Help-seeking atititudes among Israeli adolescents

This study investigated the willingness of Israeli adolescents to seek help for emotional and health problems, and their preference for various helping agents. Nearly fifteen hundred students in grades 7-12 participated in a comprehensive survey of attitudes, health status, and concerns, and the data were analyzed. Gender and age were identified as factors associated with help-seeking attitudes. Females reported a higher level of distress and greater willingness to seek help than did males. Younger adolescents tended to state that they would turn to parents for help, whereas older adolescents increasingly preferred peers. In general, the adolescents preferred to seek help from family and peers for emotional and social problems, rather than turning to professionals. Adolescents in grades 9-10 reported the highest level of distress and were least willing to seek help for interpersonal problems and depressed mood. Overall, level of distress was not directly related to willingness to seek help. In subgroups of depressed and suicidal adolescents, an inverse relationship was found between willingness to seek help and levels of depression and suicidal ideation. Recommendations for health care services and counseling programs are discussed.     

Prolonged Stress,PTSD, and Depression Among School Aggressors and Victims

Exposure rates to school aggression as an aggressor, victim, aggressive victim, or a bystander is high, with large numbers of school-aged children reporting being subjected to verbal or physical violence. We hypothesized that all 3 clusters of the DSM–IV designation of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Criterion B: Intrusive recall, Criterion C: Avoidance, and Criterion D: Hypervigilance) would be experienced by pure victims, pure aggressors, and aggressive victims. We also anticipated that PTSD symptoms would lead to depression, primarily for victims. Questionnaires were given to 1,398 students, yielding 1,116 valid questionnaires (80% response rate). Respondents were enrolled in the general education system, from 9 different schools in Israel. Following calibration of the research instruments using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, a series of structural equation and reflection models were examined. The path through some of the symptoms of PTSD and depression was apparent only for victims. For the victims, the indirect model through avoidance predicted depression only for relational victimization. No clear linkage was found among aggression, PTSD, and depression for aggressors. For aggressors, physical aggression was linked with the 3 clusters of PTSD symptoms, but not with depression.     

How do Young Adults Remember their Childhood Social Status? A Retrospective Analysis of Peer-Rejection in Childhood and Adolescence,and Protective Factors Predictive of its Remission

In this retrospective study we investigated possible protective factors involved in the remission of childhood peer-rejection by investigation of how adults remember their childhood social status. This study aimed: (a) to investigate whether most children do, indeed, achieve improved social status in late adolescence or early adulthood, (b) whether this is true also for children experiencing peer-rejection in childhood, (c) to investigate potential protective factors which may predict improved status, and (d) to investigate the subjective recall of social status. We developed an index of social rejection, based on recalled severity of rejection and its duration. Respondents (n = 940) were also asked about the presence or absence of a series of potential protective factors during three periods in their lives: elementary school, secondary school, and post-secondary (compulsory military or national service). Most respondents, who reported poor social status during childhood, also reported a marked improvement in that status in late adolescence. Factors most common for respondents who underwent an improvement in social status are examined for respondents who self-reported both peer-acceptance and peer-rejection during childhood or adolescence. Respondents who reported severe peer-rejection were able to rely on fewer protective factors than their more accepted peers. The data, similar to previous research, stresses the need to focus on the salutary potential in the rejected childs family. Implications for practice in working with peer-rejected children are presented.     

An expansion of the peer-tutoring paradigm: cross-age peer tutoring of social skills among socially rejected boys

We examined the effects of a cross-age peer-tutoring program on the social skills of 2 sixth-grade and 2 kindergarten socially rejected and isolated boys. Peer tutoring consisted of the older boys conducting social skills training with their younger tutees. The frequency of positive social interactions increased for all 4 boys, with maintenance of treatment gains following a 5-week interval.