W7 NOTES

Children's Social Self-Concept and Internalizing Problems: The Influence of Peers and Teachers. Developmental Pathways:  Peer rejection leads to declines in social self‐concept.  Impeded social self‐concept predicts the development of internalizing problems.  Partial support found for a protective role of individual support from teachers. Social Self-Concept and Internalizing Behavior:  Peer rejection negatively impacts social self-concept.  Poor social self-concept predicts internalizing problems. Teacher Support:  Individual support from teachers can buffer the effects of peer rejection on social self-concept.  Medium-high to high levels of teacher support protect against the adverse effects of peer rejection. Study Methodology:  Full autoregressive cross-lagged study design.  Data collected across Grades 2 and 3.  Models tested for sex, intervention status, and time effects.  Multilevel analyses used to examine teacher support moderation. Key Findings:  Peer rejection influences social self-concept, which in turn affects internalizing problems.  Individual teacher support may mitigate the negative impact of peer rejection on social self-concept.  Social self-concept acts as a mediator between peer rejection and internalizing problems. Limitations:  Relatively low reliability of social self-concept at Wave 1.  Sample represents an "advantaged" population.  Inability to establish causality due to study design.  Focus limited to peer rejection, other peer problems not considered. INDIVIDUALISM–COLLECTIVISM Meaning of Individualism-Collectivism:  Culture-Dependent Nature:  Corrective to universal significance of individuality.  Bipolar Dimension:  Societies arranged based on personal vs. group goal priority. Origins:  Introduction by Hofstede:  Detailed analysis of 40 national cultures.  Sociological Dimension:  Characterizes societies, not personalities. Current Status:  Continued Interest:  Stimulates cross-cultural psychology research.  Refinement Proposals:  Questioning bipolarity and proposing further differentiation. Refinement Issues:  Polar Opposites or Mixture?  Cultures exhibit signs of both individualism and collectivism.  Need for Differentiation:  Introduction of vertical-horizontal scheme for nuanced categorization.  Levels of Analysis:  Distinction between cultural and individual levels. Functional Interrelation:

 Impact on Socialization Practices:  Influence on child rearing practices in different cultures.  Examples:  Contrasting child rearing practices between Japan and the West.  Differences in nursery orientation between Asian and American cultures.  Varied descriptions of children by Kenyan and American mothers. INTERNALIZATION and: COMPLIANCE Meaning of Socialization:  Primary Goal:  Adoption of community values, standards, and conduct rules.  Progression:  Transition from external control to self-control.  Internalization Definition:  Acquisition of externally laid standards and values as one's own. Compliance in Socialization:  Definition:  Willingness to obey another person's request.  Developmental Role:  Necessary antecedent to internalization. Origins of Standards Transmission:  Didactic Transmission:  Parents teach children acceptable behavior.  Psychoanalytic Theory:  Children internalize parents' commands to resolve conflict. Critique and Refinement:  Complexity of Internalization:  More nuanced process than previously thought.  Bidirectional Socialization:  Children actively process parental messages and adapt them. Developmental Course:  Types of Compliance:  Situational vs. Committed compliance.  Relationship with Internalization:  Committed compliance as a precursor to internalization. View on Non-Compliance:  Positive Functionality:  Expression of autonomy and development of assertiveness strategies. National Institute of Justice Summary of School Safety Statistics - July 2017  School Safety Statistics Overview:  A comprehensive analysis of data related to school safety, encompassing various dimensions such as violence, bullying, and safety measures implemented in schools across the United States.  Key Findings:  Highlighted trends and patterns gleaned from the collected data, shedding light on the prevalence of school-related violence, the frequency and types of bullying incidents, and the efficacy of safety measures.  Violence Trends:

 Examined the frequency and nature of violent incidents occurring within school settings, including fights, physical assaults, and instances of weapons possession, providing insights into the evolving landscape of school violence.  Bullying Incidents:  Delved into the prevalence and manifestations of bullying experienced by students, exploring the different forms of bullying such as verbal, physical, and cyberbullying, and their impact on school climate and student well-being.  Safety Measures Implementation:  Investigated the strategies and initiatives adopted by schools to enhance safety and security, including the implementation of security protocols, the presence of law enforcement personnel on campus, and the utilization of technology for monitoring and surveillance.  Policy Implications:  Derived actionable insights from the data analysis to inform policy decisions aimed at bolstering school safety nationwide, with a focus on implementing evidence-based interventions and fostering collaborative efforts among stakeholders to create safer learning environments for students and educators. Parent and Family Outcomes of PEERS: A Social Skills Intervention for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder Summary:  Introduction:  PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) is a manualized social skills intervention designed for adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to improve their social functioning.  This study aims to explore the impact of the PEERS intervention on parents and families of adolescents with ASD, focusing on parental stress, family quality of life, parenting self-efficacy, and parental social support.  Method:  Parents of adolescents diagnosed with ASD participated in a 14-week PEERS intervention program.  Pre- and post-intervention measures were administered to assess changes in parental stress, family quality of life, parenting self-efficacy, and parental social support.  Data were analyzed to determine any significant changes in these outcome measures following the intervention.  Results:  Significant reductions in parental stress were observed after completion of the PEERS intervention.  Participating parents reported improvements in family quality of life, indicating a positive impact on overall family functioning.  There was a notable increase in parenting self-efficacy among parents who completed the PEERS program.  However, no significant changes were found in parental social support following the intervention.  Discussion:  The findings suggest that the PEERS intervention not only benefits adolescents with ASD in improving their social skills but also positively influences their parents and families.  Reductions in parental stress and enhancements in family quality of life and parenting self- efficacy indicate broader positive outcomes beyond the targeted social skills improvement for adolescents.  Further research is warranted to explore additional factors contributing to the observed outcomes and to assess the long-term effects of the PEERS intervention on families of adolescents with ASD.