Trajectories of defending behaviors: Longitudinal association with normative and social adjustment and self-perceived popularity.

Autor: Bravo A; Department of Psychology, Universidad de Córdoba, Avenue San Alberto Magno, s/n, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. Electronic address: ana.bravo.castillo@uco.es., Berger C; School of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Campus San Joaquín, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul, Región Metropolitana, Chile. Electronic address: cberger@uc.cl., Ortega-Ruiz R; Department of Psychology, Universidad de Córdoba, Avenue San Alberto Magno, s/n, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. Electronic address: ortegaruiz@uco.es., Romera EM; Department of Psychology, Universidad de Córdoba, Avenue San Alberto Magno, s/n, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. Electronic address: eva.romera@uco.es.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of school psychology [J Sch Psychol] 2023 Dec; Vol. 101, pp. 101252. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Oct 05.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsp.2023.101252
Abstrakt: Defending the victim in bullying situations is a moral behavior that has received increasing attention in the literature. However, important questions about the development and maintenance of defending behaviors remain unanswered. The present study adopted a longitudinal design with two main goals: (a) identifying trajectories of change in individuals' defending behavior over time and (b) describing and comparing the initial levels and dynamics of change in normative and social adjustment and self-perceived popularity between the different defending trajectories. A total of 3303 students (49.8% girls; Wave 1 M age  = 12.61 years; SD = 1.47) participated in the study. Data were collected in four waves with self-report questionnaires. Using growth mixture modeling, we found four defending trajectories (84% stable-high, 5% decrease, 4% increase, and 7% stable-low). Growth mixture model multigroup and comparative analyses found that adolescents in the stable-high defending group exhibited the highest initial levels of normative adjustment (M intercept  = 5.47), social adjustment (M intercept  = 5.48), and self-perceived popularity (M intercept  = 5). Adolescents in the decrease defending group tended to reduce their normative adjustment over time (M slope  = -0.09), whereas the increase defending group increased their social adjustment (M slope  = 0.18) and self-perceived popularity (M slope  = -0.04). The stable-low defending group showed low and stable levels of normative adjustment (M intercept  = 5.01), social adjustment (M intercept  = 5.03), and self-perceived popularity (M intercept  = 4.4). These results indicate a strong association between normative and social adjustment and self-perceived popularity and involvement in defending behaviors. Bullying prevention programs could improve by adding a stronger focus on the development of classroom dynamics that promote adjusted behaviors and class-group cohesion.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing interests.
(Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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