School children

Enemy relationships play an important role in shaping identity, adjustment, and group cohesion. However, little is known about the causes of enemy relationships. The current study identified the role of individual and dyadic attributes in the formation of new mutual antipathies in primary and middle school children (N=372). Participants completed identical surveys at three time points during a single school year. Self-reports described children’s conduct problems and emotional problems. Peer nominations measured children’s popularity, academic achievement, athleticism, and acceptance. The results indicated that enemy formation was driven by undesirable traits at both the individual and dyadic levels. At the individual level, lower academic achievement and higher conduct problems increased the odds of enemy formation. At the dyadic level, similarities between peers on conduct problems and emotional problems increased the odds of enemy formation. The findings, together with previous studies on the consequences of participation in enemy relationships, suggest that problems from enemy relationships contribute to the formation of new enemy relationships.

Weight concerns challenge the well-being of many children and adolescents. As many as 70% of children report body dissatisfaction (Tatangelo et al., 2016). By adolescence, weight concerns are normative (Davison et al., 2003; Field et al., 1999). Negative weight-related cognitions are troublesome because they lead to emotional and behavioral maladaptive functioning and most importantly, unhealthy weight-control behaviors (Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2006; ter Bogt et al., 2006). Rejected children are especially at risk for body dissatisfaction, however the order of effects is not clear (Mikami & Hinshaw, 2006; Rancourt & Prinstein, 2010). Regression analyses were conducted to test the hypothesis that peer rejection predicts weight concerns in primary school age children, and that this association is moderated by emotional and conduct problems. Results indicated that peer rejection predicted weight concerns in 5th grade children, and low emotional problems strengthened this association; conduct problems predicted weight concerns in 3rd grade children.

The purpose of this study was to explore how social work practitioners employed in schools perceive their level of competency in suicide prevention, assessment, and intervention and to identify educational and professional challenges specific to this area of inquiry. This study sought to explore the following research questions: 1) How do school social workers perceive their level of competency in suicide prevention, assessment, and intervention with at-risk suicidal children and youth? 2) What are school social workers educational or professional challenges in providing suicide prevention, assessment, and intervention? This research study was predicated on a qualitative research design and conventional content analysis. The research design allowed for an in-depth examination of school social workers’ ability to make critical decisions when providing suicide prevention, assessment and intervention to youth at risk of suicide. The findings of this study suggest that, despite past and current education, training, and clinical practice experience working with at-risk suicidal youth, continual training is necessary in increasing perceived professional competency and addressing familial, organizational and societal challenges pertinent to at-risk suicidal youth.

It is well documented that friends influence adaptive behaviors (Brechwald & Prinstein, 2011). However, it remains unclear how influence manifests itself. The current study investigated the role of likeability and popularity in determining the relative influence that a child exercises on his or her friend’s prosocial behavior and academic achievement in a sample of elementary schooled children (N=679). The results suggest that more liked friends have more influence over their less liked friends’ prosocial behavior and academic achievement. Both more- and less-popular friends influenced each other’s academic achievement. Residualized analyses, however, which take into account the shared overlap between likeability and popularity, suggest that the more-liked friend continued to influence the prosocial behavior and academic achievement of the less-liked friend, whereas more-popular children had no influence over their less-popular counterparts.