victims of bullying and not on the personality of workplace bullies. Some researchers have suggested that bullies and their victims may share bully-typifying personality traits. The aims of this study were to find out what characterizes the personalities of workplace bullies and their victims, and to investigate the relationship between the Dark Triad, HEXACO and workplace bullying. We tested three hypotheses. H1: Machiavellianism and Psychopathy, but not Narcissism, predict the use of bullying tactics (i.e., bullying perpetration). H2: (Low) Honesty-Humility, (low) Agreeableness and (high) Extraversion predict the use of bullying tactics. H3: Honesty-Humility moderates the association between Machiavellianism and the use of bullying tactics. Employees in southwestern Sweden (N = 172; 99 women) across various occupations and organizations were surveyed. Negative Acts Questionnaire-Perpetrators (NAQ-P) and Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R) were used to assess the use of bullying tactics and victimization. NAQ-P was correlated with NAQ-R (r = .27), indicating some overlap between the use of bullying tactics and victimization. NAQ-P was correlated with Machiavellianism (.60), Psychopathy (.58), Narcissism (.54), Agreeableness (-.34), Honesty-Humility (-.29) and Extraversion (.28). The results of linear regressions confirmed H1, but only partially confirmed H2: Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, (low) Agreeableness and (high) Extraversion explained 32%, 25%, 27% and 19%, respectively, of the variation in the NAQ-P. Replicating past research, NAQ-R was correlated with Neuroticism (.27), Extraversion (-.22), Openness (-.19) and Conscientiousness (-.16). Neuroticism explained 25% and (low) Extraversion 17% of the variation in the NAQ-R. Confirming H3, Honesty-Humility moderated the relationship between the NAQ-P and Machiavellianism. We conclude that bullies, but not their victims, are callous, manipulative, extravert and disagreeable, and that dishonest Machiavellians are the biggest bullies of all. In practice, the victims of workplace bullying need strong and supportive leadership to protect them from bullies with exploitative and manipulative personality profiles.

For Whom Is Anti-Bullying Intervention Most Effective? The Role of Temperament

Studying moderators of the effects of anti-bullying universal interventions is essential to elucidate what works for whom and to tailor more intensive, selective, and indicated programs which meet the needs of non-responders. The present study investigated whether early adolescents’ temperament—effortful control (EC), negative emotionality (NE), and positive emotionality (PE)—moderates the effects of the KiVa anti-bullying program. The sample consisted of 13 schools, with 1051 sixth-grade early adolescents (mean age = 10.93; SD = 0.501), randomly assigned to the KiVa intervention (seven schools; n = 536) or to the control condition (six schools; n = 516). Adolescents reported bullying and victimization before the intervention (pre-test) and after (post-test). Temperament was assessed by a self-report pre-test. Findings showed that EC and NE moderated intervention effects on bullying, indicating that subgroups with high levels of EC, and with low and medium levels of NE were those who benefited most from the intervention. The low-EC subgroup showed a lower increase compared to the control condition, with a considerable effect size. Conversely, the high-NE subgroup did not show any positive effects compared to the control group. Regarding victimization, findings showed that early adolescents with high and medium levels of PE were the subgroups who benefited the most from the intervention, whereas the low-PE subgroup was the most resistant. The present study confirms the relevance of considering temperament as a moderator of intervention effects, since interventions tailored to early adolescents with specific traits might yield larger effects.

The Experience of Victimisation among Muslim Adolescents in the UK: The Effect of Psychological and Religious Factors

This study set out to explore the levels of victimisation experienced by Muslim adolescents in the UK, the extent to which victimisation is conceptualised in religious terms, and the extent to which individual differences in the experience of victimisation is related to personal factors, psychological factors and religious factors. Data provided by 335 13- to 15-year-old Muslim students from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales demonstrated that one in four Muslim students (25%) reported being bullied because of their religion. These students saw their religious identity as being a more important cause of their victimisation than their ethnicity, their colour, or their name. Male and female Muslim students were equally vulnerable to victimisation. Psychological and religious variables predicted individual differences in vulnerability to victimisation among Muslim students.

Personality and Adolescent School-Based Victimization: Do the Big Five Matter?

Self-control has provided a useful framework for understanding both offending behavior and victimization risk. As a theory of victimization, research has established that low self-control is directly related to victimization risk beyond a range of other factors. This finding raises the issue of whether other personality traits are associated with an increased risk of victimization. Using a sample of ninth-grade adolescents (N = 2,912) from the Rural Substance Abuse and Violence Project (RSVP), we tested whether the Big Five Inventory (BFI) of personality traits predicted adolescent school-based victimization above and beyond low self-control and rival explanations of victimization. The results indicate that, after controlling for risky behaviors, school attachment, and low self-control, neuroticism is positively related to victimization. This finding suggests that examining traits other than low self-control is important to capture fully what makes someone vulnerable to crime. Further, we consider the theoretical and policy implications of the findings.

Being a good or a just teacher: Which experiences of teachers' behavior can be more predictive of school bullying?

In two cross-sectional questionnaire studies with N = 2,931 German students, aged between 12 and 17 years (M = 14.1, SD = 0.5), we investigated the relation between students' bullying behavior and their personal belief in a just world (BJW). We considered students' personal experience of teacher justice as a possible mediator in this relation and investigated whether the students' experiences of their teachers' classroom management explained bullying behavior in addition to personal BJW and teacher justice, while statistically controlling for sex and school type. In both studies, multilevel modeling results showed that the more students endorsed personal BJW and the more they evaluated their teachers' behavior toward them personally as being just, the less likely they were to report that they bullied others. The students' personal experience of teacher justice mediated the association of personal BJW with bullying. Furthermore, the students' personal experience of classroom management significantly predicted bullying in addition to personal BJW and teacher justice. The observed relations were mainly significant at the individual level. The pattern of results persisted when we controlled for school type and when we considered student sex as a moderator. We discussed the adaptive functions of BJW and implications for future school research and practice.

Bullying im Klassenverband

Zusammenfassung. In Anlehnung an den Participant-Role-Ansatz ( Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Björkqvist, Österman & Kaukiainen, 1996 ) wurde Bullying als Gruppenphänomen untersucht. Mittels Peer-Nominierung wurden an einer Stichprobe von 5 083 Sechst- und Neuntklässler_innen folgende Rollen identifiziert: Pro-Bullying-Akteure, Opfer, Verteidiger, Außenstehende und Bully-Opfer. Rund 55 % der Schülerinnen und Schüler konnte eine dieser Rollen zugeordnet werden. Es zeigt sich, dass der Anteil der Pro-Bullying-Akteure in den 9. Klassen geringer als in den 6. Klassen ist, nicht aber der Anteil der Opfer. Auch Verteidiger sind in Stufe 9 seltener zu finden. Die Gruppe der Pro-Bullying-Akteure besteht größtenteils aus Jungen, wohingegen die Verteidiger überwiegend weiblich sind. Pro-Bullying-Akteure zeichnen sich des Weiteren durch einen kontroversen Status im Klassenverband und schlechte Schulleistungen aus. Opfer haben einen geringen sozialen Status und durchschnittliche Zeugnisnoten. Verteidiger erweisen sich als äußerst beliebt und leistungsstark.

Person–Group Dissimilarity in Personality and Peer Victimization

The present study examined the role of person–group dissimilarity in personality in peer victimization. It was hypothesized that adolescents who show more deviation from the classroom norm in personality experience more peer victimization. Data from 1108 adolescents (48% boys; Mage = 13.56 years, SD = 1.13) from 54 classrooms were used to test this hypothesis. Data included measurements of self–reported and bully–disclosed victimization and Big Five and Dark Triad personality traits. Results of generalized linear mixed models including polynomial equations and subsequent response surface analyses partly supported our hypothesis. Person–group dissimilarity in the shape of personality profiles was related to more bully–disclosed victimization, but not to self–reported victimization. Dissimilarity in neuroticism and Machiavellianism was related to both more self–reported and bully–disclosed victimization. Dissimilarity in extraversion, openness to experience, and psychopathy was only related to more self–reported victimization. Unexpectedly, dissimilarity in agreeableness was related to less self–reported victimization. Moreover, our results also indicated that certain levels of congruent person–group combinations in agreeableness, neuroticism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy were related to more peer victimization. Overall, findings of this study emphasize the importance of considering classroom norms in relation to peer victimization. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

Bullying participant roles and gender as predictors of bystander intervention

Although the importance of peer bystanders in bullying has been recognized, there are few studies that examine the phenomenon in relation to Latané and Darley's (1970) classic Bystander Intervention Model, which states that there are five stages of bystander intervention: (i) notice the event; (ii) interpret the event as an emergency that requires assistance; (iii) accept responsibility for intervening; (iv) know how to intervene or provide help; and (v) implement intervention decisions. This study examined preliminary evidence of reliability and validity of the Bystander Intervention Model in Bullying (Nickerson, Aloe, Livingston, & Feeley, 2014), and the extent to which bullying role behavior (bullying, assisting, victimization, defending, and outsider behavior) and gender predicted each step of the model with a sample of 299 middle school students. Results of a Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported a five-factor structure of the measure corresponding to the steps of the model. There was evidence of convergent validity and Cronbach alpha for each subscale exceeded .75. In addition, students who reported defending their peers were more likely to also engage in all five steps of the bystander intervention model, while victims were more likely to notice events, and outsiders were less likely to intervene. Gender differences and gender interactions were also found. Aggr. Behav. 43:281-290, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Importance of Conscientiousness in Adolescent Interpersonal Relationships

This research examined how conscientiousness contributes to adolescents' positive peer relationships and vulnerability to poorer ones. Given its temperamental origins in effortful control, conscientiousness was expected to be particularly important. A total of 256 fifth to eighth graders completed personality, peer-relationship, and victimization measures. Peers, parents, and teachers also completed assessments. Adolescents higher on conscientiousness experienced less victimization, better quality friendships, and higher peer acceptance even after controlling for the other Big Five dimensions. Externalizing and/or attention problems mediated the link between conscientiousness and peer relations. Conscientiousness moderated the relation between internalizing problems and poor interpersonal functioning. Results suggest that self-control processes associated with conscientiousness are important in developing and maintaining relationships in adolescence.

Bidirectional Pathways between Relational Aggression and Temperament from Late Childhood to Adolescence

Relational aggression is linked to numerous adverse consequences. However, we know little about how temperament leads individuals to become perpetrators/victims of relational aggression, or how being a perpetrator/victim influences the development of temperament. We used longitudinal data from 674 Mexican-origin youth to examine relations between relational aggression and mother- and child-reported temperament from 5^th grade (M_age=10.8; SD=0.60) through 11^th grade (M_age=16.8; SD=0.50). Results show that: (a) high Negative Emotionality and low Effortful Control predicted increases in victimization; (b) low Effortful Control predicted increases in perpetration; (c) victims increased in Negative Emotionality and decreased in Effortful Control; and (d) perpetrators increased in Negative Emotionality and Surgency. Thus, temperament serves as both an antecedent to and a consequence of relational aggression.

Who intervenes against homophobic behavior? Attributes that distinguish active bystanders

Research on homophobic behavior has focused on students engaging in this behavior or students toward whom this behavior is directed. There has been little attention to the large segment of students who observe this behavior, including active bystanders who defend or support students when homophobic behavior occurs. Among 722 high school students (55% female, 87% white, 86% heterosexual), 66.8% had observed at least one instance of homophobic behavior in the past 30 days. Gender (in this case, girls more so than boys), leadership, courage, altruism, justice sensitivity, and number of LGBT friends were associated with engagement in more active bystander behavior in response to observing homophobic behavior. Further, gender, courage, altruism, and number of LGBT friends each made unique contributions in accounting for variability in students' defending behavior in a comprehensive regression model. Findings highlight qualities that interventionists should cultivate in students that could lead to more active bystander engagement against homophobic behavior.

Childhood maltreatment and personality disorders in patients with a major depressive disorder: A comparative study between France and Togo

Few studies have examined the association between childhood maltreatment (CM) and personality disorders (PDs) in adulthood in two different cultural contexts, including sub-Saharan Africa. The aims of this study were to compare the frequency of CM between patients in treatment in France and Togo for a major depressive disorder (MDD), to explore the link between CM and PDs, and to examine the mediating effect of personality dimensions in the pathway from CM to PDs in 150 participants (75 in each country). The 28-item Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the International Personality Item Pool, and the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ-4+) were used to assess CM, personality dimensions, and PDs respectively. Togolese participants reported sexual and physical abuse (PA) and emotional and physical neglect significantly more frequently than French participants. In Togo, severe PA was associated with schizoid, antisocial, narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive, depressive, and negativist PDs whereas in France, PA was only linked to paranoid PD. In Togo, emotional instability partly mediated the relationship between CM and PDs while in France, no personality dimension appeared to mediate this link. Our results support the hypothesis that CM is more common in low-income countries and suggest that the links between CM and PDs are influenced by social environment.

Childhood bullying and social dilemmas

Children who witness bullying often do not defend victims. Bystanders might be reticent to intervene because they are stuck in "social dilemmas." Social dilemmas are situations in which individuals make decisions based on self-interest due to their lack of confidence that others will join with them in decisions that benefit the collective. In this study, the social dilemmas concept, which comes from game theory and social psychology, was applied to bullying for the first time. A total of 292 middle school students at a private residential school in the United States completed surveys about their bullying-related experiences within their residences of 10 to 12 students of the same gender. Multilevel modeling was employed to assess if and how attitudes, group norms, and social dilemmas predict behavior in bullying situations. The findings suggested that both individual and group factors were associated with behavior in bullying situations and that attitudes, group norms, and social dilemmas each made a unique contribution to predicting behavior in bullying situations. Aggr. Behav. 42:97-108, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Roles of fatalism and parental support in the relationship between bullying victimization and bystander behaviors

This article examines how past bullied victims engage two types of bystander behaviors (defender and outsider) when they witness bullying situations.We also investigate if fatalism mediates the relationship between past victimization and two bystander behaviors. Finally, we test if parental support moderates the relationship between fatalism and two bystander behaviors. Based on 3,441 students from 20 middle schools in Taiwan, results support the mediation hypotheses that the relationships of past victimization with defender and outsider behaviors are mediated through fatalism. Furthermore, the results support the moderation hypotheses that parental support is positively associated with defender behavior even when the level of fatalism is high. Future school bullying prevention research and practice may benefit from understanding how to reduce fatalistic belief and strengthen parental support.

School bullying in adolescence and personality traits: a person-centered approach

This study examined the differences in personality traits between the clusters reflecting the roles in violent interactions among high school students. The sample included 397 students (51.1% male) of Serbian nationality from the first to the fourth grades of different high schools. Based on scores of five dimensions related to peer violence (Physical Aggression, Psychological Aggression, Victimization, Adapted Behavior, and Risky Behavior), three clusters were extracted: Adapted Adolescents, Victims, and Bullies. These three clusters were compared with respect to lexical Big Seven personality traits, and the results indicate that the clusters differ significantly on Aggressiveness, Neuroticism, and Negative Valence. The Adapted Adolescents have the lowest scores on all three dimensions, while the Victims score highest on Neuroticism, and the Bullies on Aggressiveness. The potential importance of certain Extraversion facets for the roles in violent interaction was discussed.

Bullying and victimization experiences in elementary school students nominated by their teachers for Specific Learning Disabilities

This study sought to investigate self-reported bullying and victimization experiences among students nominated by their teachers as meeting the criteria for Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). A total of 346 students attending the upper three grade-levels of Greek primary schools participated in the study. Fifty of them were identified by their teachers as meeting the SLD criteria. All participants completed self-report measures of bullying and victimization and also provided their demographic data. Results showed that SLD students were more likely to act as bully/victims in bullying episodes, by using more direct verbal aggression; whereas the frequency of exhibiting aggressive behaviours, either as passive victims or aggressive bullies, did not differ from that of their non-SLD counterparts. These findings contradict existing research indicating that SLD students are subject to victimization more frequently than their regular peers.

Cyber-Bullying, Personality and Coping among Pre-Adolescents

The aim of this study was to investigate the association of personality (Five Factor Model), coping and cyber-bullying/victimization experiences among 300 Greek pre-adolescent students attending the upper two primary school grades. Boys reported more frequent involvement in cyber-bullying incidents, while there were no significant gender differences in terms of cyber-victimization. In terms of participant roles, non-involved students scored higher in Conscientiousness, and cyber-bully/victims in Emotional Instability. The latter also tended to use maladaptive coping strategies more frequently, while cyber-bullies reported using more aggression and resignation to cope with interpersonal conflicts. Multiple regression analyses indicated that low conscientious boys who use passive avoidance and aggression were more likely to cyber-bully, while those who use aggression, passive avoidance and situation control to cope with interpersonal stressors were more likely to be cyber-victimized. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Being Called A ‘Streber’: The Roles of Personality and Competition in the Labelling of Academically Oriented Students

The current research investigated a phenomenon that has received little attention so far: the labelling of students who are characterised by a strong academic orientation. We analysed whether personality predicts being labelled a ‘Streber’ (literally a person who strives for success; German origin, similar to the English word ‘nerd’) and labelling others as Strebers. Besides individual characteristics, we examined the impact of the classroom context. In Study 1 (N = 317), eighth–grade students nominated classmates who were considered to be Strebers and provided self–ratings on how often they had labelled others as Strebers. In Study 2 (N = 358), using a round robin design, we had students rate each of their classmates on the extent to which the students perceived their classmates to be Strebers. Results showed that being labelled was associated with introversion and conscientiousness. Labelling others was related to extraversion, low conscientiousness and low agreeableness. Furthermore, the labelling and the expected relation between individual characteristics and labelling were stronger in high–achieving than in low–achieving classes. Results are discussed with respect to personality traits as potential risk factors in peer stigmatisation and the impact of the classroom context. Copyright © 2012 European Association of Personality Psychology

Cyberbullying and its effects on young adolescents: a community-based survey

OBJECTIVES

To conduct a study looking at the prevalence and nature of Internet and mobile phone use in young people, focusing particularly on cyberbullying and its potential effects on young people's mental health.

METHOD

Three secondary schools in an area of North Dublin were randomly selected, which included one all boys school, one all girls school and one co-educational school. Written information about the study was given to each school principal and to parents/carers of all first and second year students. First and second year students in each school from whom consent had been received were asked to complete two questionnaires, which included a questionnaire on cyberbullying and a self-report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). A total of 130 students completed the study.

RESULTS

A total of 24 (18.46%) pupils were cyberbullied. Of these, 13 (65% of those cyberbullied) pupils who were cyberbullied said that it had a negative effect on their mood, and 9 (45% of those cyberbullied) said that cyberbullying had a negative effect on their overall mental health. A statistically significant higher proportion of pupils who were cyberbullied scored in the Abnormal/Borderline range of the SDQ, compared with those who were not cyberbullied.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study in Ireland, which looks at the potential mental health difficulties associated with cyberbullying. It is hoped that the information from this study will help to increase awareness of the effects of cyberbullying and help look at ways of managing cyberbullying.

Anchoring Bullying and Victimization in Children within a Five–Factor Model–Based Person–Centred Framework

Although researchers have begun to explore bullying and victimization problems from a personality perspective, more work is needed on the particular personality constellations of children and adolescents who are vulnerable to victimization or prone to bullying. The principal research goal of the present study was to anchor the robust four–group classification of bullying and victimization (i.e. bullies, victims, bully/victims and uninvolved children) within the Five–Factor Model–based person–centred framework in primary school children (N = 660), controlling for gender. We found four distinct personality types in middle childhood: a mixed type, an undercontrolled type, a moderate type and a resilient type. In line with expectations, we found that a resilient personality profile protected children and adolescents against victimization and that children and adolescents with an undercontrolled or mixed personality profile were at increased risk to be bully/victims, rather than uninvolved in bully problems or victimization, compared with children with a moderate personality profile. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Individual and class moral disengagement in bullying among elementary school children

A cross-sectional study from a sample of 663 elementary school children assessed the four sets of moral disengagement mechanisms conceptualized by Bandura (i.e., cognitive restructuring, minimizing one's agentive role, disregarding/distorting the consequences, blaming/dehumanizing the victim) at both the individual and the class level. Additionally, an analysis of the relations of these mechanisms to pro-bullying behavior was conducted. Multilevel analysis showed a significant relationship between cognitive restructuring and individual pro-bullying behavior. Moreover, between-class variability of pro-bullying behavior was positively related to minimizing one's agentive role and blaming/dehumanizing the victim at the class level. Conversely, class disregarding/distorting the consequences was negatively associated with between-class variation in the outcome behavior. Implications for understanding the role of morality in children's bullying are discussed.

Belief in a just world, teacher justice, and bullying behavior

The relation between school students' belief in a just world (BJW) and their bullying behavior was investigated in a questionnaire study. The mediating role of teacher justice was also examined. Data were obtained from a total of N = 458 German and Indian high school students. Regression analyses revealed that the more strongly students believed in a personal just world and the more they evaluated their teachers' behavior toward them personally to be just, the less bullying behavior they reported. Moreover, students with a strong BJW tended to evaluate their teachers' behavior toward them personally to be more just, and the experience of teacher justice mediated the relation between BJW and less bullying perpetration. This pattern of results was as expected and consistent across different cultural contexts. It persisted when neuroticism, sex, and country were controlled. The adaptive functions of BJW and implications for future school research are discussed.

Is adolescent bullying an evolutionary adaptation?

Bullying appears to be ubiquitous across cultures, involving hundreds of millions of adolescents worldwide, and has potentially serious negative consequences for its participants (particularly victims). We challenge the traditionally held belief that bullying results from maladaptive development by reviewing evidence that bullying may be, in part, an evolved, facultative, adaptive strategy that offers some benefits to its practitioners. In support of this view, we draw from research that suggests bullying serves to promote adolescent bullies' evolutionarily-relevant somatic, sexual, and dominance goals, has a genetic basis, and is widespread among nonhuman animals. We identify and explain differences in the bullying behavior of the two sexes, as well as when and why bullying is adaptive and when it may not be. We offer commentary on both the failures and successes of current anti-bullying interventions from an evolutionary perspective and suggest future directions for both research and anti-bullying interventions.

Bystanders matter: associations between reinforcing, defending, and the frequency of bullying behavior in classrooms

This study investigated whether the bystanders' behaviors (reinforcing the bully vs. defending the victim) in bullying situations are related to the frequency of bullying in a classroom. The sample consisted of 6,764 primary school children from Grades 3 to 5 (9-11 years of age), who were nested within 385 classrooms in 77 schools. The students filled out Internet-based questionnaires in their schools' computer labs. The results from multilevel models showed that defending the victim was negatively associated with the frequency of bullying in a classroom, whereas the effect of reinforcing the bully was positive and strong. The results suggest that bystander responses influence the frequency of bullying, which makes them suitable targets for antibullying interventions.