Victims and Perpetrators of Bullying in Physical Education Lessons: The Role of Peer Support, Weight Status, Gender, and Age in Polish Adolescents

Physical education is a space in which adolescents may become the victims or perpetrators of bullying. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between being a victim or perpetrator of physical, verbal, or social bullying in physical education, and peer support, gender, weight status, and age. The sample consisted of 2, 848 adolescents (1, 512 girls and 1, 336 boys) aged 14–16 from Poland. The participants’ body mass index was determined based on their measured height and weight. The Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children questionnaire was used to assess whether the participants were victims or perpetrators of bullying. Peer support during physical education was assessed using the modified Teacher and Classmate Support Scale. The analysis of logistic regressions revealed that low peer support increased the probability of being the victim of physical, verbal, and social bullying (odds ratio [ OR], 1.58–2.91) and becoming a perpetrator of bullying ( OR, 1.14–1.37) in physical education. Additionally, being overweight increased the likelihood of being a verbal victim ( OR, 1.39) and being obese raised the probability of becoming social victim ( OR, 1.60). Boys more often experienced ( OR, 1.12–2.06) and caused bullying ( OR, 1.25–1.89) than girls. Moreover, victims were mainly younger (14-year-old) students ( OR, 1.16–1.21), while perpetrators were more often older (15- and 16-year-old) adolescents ( OR, 1.12–1.20). This research indicated that peer support can play a key role in preventing bullying in physical education. Physical education teachers should pay special attention to unpopular and rejected students because they most often become the victims and perpetrators of bullying. Creating a climate that fosters the development of high peer support might protect adolescents from becoming a victim—and a perpetrator—of bullying in physical education.

Psychosocial Working Conditions in School and Life Satisfaction among Adolescents in Sweden: A Cross-Sectional Study

Poor psychosocial working conditions in school have consistently been shown to be associated with adverse health among adolescents. However, the relationships between school demands, teacher support, and classmate support and positive aspects of health have not been explored to the same extent. The aim of this study was to examine differences in psychosocial working conditions in school and in life satisfaction by gender and by grade, and to investigate the association between psychosocial working conditions in school and life satisfaction among boys and girls, and among students in different grades. Data from the Swedish Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study of 2017/18 were used, consisting of 3614 students in Grades 5, 7, and 9 (~11, 13, and 15 years). Psychosocial working conditions in school were captured by indices of perceived school demands, teacher support, and classmate support. Life satisfaction was measured by the 11-step Cantril’s ladder (using cutoffs at >5 and >8, respectively). Whereas girls reported higher school demands than boys, higher levels of teacher and classmate support were reported by boys. Students in lower grades reported lower school demands but higher levels of teacher and classmate support compared with students in higher grades. Boys and students in lower grades were more likely to report high life satisfaction compared with girls and students in higher grades. Results from binary logistic regression analyzes showed that school demands were inversely associated with life satisfaction, and that higher levels of teacher support and classmate support were associated with high life satisfaction. These results were found for both boys and girls, and for students in all grades. The findings indicate that schools have the potential to promote positive health among students.

Excellent Self-Rated Health among Swedish Boys and Girls and Its Relationship with Working Conditions in School: A Cross-Sectional Study

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which school demands, teacher support, and classmate support were associated with excellent self-rated health among students, and to examine if any such statistical predictions differed by gender. Data were drawn from the Swedish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study of 2017/18, performed among adolescents in grades five, seven, and nine (n = 3701). Linear probability models showed that school demands were negatively associated with excellent self-rated health, whereas teacher and classmate support showed positive associations. The link with school demands was stronger for girls than boys, driven by the finding that in grades five and nine, school demands were associated with excellent self-rated health only among girls. In conclusion, the study suggests that working conditions in school in terms of manageable school demands and strong teacher and classmate support may benefit adolescents’ positive health. The finding that the link between school demands and excellent self-rated health was more evident among girls than among boys may be interpreted in light of girls’ on average stronger focus on schoolwork and academic success. The study contributes with to knowledge about how working conditions in school may impede or promote students’ positive health.

Adopted Adolescents at School: Social Support and Adjustment

There is a need of additional research into the social aspects of adoptees’ school experiences. For that purpose, the present study used a sample of adopted ( n = 541) and non-adopted ( n = 582) adolescents from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in Spain. Specifically, we analyzed social support at school (from classmates and teachers), explored adjustment differences between domestic adoptees, intercountry adoptees, and non-adopted adolescents, and examined whether adoption status and adjustment problems explain potential differences in support from teachers and from classmates. Results showed more difficulties in domestic adoptees than in the other two groups. Furthermore, differences were found in the role of adoption status and adjustment problems in classmate and teacher support: once conduct problems were taken into account, the association between adoption status and classmate support became non-significant. In contrast, both conduct problems and adoption status were significant factors associated with lower teacher support.

Rendimiento académico, apoyo social percibido e inteligencia emocional en la universidad

El apoyo social percibido contribuye al desarrollo y al rendimiento académico del alumnado. Asimismo, la investigación sugiere la relación positiva e influencia de la inteligencia emocional sobre el rendimiento académico. Así, los objetivos de este estudio son: a) examinar las relaciones entre el apoyo social percibido, la inteligencia emocional y el rendimiento académico; y b) analizar la capacidad predictiva del apoyo social percibido sobre la inteligencia emocional y de ambas variables sobre el rendimiento académico. Participan 419 estudiantes de la Universidad del País Vasco con edades entre 18 y 40 años (M=20.45; DT=3.31), 27% chicos y 73% chicas. Se emplean las siguientes escalas: Escala de Apoyo Social Percibido (AFA), Teacher and Classmate Support Scale (TCMS), Trait Meta Mood Scale (TMMS-24) y Escala Breve de Ajuste Escolar (EBAE-10). Se procede con análisis correlacionales y de regresión múltiple. Los resultados muestran las asociaciones más altas entre el apoyo del profesorado con el rendimiento académico, el apoyo familiar con la reparación emocional y la reparación emocional con el rendimiento académico. Igualmente, destaca la capacidad explicativa del apoyo del profesorado sobre el rendimiento académico, del apoyo familiar sobre la claridad emocional y la reparación emocional, y de la reparación emocional sobre el rendimiento académico.

Sources of Social Support and Mental Health Among LGB Youth

Disparities in psychosocial adjustment have been identified for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth, yet research that explores multiple sources of social support among subgroups of LGB youth is sparse. Social support theory is used as a framework to analyze the ways that different sources of support might promote better psychosocial adjustment for LGB youth. Data from a diverse sample among LGB youth ( N = 835) were used to understand how social support from a close friend, teachers, classmates, and parents might be differently associated with depression and self-esteem. We found that parent support and its importance to the participant were consistently related to higher self-esteem and lower depression for all youth, except for lesbians for whom no forms of social support were associated with self-esteem. Teacher and classmate support influenced some subgroups more than others. These results provide parents, clinicians, and schools a roadmap to assist youth navigate supports.