Attention deficit/hyperactivity behaviors in children are often unnoticed until they reach school age; however, evidence suggests that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tends to develop at an earlier age. Recent studies also indicate that perinatal maternal mental health is associated with ADHD symptoms in offspring. This study…

The present study investigates the effect of obesity and overweight on children's cognitive abilities and well-being using survey data from West Bank schools. The results show the significant adverse impact of obesity on a child's well-being by raising externalizing (behavioral) problems and increasing the probability of classifying a child with…

This work refined the complex associations between aggression (aggressive behavior and victimization) and school functioning in terms of school liking, interest, achievement, and social class climate. First, using longitudinal multilevel structural equation modeling, it was shown that aggressive behavior and victimization preceded lower school…

This study examined the level of congruence and incongruence between fathers', mothers', and adolescents' perceptions of parental monitoring in relation to the adolescents' antisocial behaviors. A sample of 163 father-mother-adolescent triads (59.5% girls; X-bar age = 12.35) filled out separate questionnaires assessing the dimensions of parental…

Youths' development can be positively or negatively impacted by various factors in their internal and external environment. This study investigated the interactive effects of self-regulation and internalizing and externalizing problems on academic achievement (reading and maths) and positive youth development (PYD) across one year. Data were…

Adolescence is a sensitive period for taking risks, yet research has not investigated whether adolescents who engage in risk-taking actually "perceive" themselves to be risk-takers. In the current study, students (Grade: 6-8, N = 437) reported on their frequency of risk-taking and perceptions of themselves as risk-takers, forming four…

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential moderating role of perceived social support (school personnel, friends) and gender in the association between distinct psychopathic traits (callous-unemotional traits, narcissism, impulsivity) with bullying and victimization among 1442 Greek speaking early adolescents. Results suggested that…

Bullying among school children is a complex problem that requires a multifaceted approach. De Bono's six thinking hats technique can help effectively approach the issue of bullying. The innovation of this scenario lies in the fact that it uses De Bono's technique to deal with bullying at school. In this way, students can gain a holistic knowledge…

Data from 790 older school-age (M[subscript age] = 10.2 years, SD = 1.2 years) girls (N = 427) and boys from Barranquilla, Colombia (N = 449) and Montréal, Canada (N = 331) were used to replicate findings reported by Valdivia et al. (2005). This prior study revealed contextual variations in the association between two measures of social behavior,…

Victimization in early adolescence can have severe negative consequences later in life. Friendships are especially important in this time period. The present study investigated friendship selection and influence (contagion) processes with regard to victimization, as well as prosocial and aggressive characteristics of victims' friends. Using social…

Immigrant boys show higher rates of antisocial behaviour. However, results of previous studies showed some contradictory findings in terms of intercultural differences in antisocial behaviour. In our study, we used an intercultural comparison of antisocial behaviour based on two different definitions of migration status (nationality vs. migration…

Numerous studies have confirmed the connection between the family climate and various forms of externalizing behaviour problems, such as aggressive and violent behaviour, vandalism, skipping school and running away from home, substance abuse and others. Therefore, it is of particular importance to point out those risk factors, that according to…

We investigated how adolescents (sixth-graders, N = 357) morally evaluated hypothetical bullying and defending protagonists and whether these evaluations related to behavior in bullying as nominated by peers. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) resulted in four factors for the evaluation of the hypothetical bullies: "Evil soul,"…

This study examined the behavioral, personality, and communicative predictors of acceptance and popularity in 608 early adolescents. Data were collected with sociometric methods and ratings in 30 sixth-grade classrooms. Hierarchical regressions were run to predict acceptance and popularity from prosocial, antisocial, and withdrawn behavior,…

The ViSC Social Competence Program has been implemented in Austrian schools within the scope of a national strategy plan, Together Against Violence. The program is a primary preventive program designed for grades 5 to 8. The prevention of aggression and bullying is defined as a school development task, and the initial implementation of the program…