Search

Defending a victimized peer is a socially risky behavior that may require high peer status and may depend on how popular or disliked bullies are in the classroom (i.e., within-classroom correlations between bullying and status). Past research has investigated defending as a unidimensional construct, though it can involve confronting the bully (bully-oriented defending) or supporting the victim (victim-oriented defending). This study used multilevel modeling to examine the effects of individual peer status, gender, and bullying as well as two indicators of classroom norms--the bullying-popularity norm and the bullying-rejection norm--on both types of defending. Our sample included 1,460 Dutch adolescents (50% girls; M[subscript age] 11 years) from 59 classrooms in 50 schools. Likability and popularity were positively associated with both types of defending. Being female and lower in bullying was associated with victim-oriented defending, whereas being male and higher in bullying was associated with bully-oriented defending. In classrooms where bullies were more rejected, both types of defending were more prevalent, and the positive associations of likability and popularity with victim-oriented defending were stronger. The positive effect of the bullying-rejection norm on victim-oriented defending was stronger for girls. Moreover, the effect of popularity on bully-oriented defending was stronger in classrooms where bullies were less popular.

This study investigates the extent to which defending victims of bullying depends on liking and disliking and its relation with the classroom bullying norm (descriptive and popularity) in a sample of 1,272 students (50.8% boys) in 48 fifth-grade classrooms. Social network analysis with bivariate exponential random graph modelings showed that children are more likely to defend victims whom they like, who like them, and who are liked by the same classmates than victims who they dislike, who dislike them, and with whom they share antipathies by and to the same classmates. In addition, the analysis showed that bullying norms had an inconclusive effect on the relation between defending and (dis)liking.

Evidence suggests an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, particularly among emerging adults. However, theories on altruism born of suffering or adversarial growth suggest that we might also see prosocial behavior as a function of the pandemic, which may protect against mental health challenges. Because cultural values are central in determining prosocial behavior, the current study explored how cultural values were differentially associated with adaptive prosocial behaviors that might protect against mental health challenges. Participants for the current study included 5,682 young people aged 18-25 years from 14 different countries around the world (68% female, 62% college students). Path analyses suggested that there were few differences in patterns as a function of culture, but revealed that horizontal individualism and horizontal and vertical collectivism were indirectly associated with lower levels of depression via prosocial behavior toward family members. Discussion focuses on the importance of coping by strengthening family relationships via prosocial behavior during the pandemic.

After the transition to university, students need to build a new peer network, which helps them to adapt to university life. This study investigated to what extent students' prosocial attitudes and academic achievement facilitate the embeddedness in friendship and help-seeking networks, while taking structural network characteristics into account. Participants were 95 first-year bachelor's degree students and were part of learning communities consisting of 12 students at a university in the Netherlands. Measures included student-reports of prosocial attitudes, peer nominations of friendship and help-seeking networks, and officially registered grades (GPA). Longitudinal social network analysis, stochastic actor-based modeling with the package RSiena, revealed that both students' own prosocial attitudes and achievement played a role in their friendship formation, whereas only students' own achievement made the formation of their help-seeking relationships more likely. When students were friends, it was more likely that they approached each other for help and vice versa. Similarity in achievement level contributed to relationship formation in friendship and help-seeking networks. Overall, the results underscore the importance of both student' prosocial attitudes and achievement for their social adjustment (i.e., making friends) and only achievement for their academic adjustment (i.e., seeking help) during the first year of university within the context of small-scale teaching.

The moment a child walks into a new classroom, teachers and classmates form an impression based on minimal information. Yet, little is known about the accuracy of such impressions when it concerns children's social functioning at school. The current study examined the accuracy of children's, teachers' and adults' impressions of 18 unacquainted children based on thin slices of behavior. The likeability, popularity, prosocial behavior, aggression, and exclusion of these children were judged by 101 children, 79 elementary school teachers, and 68 young adults based on 20-second video clips. Judges were better than chance in predicting popularity and prosocial behavior, but worse than chance in predicting aggression and exclusion. Female judges were more accurate judging social exclusion of same-sex than other-sex targets. Teachers were more accurate than children in their judgments of prosocial behavior. The current study shows that confidence in one's impression of aggression and exclusion in unacquainted children based on minimal information is not warranted.

The current pilot study examines pre-schooler's play behaviour involving dolls with and without facial characteristics of Down syndrome over a period of 16 weeks. Play behaviours were categorized into one of 3 behavioural categories with predefined observational scoring grids: prosocial, antisocial, or neutral/no behaviour. Participants also individually received an adapted version of the Preschool Racial Attitude Measure, to assess in- and outgroup attitudes of participants towards children with Down syndrome. Positive and negative attitudes and behaviours towards Down syndrome dolls were analysed over time with pre and post-measurements. Results showed that, whereas children showed negative behaviour towards the Down syndrome doll at the start of the experiment, this negative behaviour disappeared by the end of the experiment. Furthermore, children showed significantly more positive play behaviour during the experiment towards the Down syndrome dolls. The results of this pilot study indicate that playing with Down syndrome dolls at preschool age can potentially be used as a low cost, non-invasive prevention program to foster future positive behaviours towards Down syndrome, setting the stage for interactions with real children with Down syndrome in inclusive education. Implications for meeting the needs of children with Down syndrome and their peers in inclusive education are discussed.

Public affairs programs aim to prepare students for public service roles by teaching certain skills and reinforcing prosocial motivations. Studies provide mixed results as to whether these aims are met. What we do not know is whether public administration and public affairs programs in Asia attract students different in their job sector attitudes and sector preferences from those in Western Europe. To this end, we analyze survey data on 247 students from public affairs programs in the Netherlands and Singapore. We find no significant difference in job sector preference. However, Singaporean students display a higher level of public service motivation (PSM) and a higher preference for pecuniary rewards. This implies that public affairs programs in Asia should take into account students' distinct motivations when designing curricula, and public affairs programs in both countries should leverage the prosocial motivation of students by enhancing their PSM through socialization during their educational experience.

Children tell prosocial lies from the age of three years onward, but little is known about for whom they are inclined to lie. This preregistered study examined children's (N = 138, 9-12 years) prosocial lying behavior toward minimal in-group and out-group peers. Additionally, children evaluated vignettes in which an in-group peer told a prosocial lie to an in-group or out-group peer. Results show that only older children told more prosocial lies for the benefit of in-group compared with out-group peers. Further, in the vignettes children of all ages were more accepting of prosocial lying in favor of in-group members compared with out-group members. These findings underscore the importance of considering intergroup relations in children's prosocial lying behavior and advocate for broadening the scope of research on children's intergroup prosociality.

In peer nomination research, individuals who do not provide nominations (nonparticipants) are often included on rosters as potential nominees. This can present ethical questions regarding informed consent, but psychometric consequences of excluding nonparticipants from rosters are unknown. In this investigation, Study 1 simulated both random and systematic missingness with a sample of 1,630 Dutch adolescents, comparing the reliability and correlation matrices of nomination measures when nonparticipants were included and excluded as nominees. Study 2 began with a two-school sample that already included systematic nonparticipation (˜19% missingness among 599 7th grade nominees) and examined how findings would differ if students who had not provided nominations were excluded as nominees. Results showed that the impact of including versus excluding nonparticipants as nominees may vary depending on the type of missingness (Study 1) or in different peer groups (Study 2). Both studies demonstrated that the choice of including versus excluding nonparticipants can affect reliability and intercorrelations in peer nomination data, and provide some evidence that excluding nonparticipants as nominees may compromise peer nomination data quality.

In addition to increasing cognitive skills and preparing students for the labour market, one of the core tasks of education is to prepare citizens for participation in democracy. Considering the ideal of democratic equality, it is important to know the degree to which civic outcomes of education are distributed equally. One feature of the education system that can lead to differential civic outcomes is tracking, that is, the sorting of students into different types of education. In this study, we examine the relationship between type of education (general/academic or vocational) and five attitudinal dimensions of civic and political engagement between the ages of 14 and 49 years in the Netherlands. By using panel data from the Netherlands Longitudinal Lifecourse Study (n = 5,312) and applying linear fixed effects models, we can observe the effect of a transition in the type of education on the within-person change in our outcome variables. The findings demonstrate that transitions in the type of education have little effect on intention to vote, trust in institutions or ethnic tolerance. However, students making transitions in general/academic education develop higher levels of interest in politics and generalised trust than do students in vocational education or people outside the education system. This point suggests that general/academic education fosters civic and political participation.

School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) is a systemic approach for implementing a proactive schoolwide discipline and for improving students' academic and behavioral outcomes by targeting the school's organizational and social culture. With a multilevel approach, the present study evaluates the relative effectiveness of SWPBS on teachers' perceptions of the student behavior (N = 3,295) across schools, teachers, and children using a multilevel approach. We assessed teacher perception of student problem behavior five times during a 3-year implementation of SWPBS in 23 Dutch schools. Multilevel analyses not only revealed a small increase in perceived prosocial behavior and a small decrease in problems with peers, but also different effects across children, teachers, and schools. Effects were stronger for girls and for students with higher severity of perceived problems at baseline. At teachers' level, higher mean baseline severity of perceived problems was associated with the reduced impact of SWPBS on perceived emotional problems and problems with peers. At the school level, effects were stronger for regular schools as compared with special needs schools.

The widely supported wish for more inclusive education places ever greater expectations on teachers' abilities to teach all children, including those with special needs and challenging behaviours. The present study aimed at the question whether teachers judge pupil behaviour more negatively if there are more children with difficult behaviour in class. The teachers of 184 classes in 31 regular primary schools were asked to complete the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-L) for 3649 pupils. Six linear mixed models were carried out with as independent variable the number of pupils that teachers perceived to have 'abnormal behaviour', and the class mean without these pupils as the dependent variable. For all SDQ-L subscales--emotional problems, behavioural problems, problems with hyperactivity, problems with peers, poor prosocial behaviour and total problems--the number of pupils perceived as problematic was associated with less favourable teacher perceptions of the rest of the class. The results of this study are a plea for a contextual perspective on pupil behaviour in class, both where teachers are asked to report on individual pupils, as well as where interventions are done on emotional and behavioural problems in class.

In this paper we report on the development of an inventory that measures global citizenship among adolescents. The methodology used consists of cognitive interviews for questionnaire design and explorative and confirmatory factor analyses among several datasets. The resulting Global Citizenship Inventory (GCI) includes a global citizenship behaviour index and three scales measuring principles underlying global citizenship: human equality, mutual dependency in the world, and the shared responsibility for solving global issues. The behaviour index measures behaviour connected to efficient use of energy and water, mobility, recycling and handling waste, search for information and expressing an opinion on global issues, donating to charity, and volunteering. The results provide support for our theoretical constructs regarding global citizenship.

In this longitudinal multiinformant study negative emotionality and sensory processing sensitivity were compared as susceptibility markers among kindergartners. Participating children (N = 264, 52.9% boys) were Dutch kindergartners (M[subscript age] = 4.77, SD = 0.60), followed across three waves, spaced seven months apart. Results show that associations between parenting and child behavior did not depend on children's negative emotionality. Sensory processing sensitivity, however, interacted with both (changes in) negative and (changes in) positive parenting in predicting externalizing, but not prosocial, behavior. Depending on the interaction, vantage sensitivity and differential susceptibility models were supported. The findings suggest that sensory processing sensitivity may be a more proximal correlate of individual differences in susceptibility, compared with negative emotionality.

Inclusive education has brought new challenges for teachers, including the search for a suitable place in the classroom for children with externalizing problems. In the current study, we examined whether a careful rearrangement of the classroom seats could promote social acceptance and more prosocial behaviors for children with externalizing problems, and limit the potential negative consequences for classmates sitting next to them. The sample of this randomized controlled trial consisted of 64 classrooms with 221 fourth- to sixth-grade children selected by their teachers because of elevated levels of externalizing behavior. Results showed that over time children with externalizing behavior were better liked by their seatmates and showed fewer externalizing problems according to the teacher. This was particularly the case when students sat next to a well-liked and prosocial buddy, or when they were initially disliked. Classmates who sat next to a child with externalizing problems did not become more aggressive or less prosocial over time. Yet their social status did decrease slightly over time as a result of the rearrangement. We discuss implications and future directions for research on classroom seating arrangements to support children with externalizing problems.

This longitudinal study examined the extent to which the development of prosocial and aggressive peer norms was related to individual prosocial and aggressive behavior development across the first year of secondary education (three waves, n = 1,134 adolescents from 51 classes, M[subscript age] = 12.66). A distinction was made between descriptive norms (the aggregated average peer-perceived behavior within the classroom) and status norms (the within-classroom correlation between peer-perceived popularity and behavior). Results indicated that descriptive norms represented a stable, static peer ecology, whereas status norms were somewhat more dynamic and changed across the school year. The development of descriptive and status norms was associated with initial levels of individual prosocial and aggressive behavior, whereas the development of status norms was also associated with the development of prosocial behavior.

Post-Reformation societies and states that thought they had put religious wars behind them have been caught unawares by the vehemence of religious dissent that has exploded in their midst, sometimes literally, since the 1970s. I maintain that key Enlightenment propositions that established the means for peaceful religious co-existence seriously misconstrue and underestimate the social potency of religious impulses. My paper begins by sketching two distinct current impasses. The Dutch face the dilemma of a largely secularized society willing to be highly tolerant of difference--but as the brazen 2004 murder of provocateur-filmmaker Theo van Gogh has revealed, such tolerance is hard-pressed to accommodate those whose religious culture is not permitted to tolerate perceived intolerance directed at them. The United States presents an equally puzzling conundrum: a much more religious culture predicated on religious liberty, now challenged by versions of monotheism whose symbolic worldview convinces them they are persecuted, and must demand cultural supremacy. Highly dualistic, exclusivist and triumphalist versions of monotheism present militant challenges to the democratic state's ideals of tolerance. Taking these recent examples as symptomatic, I argue we must reconfigure civil post-secular societies' engagements with religious adherents, not least through actively educating all citizens about religions.

This study examined dispositional and situational correlates of donating behavior in a sample of 221 eight-year-old children. Children were shown a promotional clip for a charity, including a donation call. For a random half of the children, the video fragment ended with a probe of a same-sex peer donating money to the charity. Seeing a peer donate was associated with higher donations. Empathy and inhibition were not related to donating. Anxiety and social responsiveness moderated the effect of the situational manipulation on donating. Anxious children and children with less social responsiveness problems donated more after seeing the donating peer than did less anxious children and children with more social responsiveness problems. Moreover, in absence of the donating peer, anxious children donated less money than did less anxious children. Our results indicate that donating behavior is dependent on situational demands, and the situational effect differs depending on children's levels of anxiety or social responsiveness.

This study addressed the moderating role of classroom descriptive norms for overt and relational aggression, social withdrawal, prosocial behavior, and academic reputation in the association of behavior with social preference and popularity in early adolescence. Participants were 1,492 fifth-grade students ([x-bar][subscript age] = 10.6 years, 52.7% boys) from 59 classrooms who completed unlimited peer nominations for status and behavior. Classroom descriptive norms were computed as the average proportion of classroom nominations received for the different social behaviors. Multilevel analyses revealed that the negative association between overt aggression and social preference was attenuated in classrooms with high norms for overt aggression. The negative association between academic reputation and social preference was enhanced in classrooms with high norms for academic reputation. Classroom norms did not moderate the associations between behavior and popularity. The type of behavior and the type of status should be considered when examining classroom descriptive norms and behavior-status associations.

The present study examined teachers' domain-specific self-efficacy (TSE) in relation to individual students with a variety of social-emotional behaviors in class. Using a sample of 526 third- to sixth-grade students and 69 teachers, multilevel modeling was conducted to examine students' externalizing, internalizing, and prosocial behaviors as predictors of TSE toward individual students, and the potential moderating roles of teaching experience and teachers' perceived amount of classroom misbehavior. Results showed that most of the variance in TSE occurred within teachers. Students' externalizing behavior was negatively associated with TSE for instructional strategies, behavior management, student engagement, and emotional support. In contrast, teachers reported higher levels of self-efficacy toward students with high levels of prosocial behavior, irrespective of teaching domain. Students' internalizing behavior predicted lower levels of TSE for instructional strategies and emotional support, and higher levels of TSE for behavior management. Last, teachers' perceived levels of classroom misbehavior exacerbated the negative association between externalizing student behavior and TSE for behavior management. These findings illustrate the importance of viewing TSE from a dyadic perspective.

It has been argued that children who possess an advanced theory of mind (ToM) are more likely to act prosocially, yet the empirical findings are mixed. To address this issue definitively, a meta-analytic integration of all prior literature that met appropriate inclusion criteria was conducted. In total, 76 studies including 6,432 children between 2 and 12 years of age contributed to these analyses. Collapsed across all studies, a significant association emerged (r = 0.19), indicating that children with higher ToM scores also received higher scores on concurrent measures of prosocial behavior. The magnitude of this effect was similar across ToM assessments requiring identification of others' cognitions versus emotions, and it existed irrespective of whether the ToM measure imposed demands on false belief reasoning or not. The association with ToM was also evident for different subtypes of prosocial behavior (helping, cooperating, comforting). ToM had a similar effect for boys and girls, but was slightly stronger in children aged 6 years or older, relative to their younger peers. Taken together, these findings provide the strongest evidence to date that being able to explicitly consider what other people are thinking and feeling is related to children's tendencies to act prosocially, although the magnitude of the association is relatively weak.

We investigated adolescent prosocial relations by examining social networks based on the question "Who helps you (e.g., with homework, with repairing a flat [bicycle] tire, or when you are feeling down?)." The effects of individual characteristics (academic achievement, symptoms of depressive mood, and peer status) on receiving help and giving help were examined, and we investigated the contribution of (dis)similarity between adolescents to the development of prosocial relations. Gender, structural network characteristics, and friendship relations were taken into account. Data were derived from the Social Network Analysis of Risk behavior in Early adolescence (SNARE) study, and contained information on students in 40 secondary school classes across 3 waves (N = 840, M age = 13.4, 49.7% boys). Results from longitudinal social network analyses (RSiena) revealed tendencies toward reciprocation of help and exchange of help within helping groups. Furthermore, boys were less often mentioned as helpers, particularly by girls. Depressed adolescents were less often mentioned as helpers, especially by low-depressed peers. Moreover, lower academic achievers indicated that they received help from their higher achieving peers. Rejected adolescents received help more often, but they less often helped low-rejected peers. Last, low- and high-popular adolescents less often helped each other, and also high-popular adolescents less often helped each other. These findings show that (dis)similarity in these characteristics is an important driving factor underlying the emergence and development of prosocial relations in the peer context, and that prosocial behavior should be defined in terms of benefitting particular others.

Despite widespread attention to citizenship in educational practice, knowledge of the citizenship of students is still fragmented. We therefore present a comprehensive framework to integrate empirical data and theoretical insights into the citizenship of young people today. To develop and validate the framework, we conducted exploratory and confirmative factor analyses on measures of citizenship attitudes, skills, reflection and knowledge for a sample of 7,768 students in grades 5-9 from 38 Dutch primary and secondary schools. The results were cross-validated using a different sample of 15,940 students in primary and secondary education. We were able to distinguish four citizenship orientations among students ("societal interest," "prosocial ability," "reflective thinking" and "assertiveness") and two domains of citizenship knowledge ("societal knowledge" and "interpersonal knowledge"). This framework can help with the large-scale, empirical evaluation of the effects of citizenship education and also guide schools in the formulation of educational goals to support the development of citizenship competences among students.

Background: The constructs of closeness, conflict, and dependency, which are derived from attachment theory, are widely used to qualify teachers' perceptions of relationships with individual children. Aims: Our main aim was to reveal whether similar and reliable dimensions could be identified in middle childhood with a newly developed student measure Student Perception of Affective Relationship with Teacher Scale (SPARTS). Additional validity support was sought by examining gender differences and associations with (1) teacher relationship perceptions and (2) problem and prosocial behaviours in children. Sample(s): Factor structure was determined in a sample of 586 children (46.5% boys) from 26 regular elementary Dutch classrooms (grade 4-6). Associations with teacher relationship reports (n = 82) and child behaviours (n = 64) were analysed in random subsamples. Methods: Students' relationship perceptions were assessed with the SPARTS; teachers' relationship perceptions with the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS; closeness, conflict, and dependency); and problem and prosocial behaviours in children with the teacher-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results: Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis supported a 3-factor model of conflict, closeness, and a third factor, unexpectedly reflecting negative expectations of the student instead of dependency. Satisfactory internal consistency was found for all three scales. Additional validity evidence included the following: Substantial student-teacher agreement for conflict and closeness; meaningful associations with problem and prosocial behaviours in children; and expected gender differences showing that, compared to boys, girls share more favourable relationships (more closeness and less conflict) with teachers. Conclusions: The 3-dimensional SPARTS comes close to the attachment-derived teacher STRS, as far as conflict and closeness are concerned. The third dimension, negative expectations, represents a new and relevant attachment-related dimension reflecting a lack of confidence of students in the relationship with their teacher.

Research on school bullying often focuses on the directional path of bullying and/or victimization leading to psychosocial problems, while such one-dimensional views have been shown to be too simplistic. Furthermore, recent research has shown that patterns of bullying at school differ for boys and girls, which makes gender a particularly relevant factor in exploring the causes and consequences of bullying. Therefore, the present study explored the bidirectional, longitudinal associations of bullying and bullying victimization on several psychosocial problems via a longitudinal cross-lagged panel study in 1243 adolescents in the Netherlands, while taking into account potential gender differences. Data were collected in September 2011 and 2012. Results showed that both bullied boys as well as girls reported more conduct problems at follow-up. Both boy and girl bullies reported less pro-social behavior and more peer problems at follow-up, but boys also reported more conduct problems at follow-up, while girls did not. Furthermore, in girls, emotional problems were associated with more victimization at follow-up, while inattention-hyperactivity problems and less pro-social behavior were related to increased chances of being a perpetrator of bully at follow-up. Conversely, in boys, baseline inattention-hyperactivity problems were not associated with being a bully later on, but rather with increased chances of being a bullying victim at later times. These results can help to tailor future anti-bullying interventions at schools.

Sharing is an important indicator of internalised prosocial values. We examined predictors of sharing of 302 preschoolers with their younger siblings in a one-year longitudinal study. Sharing was observed during different home visits, once with father and once with mother. We examined the following predictors: both children's externalising behaviour, observed parental sensitivity, and situational factors. Preschoolers' sharing was stable and increased with age. Preschoolers shared more when sharing was preceded by a structured interaction with a parent compared to free play with an unfamiliar adult. At age 4 they shared more in fathers' presence than in mothers' presence. Neither parental sensitivity nor child behaviour were related to sharing. These findings demonstrate stability and the importance of situational factors in the development of prosocial behaviour.

This study examined to what extent motives for behavior differentiated between popular, accepted, and rejected adolescents. Based on goal-framing theory, three types of motives were distinguished: hedonic (aimed at short-term gratification), instrumental (aimed at improvement of one's situation), and normative (aimed at acting in accordance with what one thinks one is ought to do) motives, which were based on teachers' assessments. These motives were related to peer-reported popularity, acceptance, and rejection in a sample of adolescent boys (n = 287) and girls (n = 303; X[overbar][subscript age] = 13.51; SD = 0.54). Results showed that popular adolescents were mainly characterized by instrumental and normative motives. Accepted adolescents were high in hedonic and normative motives, but low in instrumental motivation, whereas rejected adolescents showed the exact opposite pattern. These results indicate that being successful among peers is not only a matter of behavior but also of motives underlying behaviors.

This study investigated the significance of classroom-level norm salience, calculated as the within-classroom correlation between a behavior and peer-nominated popularity, by examining the extent to which norm salience moderated the relation of individual classroom behaviors (academic achievement, prosocial behavior, and bullying) with peer acceptance, and was associated with between-classroom differences in student-rated feelings about school and teacher-rated academic performance. Participants were students (n = 3,231, X-[bar][subscript age] = 13.60) attending 164 school classrooms in 30 secondary schools in the Netherlands. Results of our study demonstrate that norm salience scores are distinct from measures of descriptive norms, moderate the relations of individual classroom behaviors with peer acceptance, and can be used to define an overall profile of classroom peer norms that is related to independent measures of student adjustment.

This study examines whether the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system influences targeted risk and protective factors and the subsequent development of problem behaviour among adolescents (12-18 years) in the Netherlands. In this quasi-experimental study of ten communities (five experimental, five control), adolescent outcomes were examined using a longitudinal design. Propensity score methodology and multilevel modelling were used to test the effects. No impact of CTC could be detected on the development of a broader range of behaviours, or on the initiation of drinking and smoking. These results differ from earlier experimental studies and could be attributed to the threats to internal validity and design limitations of this community study. It is important to identify, monitor, address and report threats to internal validity when conducting effectiveness trials.

This study examined the peer relationships and social behaviors of deaf adolescents in the first 2 years of secondary school. Peer nominations and ratings of peer status and behavior were collected longitudinally with 74 deaf and 271 hearing adolescents from Grade 7 to Grade 8. The predictions of deaf adolescents' peer status in Grade 8 from Grade 7 behaviors differed between mainstream education and special education settings. The behaviors of deaf early adolescents in the beginning of secondary school strongly predicted their peer status a year later. For deaf mainstream students, withdrawn behavior was the most important and negative predictor of peer status. For deaf students in special education settings, prosocial behavior was the most important and positive predictor of peer status.

This multilevel study examined the relationships between moral climate factors and prosocial as well as antisocial behaviors inside and outside the school (school misconduct, delinquent behavior, and vandalism). The moral climate factors were punishment-and victim-based moral orientation, relationships among students, and teacher-student relationships. The analyses of data from 670 students in 69 classes showed that the classroom-level variables only had a significant impact on misconduct at school of students aged 12 to 20. For the other outcome variables, the student-level variables (student and teacher-student relationships, but especially students' moral orientation) were significant. A novel finding was that a positive teacher-student relationship not only proved to be related to less misconduct inside the school but also to less delinquent behavior and vandalism outside the school. This indicates that the teacher is an important socializing agent for adolescent behavior in general.

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, agreeableness and extraversion, and pragmatic communicative skills. Low levels of antisocial behavior positively predicted peer acceptance. Popularity depended on a more complex profile of predictors. Prosocial and antisocial behavior contributed positively to popularity, whereas withdrawn behavior contributed negatively. Extraversion and pragmatic skills also played a role in the prediction of popularity. Extraversion moderated the associations of prosocial and antisocial behavior with popularity. Popularity was highest when high levels of prosocial or antisocial behavior were combined with high levels of extraversion. Pragmatic skills moderated the association of prosocial behavior with popularity. Popularity was highest when prosocial behavior and pragmatic skills were high.

We need methods to measure friendship among very young children to study the beginnings of friendship and the impact of experiences with friendship for later development. This article presents an overview of methods for measuring very young children's friendships. A behavioural sociometric method was constructed to study degrees of friendship among children in daycare centres. Friendship indications of earlier studies were verified. Data were collected by behavioural observations of 674 dyads during their free play in daycare groups. Explorative factor analysis showed a strong significant relationship among playing together, prosocial behaviour, initiatives and imitation, which could be explained by friendship. This association with friendship was not found for quarrels, rejections and proximity during snack and lunch times. Our study showed that the number of children who have one or more friends in daycare depends on the behavioural criteria used in several studies.

Objectives: We evaluated a new attachment-oriented intervention aimed at improving parental mind-mindedness, promoting positive parent-child relationships, and reducing child psychopathology in families with adopted children. Method: The sample consisted of 20 families with adopted children (2-5 years of age). After the pretest, the intervention was conducted, followed by a posttest, 6 months later. Results: Positive medium-to-large changes between pretest and posttest were found in children’s insecure attachments to their mothers, disorganized attachments to both their parents and conduct problems. Finally, mothers who had spent more time with their adopted children perceived less peer problems in their children after the intervention. Conclusion: Basic Trust is a promising intervention for improving parent-child relationships in adoptive families and decreasing attachment and conduct problems. (Contains 3 tables.)

Appreciating difference and combating intolerance are inadequate to effect intercultural transformative experiences in an age of complexity, ambiguities and mobilities. I argue that the tolerance view of intercultural communication is patronising and does not prepare students for future roles in which they can impact upon the world. To realise their "obligation to others" students need the freedom to imagine themselves in roles where they engage with others in responsible ways. Utilising sympathetic and dialogic imagination opens up spaces in the classroom where learners can frame their language learning as ethical intercultural engagements. Referring to a case study of an oral presentation task in a Dutch language class as part of a modern language degree, I show how students use their creativity, cosmopolitan perspectives and multiple voices to re-author themselves as ethical future professionals.

When people reflect on their important values, they may become more attuned to the needs of others. Two longitudinal field experiments examined whether a subtle value-affirmation manipulation can initiate relatively enduring increases in young adolescents' prosocial feelings (Study 1; M [subscript age] = 12.9) and prosocial behaviors (Study 2; M [subscript age] = 12.9). Participants completed a brief writing exercise that affirmed the values they deemed either most important (value-affirmation group) or unimportant (control group). As predicted, the value affirmation, coupled with a booster affirmation 6 weeks later, caused increases in prosocial feelings and behaviors over the 3-month study period. Antisocial students who were value-affirmed showed especially strong increases in prosocial behavior. These results suggest that "gentle passions" can be aroused in youth by cost- and time-efficient means. The practical utility of value affirmations will need to be evaluated in future work. (Contains 1 table, 1 figure and 1 footnote.)

Different types of variables seem to influence school safety and a pupil's feelings of safety at school. The research question asks which risk and promotive variables should be integrated in a theoretical model to predict a pupil's feelings of safety at school, in the school surroundings and at home; what the outcomes are of an empirical check of this model and how feelings of safety at school could be improved. A theoretical model is developed, which contains seven types of variables: personal, family related, school-related problematic behaviours, perceived school measures to improve safety, curriculum and social aspects of teaching--learning processes and of the school, and demographic variables. A large-scale empirical check of the model is carried out using data from national Internet-based surveys in Dutch secondary education. The monitoring took place in 2006 and 2008. A total of 159,630 pupils, 13,127 teachers and educational support staff, 1235 school leadership and 433 schools participated. Data reliability was checked by Alpha scale construction. The model was tested in three multiple regression analyses, to explain the pupils' feelings of safety at school, in the school surroundings and at home, respectively. Most relevant were characteristics and variables assessed with the pupils, followed by contextual variables of teachers and other staff. School leadership variables are important mainly with respect to pupils' feelings of safety in the school surroundings. Promotive variables that seem most promising in improving both safety and feelings of safety in and around school concern a number of elements. They include: enhancement of pupils' level of attainment, taking school measures against playing truant and to eliminate weapons, stimulating pro-social formulation and shared control of rules of conduct between teachers and pupils, paying attention to pupils' involvement in school, increasing the involvement of external institutions and the police in school safety procedures and increasing support in Dutch language for pupils in need of this. (Contains 1 figure and 9 tables.)

To examine whether bullying is strategic behavior aimed at obtaining or maintaining social dominance, 1129 9- to 12-year-old Dutch children were classified in terms of their role in bullying and in terms of their use of dominance oriented coercive and prosocial social strategies. Multi-informant measures of participants' acquired and desired social dominance were also included. Unlike non-bullying children, children contributing to bullying often were "bistrategics" in that they used both coercive and prosocial strategies and they also were socially dominant. Ringleader bullies also expressed a higher desire to be dominant. Among non-bullying children, those who tended to help victims were relatively socially dominant but victims and outsiders were not. Generally, the data supported the claim that bullying is dominance-oriented strategic behavior, which suggests that intervention strategies are more likely to be successful when they take the functional aspects of bullying behavior into account. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study examined how children's aggression and prosocial behavior are related to the preference and popularity of their best friends. Participants were 1,953 fourth-graders (52.2% boys). Measures included peer nominations of friendship, peer status, overt and relational aggression, and prosocial behavior. A total of 334 reciprocal same-sex best friend dyads were identified. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (Kashy & Kenny, 1999) showed that best friends' peer status significantly predicted children's behavior. For boys, best friends' preference was negatively associated with overt aggression, while best friends' popularity was positively associated with overt aggression. For girls, best friends' popularity was positively related to both relational aggression and prosocial behavior. The model also revealed high similarity between friends in both preference and popularity. This study highlighted the distinction between two dimensions of peer status in the study of friendship and peer influence in middle childhood. It also demonstrated how individual, dyad, and group characteristics can be integrated in the study of children's social relationships. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

The aim of this pilot study was to examine the possible effects of a forum theatre intervention on moral team atmosphere, moral reasoning, fair play attitude and on- and off-field antisocial and prosocial behaviour in male adolescent soccer players from 10 to 18 years of age (n = 99). From pre-test to post-test, small but positive changes were found in moral atmosphere, but not in moral reasoning or fair play attitude. Changes were also found in on-field antisocial behaviour, which showed a significant decrease one month after the intervention. However, the changes in antisocial behaviour were not affected by the changes in moral team atmosphere. Off-field antisocial behaviour and both on- and off-field prosocial behaviour did not show a significant change. The results suggest that more extended efforts built on a similar approach are worth investigating. (Contains 1 table.)

This study explored the role of clique membership and clique isolation in children's psychosocial adjustment. We identified change and stability in early elementary school clique membership and investigated behavioral characteristics related to this change and stability. Participants were first-grade pupils (N = 300), followed over a 1-year period. Clique membership was identified through social network analysis. Differences between children with a stable versus changing clique membership status were tested using peer nominations and teacher ratings. Clique members were better adjusted than nonclique members. Externalizing behavior, less prosocial behavior, and low social preference preceded clique estrangement. Stable-isolates increased in externalizing behavior, whereas children who became part of a dyad or included in a clique showed a decrease in externalizing behavior. (Contains 5 tables.)

To provide an extended assessment of the affective features of psychopathy, Frick developed the Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits (ICU), which is a multi-informant questionnaire. Previous studies have provided initial support for the self-report version. The aim of the present study is to investigate the validity of self- as well as other report versions of the ICU and examine associations with measures of psychopathic traits, empathy, antisocial behavior and prosocial attitudes, reward and punishment sensitivity, and personality traits in a Dutch community sample of 455 adolescents (56% males). The results of the present study replicate and extend previous findings on the psychometric properties and the validity of the ICU in a sample of nonreferred youth. The three ICU subscales showed distinctive patterns of associations with key external criteria. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. (Contains 2 notes, 4 tables, and 1 figure.)

In this study we examine whether and why human and social resources increase charitable giving. Using the Giving in The Netherlands Panel Study 2003, we find that people with more extended networks and higher education are more generous. However, these effects can be completely explained by financial resources, church attendance, requests for donations, and pro-social personality characteristics. People with more extended social networks are mainly more generous because they receive more solicitations for donations, and are more integrated in extended religious networks that promote charitable giving. The generosity of people with higher formal education can be explained by their larger financial resources, and stronger verbal abilities. Whereas the effect of education seems mainly causal, that of network extension appears largely spurious. (Contains 10 notes and 3 tables.)

This article discusses the practice "Welcome to My Neighborhood," an exchange program for students attending primary schools. The practice targets younger students in providing positive experiences of learning and playing together with children from different backgrounds. Children interact with children outside their own school, neighborhood, and social and ethnic group. The exchange program builds relationships and aims to improve social skills, in particular to reduce discomfort in dealing with children from different backgrounds. The practice takes place over a one-year period and is grounded in the "real life" of children in their neighborhoods and city.

Possible differences between childhood-limited antisocial youth and their stable high-antisocial counterparts were examined. Children were 11 years old at wave 1 (T1) and 13.5 at wave 2 (T2). At both waves, the same parent, teacher, and self-reports of antisocial behavior were used. Stable highs and childhood-limited antisocial youth differed somewhat in family and individual background. Stable highs had less effortful control, perceived more overprotection, had a higher level of familial vulnerability to externalizing disorder, and lived less often with the same parents throughout their lives than the childhood-limited group. Both groups had similar levels of service use before T1, but after that period, the childhood-limited youth received more help from special education needs services than from problem behavior services, and vice versa for stable highs. The results suggest that the childhood-limited antisocial youth recovered not only from antisocial behavior but also from academic failure, peer rejection, and internalizing problems. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)

This article examines social integration of deaf children in inclusive settings in The Netherlands. Eighteen Grade 1-5 deaf children and their 344 hearing classmates completed 2 sociometric tasks, peer ratings and peer nomination, to measure peer acceptance, social competence, and friendship relations. Deaf and hearing children were found to be similar in their peer acceptance and friendship relations, but differences occurred in social competence. Deaf children scored lower than hearing children on prosocial behavior and higher on socially withdrawn behavior. Structural equation modeling showed peer acceptance, social competence, and friendship relations to be stable over time, and the structure of interrelations between variables at 2 measurements were found to be the same for deaf and hearing participants.

The present study was designed to examine early adolescents' stereotypical descriptions of two types of youth who are seen as popular by their peers. Participants were 13- to 14-year-old early adolescents (N = 287). The results indicated that early adolescents distinguished two types of popular peers: a "populistic" (popular but not necessarily well liked) type and a "prosocial-popular" (popular and well liked and accepted) type. These two types differed in terms of academic and interpersonal behaviors. Populistic adolescents were seen as relationally aggressive, stuck up, vulgar, bullies, and academically disengaged. They were also seen as leaders, influential, and arrogant more than were prosocial-popular adolescents. Adolescents in the latter group were seen as affiliative, helpful, and academically engaged. Both types of popular youth were seen as attractive and fashionable. The implications of these findings for future research on high status in the adolescent peer group are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

Background: The present study aimed to investigate children's social information processing (SIP) and emotions in the bullying situation, taking into account reactive and proactive aggression. More specifically, we investigated the way in which children interpret social information, which goals they select, how they evaluate their responses and which emotions they express in hypothetical situations. Method: The participants comprised 242 Dutch children (120 girls and 122 boys; mean age: 117.2 months), who were assigned by means of peer nominations (Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, et al., 1996) to one of the following roles: bully (n = 21), follower of the bully (n = 38), victim (n = 35), defender of the victim (n = 48), outsider (n = 52) and not involved (n = 32). Sixteen children (including 3 bully/victims) were not given any role. The reactive and proactive aggression scale (Dodge, & Coie, 1987) was filled out by teachers in order to test the association between these types of aggression and involvement in bullying. Children were presented with ambiguous scenarios and responded to questions about attribution of intent, goal selection and emotions (anger and sadness). In addition, two questionnaires were administered to children: one assessed perceived self-efficacy in performing aggression, inhibiting aggression and using verbal persuasion skills, and the other assessed expected outcomes from behaving aggressively or prosocially. Results: Results showed that while reactive aggression was common in bullies and victims, proactive aggression was only characteristic of bullies. Both bullies and victims, compared to the other children, scored higher on hostile interpretation, anger, retaliation and ease of aggression. Bullies and followers claimed that it was easy for them to use verbal persuasion, while victims turned out to be the saddest group. All children, irrespective of their role in the peer group, thought that aggressive as well as prosocial behavior was more likely to produce desired results from a friendly peer than from an aggressive one. Conclusions: Bullies and victims seem to be similar in reactive aggression, SIP, and in the expression of anger, but the motivations which lead to their behavior may be different, as well as the final outcomes of their acts. (Contains 4 tables.)