The level of engagement of students in schooling has long been associated with the type of educational outcomes achieved. This relationship is very apparent during early adolescence. It is during this developmental period that young people navigate the transition between primary and secondary school and may disengage from schooling. The Imagined…

In an era where digital technologies penetrate every aspect of education and a growing body of research examining various aspects of digital safety, there exists a significant research gap concerning the overarching (holistic) influence of digital activities on the schooling of 10 to 13 year olds. This paper presents a comprehensive review that…

The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with family adjustment, heightened adolescent mental health symptomology, and increased caregiver stress. The current study used a diverse sample of caregivers and early adolescents to examine the association between pandemic-related experiences, caregiver perceived stress, and adolescent mental health. Two…

This study investigated characteristics associated with two kinds of peer victimization--bullying victimization and adversarial victimization--distinguished by different balances of power between the perpetrator and victim. Specifically, we examined whether bullying victimization (victim has less power than perpetrator) would be experienced to a…

Despite the fact that bullying has been consistently linked to moral disengagement among schoolchildren, research that distinguishes among the four loci of moral disengagement (cognitive restructuring, minimizing one's agentive role, distorting consequences, and victim attribution) to better understand bullying is scarce. The aim of this…

In Norway 5.8% of students report being bullied as much as three or more times a month [UDIR. 2021a. Student Survey 2020 [Elevundersøkelsen 2020]. https://www.udir.no/tall-og-forskning/finn-forskning/rapporter/elevundersokelsen-2020-nasjonale-tall-formobbing-og-arbeidsro/]. The present study investigates the likelihood of students being bullied…

In social groups, such as school-based peer networks, youth often vie for power and dominance over others. Different strategies may be used to gain power (i.e., coercive and/or cooperative strategies), and with varying levels of success. Using a social networks approach, we examined whether and how social network centrality and social network…

We investigated how 5th-8th graders' self- and peer-identified withdrawal motivations predicted peer-reported peer relationships and aggression. Participants (N = 221; 47% male) provided self-reports and peer-nomination data (we analyzed 339 students' nominations). We hypothesized shyness, unsociability, and avoidance would predict low peer liking…

Perceived social support is an important predictor of school mental health outcomes of students. However, more research is needed on the indirect effects in this association. The present study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect effects (via mental toughness) of parent-classmate-teacher support on early adolescents' school mental health.…

Political polarization in the United States has made many environmental issues strongly partisan, with Democrats largely receptive to environmental messaging and Republicans commonly pitted against it. This phenomenon may have meaningful implications for how environmental education is conducted for people from different sociopolitical contexts. We…

In the United States, the two main political parties, Democrats and Republicans, have become increasingly polarized, including with regard to environmental issues. As part of a national study of environmentally focused single-day field trips for early adolescent youth in 2018, we conducted exploratory research to examine how outcomes differed for…

A healthy family climate, including parents' attitudes towards their children and the quality of sibling relationships, is essential for child resilience. One of the domains where parental attitudes are determinative is the children's academic life. In an unhealthy family climate, for instance, parental pressure for academic success may cause…

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…

While civic participation is a crucial component of healthy and sustainable democracies, young adolescents may perceive or experience barriers that limit their civic action. This study draws from focus groups and surveys during a week-long summer civics camp to explore ways in which 47 young adolescents entering Grades 6-9 described barriers they…

This study evaluated the relationship between social-emotional learning (SEL) and peer perceptions of youth leadership in a group of 203 students (38.9% Hispanic; 28.6% Black; 21.2% White; 10.3% Asian; 1.0% Others) in Grades 6th-8th from two diverse urban middle schools in New Jersey. Results indicated that SEL had a significant and positive…