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Background Cyber-bullying (i.e., bullying via electronic means) has emerged as a new form of bullying that presents unique challenges to those victimised. Recent studies have demonstrated that there is a significant conceptual and practical overlap between both types of bullying such that most young people who are cyber-bullied also tend to be bullied by more traditional methods. Despite the overlap between traditional and cyber forms of bullying, it remains unclear if being a victim of cyber-bullying has the same negative consequences as being a victim of traditional bullying. Method The current study investigated associations between cyber versus traditional bullying and depressive symptoms in 374 and 1320 students from Switzerland and Australia respectively (52% female; Age: M = 13.8, SD = 1.0). All participants completed a bullying questionnaire (assessing perpetration and victimisation of traditional and cyber forms of bullying behaviour) in addition to scales on depressive symptoms. Results Across both samples, traditional victims and bully-victims reported more depressive symptoms than bullies and non-involved children. Importantly, victims of cyber-bullying reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms, even when controlling for the involvement in traditional bullying/victimisation. Conclusions Overall, cyber-victimisation emerged as an additional risk factor for depressive symptoms in adolescents involved in bullying.

Socio-emotional skills, including social competence and social cognition, form the basis for robust relationships and wellbeing. Despite their importance, these skills are poorly defined and measured, particularly in children with developmental vulnerabilities. As a consequence, targets for effective management and treatment remain unclear. We aimed to i) phenotype social competence and social cognition in typically developing children (TDC) and in children with neurodevelopmental or mental health disorders (clinical groups) and ii) establish the relationships between these child-direct measures and parent ratings of social competence and behavior. Using a multi-site, cross-sectional study design, we recruited 513 TDC and 136 children with neurodevelopmental (autism spectrum disorder [ASD], attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]) or mental health (Anxiety Disorder [ANX]) diagnoses (age range 5-15 years). We administered the Paediatric Evaluation of Emotions, Relationships and Socialisation (PEERS) to children, and parents completed standardised questionnaires rating children's socio-emotional function. Standardised parent questionnaires revealed a global pattern of everyday socio-emotional impairment that was common to all clinical groups, while PEERS identified disorder-specific socio-cognitive profiles for children with ASD, ADHD and ANX. Compared to TDCs, children with ASD demonstrated global socio-cognitive impairment. Children with ADHD were impulsive, demonstrating difficulties managing speed accuracy trade-offs. Children with ANX exhibited slowed social decision-making, but otherwise intact skills. Standardized parent questionnaires of child socio-emotional function reveal differences between children with typical and atypical development, but do not yield disorder-specific, socio-emotional profiles. In contrast, findings from the PEERS objective assessment suggest that that ASD, ADHD and ANX are associated with distinct socio-cognitive phenotypes, to more accurately guide and target management and treatment of impaired social competence.

BackgroundHumans are by nature a social species, with much of human experience spent in social interaction. Unsurprisingly, social functioning is crucial to well-being and quality of life across the lifespan. While early intervention for social problems appears promising, our ability to identify the specific impairments underlying their social problems (eg, social communication) is restricted by a dearth of accurate, ecologically valid and comprehensive child-direct assessment tools. Current tools are largely limited to parent and teacher ratings scales, which may identify social dysfunction, but not its underlying cause, or adult-based experimental tools, which lack age-appropriate norms. The present study describes the development and standardisation of Paediatric Evaluation of Emotions, Relationships, and Socialisation (PEERS®), an iPad-based social skills assessment tool.MethodsThe PEERS project is a cross-sectional study involving two groups: (1) a normative group, recruited from early childhood, primary and secondary schools across metropolitan and regional Victoria, Australia; and (2) a clinical group, ascertained from outpatient services at The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne (RCH). The project aims to establish normative data for PEERS®, a novel and comprehensive app-delivered child-direct measure of social skills for children and youth. The project involves recruiting and assessing 1000 children aged 4.0–17.11 years. Assessments consist of an intellectual screen, PEERS® subtests, and PEERS-Q, a self-report questionnaire of social skills. Parents and teachers also complete questionnaires relating to participants’ social skills. Main analyses will comprise regression-based continuous norming, factor analysis and psychometric analysis of PEERS® and PEERS-Q.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval has been obtained through the RCH Human Research Ethics Committee (34046), the Victorian Government Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (002318), and Catholic Education Melbourne (2166). Findings will be disseminated through international conferences and peer-reviewed journals. Following standardisation of PEERS®, the tool will be made commercially available.

Schools have become increasingly aware of the prevalence, seriousness and negative impacts of bullying. Investigation into the direction and strength of the relationship between social health factors and bullying victimisation during early adolescence and the determination of a critical time to focus school-based bullying intervention programs is a high priority. Data were collected using a self-completion questionnaire four times over 3 years from 3459 students aged 11-14 years during the transition from primary to the end of the second year of secondary school. Results show the path coefficients for bullying victimisation to social heath factors were stronger at the beginning of secondary school than the reverse paths, with bullying victimisation associated with greater loneliness, less peer support, less connectedness to school and feeling less safe at school. Reciprocal relationships between bullying victimisation and social health were found during the first 2 years of secondary school. Consequently, the time prior to the transition to secondary school and within the first 2 years of secondary school appears to be a critical time to implement a whole-school bullying intervention program to reduce victimisation. [Author abstract]

Moral reasoning skills are crucial for appropriate and adaptive social functioning. Impairments in moral reasoning have been associated with aggressive and violent behaviours. Traditional measures of moral reasoning may provide limited insight into daily behavioural functioning as these measures are dependent on several higher order cognitive skills and, as such, may be limited in their utility with certain clinical populations. In Study 1, new measures of sociomoral reasoning and maturity, the So-Moral and So-Mature, were described. Further, the psychometric properties of the So-Moral and So-Mature were investigated in a sample of 50 adolescents aged 11 to 19 (mean age = 14.5, SD = 2.6 years, 25 male). Preliminary support was found for the validity and reliability of both tasks. In Study 2, the clinical applicability of the So-Moral and So-Mature were examined in a sample 25 adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI; mean age = 13.8, SD = 2.3 years, 15 male). Response trends suggested that adolescents with TBI generated less developmentally mature responses to sociomoral dilemmas and those with more severe injuries performed most poorly. The sociomoral reasoning tasks described promote participant's emotional involvement and investment as well as being appropriate for use with clinical populations.

BackgroundRecovery from concussion sustained in childhood and adolescence is poorly understood. We explored patterns of recovery for neurocognition and postconcussive symptoms following concussion in children and adolescents.MethodsUsing a prospective, longitudinal design, we collected baseline data on 728 children and adolescents aged 10–17 years. 10 participants sustained a concussive injury (n=10) in the 12 months following baseline testing and they were reviewed at day 5, 10 and 30 postconcussion. Assessments included the CogSport for Kids computerised test battery to evaluate neurocognitive function and self-report, and parent measures of postconcussive symptoms. At day 30, parents also completed measures rating their child's quality of life and executive functions.ResultsChildren and adolescents displayed a gradual reduction in postconcussive symptoms over the 30 days following injury. At day 5, 87% of participants were reporting physical and cognitive symptoms, with a generalised reduction in all symptoms by day 10 (40% of participants). On the computerised measure, reaction time was slower after concussion, but returned to baseline levels by day 30. At day 30, 10% of participants demonstrated ongoing postconcussive symptoms. Number of previous concussions was related to speed of symptom resolution.ConclusionsAt 5 days postconcussion, the majority of children and adolescents experienced debilitating postconcussive symptoms. However, by 30 days postinjury, 90% demonstrated recovery to normal for both neurocognition and postconcussive symptoms.

Recovery from concussion in childhood is poorly understood, despite its importance in decisions regarding return to normal activity. Resolution of post-concussive symptoms (PCS) is widely employed as a marker of recovery in clinical practice; however, it is unclear whether subtle impairments persist only to re-emerge in the context of increased physical or cognitive demands. This study aimed to examine the effect of strenuous exercise on clinical symptom report and neurocognition in children and adolescents after PCS resolution after concussion. We recruited children and adolescents with concussion (n = 30) on presentation to an Emergency Department (ED). At Day 2 and Day 10 post–self-reported symptom resolution, participants completed a strenuous exercise protocol, and pre- and post-exercise assessment of PCS and neurocognition. Results demonstrated an overall reduction in PCS from Day 2 to Day 10 post-symptom resolution, with no evidence of symptom increase after strenuous exercise at either time point. Neurocognitive performance was linked to task complexity: on less cognitively demanding tasks, processing speed was slower post-exercise and, unexpectedly, slower on Day 10 than Day 2, while for more demanding tasks (new learning), Day 2 exercise resulted in faster responses, but Day 10 processing speed post-exercise was slower. In summary, we found the expected recovery pattern for PCS, regardless of exercise, while for neurocognition, recovery was dependent on the degree of cognitive demand, and there was an unexpected reduction in performance from Day 2 to Day 10. Findings provide some suggestion that premature return to normal activities (e.g., school) may slow neurocognitive recovery.

Purpose: Academic approaches to the challenge of enhancing sustainability in research in university contexts illustrate that universities are affected by the very same values and socio-ecological issues they set out to address, making transformation difficult at every level. A theoretical and practical framework designed to facilitate cultural transformation is therefore necessary for conceptualising the problem and delineating possible strategies to enhance sustainability in research. Organisational change is also required, possibly on a university-by-university basis, where cross-institutional learning may be possible with personal behaviours that enhance collaboration across disciplinary and administrative divides. Design/methodology/approach: This paper contends that action research, in particular, community action research (CAR), offers the best approach to this task because it focusses on learning and change, and these are both essential to cultural transformation. A case study from a university in Western Australia is used to demonstrate this approach. Findings: The case study analysis shows some evidence for the presence of knowledge for organisational transformation, and that future monitoring cycles will be needed to detect the extent of the change. Originality/value: The paper introduces CAR as an approach to advance the change for sustainability in higher education and discusses some of the implications for universities who are looking to incorporate sustainability as a major part of their culture.

Purpose – Academic approaches to the challenge of enhancing sustainability in research in university contexts illustrate that universities are affected by the very same values and socio-ecological issues they set out to address, making transformation difficult at every level. A theoretical and practical framework designed to facilitate cultural transformation is therefore necessary for conceptualising the problem and delineating possible strategies to enhance sustainability in research. Organisational change is also required, possibly on a university-by-university basis, where cross-institutional learning may be possible with personal behaviours that enhance collaboration across disciplinary and administrative divides. Design/methodology/approach – This paper contends that action research, in particular, community action research (CAR), offers the best approach to this task because it focusses on learning and change, and these are both essential to cultural transformation. A case study from a university in Western Australia is used to demonstrate this approach. Findings – The case study analysis shows some evidence for the presence of knowledge for organisational transformation, and that future monitoring cycles will be needed to detect the extent of the change. Originality/value – The paper introduces CAR as an approach to advance the change for sustainability in higher education and discusses some of the implications for universities who are looking to incorporate sustainability as a major part of their culture.