Bullying e Habilidades Sociais de Estudantes em Transição Escolar

Resumo Nos períodos de transição escolar ocorre mais bullying. Um dos fatores associados pode ser a existência de déficits nas habilidades sociais dos estudantes. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi verificar possíveis diferenças nas habilidades sociais de estudantes envolvidos e não envolvidos em situações de bullying no período de transição escolar. Participaram 408 estudantes do sexto ano do Ensino Fundamental, com média de idade de 11,3 anos (DP = 0,62). Os dados foram coletados mediante uma escala e um questionário, e avaliados estatisticamente por análises de variância (ANOVA). As vítimas-agressoras apresentaram as menores médias nas habilidades sociais e diferenciaram-se significativamente das vítimas, agressores e não envolvidos no bullying em relação às habilidades de empatia/civilidade, autocontrole e participação. Já os estudantes não envolvidos apresentaram as maiores médias nas habilidades sociais. Conclui-se que a melhoria das habilidades sociais dos estudantes em transição escolar pode ajudar a prevenir e/ou reduzir o bullying.

Differences and Similarities between Perpetrators of Ethnic and Non-Ethnicity-Based Victimization

Immigrant and minority youth are at risk of ethnic victimization. Despite an increasing number of studies that aim to understand the consequences of such negativity, relatively little attention has been paid to understanding who the perpetrators of ethnic victimization are. To address this gap in knowledge, the present study examined whether youth who victimize their peers due to their ethnic background are also those who engage in non-ethnicity-based victimization. The study also investigated the underlying factors, i.e., impulsivity, empathy, moral disengagement, and attitudes toward immigrants, that are common or specific to groups of youth. The sample included 949 adolescents residing in Sweden (M_age = 13.11, SD = 0.41; range: 12–15; 46% girls). Cluster analysis revealed four distinct groups of adolescents, based on their reports of ethnic and non-ethnicity-based victimization: (1) low on both forms of victimization, (2) high on ethnic victimization only, (3) high on non-ethnicity-based victimization only, and (4) high on both forms of victimization. The results showed that being morally disengaged is a common denominator of ethnic and non-ethnicity-based victimizers. Difficulties in regulating impulses and lack of perspective-taking skills trigger youth’s engagement in non-ethnicity-based victimization. Lack of empathic concerns and low levels of positive attitudes toward immigrants are the bases of ethnic victimization. Together, these findings suggest that the precursors of ethnic and non-ethnicity-based victimization have similarities as well as differences, which require further attention in developing programs aimed at preventing different forms of peer victimization.

Psychological Predictors of Bullying in Adolescents From Pluricultural Schools: A Transnational Study in Spain and Ecuador

This study aimed to analyze the levels of personal aggression and victimization, ethnic-cultural aggression and victimization, self-esteem, empathy, social skills and gender in adolescents as potential predictors of bullying in Spain and Ecuador. The wide pluricultural sample comprised secondary education students from both countries (N = 25,190, average age = 13.92, SD = 1.306; N_Spain = 14,437; N_Ecuador = 10,753), who took part in the study by filling in a self-report. The results revealed that predictive models of bullying for both countries explain 50–70% of variance. A transnational predictive pattern of personal victimization can be observed based on the levels of ethnic-cultural victimization, ethnic-cultural aggression, personal aggression, self-deprecation, and affective empathy. A transnational predictive pattern of personal aggression is evidenced depending on the levels of ethnic-cultural aggression, personal victimization, self-deprecation, ethnic-cultural victimization, and the fact of being female. We concluded that bullying can largely be predicted by involvement in ethnic-cultural discrimination. These results are discussed, and educational inferences are drawn for prevention.

Mentalization and empathy ontogenetic development: empirical studies review

The article considers the main fields and onotogenetic development processes of men- talization and empathy. The neural measures and psychological studies results show that there is an active formation process of mentalization and empathy in adolescence. The article highlights the disputable character of the results of modern studies of social cognition in adolescence. The neural measures require further interpretation. The differences in mechanisms of empathy and mentalization are discussed, specifically the order of empathy components (cognitive or emotionally) forming in the onotogenetic development process. The various results of studies showing the proximity of these processes and prove their relative independence (including at the level of neural networks). The article contains the evidence that strong mentalization reduces the risk of emotional maladjustment and aggressive behavior, while its deficits correlate with bullying. We consider the current study of mentalization and empathy family factors. Particular attention is paid to the E.Mains study, which summarizes the research of social cognition ontogenetic development factors in building on the cultural and historical theory development of the of the psyche L.S. Vygotsky. The study was performed by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (grant № 14- 18-03461) at the Federal Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology under the Ministry of Public Health of the Russian Federation.