Engaging parents in school health examinations can promote adolescents' well-being. We examined parents' participation in universal school health examinations in Finland reported by adolescents in school surveys (14 to 16-year-olds, N = 58,232). Further we studied variation between service providers and schools, and student and school-level…

This essay explores a student teacher's experience teaching an identity-themed poetry unit to a Year 9 class at an all-boys comprehensive school through the lens of one student's writing. Investigating an intimate poem, produced at the end of a difficult lesson, reveals the importance of allowing students the space to bring their individual…

Youth with greater levels of narcissism face a wide array of difficulties in interactions with others. However, there exists a curious lack of research on their close relationships, such as friendships. In this study, we examined associations between narcissism and friendship features over time. Participants were 261 eighth and ninth graders (112…

The objective of the study was to examine how distinct psychopathic traits, including callous-unemotional (CU) traits, impulsivity and narcissism, as well as family, school and friend social support are longitudinally associated with cyberbullying and cyber-victimization. Associations were investigated by employing a four-year longitudinal design…

An emerging body of research documents a relationship between sleep quantity and delinquency during adolescence. Absent from this line of research, however, is an evaluation of whether the associations between sleep duration and different forms of delinquency vary across periods of adolescence and sex. The current study aimed to address this gap…

Scientists are often described as smart and logical thinkers but lacking in the so-called "soft skills." Well-known TV series such as "The Big Bang Theory" and "Breaking Bad" have also shaped these stereotypical ideas in society. In the present study, a total of 1013 students in grades 8 and 11 were asked about…

This quantitative study is primarily intended to examine whether district level performance results from Grade 8 ELA state assessments can help to predict future passing rates on AP exams. The participants for the study are all 218 K-12 school districts in New Jersey, all of which generated results across score levels and passing rates for PARCC…

High-achieving minority students have fewer friends than their majority counterparts. Exploring patterns of friendship formation in the Add Health data, we find strong racial homophily in friendship formations as well as strong achievement homophily within race. However, we find that achievement matters less in cross-racial friendships. As a…

Differential Item Function (DIF) analysis is commonly employed to examine potential bias produced by a test item. Since its introduction DIF analyses have focused on potential bias related to broad categories of oppression, including gender, racial stratification, economic class, and ableness. More recently, efforts to examine the effects of…

Background: In health education, there is a risk of giving overly prescriptive recommendations, potentially activating conflicting in-group norms that reduce message receptiveness. For example, the notion of 'unhealthy youth' is a stereotype which suggests that young people are expected to make unhealthy choices. If such in-group norms are…

This study examined whether individual and collective moral disengagement (MD) in seventh grade were associated with bullying perpetration across seventh and eighth grade, and whether changes in individual and collective MD from seventh to eighth grade were associated with concomitant changes in individual-level bullying perpetration. In this…

Objective: This study examined extracurricular and physical activity related to ADHD (diagnosis and symptoms) and cognitive disengagement syndrome (CDS) symptoms. Methods: Participants were 302 adolescents (ages 12-14) with and without ADHD and primary caregivers. ADHD diagnosis was determined with parent interview. Questionnaires provided…

Objective: While a link between strength-based parenting and social-emotional wellbeing has been previously established, little is known about the role that school belonging plays in moderating this relationship. The present study examined the mediating and moderating role of school belonging in the association of strength-based parenting with…

In the 2017-18 school year, 18% of New York students opted out of a mandated state assessment test. On Long Island, that number was closer to 50% of students opting out of one or more tests. The implications of this phenomenon are far-reaching, but unknown. This study seeks to better understand both who opts out and the potential impact of opt out…

This cross-sectional study was carried out to investigate the self-perception of primary school students aged 10-14 and their attitudes toward obese children (n = 693). There was a weak, positive, and highly significant correlation between the mean scores for the overall Attitude Toward Obese Children Scale, the Self-Perception Profile for…