A qualitative study investigating adolescents' understanding of aggression,bullying and violence

There is a general consistency across the research literature regarding the definition of bullying. This has filtered down into the construction of governmental and school anti-bullying policies around the world. However, research suggests that children and adolescents are failing to accurately identify cases of bullying. This in turn has implications upon the accuracy of our perception of the extent of the problem of bullying within schools. The current study aimed to investigate how 11–17 year olds understand and differentiate between terms relating to interpersonal peer aggression, violence and bullying. Fifty-seven (twenty male, thirty-seven female) participants were recruited via an opportunity sample. Participants took part in focus group interviews within which they were asked to provide a definition for a list of words relating to both traditional and cyber forms of aggression, bullying and violence. Thematic analysis revealed that the participants held a shared understanding of the terms relating to aggression, bullying and violence. Participants defined each term by describing the behaviors involved, their perception of the level of control the perpetrators of each type of negative peer interaction have and the perception of those involved. The implications of these findings for both policy and future research are discussed.     

The Role of Acceptance of Violence Beliefs and Social Information Processing on Dating Violence Perpetration

This study's main objective was to explore whether beliefs legitimizing dating violence predict dysfunctional social information processing (SIP) when adolescents deal with ambiguous dating situations, and whether this more proximal cognitive processing acts as a mediator between acceptance of violence beliefs and dating violence perpetration. Participants were 855 high school students who completed self‐report measures at three time points, with a 1‐year interval between them. SIP did not act as a mediator, but the emergence of anger emotions in dating conflict situations, along with aggression‐justifying beliefs, were revealed as essential in explaining dating violence. Previous aggression also explained a subsequent higher anticipation of positive consequences for aggressive acts. We discuss the implications for prevention and treatment strategies with adolescents.     

The Moderating Effects of Support for Violence Beliefs on Masculine Norms,Aggression, and Homophobic Behavior During Adolescence

In 2 studies, beliefs supporting the use of violence moderated the association between normative masculine activities and aggressive behavior (Study 1) and normative masculine attitudes and aggressive and homophobic behavior (Study 2) among adolescent boys. These beliefs also moderated the association between normative masculine activities and homophobic behavior among adolescent girls. Consistent with social information processing models, beliefs about the appropriateness and effectiveness of violence predicted aggressive behavior for boys and girls, including bullying, fighting, and relational aggression. Furthermore, the association between masculine norms and aggressive behavior and homophobic behavior was partly dependent on holding these beliefs among boys. Continued research is needed to identify other beliefs that may distinguish different expressions of masculinities and their association with other attitudes and behaviors. Within the broader aggression and homophobia literature among adolescents there is a need to include the study of gender norms, while recognizing the complexity with which these factors are associated.     

Specific Cases,Techniques and Approaches; Narrative Behaviour Therapy? Integration in Practice1

This is a clinically‐oriented paper which seeks to describe the integration of narrative and cognitive‐behavioural approaches in working with children and adolescents. It is suggested that a CBT model can be augmented by typical narrative manoeuvres. For example, it is often helpful to relieve children as quickly as possible of the ‘problem‐saturated story’ with which they and their parents enter therapy. The narrative approach of ‘externalising the problem’ can achieve this within the first session, and helps the family to a) find a good working relationship with the therapist, b) clarify goals, and c) embrace the possibility of change. The use of CBT and narrative therapy in conjunction is illustrated by a case study of obsessive compulsive disorder in a young adolescent girl.     

Insecure Attachment Behavior and Partner Violence: Incorporating Couple Perceptions of Insecure Attachment and Relational Aggression

Intimate partner violence and insecure attachment are therapeutically relevant concepts when working with couples. The link between attachment and intimate partner violence has been examined in the literature, but an area of aggression that often goes unexamined is relational aggression, or using third parties as a means of being aggressive toward a partner. We asked how participants' attachment behaviors were related to their own and partners' relational and physical aggression. We used structural equation modeling to estimate actor–partner interdependence among these relationships in 644 heterosexual couples. Results indicated significant partner paths from attachment to relational aggression, as well as significant actor paths between relational aggression and physical aggression. Implications were discussed. Data for this study were collected from the RELATE assessment.     

Adolescents’ perceptions of the ‘substance use-violence nexus’: a South African perspective

The aim of the study was to explore adolescents’ perceptions of substance use as a contributing factor to community violence by employing a conceptual framework proposed by Goldstein. Data were collected from a sample of adolescents between the ages of 15 and 16 years by means of focus group interviews. Theoretical thematic analysis was used to analyse and interpret the findings. The participants’ perceptions indicated that substance use and withdrawal symptoms induce physiological and behavioural modifications resulting in aggression and violence. The findings also suggest that participants believed that substance users frequently commit property and violent interpersonal crimes such as theft, robbery, assault and murder to procure their substances. Further, the adolescents’ perceived violence to be rooted within gang culture as well as the involvement in shared markets for illicit substance trading.     

Peer and family influences on adolescent anger expression and the acceptance of cross-gender aggression

Past research has examined the relative impact of family and peers on adolescent behavior, but very little research has examined it in relation to youth dating violence. Eight hundred and sixty-five adolescents, primarily urban Latino youth, completed self-administered surveys at school. Multivariate analyses indicated that exposure to prior family violence was not significantly associated with adolescents' aggressive expression of anger or their acceptance of cross-gender aggression. However, current conflict--either family or peer--was associated with adolescent behavior and attitudes, with the exception that current peer conflict was not significantly associated with adolescents' acceptance of male on female aggression. Parental monitoring and attachment were not found to be moderators of these relationships. Implications for dating violence interventions and future directions for research are explored.     

Relations between youths' community violence exposure and their physical aggression: The protective role of adults

The purpose of this study was to examine whether adults moderated the relations between youths' community violence exposure and subsequent physical aggression. Participants were 2575 middle school students (M_age = 12.3, SD = 1.00; 52% female) in the southeastern U.S. who completed surveys collected in the fall, winter, spring, and summer. The sample was predominantly African American (72%). High adult support was associated with weaker relations between exposure to violence in the fall and aggression in the winter among male adolescents. High adult support was related to weaker relations between victimization in the fall and aggression in the winter among female adolescents. Strategies promoting supportive adult relationships may benefit male adolescents by buffering the adverse impact of community violence exposure.     

Evaluation eines Anti-Aggressivitäts-Trainings bei antisozialen Jugendlichen

Early-onset aggressive behaviour is highly stabile over the life-course. Intervention strategies try to exert positive influence on problematic developmental pathway but seldom were evaluated in a systematic way. The current study aims to evaluate the practicability and effects of an Anti-Aggression-Training (AAT) in antisocial male adolescents living in foster homes. The process evaluation showed that it is possible to implement the AAT in this setting. Suggestions for optimization will be given. The outcome-evaluation based on pre- and post-test data gathered in (randomised) control- and experimental-group. Several protection and risk factors for aggressive behaviours (e.g., self-efficacy, empathy, attribution style, accessible behavioural alternatives in critical situations) were positively affected by the AAT. Nevertheless, the training had no effects on aggressive behaviours itself.     

The relationship between driver aggression,violence, and vengeance

A distinction is made between mild driver aggression and driver violence as unique constructs that differ mainly in frequency of occurrence and severity of outcome. Drivers completed questionnaires assessing the likelihood of engaging in mild driver aggression, the frequency of past driver violence, driving vengeance, and willful violations. Violence was predicted by the interaction of mild aggression and vengeance, such that violence was greater among aggressive drivers, but only for those with elevated levels of vengeance. Driver violence was also predicted by the interaction of mild aggression and violations. Specifically, violence was greater among aggressive drivers reporting traffic violations. The present findings suggest that mild driver aggression and driver violence are linked within a small group of drivers that hold other dangerous driving attitudes and behaviors as part of their typical driving repertoire.     

青少年媒体使用习惯与暴力行为倾向调查

多种媒体形式广泛拓展了青少年获取信息的渠道、丰富了他们休闲娱乐的方式,但媒体中所包含的暴力内容也广为传播,对青少年的身心健康产生了极为不利的影响。调查研究发现:总体上青少年进行休闲性阅读的时间相对较少,对于电视节目、电影和视频电子游戏三类媒体,青少年普遍存在低到中等程度的暴力偏好。男生媒体接触频次、接触时间、暴力偏好以及暴力媒体接触量普遍高于女生。青少年暴力媒体接触量与攻击行为呈正相关,接触时间、频率和暴力偏好与总体攻击倾向、躯体攻击呈正相关。为改善青少年的媒体使用习惯,提出了重视阅读的作用、采用技术手段对含有暴力内容的媒体节目进行规范,青少年需要不断丰富学习和娱乐方式等对策和建议。     

Social perception of intimate partner violence according to the motivations and sex of the aggressor and the ideology and sex of the observers / Percepción social de la violencia de pareja en función de las motivaciones y sexo del/a agresor/a y de la ideología y sexo de los/as observadores/as

We studied how the sex of the aggressor and their motivations for attacking influence the social perception of intimate partner violence, as well as the sex of the observer and their sexist ideology. University students read a scenario in which both members of a heterosexual couple harmed each other owing to controlling or reactive motivations. After that, they were asked to identify the motivations of each partner and estimate the seriousness of what occurred, the number of aggressions described and the frequency of this kind of episode in real life. The results showed that the men and women properly identified the motivations underlying the aggressive behaviours, considered control violence more serious than reactive violence, and perceived more of the first kind of aggression. However, the men estimated a lower frequency of these episodes in real life, especially episodes of control violence. The ambivalent sexism of the men is related to these assessments. These results are particularly important with regard to the debate on gender symmetry/asymmetry in intimate partner violence.     

A Randomized Controlled Trial Assessing the Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Substance‐Dependent Domestic Violence Offenders: An Integrated Substance Abuse‐Domestic Violence Treatment Approach (SADV)

The current study evaluates a therapy for substance‐dependent perpetrators of partner violence. Sixty‐three males arrested for partner violence within the past year were randomized to a cognitive behavioral substance abuse‐domestic violence (SADV; n = 29) or a drug counseling (DC; n = 34) condition. Seventy percent of offenders completed eight core sessions with no differences between SADV and DC conditions in the amount of substance or aggression at pretreatment. SADV participants had fewer cocaine‐positive toxicology screens and breathalyzer results during treatment, were less likely to engage in aggressive behavior proximal to a drinking episode, and reported fewer episodes of violence than DC participants at posttreatment follow‐up. SADV shows promise in decreasing addiction and partner violence among substance‐dependent male offenders.     

Problem Gambling and Delinquent Behaviours Among Adolescents: A Scoping Review

Despite many studies indicating an association between problem gambling and delinquent behaviours among adolescents, there has been no effort to systematically analyze the state of the literature on this relationship. To fill this gap, we conducted a scoping review of the literature published between 2000 and 2016 on problem gambling and delinquent behaviours among adolescents. We searched twelve databases and reviewed reference lists to identify eligible studies. Search terms included a combination of medical subject headings and keywords for gambling, youth, and delinquency, which were combined with the Boolean operator “AND”. 1795 studies were identified through the literature search. Nine studies were eligible for inclusion. All of the studies were conducted in North America, with primarily male participants, and most of the data were cross-sectional. No qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. Screening tools used to measure problem gambling were inconsistent, making comparisons across studies difficult. We found a consistent moderate to strong association between problem gambling and delinquent behaviour. Only one study presented associations by socio-economic status and none considered gender, sex or ethnic differences. Studies in the review showed that problem gambling is associated with both violent and non-violent behaviours among adolescents. These associations may suggest that problem gambling and delinquent behaviours have common risk factors and reflect a syndrome of risky behaviours best targeted through prevention and treatment that is holistic and considers the context in which the youth is situated. Further research is warranted to better understand the relationship between problem gambling and delinquent behaviours.     

Longitudinal Mediators of Relations Between Family Violence and Adolescent Dating Aggression Perpetration

Few longitudinal studies have examined the pathways through which family violence leads to dating aggression. In the current study the authors used 3 waves of data obtained from 8th‐ and 9th‐grade adolescents (N = 1,965) to examine the hypotheses that the prospective relationship between witnessing family violence and directly experiencing violence and physical dating aggression perpetration is mediated by 3 constructs: (a) normative beliefs about dating aggression (norms), (b) anger dysregulation, and (c) depression. Results from cross‐lagged regression models suggest that the relationship between having been hit by an adult and dating aggression is mediated by changes in norms and anger dysregulation, but not depression. No evidence of indirect effects from witnessing family violence to dating aggression was found through any of the proposed mediators. Taken together, the findings suggest that anger dysregulation and normative beliefs are potential targets for dating abuse prevention efforts aimed at youth who have directly experienced violence.     

The utilisation of the bridging technique during therapy to overcome contact-making barriers in adolescents

This article focuses on the utilisation of a bridging technique to overcome contact-making barriers in adolescents. Interruptions or contact boundary disturbances block contact making, as it becomes fixed and prevents the natural and healthy process of organismic self-regulation. A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches were followed and a single system experimental design, A–B–A–A, was applied in the original study. Qualitative data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews with parents and teachers, and therapeutic intervention with adolescents. Quantitative data were collected from pre- post- and follow-up-intervention assessments, during which the bridging technique was utilised. Fourteen adolescent participants were selected by school teachers and therapists from three different schools, with their parents and teachers: a mainstream school for high-functioning children, a school for children with learning disabilities and a school for children with intellectual disabilities. These adolescents presented behavioural symptoms: aggression, self-mutilation, personal emotional symptoms: depression, suicidal tendencies, as well as contact-making disturbances. The findings indicated that the bridging technique shows potential in working with adolescents to overcome contact-making barriers.     

Domestic Abuse Assessment in Child Custody Disputes: Beware the Domestic Violence Research Paradigm

ABSTRACT

In some states, custody assessors are now required to become familiar with the dynamics of prevalence of domestic abuse since the presence of one or more abusive parents in the house has an impact on the “best interests of the child.” The domestic abuse literature is misleading in setting a framework for abuse incidence and threat source for children. Males are represented as primary perpetrators of physical abuse although data from meta-analytic studies show otherwise. Indirect aggression is scarcely mentioned in the literature, although prevalent in research on aggression. Physical violence directed towards children is actually more likely to be mother-perpetrated. Child safety may be compromised if attention is focused solely on the possibility of abuse from a male perpetrator.     

Developmental challenges in HIV infected children—An updated systematic review

Children with HIV infection are at risk of developmental and behavioural challenges. A systematic review in 2009 set out the extent of delay documented in HIV positive children. This study presents an update and re-analysis. Full searches were conducted in Medline, Cochrane Database and PsycINFO, from which reviewers selected abstracts and followed references to provide detailed studies on HIV and cognitive performance in children under 18 to cover the period 2008–2013. The search generated 21 new studies, 17 of which (81%) report some form of cognitive delay for HIV positive children compared to controls. Some domains measured seem to be more affected than others, with mixed evidence on language and executive functioning. The need for more definitive control of variables was highlighted by the environmental factors contributing to behavioural and cognitive outcomes. In conclusion this systematic review confirms the prevalence of cognitive delay in children with HIV and explores the complexity of the issue. The findings suggest the need for internationally agreed monitoring tools and studies which control for known contributing factors. Research for children is needed with a full understanding of developmental challenges, to point the way forward for effective interventions.     

Treating Suicidality in African American Adolescents with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Methods for preventing adolescent suicide are surveyed, and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is explored as a method for serving suicidal African American adolescents. Strengths, limitations, and compatibility of CBT with social work values are examined. Although CBT shows much promise in helping suicidal African American adolescents, research on the efficacy and effectiveness of CBT with this population is lacking. Suicide risk and protective factors and social inequities are evaluated as they relate to African American adolescents generally. In addition to relieving suicidal symptoms, CBT potentially could facilitate social liberation for this population.     

Establishing Independence in Low‐Income Urban Areas: The Relationship to Adolescent Aggressive Behavior

Although adolescents in poor urban areas often assume independent, adult‐like roles, relatively little is known about the relationship between these roles and other adolescent behaviors. This research examines the association between independent roles occurring within different contexts (e.g. family, peer, work) and aggressive behavior among 516 low‐income, urban middle school students. Overall, adolescent employment is related to increases in aggressive behavior. However, associations that familial and peer independent roles have with aggression differ by the extent of youth involvement in paid work. Greater engagement in familial independent roles is associated with decreased aggression among employed adolescents, but with increased aggression among unemployed youth. Also, peer independent roles are related to significantly greater increases in aggression among unemployed, compared with employed, adolescents.