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Training studies have shown the positive effects of play tutoring on children's social skills. This study investigates whether the theoretically suggested mechanism of change--social pretend play quality--explains the effect of play tutoring on social pretend play competence and social skills. Twenty-seven Swiss playgroups (N = 214 three- to four-year-olds) participated in a randomized intervention study with three conditions: the intervention group (play tutoring), the material group (half-dose), and the control group (treatment as usual). Weekly treatment sessions took place for six consecutive weeks. Pre-tests, post-tests, and a follow-up were made. Playgroup educators reported on children's pretend play competence and social skills using a questionnaire. Children's pretend play quality during treatment sessions was assessed by standardized behavioral observations. Using latent change models with indirect effects, we investigated whether the intervention effects of play tutoring on children's pretend play competence and social skills are mediated by their social pretend play quality shown during the intervention sessions. The results indicate mediating effects of social pretend play quality on children's change in social pretend play competence and self-oriented social skills (sociability and setting limits). The study supports social pretend play as a beneficial ground to promote social development but also indicates a more complex interplay of different change mechanisms.

Two longitudinal extensions of the classic internal/external frame of reference model (I/EM) have attracted researchers' attention in recent years: The reciprocal I/EM (RI/EM) describes the reciprocal effects between students' math and verbal achievements and self-concepts. The 2I/EM describes the effects of students' math and verbal achievement levels and changes on their math and verbal self-concepts. The present research integrates these 2 approaches into the reciprocal 2I/EM (R2I/EM), which describes the effects of students' math and verbal achievement levels and changes on their math and verbal self-concepts and the effects of their math and verbal self-concept levels and changes on their math and verbal achievements. We tested this model in 3 empirical studies, including about 6,000 students between Grade 4 and Grade 11 from Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium, using grades and test scores as achievement indicators. Overall, we found strong support for the R2I/EM. In line with prior 2I/EM studies, students' achievement levels showed positive (negative) effects on their self-concepts within (between) subjects. The effects of students' achievement changes on their self-concepts within (between) subjects were usually positive (near 0). In line with prior RI/EM studies, students' self-concept levels showed positive (negative or near 0) effects on their achievements within (between) subjects. For the first time, we also examined the effects of students' self-concept changes on their achievements: These effects were usually positive (positive or near 0) within (between) subjects. Our findings have important theoretical and practical implications for the I/E model literature and for teachers aiming to foster their students' self-concepts and achievements.

This study investigated whether two educational strategies, providing material and active adult support during play, promote pretend play quality in a group of preschoolers. The sample consisted of 101 preschoolers (50% females; mean age at t1= 43.02 months, SD= 5.94) from 14 Swiss educational play groups. These were randomly allocated to the experimental conditions: "material" (n=4 groups, n=35 children), "play tutoring" (n=5 groups, n=32 children), and "treatment as usual" (control; n=5 groups, n=34 children). Children's and adults' behavior during six play sessions, each lasting 30 minutes, was videotaped. Children's play activities, social pretend play quality (SPPQ) and adults' level of active pretend play support, were assessed using standardized observation tools. Research Findings: Material and play tutoring groups showed significantly higher frequency of pretend play than the control group. Regarding SPPQ, the material group scored significantly lower than the play tutoring group, but significantly higher than the control group. Additional analyses showed that differences in SPPQ between the control and material condition can be fully explained by adults' active play support. Practice or Policy: The results suggest that providing roleplay material stimulates children to engage in social pretend play, but adults' play support increases the quality of social pretend play.

Social pretend play may have a positive impact on children's social development because it involves positive peer interactions and challenges their social-cognitive abilities. The current study aimed to investigate whether variations in play tutors' active support and play management are associated with variations in children's social pretend play level in the context of a pretend play tutoring intervention. Moreover, the moderating role of children's social skills (cooperative behaviour and sociability) was examined. In total, 50 children from eight playgroups participated in the study (50% females, mean age at T1 = 46.6 months, SD = 4.3). Six play tutoring sessions took place during normal playgroup sessions (30-40 minutes each). Both the play tutors' active support and play management and the children's social pretend play were videotaped and rated for each 10-minute interval. Furthermore, teachers rated children's social skills before the intervention. The study showed that active support -- but not play management -- was positively associated with children's social pretend play level. Furthermore, children's sociability positively predicted children's social pretend play level during the intervention and also intensified the positive effect of active support on children's social pretend play level. In contrast, children's cooperative behaviour was not significantly associated with their social pretend play level. These results suggest that play tutoring in a group setting needs to be tailored to children's needs and should actively aim to include withdrawn children, so that they can also profit more strongly from the intervention.

This study examined the short- and long-term effects of self-enhancement (i.e., overreporting of academic grades) on academic self-concept and academic achievement. A total of 916, 719, and 647 students participated in the first, second, and third waves of assessment, respectively (mean age at T1 = 15.6 years). At each assessment, students reported their last midterm grades and their self-concepts in mathematics, German, English, and French. Actual midterm grades were obtained from the school administrations. Results showed that self-enhancement was positively associated with self-concept in the short term. However, in the long term, self-enhancement was directly associated with stronger decreases in self-concept and indirectly with stronger decreases in achievement that were linked to inflated self-concepts. Implications for research and educational practice are discussed.

Various theoretical approaches propose that emotions in the classroom are elicited by appraisal antecedents, with subjective experiences of control playing a crucial role in this context. Perceptions of control, in turn, are expected to be influenced by the classroom social environment, which can include the teaching methods being employed (e.g., direct instruction or small-group work). In the present study we sought to investigate the effect of various types of teaching methods on students' emotions during mathematics lessons with students' control-related appraisals (indicated by pace of instruction and perceived choice) mediating this effect. In a sample of 141 Swiss high-school students, discrete emotions, control-related appraisals, and teaching methods were assessed via the experience-sampling method (i.e., highly ecologically valid real-time assessments) over the course of 2 weeks (once per mathematics lesson resulting in 807 total lesson ratings). Of the three main teaching method categories, direct instruction was reported most frequently (42.6%), followed by working individually (24.5%), and working in small groups or pairs (14.1%). Results of multilevel analyses revealed that direct instruction was associated with slightly lower levels of positive emotions and higher levels of boredom compared to the other two teaching methods, whereas there were no significant differences regarding levels of anxiety or anger. The impact of teaching methods on emotions was found to be partly mediated by control-related appraisals. The role of teaching methods for fostering students' emotions that are conducive to learning is discussed.

The present study investigated the longitudinal association between the development of bullying (traditional bullying and cyberbullying) and the development of moral deficiencies (moral disengagement, low moral responsibility, and weak feelings of remorse) during adolescence. A total of 960 Swiss adolescents completed an electronic questionnaire in schools four times, with 6-month intervals. Results of a parallel process model showed that the initial levels of moral deficiencies were positively associated with initial scores of bullying. Furthermore, the initial levels of moral deficiencies were positively associated with the development of bullying (i.e., initial trend and changes in trend across time). In contrast, the initial level of bullying was not found to be associated with the development (i.e., the slope) of moral deficiencies. Accordingly, we conclude that moral deficiencies might be a trait that predicts the development of bullying and not vice versa. Implications of the findings for bullying prevention are discussed.

Cyberbullying, a modern form of bullying performed using electronic forms of contact (e.g., SMS, MMS, Facebook, YouTube), has been considered as being worse than traditional bullying in its consequences for the victim. This difference was mainly attributed to some specific aspect that are believed to distinguish cyberbullying from traditional bullying: an increased potential for a large audience, an increased potential for anonymous bullying, lower levels of direct feedback, decreased time and space limits, and lower levels of supervision. The present studies investigated the relative importance of medium (traditional vs. cyber), publicity (public vs. private), and bully's anonymity (anonymous vs. not anonymous) for the perceived severity of hypothetical bullying scenarios among a sample of Swiss seventh- and eight-graders (study 1: 49% female, mean age = 13.7; study 2: 49% female, mean age = 14.2). Participants ranked a set of hypothetical bullying scenarios from the most severe one to the least severe one. The scenarios were experimentally manipulated based on the aspect of medium and publicity (study 1), and medium and anonymity (study 2). Results showed that public scenarios were perceived as worse than private ones, and that anonymous scenarios were perceived as worse than not anonymous ones. Cyber scenarios generally were perceived as worse than traditional ones, although effect sizes were found to be small. These results suggest that the role of medium is secondary to the role of publicity and anonymity when it comes to evaluating bullying severity. Therefore, cyberbullying is not a priori perceived as worse than traditional bullying. Implications of the results for cyberbullying prevention and intervention are discussed.

This longitudinal study investigated whether cybervictimisation is an additional risk factor for depressive symptoms over and beyond traditional victimisation in adolescents. Furthermore, it explored whether certain coping strategies moderate the impact of cybervictimisation on depressive symptoms. A total of 765 Swiss seventh graders (mean age at time-point 1 (t1) = 13.18 years) reported on the frequency of traditional and cybervictimisation, and of depressive symptoms twice in six months. At time-point 2 (t2) students also completed a questionnaire on coping strategies in response to a hypothetical cyberbullying scenario. Analyses showed that both traditional and cybervictimisation were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Cybervictimisation also predicted increases in depressive symptoms over time. Regarding coping strategies, it was found that helpless reactions were positively associated with depressive symptoms. Moreover, support seeking from peers and family showed a significant buffering effect: cybervictims who recommended seeking close support showed lower levels of depressive symptoms at t2. In contrast, cybervictims recommending assertive coping strategies showed higher levels of depressive symptoms at t2. (Contains 2 figures and 3 tables.)

Little empirical data exist to guide ethical decisions when conducting research with vulnerable populations. The current study assesses a protocol designed to mitigate risks in a population-based cohort of 246 individuals placed in care institutions as infants in a non-selective 60-year follow-up. In total, 116 (47%) individuals chose to participate, of whom 53 (55%) reported positive effects of participation such as the opportunity to fill some gaps in their life stories, to better deal with their past, and to understand previous family dynamics. Only three individuals (2.5%) explicitly reported negative short-term consequences such as feeling upset as a result of thinking about stressful times, but they nonetheless rated the usefulness of the study as high. For six participants (5%), psychological counseling sessions were initiated as a support measure. Our findings suggest that risk of harm can be managed with a rigorous ethics protocol when conducting research with a vulnerable cohort and therefore enable the voices of survivors to be heard. A step wise approach in which increasing amounts of information were presented at each step, clearly operationalized passive decline, and direct and consistent contact with highly trained staff were considered key to mitigating distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to examine the longitudinal promotive and protective role of process quality in regular early childhood education and care (ECEC) centers in the context of early cumulative family risks on children's social–emotional development from early to middle childhood. The sample consisted of 293 (T1; M age = 2.81), 239 (T2; M age = 3.76), and 189 (T3; M age = 9.69) children from 25 childcare centers in Switzerland. Fourteen familial risk factors were subsumed to a family risk score at T1. Parents and teachers reported on children's conduct problems (CP), emotional problems (EP), and prosocial behavior (PB) at T2 and T3. Childcare process quality was assessed at T2 using external observations of teaching and interaction, provisions for learning, and key professional tasks. Results showed that early family risks were positively associated with CP and EP and negatively associated with PB in the long term. High-quality teaching and interaction as well as caregivers' professional behavior in terms of systematic observation, documentation, and planning of children's individual learning processes and needs protected children from the undesirable long-term effects of early family risks on conduct problems, emotional problems, and prosocial behavior from early to middle childhood. The results indicate that a high process quality in ECEC might serve as an essential contextual protective factor in the development of resilience in children at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Despite good physical care, psychosocial deprivation increases developmental risk. • Language and social skills are most affected by psychosocial deprivation. • Longer duration of institutionalization is a risk factor for developmental delays. • Higher birth weight, more interaction, and regular family contact are protective. Institutionalization is associated with a substantial developmental risk. Ethical constraints make it challenging to obtain robust empirical data on the effects of deprivation. Furthermore, because institutionalized children often face global deprivation, assessing the specific effects of psychosocial deprivation becomes difficult. Moreover, limited research exists on factors explaining interindividual differences. To investigate developmental outcomes of children raised in institutions in conditions of psychosocial deprivation and to identify possible risk and protective factors at institutional and child levels. Secondary analyses of data collected 1958–1961 in Switzerland in a population-based survey of institutionalized infants and toddlers. Participants (n = 332, M age = 11.1 months, SD = 6.4, 48.2 % female, 45.3 % Swiss) were matched with a comparison group of 332 children raised in families (M age = 10.9 months, SD = 6.2, 50.0 % female, 100 % Swiss). Developmental status was assessed using the standardized Brunet-Lézine Developmental Test. Additional data were obtained from administrative records and through observations. Institutionalized children had significantly lower developmental quotients than the comparison group (d = −1.60, p < 0.001), with most prominent differences for language and social skills (d = −1.21/−1.20, p < 0.001). Within the institutionalized group, higher interaction time, higher birth weight, more regular family contact, and a shorter duration of institutionalization were associated with better developmental outcomes. This study emphasizes the impact of isolated psychosocial deprivation on early development and identifies several risk and protective factors. To reduce developmental risk of institutionalization, the results are globally relevant for infants placed in institutions with comparable conditions today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer victimization has been identified as a risk factor for depressive symptoms. The current study investigated the longitudinal interplay among social support, peer victimization and depressive symptoms in early adolescence. We specifically investigated the promotive and protective role of parental and friendship support on the longitudinal relationship between victimization and depressive symptoms. A total of 960 Swiss adolescents (49% female, M 13.2 years) completed an electronic questionnaire four times, with 6-month intervals. Trivariate cross-lagged models with latent longitudinal moderations were computed. The analyses confirmed that peer victimization was positively associated with changes in depressive symptoms, and depressive symptoms were positively associated with changes in victimization. Furthermore, bidirectional longitudinal associations between both parental and friendship support and depressive symptoms were found, while neither parental nor friendship support was found to be longitudinally associated with peer victimization. Further, neither parental nor friendship support moderated the longitudinal relationship between victimization and depressive symptoms. Thus, the present results suggested that parental and friendship support were promotive factors for adolescents' well-being, while neither parental, nor friendship support buffered the effect of victimization on depressive symptoms, thereby yielding no evidence for their longitudinal protective effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Cyberbullying has emerged as a new form of antisocial behaviour in the context of online communication over the last decade. The present study investigates potential longitudinal risk factors for cyberbullying. A total of 835 Swiss seventh graders participated in a short-term longitudinal study (two assessments 6 months apart). Students reported on the frequency of cyberbullying, traditional bullying, rule-breaking behaviour, cybervictimisation, traditional victimisation, and frequency of online communication (interpersonal characteristics). In addition, we assessed moral disengagement, empathic concern, and global self-esteem (intrapersonal characteristics). Results showed that traditional bullying, rule-breaking behaviour, and frequency of online communication are longitudinal risk factors for involvement in cyberbullying as a bully. Thus, cyberbullying is strongly linked to real-world antisocial behaviours. Frequent online communication may be seen as an exposure factor that increases the likelihood of engaging in cyberbullying. In contrast, experiences of victimisation and intrapersonal characteristics were not found to increase the longitudinal risk for cyberbullying over and above antisocial behaviour and frequency of online communication. Implications of the findings for the prevention of cyberbullying are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]