Search

This study investigated differences in experiences of microaggressions between students with different characteristics (type, visibility, severity, and onset of impairment) and associations between the occurrence of microaggressions and specific psychological dimensions, such as stress, depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. It also examined how the afore-mentioned psychological factors and microaggressions contribute to students' adjustment to university. Eighty-nine (89) university students with disabilities (USwDs) completed a series of six questionnaires: the Ableist Microaggression Scale, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the College Adaptation Questionnaire. University students with visual and mobility impairments reported higher levels of ableist microaggressions than those with medical/chronic conditions, while students with visible impairments seemed to experience more ableist microaggressions than their university peers with non-visible impairments. Microaggressive experiences were found to be associated with increased levels of depression and stress as well as having negative consequences for disabled students' self-esteem and life satisfaction. Students' overall adaptation to university was predicted by a high level of life satisfaction, low level of depression, and limited experience of microaggressions related to otherization. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for USwDs' adjustment.

Student engagement research in university students has been scarce, despite its major positive role on performance, degree completion and mental health. Social and emotional competencies, which are currently called twenty-first-century skills, exert some impact on student engagement in youth. Since engagement is cultural-sensitive, individual (social and emotional competencies) and cross-cultural (human developmental index and unemployment rate) characteristics were examined in association with student engagement in youth. This study included 2,092 participants from nine countries/regions, aged between 17 and 27 years (M = 21.52, SD = 2.27), mostly cisgender woman (n = 1,035, 68.7%) and undergraduate (n = 1,401, 96.2%). Data were collected using a cross-sectional online survey that included the Student Engagement Scale, the Emotional Skills and Competence Questionnaire, and the prosocial behaviour/resources subscale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multilevel-models showed that social and emotional competencies were relevant predictors of student engagement independently of the country-level variables. Moreover, student engagement varied with country/region human development and unemployment rate, with students from higher developed countries/regions and lowered unemployment reporting lower engagement. This study reinforces the need to implement evidence-based social and emotional learning programmes in universities worldwide, as well as public policies that can influence engagement and protect youth.

Research is sparse on who targets whom in peer aggression. In this study, we investigated the harm associated with the type of relationship between aggressed and aggressor with an international sample of over 5,000 students aged 11-16, living in 12 nations. Best friends and individuals with whom the respondent had no relationship were the least likely to engage in aggression, while one-third of peer aggression could be attributed to friends (not best friends), and classmates/peers. Greater harm was experienced between best friends only when it involved relational aggression, such as spreading rumors and being left out. Harm from aggression varied by world location and number of different experiences of aggression, while gender and age differences were inconsistent. Intervention programs could take advantage of the vital role that friends play as socializing agents during adolescence that focus on the harmfulness of aggression undertaken in the guise of a joke.

Schools have a key role in promoting student social and emotional development and are encouraged to serve as a primary source of support, especially for those learners in need of special attention for addressing their needs. Young people's subjective emotional-social well-being is a general indicator of their mental health status. In this article, we present an assessment of the emotional, psychological and social well-being of Greek adolescent students, determine whether they are flourishing or languishing and investigate whether well-being varies by gender, age and year level. Analysis of data from over 500 Greek adolescent students (year levels 6-10) who completed the Mental Health Continuum (MHC) scale indicated that over half of the participants were flourishing, while only a small proportion were languishing and the remainder had moderate mental health. Gender differences were identified with female students reporting more challenges to their well-being than their male peers. Additionally, younger students were more likely to be flourishing than older students.

Performance at school is affected not only by students' achievement goals but also by emotional exchanges among classmates and their teacher. In this study, we investigated relationships between students' achievement goals and emotion perception ability and class affect and performance. Participants were 949 Greek adolescent students in 49 classes and their Greek language and mathematics teachers. Results from multilevel analyses indicated that students' mastery-approach and performance-approach goals were positively related to positive affect whereas performance-avoidance goals were negatively related to positive affect. At class-level, relationships between achievement goals and affect were moderated by students' emotion perception ability. These findings highlight the importance of emotion abilities and their role in motivational processes for class-level outcomes.

This study explores the prevalence of different types of bullying and victimisation among Greek pupils receiving special education support provision. Associations of these types with feelings of loneliness and perceived social efficacy for peer interactions are also examined. The sample consisted of 178 students of fifth and sixth primary school grades who participated in pull-out special education delivery programmes. Participants were found to be actively involved in both bullying and victimisation, with higher rates in victimisation. Statistically significant gender and disability differences in bullying and loneliness were identified. Both bullying and victimisation were associated with loneliness/social dissatisfaction, and self-efficacy for peer interactions. Moreover, our data provided evidence that bully/victims may be a distinct group in terms of their increased levels of loneliness. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for promoting children with special educational needs and disabilities social inclusion.

This study examined how internet users' psychological characteristics, amount of internet use and demographic factors contribute to particular dimensions of internet addiction. The sample consisted of 384 adolescents, ranging in age from 15 to 18 years. Participants were asked to complete the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), measures of Locus of Control, Depression, Loneliness, Self-esteem, and Social Anxiety as well as an inventory that included demographic factors and questions about the amount of Internet use. Results revealed significant associations between variables and different sets of predictors across the four dimensions of Internet use behaviour identified in the study. However, locus of control, depression, and amount of internet use were significant predictors of all internet addiction dimensions. Recommendations are provided on how researchers can strengthen the field of research concerning how internet addiction is manifested and which adolescent internet users are more susceptible to different manifestations of addiction.

The present study examined the link between learning styles and dyslexia in secondary school students, using the Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic (VAK) learning styles model. According to the VAK model, most people possess a dominant or preferred learning style, however some people have a mixed and evenly balanced blend of the three styles. Our hypothesis was that differences would be revealed between students with dyslexia and their typical peers in preferred ways to learn. A total of 43 secondary school students formed the LD group (32 boys and 11 girls) who were diagnosed with dyslexia, and attended mainstream schools. A comparison group was formed of pupils who attended the same classes (N = 86), and were matched for age and gender with dyslexics (1 dyslexic: 2 control). The self-administered VAK test used to assess participant's predominant learning style. Although statistical significant differences between typical readers and students with dyslexia were not observed, there was a mixture of learning styles amongst the participants, indicating that students with dyslexia use more often multimodal approaches and possibly that is the reason they usually benefit from multi- sensory methods.

Traditionally, studies assessing children's experiences of bullying and victimization have focused on the use of questionnaires and peer-nominations. The present study aimed to investigate this phenomenon by using two complementary assessment tools, namely self-reported questionnaires and children's drawings. The sample consisted of 448 boys and girls drawn from the 4th to 6th grade classrooms of ten primary schools in Central Greece. Children were asked to: (a) draw a scene of peer victimization taking place in their school and (b) complete self-reported questionnaires regarding bullying behaviour, victimization and participant roles in bully/victim incidences. Although the results showed that the relation between drawing and self-report measures is not a straightforward one, they do reveal some interesting associations primarily related to gender differences. In other words, it was found that boys outnumbered girls in both bullying behaviour and victimization. Regarding the employed forms of victimization, boys tended to depict themselves in more physical aggression scenes than girls, while girls tended to draw themselves in more verbal victimization scenes than boys. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

The aim of this paper was to examine the short-term and long-term effects of a curriculum-based anti-bullying intervention program on students' attitudes towards bullying, intentions to intervene in bully-victim problems, perceived efficacy of intervening and actual intervening behavior. The intervention program was applied in primary schools and was implemented by trained teachers within the classroom context. The sample consisted of 454 pupils drawn from fourth to sixth grade classrooms of 10 primary schools in central Greece. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design was used. The findings indicate positive short-term program outcomes concerning students' attitudes towards bullies and victims, perceived efficacy of intervening in bully-victim incidents and actual rates of intervening behavior. However, the magnitude of the program effects was quite small, since the positive short-term outcomes were not sustained in the long-term (post-test two measures). The results of the study also indicated clear time effects for attitudes towards bullies and victims, self-efficacy of intervening and intention, as well as actual intervening behavior. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for anti-bullying interventions. (Contains 2 tables.)

Given the paucity of research that has examined associations between learning styles and chosen academic discipline in connection with performance on different second language (L2) verbal fluency tasks, the authors undertook the current study with the aim of investigating the relationship between Greek students' learning styles and performance on English phonological, syntactic, and semantic tasks. Differences by gender and academic discipline (science vs. arts) were also examined in order to elucidate the role that these individual differences play in L2 learning. More specifically, the authors investigated (a) the preference for a specific learning style among males and females and among arts and science students, (b) the association of learning styles with high or low scores in L2 verbal fluency tasks, and (c) each learning style's relative contribution to performance on L2 verbal fluency tasks. In this study, females performed better than males in both syntax and semantics, confirming earlier studies which found a female advantage for verbal skills especially in semantics but not phonology. Although some studies have found no significant difference in learning style preference between males and females, this study corroborates previous findings that revealed a tendency for females to emphasise a divergent learning style. (Contains 3 tables.)

Background: There is considerable interest in differences in students' approaches to learning, particularly in the difference between "deep" approaches (characterized by contextualization, critical review and recognition of the value of the content) and "surface" approaches (characterized by rote learning for functional purposes). The "Revised approaches to studying inventory" (RASI) attempts to measure approaches but it is suggested that it cannot be applied universally. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to assess the factor structure of an existing measure of students' approaches to studying (RASI) in a sample of Greek undergraduate students, investigating the effects of gender, age, academic discipline and handedness on approaches to studying. Sample: The sample totalled 452 undergraduates from a medium-sized university in Greece. Design and methods: A factor analysis of a 30-item version of the RASI indicated five factors: surface approach, strategic approach, deep approach, metacognitive awareness and academic self-confidence. Mixed-design analysis of variance (MANOVA) was computed for each of the scales of the RASI. Results and conclusions: The results of the MANOVAs showed statistically significant main effects for sex on strategic approach and faculty on academic self-confidence. There was a statistically significant two-way interaction of sex x handedness on strategic approach, and a three-way interaction of sex x age x faculty on deep approach. (Contains 2 tables.)

Relations among social preference, perceived popularity, social intelligence and two types of aggressive behaviour were studied. Peer-estimation techniques were used to measure all major variables. Altogether, 403 Greek schoolchildren from fourth-through sixth-grade classrooms participated in the study. Both overt and relational aggression were negatively associated with social preference for girls; overt aggression was positively associated with perceived popularity for boys. Relational aggression was positively associated with perceived popularity for both boys and girls, and social information processing only for girls. In addition, as was hypothesized, relational aggression was predicted by cognitive aspects of social intelligence whereas overt aggression by lack of social skills. Overt aggression was found to be a unique significant negative predictor of perceived popularity whereas relational aggression a positive predictor. Implications for intervention are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)

Previous research has shown that studying orientations are important factors in determining academic performance. The main purpose of this study was to investigate how Greek students' approaches to studying in combination with gender, academic discipline, and professional degree in English affect performance on verbal fluency tasks in English as a second language (L2). Participants were undergraduate students from a medium-sized University in central Greece. Verbal fluency in English was measured by students' answers in phonological, syntactical, and semantic tasks. Approaches to studying were assessed by a shortened version of Entwistle and Tait's (The Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory, Centre for Research on Learning and Instruction, 1995, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh) "Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory." Females performed better than males on syntactical tasks, students from Exact Sciences performed better than students from Pure Sciences on phonological tasks, and subjects who had a professional degree performed better than those who did not, in all verbal fluency tasks. Approaches to studying, alone or in combination with students' sex and professional degree in L2, affected students' performance only on syntactical L2 tasks but not on phonological or semantic tasks. Results are discussed in terms of further study and their implications for L2 learning.

Examines the relationship between bully/victim problems and the coping strategies used when confronted with a peer argument in Greek primary school children. Suggests that both bullying and victimization are associated with self-evaluations in diverse domains and emotional coping strategies in conflictual peer interactions. Includes references. (CMK)