Longitudinal associations between poor reading skills, bullying and victimization across the transition from elementary to middle school.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Turunen T
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8011771 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundBullying and victimization are widespread phenomena in childhood and can have a serious impact on well-being. Children from families with a low socioeconomic background have an increased risk of this behaviour, but it is unknown whether socioeconomic status (SES) of school neighbourhoods is also related to bullying behaviour. Furthermore, as previous bullying research mainly focused on older children and adolescents, it remains unclear to what extent bullying and victimization affects the lives of younger children. The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence and socioeconomic disparities in bullying behaviour among young elementary school children.MethodsThe study was part of a population-based survey in the Netherlands. Teacher reports of bullying behaviour and indicators of SES of families and schools were available for 6379 children aged 5-6 years.ResultsOne-third of the children were involved in bullying, most of them as bullies (17%) or bully-victims (13%), and less as pure victims (4%). All indicators of low family SES and poor school neighbourhood SES were associated with an increased risk of being a bully or bully-victim. Parental educational level was the only indicator of SES related with victimization. The influence of school neighbourhood SES on bullying attenuated to statistical non-significance once adjusted for family SES.ConclusionsBullying and victimization are already common problems in early elementary school. Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, rather than children visiting schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, have a particularly high risk of involvement in bullying. These findings suggest the need of timely bullying preventions and interventions that should have a special focus on children of families with a low socioeconomic background. Future studies are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of such programs.
| S-EPMC3575320 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Bullying is a social phenomenon that impacts a large number of children and young people, worldwide. This study aimed to longitudinally examine the development of bullying and victimization in Chinese students in grades 4, 5, and 6. We used latent class analysis to empirically identify groups of youth with different bullying and victimization patterns, and then used latent transition analysis to explore the movement of children between these latent classes over time. Results showed that: (1) across the three time points, students could be classified into four classes: bullies, victims, bully-victims, and non-involved children; and (2) students in the non-involved class tended to remain in that class when moving to higher grades, students in the bully and victims classes tended to transition to the non-involved class, while students in the bully-victims class tended to transition to the bullies class. Thus, future intervention should be implemented to prevent bully-victims from bullying behaviors.
| S-EPMC5570336 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background Schools play an important role in providing access to physical activity opportunities for children. There are common economic and gender disparities in physical activity and health-related fitness among children, which may inform a school’s programming needs. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding about gender, school-level socioeconomic status, and children’s cardiorespiratory fitness. Methods This observational study used 2017–2018 school year data from schools in the Dallas Metropolitan area participating in the Healthy Zone School (HZS) program. Three data sources were integrated: 1) FitnessGram® data, 2) school-level data from the Texas Education Agency, and 3) HZS survey data. Being in the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) for aerobic capacity was the dependent variable, and gender and the percentage of economically disadvantaged students (at the school-level) were key independent variables. Mixed-effects logistic regression models examined associations between dependent and independent variables. Final models were adjusted for age and type of aerobic test. Results There were 67 schools and 15,052 students included in the analysis. When testing main effects, girls had lower odds for being in the HFZ for aerobic capacity than boys (OR?=?0.54, CI?=?0.47–0.62). Additionally, having a greater percentage of students who were economically disadvantaged was associated with lower odds for being in the HFZ for aerobic capacity (0.98, CI?=?0.98–0.99). There was a significant interaction between gender and the percentage of economically disadvantaged students. Results indicated girls had even lower odds (than boys) for being in the HFZ in schools with 90% economically disadvantaged students (OR?=?0.44, CI?=?0.35–0.55) versus in schools with 15% economically disadvantage students (OR?=?0.62, CI?=?0.51–0.76). Conclusions Results suggest girls in Healthy Zone Schools have lower odds to meet aerobic capacity fitness standards than boys. Additionally, boys and girls in schools serving a greater percentage of economically disadvantaged students have lower odds to meet aerobic capacity fitness standards. Last, girls have even lower odds of meeting HFZ standard when attending a school serving a greater percentage of economically disadvantaged students. Thus, schools need to provide more programs for girls targeting aerobic physical activity. This is especially important for schools serving a high percentage of low-income students.
| S-EPMC7531152 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Peer victimization is a highly stressful experience that impacts up to a third of all adolescents and can contribute to a variety of negative outcomes, including elevated anxiety, depression, drug use, and delinquency, as well as reduced self-esteem, school attendance, and academic achievement. Current prevention approaches (e.g., the Olweus program) have a mixed record in American schools. We propose a new approach to prevention that leverages theory and research surrounding the social aspects of bullying and victimization, particularly peer relations. Our approach attempts to (1) break down the process of homophily among bullies, and (2) provide a mechanism by which socially isolated students can develop new friendships. Our approach asks teachers to increase opportunities for positive peer interaction through carefully structured, group-based learning activities in school (i.e., cooperative learning). We hypothesized that these positive peer interactions would result in reductions in bullying, victimization, perceived stress, and emotional problems, as well as increases in peer relatedness, among more marginalized students. Using a cluster randomized trial with 15 rural middle schools in the Pacific Northwest (N = 1,460 7th grade students), we found that cooperative learning significantly reduced bullying, victimization, and perceived stress for marginalized students (i.e., moderated effects), and reduced emotional problems and enhanced relatedness for all students (i.e., main effects). Given that cooperative learning has already been shown to enhance student engagement and achievement in prior research, our results demonstrate that cooperative learning can be a permanent, sustainable component of teacher training and school culture.
| S-EPMC6430212 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background: Left-behind children (LBC) are becoming a widespread phenomenon and face higher risks of psychological and educational problems. Our study aimed to explore school bullying in LBC and examine the effectiveness of art therapy intervention for reducing bullying victimization affecting LBC in rural areas. Methods: A total of 603 children, including 272 LBC and 331 non-LBC, were sampled from 6 rural schools. Questionnaires regarding school life satisfaction, children's social anxiety, self-esteem, and school bullying were used to assess the psychological and school behavior status of these children. One Hundred and Eighty LBC who were victims of school bullying were then selected and randomly assigned to 3 groups to evaluate the effects of art therapy intervention. The interventions of art therapy and general counseling were conducted in 6 sessions over 3 months. Results: Our results demonstrated LBC experienced more bullying victimization than non-LBC. Left-behind boys were more likely to be bullied than left-behind girls. LBC > 12 years old, LBC whose parents are divorced, separated, or widowed, were more vulnerable to being bullied. School bullying of LBC was affected by social anxiety scores and school life satisfaction. The bullying victimization of LBC in the art therapy group was significantly improved. Conclusions: LBC suffered more school bullying than did non-LBC. Art therapy can effectively help LBC in rural primary schools to reduce their vulnerability to bullying.
| S-EPMC6374290 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundFew studies have evaluated teacher- and school-level characteristics associated with implementation of recommended physical activity (PA) promoting practices. The purpose of this study is to examine associations between teachers' PA practices and: [1] teacher-level factors, including their own PA, and [2] school-level factors.MethodsThis cross-sectional study examined time spent daily in light PA (LPA) and moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA) in association with 7 teacher PA practices among 288 classroom/special area teachers and teaching assistants in 20 urban, suburban and rural schools (recruited through a school wellness trial) in 4 districts. LPA and MVPA was assessed using 24-h ankle accelerometry (up to seven consecutive days). A sum score for teacher PA practices was assessed via survey (7 items; sum score range: 7-35; Cronbach's alpha = 0.73; higher scores indicate more PA promoting practices). Teacher-level factors included gender, race, self-reported height/weight, years teaching, and education. School-level factors included school type, free-and-reduced-price meal eligibility, student racial/ethnic composition, and urbanicity. Analyses included multilevel regression models, accounting for clustering within schools and adjusting for demographic covariates and school district.ResultsTeachers were 91% female, 63% elementary, 60% white, mean age 43.2 years (SD = 11.3), and 41% obese). Teachers wore accelerometers an average of 5.8 days, spent 399.6 min in LPA (SD = 85.0) per day, 24.1 min in MVPA (SD = 14.4) per day, and the mean teacher PA practices sum score was 22.4 (SD = 5.0). Every 15-min increase in MVPA was related to an increase in teacher PA practices sum score (coeff =1.07; SE = 0.28; p < 0.001). Female gender (versus males; coeff = - 1.95; SE = 0.92, p = 0.034), an obese weight status (versus non-obese; coeff = - 1.38; SE = 0.54, p = 0.010), and teaching in a middle school (versus elementary; coeff = - 3.86; SE = 0.54, p < 0.001) were associated with lower teacher PA practices scores. LPA was not associated with teacher PA promoting practices.ConclusionsTeachers with higher MVPA, but not higher LPA, and those without obesity were more likely to implement PA promoting practices that could positively impact their students' PA. Similar to prior studies, these practices were more commonly implemented in elementary schools and by male teachers. Future studies in schools should explore whether improvement of teacher health behaviors subsequently impacts student health behaviors.Trial registrationClinical Trials, NCT03432715 ; Registered on 02/2/2018.
| S-EPMC8135930 | biostudies-literature
Project description:INTRODUCTION:Interventions to promote physical activity in children should be informed by knowledge of the factors that influence physical activity behavior during critical developmental transitions. The purpose of this study is to identify, from a comprehensive, multidomain set of factors, those that are associated with change in objectively measured physical activity in children as they transition from elementary to middle school. METHODS:The study used a prospective cohort design, with children observed in fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. Growth curve analyses were used to examine associations between exposure variables measured at baseline and children's physical activity across three observations. A total of 828 children, aged 10.6 (SD=0.5) years at baseline provided physical activity data in fifth grade and at one or both follow-ups. Exposure variables assessed child characteristics, parent characteristics, home characteristics, social factors, school environment, and community characteristics. Physical activity was measured via accelerometry. Data were collected in two school districts in South Carolina in 2010-2013 and analyzed in 2017. RESULTS:Variables measured within the child, parent/home, and community domains were positively associated with children's physical activity as they transitioned from fifth to seventh grade. These included parent encouragement of physical activity, parental support for physical activity, child sports participation, parent's report of the child's physical activity level, the child's time spent outdoors, social spaces for physical activity in the community, and the number of physical activity facilities that were proximal to the child's home. CONCLUSIONS:Interventions designed to increase children's physical activity should include strategies that target multiple domains of influence.
| S-EPMC6380938 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Neuroimaging studies suggest that categorical perception of speech phonemes in adults is primarily subserved by a pathway from bilateral primary auditory areas to association areas in the left middle superior temporal cortex, but the neural substrates underlying categorical speech perception in children are not yet known. Here, fMRI was used to examine the neural substrates associated with phoneme perception in 7- to 12-year-old children as well as the relationships among level of expertise in phoneme perception, the associated activation, and the development of reading and phonological processing abilities. While multiple regions in left frontal, temporal, and parietal cortex were found to be more responsive to phonemic than nonphonemic sounds, the extent of left lateralization in posterior temporal and parietal regions during phonemic relative to nonphonemic discrimination differed depending on the degree of categorical phoneme perception. In addition, an unexpected finding was that proficiency in categorical perception was strongly related to activation in the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex, an area frequently associated with orthographic processing. Furthermore, in children who showed lower proficiency in categorical perception, the level of categorical perception was positively correlated with reading ability and reading and reading-related abilities were inversely correlated with right mid-temporal activation in the phonemic relative to nonphonemic perception contrast. These results suggest that greater specialization of left hemisphere temporal and parietal regions for the categorical perception of phonemes, as well as activation of the region termed the visual word form area, may be important for the optimal developmental refinement of both phoneme perception and reading ability.
| S-EPMC4113510 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Reading and math attainment develop during elementary grades. Questions remain, though, about the co-developmental nature of the relation between reading and math. This study examined dynamic, longitudinal pathways between reading and math in first through fourth grades. Participants of the study were 554 academically at-risk children (Mage at the first assessment point = 6.57 years; SD = 0.38) from Texas Project Achieve. Children were assessed utilizing the Woodcock-Johnson-III reading and math measures. Results from dynamic bivariate latent change score models indicated unidirectional longitudinal coupling effects from reading to math. Specifically, average and high levels of reading performance were associated with subsequent gains in math growth, in particular for below average performing children in math. In contrast, low levels of reading performance had negligible or no amplifying influences on change in math growth. The nature of the dynamics was replicated even when controlling for nonverbal cognitive abilities. Results demonstrated that good reading skills pave the way for children to develop their math skills. Such findings underscore the importance of considering reading performance in treating math difficulties.
| S-EPMC7725923 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:The prevalence of being bullied traditionally among U.S. high school students is expected to reduce to 17.9%, according to Healthy People 2020 Initiatives. We examined trends in traditional victimization and cybervictimization with the latest large-scale time-series data in the United States. METHODS:We analyzed the data from the 2011-2019 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to access the trends in traditional victimization and cybervictimization among U.S. high school students. We identified the temporal trends using multivariate logistic regression analyses, accounting for survey design features of YRBS. Participants included 72,605 high school students. RESULTS:The overall prevalence of victimization was 19.74% for traditional bullying and 15.38% for cyberbullying, suggesting that cyberbullying is not a low frequent phenomenon. The prevalence of victimization ranged from 20.19 to 19.04% for traditional victimization and 16.23 to 14.77% for cybervictimization, and the declined trends for the two kinds of bullying victimization were both statistically non-significant. The degree of overlap between the two kinds of bullying victimization was about 60%. Besides, female students reported more traditional victimization and cybervictimization than male peers within each survey cycle. CONCLUSIONS:No declined trends in traditional victimization and cybervictimization were observed during 2011-2019. Female students are more likely to experience school bullying. To achieve the Healthy People 2020 goal on bullying, more work is needed to explore the underlying reasons behind these unchanging trends.
| S-EPMC7576863 | biostudies-literature