This dissertation examines the effects of neighborhood characteristics on Detroit Public School Community District students' attendance rates for the 2018-19 school year. First, I analyze the effects of daylight savings time, relative to school start time, on absences for elementary and middle school students. By observing the natural change in…

This study examined beliefs about aggression and self-efficacy for nonviolent responses as mediators of longitudinal relations between exposure to violence and physical aggression. Participants were a predominantly African American (79%) sample of 2705 early adolescents from three middle schools within urban neighborhoods with high rates of…

The present research aimed to examine the serial multiple mediation role of deviant peer affiliation and victimization in the link between violent video game playing and bullying in a low-income neighborhood. A sample of 378 early adolescents between 12 and 14 years of age (M = 13.24, SD = 0.65) was recruited from three public middle schools in a…

This study examined how changes in cumulative peer victimization are associated with depressed mood and suicidality among adolescents over time, as well as whether certain protective factors (e.g., school mattering) moderate these associations. Middle and high school students (N = 2,539) from a small city in the Great Plains responded to five…

School violence, as a special type of violence, refers to behaviors that take the school as a background, occur inside the school, and cause physical and/or psychological harm to school members. This review builds on growing literature in the field of school violence in mainland China with a focus on school bullying as its most common form. It…

This study examines the incidence and correlates of coercive sexting by dating partners among middle and high school students, including sex-based differences and associations with other forms of sexual coercion. Survey data from a study of protective factors for teen dating violence in middle and high school students were examined (N = 1,236). Of…

Guided by the social-ecological model, the present study used hierarchical linear modeling to examine the multilevel associations between teacher victimization (TV), teacher burnout, and school climate. Participants were 1,711 teachers from 58 middle and high schools in mainland China. Using hierarchical linear modeling, the study found that upon…

The aim of this study was to examine if perceived family violence of victimized children is related to their perceived aggressive behavior. It has been acknowledged that children learn and behave what they observe and practice including violence. A stratified random sample (N =1160) of Omani school students was drawn from grades 6 to 9. The study…

The practice of temporarily removing students from school as a form of punishment (i.e., suspensions) remains quite common. This study uses longitudinal data from a large, urban school district in California to assess whether the use of suspensions improves school safety in the following school year. Additional analyses by student race and…

The aim of this study was to verify the moderating effect of the relationship between exposure to violent online media and cyber offending in adolescents. The study utilized information from the 2019 cyber violence survey; data from 3,202 adolescents (mean age = 16.56, SD = 1.71; boys = 1,800, girls = 1,402) were used for the final analysis. The…

Compared with other ethnic groups, African American adolescents are exposed to higher levels of family and community violence, which contribute to poorer academic achievement. This study examines whether emotion regulation moderates the effects of exposure to family and community violence on academic achievement among low-income African American…

Interactive and mediating effects have the ability to elucidate variable relationships. The goal of the current study was to explore how these two effects potentially clarify the victimization-offending relationship. Examining three waves of longitudinal data, it was predicted that Wave 1 victimization would enhance Wave 2 cognitive impulsivity,…

This study was conducted to determine if middle school female students were exhibiting violent behavior in a large mid-south urban school district. The subjects were all middle school female students within 30 middle schools in a large mid-south urban school district from 2012-2013 until 2016-2017. Information about middle school female students'…

Background: This study used a new Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) assessment tool to test the associations between physical attributes of schools and violence-related behaviors and perceptions of students. Methods: Data were collected from 4717 students from 50 middle schools. Student perceptions of risk and safety, and…

Although adolescents around the world play video games, little is known about their longitudinal effects on adolescents from Eastern countries. This large longitudinal violent video game study has 4 strengths. First, it is the first longitudinal study conducted with Chinese adolescents. Second, it examines moral disengagement as a possible…