Longitudinal associations between coping and peer victimization: Moderation by gender and initial peer victimization

Stress coping theories suggest that the effectiveness of coping depends on the level of stress experienced. Existing research shows that efforts to cope with high levels of peer victimization may not prevent subsequent peer victimization. Additionally, associations between coping and peer victimization often differ between boys and girls. The present study included 242 participants (51% girls; 34% Black, 65% White; Mage = 15.75 years). Adolescents reported on coping with peer stress at age 16 and on overt and relational peer victimization at ages 16 and 17. Greater use of primary control engaged coping (e.g., problem-solving) was associated positively with overt peer victimization for boys with higher initial overt victimization. Primary control coping was also associated positively with relational victimization regardless of gender or initial relational peer victimization. Secondary control coping (e.g., cognitive distancing) was associated negatively with overt peer victimization. Secondary control coping was also associated negatively with relational victimization for boys. Greater use of disengaged coping (e.g., avoidance) was associated positively with overt and relational peer victimization for girls with higher initial victimization. Gender differences and the context and level of stress should be considered in future research and interventions related to coping with peer stress.     

Predicting the development of dependency on the teacher in late childhood: The role of peer victimization and peer beliefs

Evidence indicates that being overly dependent on the teacher places children's academic and socioemotional development at risk. However, little is known about what predicts dependency on the teacher or how the quality of interactions occurring within the classroom peer system may impact how children relate to their teacher the following school year. The current study tested the proposition that peer victimization may result in negative perceptions of classmates (i.e., peer beliefs), leading to overreliance on teachers. Data were collected from 365 children in the fall and spring of their third/fourth grade year and the fall of their fourth/fifth grade year (195 girls; M_age = 8.92 years; 86.8% white). Peer-reports of peer victimization and self-reports of peer beliefs were collected at each wave of the study. Teacher-reports of dependency were collected in the fall of the first and second years of the study. Path analyses showed that for boys peer victimization directly predicted higher levels of dependency on the next year's teacher, and, for boys and girls, peer victimization indirectly predicted dependency through lower levels of prosocial peer beliefs. Supplemental analyses assessing teacher-child conflict and closeness confirmed that findings were unique to dependency. These results underscore how children's perceptions of their classmates may contribute to dependency in their relationships with teachers and highlight the need for further research into the transactional and cumulative impact of difficulties within peer and teacher relationships.     

Examining links between affective empathy,cognitive empathy,and peer relationships at the transition to school

The current study aimed to (i) examine associations across features of affective and cognitive empathy, and (ii) explore their independent role for children's peer relationships at the transition to school. Affective empathy was measured using both observations of children's facial affect during an empathy-eliciting event and dispositional affective empathy to peer distress via teacher report. Cognitive empathy was measured using an index of children's proclivity to engage in perspective taking when witnessing the distress of another. Children's theory of mind was also assessed given close links with cognitive empathy. Participants were 114 Australian children (M_age = 67 months, SD = 5 months) assessed across two sessions during their first year of formal schooling. Findings showed that features of children's affective and cognitive empathy were unrelated, but both showed independent associations with children's positive peer relationships (assessed via peer-reported social preference and teacher-rated peer social maturity). The current study provides support for the delineation between features of affective and cognitive empathy in early school-age children, and the importance of understanding both affective and cognitive empathy for children's peer relationships at the transition to school. These findings have implications how we understand both the nature of empathy in childhood and the role it plays in supporting children's positive peer relationships.     

A cross-national study on adolescent substance use: Intentions,peer substance use,and parent-adolescent communication

This longitudinal two-wave cross-national study investigated whether intentions, friends' substance use, and parent-adolescent substance-use specific communication predict adolescent alcohol and cannabis use 1 year later, while estimating reversed links. The temporal order between these two substances was also examined. We used multi-group cross-lagged panel modeling on data from 2 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse samples: Sint Maarten (N = 350; M_age = 14.19) and the Netherlands (N = 602; M_age = 13.50). Results showed that in the Netherlands, cannabis use predicts more subsequent problems (alcohol use, intention to use cannabis, and affiliation with cannabis-using friends). But for Sint Maarten, alcohol use predicts more subsequent problems (cannabis use, intention to use alcohol, and affiliation with alcohol-using friends). These opposing results demonstrate that caution is warranted when generalizing results across countries.     

交友之道：青少年同伴关系的影响因素研究

同伴关系对青少年的健康成长至关重要。青少年同伴关系的形成以及家庭社会经济地位在这一过程中所起的作用,对于理解教育不平等和代际流动都有重要意义,但既有的研究发现并不一致。本文从社会分层视角出发,检验了家庭社会经济地位对青少年同伴接纳度的影响,并尝试探究其中介机制。研究发现,家庭社会经济地位和个人层面的积极特性(如较高的学业成绩、自我效能感、有体育爱好)分别对青少年的同伴接纳度产生独立的正向影响。其中,非认知能力和文体爱好并非家庭社会经济地位影响青少年同伴接纳度的中介机制,只有认知能力起到微弱的中介作用,即家庭社会经济地位的部分效应通过认知能力作用于同伴接纳度。     

高校朋辈教育的困境及改善措施

随着“朋辈教育”在高校思想政治教育工作中的试点运行，因其“自主性、广泛性和规范性”的特点加之“沟通流畅、时效性 强、便于管理”等优势被各大高校所热捧。但高校朋辈教育也存在诸如高校朋辈教育者“服务意识淡薄、综合能力不足、管理行 为受疑”等问题，对此应从“强化高校朋辈教育者的服务意识、提升高校朋辈教育者的综合能力、改善高校朋辈教育者的公信力 度和优化高校朋辈教育者的培育机制”等方面入手加以积极应对。