Adolescents’ First Choice for Help: Distinguishing Characteristics of Youth Who Select a Friend, a Parent, or No One

Sears, Heather A.

doi:10.1007/s10964-020-01241-x

Cited by 7 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…Social support from parents, teachers and friends is relevant for boys and girls, and help-seeking is considered an effective coping strategy [12,22,24,[56][57][58]. However, previous studies have noted that girls ask for help more than boys when they suffer peer victimization [16,18,33]. In the present study, girls preferred to ask their parents and friends for help more than boys in relational, physical and verbal victimization situations, and they preferred to ask teachers for help more in physical and verbal victimization situations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies have shown that girls are more willing to seek help, and they are more likely to ask a teacher for help [16,[31][32][33][34], while boys more often indicate that they would fight back [34]. More girls seek help from friends than boys [18], although the results for seeking help from parents are mixed, with some studies showing that boys use this strategy more, while more girls do in others [18]. Nevertheless, all these gender differences might be linked with the victimization type more frequently suffered by boys and girls.…”

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although there are many children and adolescents who ask a friend or a parent for help when they have problems, others are reluctant to seek help from anyone [18]. The perceived available social support has been demonstrated as an important factor related to help-seeking to cope with problems [18,43]. In the school context, students' perception of more emotional support is related to more help-seeking from teachers [44], and a positive classroom social climate may be a relevant contextual factor to increase or reduce the likelihood of asking for help in peer victimization situations.…”

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While some coping strategies are considered more effective in reducing peer victimization, others such as crying, giving in to bully's demands or striking back seem to increase the likelihood of subsequent victimization [12][13][14][15]. Victims of peer aggression use different strategies to cope with this stressful situation according to their personal and contextual characteristics [16][17][18]. Nevertheless, few studies have analyzed the personal (e.g., gender, grade, victimization status) and contextual (e.g., perceived classroom social climate) factors associated with the strategies preferred by the students to cope with peer victimization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coping Strategies against Peer Victimization: Differences According to Gender, Grade, Victimization Status and Perceived Classroom Social Climate

2021

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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include “Good Health and Well-being” (SDG3) and “Quality Education” (SDG4). Nevertheless, many students cannot achieve these goals if they suffer peer victimization at their schools, and intervention programs to reduce it are necessary. These programs should consider the possible differences in the coping strategies preferred by students according to some personal (e.g., gender, grade, victimization status) and contextual (e.g., perceived classroom social climate) factors to be more effective. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the possible differences in the coping strategies preferred by students (ask a friend for help, ask a teacher for help, ask parents for help, not ask anyone for help, fighting back, avoid the aggressor and ask the aggressor why) to handle situations of relational, physical and verbal peer victimization according to their gender, school grade, victimization status and perceived classroom social climate. The sample comprised 479 students (52.2% boys, 47.8% girls) aged from 9 to 14 years (M = 11.21, SD = 1.52). The results showed that girls chose the strategies of asking friends or adults for help and asking the aggressor why more than boys, while boys chose the strategies of fighting back and not ask anyone for help more than girls. The coping strategy of asking a teacher for help was preferred more by students of lower school grades and by students with a positive perception of the classroom climate. Victimized students preferred the strategy of not asking anyone for help. These results may be useful for developing more effective intervention programs. These programs should aim to enhance the teacher–student relationship in upper school grades, help victimized students to inform about peer aggression situations and improve perceived classroom social climate.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coping Strategies against Peer Victimization: Differences According to Gender, Grade, Victimization Status and Perceived Classroom Social Climate

2021

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Teacher–student relationships and peer victimization among Chinese children: The roles of peer status and gender

Fang

Liu

Wang

2023

Psychology in the Schools

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Previous studies have shown that peer victimization causes a great variety of severe adverse effects on children's development, and it is necessary to explore the influential factors and mechanisms of peer victimization. This study examined the associations between teacher–student relationships and peer victimization, as well as the roles of peer status and gender in China. The participants were 734 primary school students from Grades 5 ~ 6. Structural equation models were conducted to test the roles of peer status in the associations between teacher–student relationships and peer victimization, as well as the gender differences in the above associations. The findings showed that teacher–student closeness negatively predicted peer victimization, and teacher–student conflict positively predicted peer victimization. It was also found that teacher–student conflict but not closeness could negatively predict peer status, which was in turn negatively associated with peer victimization. The above associations did not vary across genders. The findings indicated that both teacher–student closeness and conflict were directly associated with children's peer victimization, and teacher–student conflict was indirectly associated with peer victimization via peer status. This implies that interventions for decreasing children's peer victimization should not only focus on improving teacher–student relationships but also target peer status.

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The Influence of Stigma and Trust in Young People Seeking Support for Their Own or a Friend’s Symptoms: The Role of Threat Appraisals

Pimenta

Hunter

Rasmussen

2022

Child Youth Care Forum

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Background Stigma and trust influence how adolescents seek support for mental illness, though it is unclear how these influence their decisions to approach a range of potential sources of support. Moreover, even less is known about the ways in which these issues are related when a friend discloses symptoms of mental illness. Objective The study’s aims were to understand the role of stigma, trust, and threat appraisals in adolescents’ support seeking when exposed to their own, or to a friend’s, symptoms of mental illness. Method A vignette-based study comparing reports of support (friends, parents, teachers, professionals, and online) was completed with reference to either (i) experiencing symptoms of mental illness or (ii) having a friend disclose these types of symptoms. Two hundred and fifty adolescents (M = 12.75 years) answered questions pertaining to stigma (public and self), trust levels, threat appraisals, and support seeking. Results When dealing with their own symptoms, threat accounted for 4.8 and 2.5% of the variance when seeking support from parents and professionals, respectively. Self-stigma accounted for 2.4% of variance when seeking support from parents and 0.8% of variance when seeking support from professionals. Trust moderated the association between threat and the use of online support. When responding to a friend’s disclosure, higher levels of public-stigma were associated with lower support seeking from friends, parents, and professionals. Conclusions This study showed a distinction in how adolescents deal with their own or a friend’s symptoms of mental illness, and what resources they choose to ask for support from. Self-stigma, threat, and trust levels were particularly relevant when experiencing their own symptoms, while dealing with a friend’s disclosure was related to levels of public-stigma.

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Adolescents’ First Choice for Help: Distinguishing Characteristics of Youth Who Select a Friend, a Parent, or No One

Cited by 7 publications

References 47 publications

Coping Strategies against Peer Victimization: Differences According to Gender, Grade, Victimization Status and Perceived Classroom Social Climate

Coping Strategies against Peer Victimization: Differences According to Gender, Grade, Victimization Status and Perceived Classroom Social Climate

Teacher–student relationships and peer victimization among Chinese children: The roles of peer status and gender

The Influence of Stigma and Trust in Young People Seeking Support for Their Own or a Friend’s Symptoms: The Role of Threat Appraisals

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