Dataset Information

Effects of an incremental theory of personality intervention on the reciprocity between bullying and cyberbullying victimization and perpetration in adolescents.

ABSTRACT: The incremental theory of personality interventions (ITPI) teaches adolescents that people can change. Researchers have found that these interventions can reduce the perpetration of bullying and cyberbullying. Moreover, there is reciprocity between perpetrating bullying behaviors and being a victim of them. The objective of this study was to examine whether the ITPI reduces the reciprocity between victimization and perpetration of bullying and cyberbullying. A sample of 858 high school students (52% boys) aged 12 to 17 at pretest (M = 14.56, SD = 0.97) participated in a double-blind randomized controlled trial (452 participants were assigned to the experimental condition and 406 to the control condition). Measures of bullying and cyberbullying were taken at baseline, six-month, and 12-month follow-ups. The results indicated that victimization was a strong predictor of perpetration for bullying and cyberbullying over time. Perpetration was not a predictor of victimization. Consistently, for both forms of aggressive behavior, the intervention reduced the intensity of the association between victimization and perpetration. This effect was not moderated by the age or sex of the participants. Finally, the effectiveness of the ITPI was moderated by age. Specifically, among the youngest (< 14.48 years), those who received the ITPI showed a slight tendency to reduce aggressive behavior that contrasted with the growing trend in the control group. Among the oldest participants (> 14.48), the trajectories were similar in the two groups. Our findings show that influencing adolescents' reactions to peer aggression victimization is one of the mechanisms that could explain the beneficial effects of the ITPI and other preventive interventions.

SUBMITTER: Calvete E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6857857 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND:Intimate partner violence (IPV) is prevalent in high- as well as low-income contexts. It results in a substantial public health burden and significant negative socioeconomic and health outcomes throughout the life-course. However, limited knowledge exists about IPV during early adolescence. This period is critical during the transition to adulthood for at least two reasons: it is when the majority of adolescents in low-income countries first encounter dating, sexuality and partnerships, often with older adolescents or adults, and it is also the period when lifelong patterns of violence and norms about acceptable IPV are formed. The current study is one of the first to measure IPV prevalence among young adolescents in a low-income setting, examine the potential etiology, and investigate relationships with gender ideology, poverty, mental health and childhood adversity. METHODS:We surveyed 2,089 adolescents aged 10-16 in Malawi using standardized instruments. We estimated the prevalence of IPV, and use multivariate logistic regression to test potential correlates. RESULTS:More than a quarter (27%) of ever-partnered adolescents in Malawi report being victimized. A substantial proportion of both male and female adolescents (15%) report committing violence against their partner. Girls were more likely than boys to report being a victim of sexual IPV (24% versus 8%), and boys more likely to perpetrate such (9% versus 1%). Almost 10% of the sample had both committed and been a victim of IPV. Cumulative childhood adversity (e.g., physical abuse, witnessing domestic violence) was a consistent and strong correlate of IPV victimization (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.30) and of perpetration (aOR 1.35). Depression and PTSD were likewise associated with IPV victimization in the overall sample. Notably, gender ideology was not predictive of either victimization or perpetration, even among boys. CONCLUSIONS:IPV is common for both male and female young Malawian adolescents, and includes both victimization and perpetration. IPV compounds other adversities experienced by adolescents in this low-income setting, and it is rarely alleviated through help from the health system or other formal support. These findings underscore the need to intervene early when interventions can still break destructive pathways and help foster healthier relationships. This focus on early adolescence is particularly critical in low-income countries given the early onset and rapid pace of the transition to adulthood, with sexual activity, dating and partnership thus being common already in young adolescence. Promising interventions would be those that reduce violence against or around children, as well as those that reduce the impacts of such trauma on mental health during adolescence.

Dataset Information

Effects of an incremental theory of personality intervention on the reciprocity between bullying and cyberbullying victimization and perpetration in adolescents.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets