Although the relation between teacher-student relationship and academic achievement has been addressed in many studies, the reciprocal relations between these two constructs have not been explored ...sufficiently. The aim of the present study was to test three competing models that hypothesized directionality of influence in relations between teacher acceptance, studentperceived teacher support, and academic achievement. Eight hundred sixteen students nom 3 different grade levels in Slovenian elementary and secondary schools, covering the age range from late childhood through early-to-middle adolescence, participated in the study at the beginning and at the end of the school year. Structural equation modeling was used. Different models of relations between teacher acceptance, student-perceived teacher support, and academic achievement were analyzed using the cross-lagged panel correlation technique. The results supported the hypothesized reciprocal model, indicating the relation between teacher acceptance and academic achievement in both directions. Student-perceived teacher personal support partially mediates the relation between teacher acceptance and achievement in both directions on the whole sample but not in specific age groups. Finally, we found some age-specific differences in the relations between teacher acceptance, teacher personal support, and achievement.
•LPA included self- and peer-reports to identify subgroups of bullying participants.•Two uninvolved students profiles were distinguished.•Groups with a higher degree of bullying or victimization had ...psychosocial problems.•Bully-victims had lower peer and teacher support and higher anger-related problems.
Bullying represents a severe problem with possible short- and long-term consequences for bullying participants. However, the characteristics of these individuals are not entirely known and bullying roles are often ambiguous. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify latent subgroups of bullying participants by latent profile analysis, including both self- and peer-reports and to recognize the differences among the latent subgroups. The sample included 1,905 elementary school students (49.9 % boys, Mage = 12.8, SD = 1.2). The latent profile analysis revealed five profiles according to their degree of victimization and/or bullying behavior: uninvolved students, self-reported uninvolved students, bullies, victims, and bully-victims. Victims and bully-victims reported the lowest peer support; in addition, bully-victims reported the lowest teacher support and the highest level of anger-related problems. Bullies were perceived as the most popular; victims and bully-victims reported the lowest social self-concept among all groups. Uninvolved students and self-reported uninvolved students differed in perceived popularity, anger control, peer- and teacher support. The results highlight the need to tailor interventions according to the subgroup of bullying participants to minimize unwanted behavior or offer additional support for victims.
The positive relationship between popularity goals and bullying in early adolescence is documented in many studies. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between student ...social goals of two types (popularity and social preference) and bullying in a diverse sample of early and middle adolescents. Additionally, we aimed to investigate both individual (self‐perceived popularity and social status insecurity) and classroom‐level (the classroom variability in self‐perceived popularity) moderators of the relationship between popularity goals and bullying. A total of 2039 students (59.48% girls; mean age 15.48 years) nested within 106 classrooms participated in the study. Using a cross‐sectional research design, we found that popularity goals were a positive predictor of bullying, while social preference goals were a negative predictor. Self‐perceived popularity and social status insecurity were found to moderate the relationship between popularity goals and bullying; higher levels of bullying were reported by students with high popularity goals and high self‐perceived popularity or high social status insecurity. In addition, popularity goals were a stronger predictor of bullying for students in classrooms with higher classroom variability in self‐perceived popularity.
Abstract The complexities of individual (developmental changes) and contextual (change of school) factors interact during a school level transition period. The current study focuses on one aspect of ...possible difficulties, namely anxiety, and one potential support mechanism, specifically social support from family and peers, and their interplay during the school year when transitioning to a higher level of education. The study monitors anxiety levels of Slovene students ( N = 115, 69.6% females) and the role of their social support through their transition using a longitudinal design with four time points—at the beginning of the school year, at the middle of the school year, at the end of the school year, and at the beginning of the new school year after the transition—in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings from an unconditional growth model show a significant difference in anxiety at the initial measurement, while the change in time is insignificant. The findings show that peer support is a significant predictor of anxiety at all four time points and that family support is a significant predictor of anxiety at three of the four time points (not significant at the end of school year). Students who report a higher sense of peer and family support report less anxiety. As identified in the study, social support is an important protective factor for higher anxiety levels; therefore, it is important to provide mechanisms of social support during a transition and throughout the pre- and post-transition school years.
The present study aimed to investigate the predictors of work stress in elementary and upper-secondary school teachers and school counsellors in the initial period of online education in schools ...during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 964 school professionals (90.7% teachers; 9.3% school counsellors) participated in the study. The results indicated that school professionals who reported higher ICT self-efficacy, had more positive attitudes towards distance education and perceived higher level of supervisor support experienced less stress. In addition, the participants that reported taking care of their own preschool or younger school children during the schools' closure reported higher levels of stress.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of rumination and reflection in teachers' classroom stress and burnout, thereby assessing their predictive value per se and their role as ...moderators between teacher reported job characteristics and stress and burnout. 439 elementary school teachers participated in the study. Dispositional characteristics explained additional variance in teachers' stress and burnout beyond job characteristics. Rumination was a significant predictor of both stress and burnout, whereas reflection was not. However, reflection moderated the relation between job characteristics and stress. These results highlight the importance of simultaneously investigating environmental and dispositional characteristics of teachers' strain.
•The role of rumination and reflection in predicting teachers' stress and burnout was examined.•Rumination was a direct positive predictor of stress and burnout.•Reflection worked as a moderator in the relation between job characteristics and classroom stress.•Workload and autonomy predicted stress and burnout after controlling for dispositional factors.
The aim of the study was to examine school belongingness and family support as predictors of bullying behavior and victimization, and the moderating role of students' gender and immigrant background ...in a large representative sample of Slovenian adolescents (N = 1925; 42.50% male). The results indicated that school belongingness significantly predicted both bullying and victimization. Family support did not contribute to the incremental validity beyond school belongingness in predicting victimization. Gender was found to moderate the relationship between school belongingness and both bullying outcomes. The relationship between school belongingness and victimization was stronger for students with an immigrant background.
The purpose of the present study was to examine individual and contextual predictors of victimization and bullying on a sample of early adolescents. Using both self-reports and peer nominations for ...victimization and bullying assessment, potential differential predictors for self- vs. peer-reported victimization and bullying were examined. A total of 1905 elementary school students (49.9% boys) nested in 135 classrooms within 22 schools participated in the study. Students’ gender was found to be the most consistent predictor for both self- and peer-reported victimization and bullying. Other shared predictors of victimization and bullying were higher internalization and externalization of anger and perceived peer support for self-reported measures and younger age, lower academic achievement, higher anger internalizing and externalizing, perceived teacher support, and fewer peer-reported friendships for peer-reported measures. In addition, the same classroom characteristics—higher pro-bully classroom norms—represented a risk factor for both self-reported bullying and victimization.
Peer victimisation during school years has been found to significantly shape the way students perceive themselves and how they enter into relationships with peers, thus impacting students' current ...and long-term wellbeing. However, victimisation has seldom been examined in university students. The present study aimed to investigate students' current level of self-reported peer victimisation and perceived peer support and their retrospectively reported victimisation as predictors of their social self-concept and loneliness in their first year of university. First-year university students (N = 200; 26% male) participated in the study. The results indicated that retrospectively reported victimisation experiences during their years of schooling explained additional variance in social self-concept and loneliness beyond their concurrent peer experiences. These findings indicate that experiencing victimisation during school years could have consequences for students' wellbeing that are not limited to the period of primary and secondary schooling, but can persist after their transition to university. Practical implications for the promotion of mental health in the higher education context are discussed.