The identification of psychological strengths that foster healthy development in youth has become a major topic of exploration in the field of positive psychology. Gratitude is a trait-like characteristic with qualities indicative of a potential psychological strength that may serve as a protective factor for early adolescents in the face of…

This article reports on effects of two earthquakes in Mexico on adolescents attending middle school. The earthquakes struck in close succession during the implementation of a school-based prevention program, providing an opportunity to assess emotional distress due to the earthquakes and whether the life skills taught in the program affected how…

The importance of prosocial behavior in helping migrant youths overcome challenges associated with relocating to urban settings has been emphasized. However, the trajectory of prosocial behavior in this population and the factors influencing it remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the influence of cumulative family risk on the growth…

We report findings from a 40 middle school randomized controlled trial of an adapted version of Coping Power (Lochman & Wells, 2002a) for middle schoolers, called the Early Adolescent Coping Power (EACP) Program (Bradshaw et al., 2019) to determine the impact of EACP on adolescents' mental health outcomes, as indicated by student self-reported…

Grounded in the social-ecological theory, in this study, we examined the heterogeneity in young adolescents' self-report patterns of coping strategies in response to school bullying and peer victimization. We also examined the linkages between adolescents' coping patterns and the patterns of psychosocial maladjustment, and to what extent such…

Discrimination is a common experience among racially and ethnically minoritized (REM) youth and often results in negative health and psychological outcomes. However, few studies provide adolescents with opportunities to directly share their discriminatory experiences, especially within the school context. Using a critical race theory framework and…

Bullying by peers remains a serious problem facing adolescents. A key social support for adolescents is their parents. The unique contributions of specific dimensions comprising authoritative parenting, and adolescents' involvement in bullying situations was investigated. Self-report data were collected from 125 grade 7 students and 100 grade 8…

Introduction: The rising prevalence of depression and anxiety among adolescents is a public health concern. Early adolescence is a key developmental period to reduce risks for internalizing symptoms through primary prevention programs, yet additional research is needed on modifiable factors, such as coping skills, to target to mitigate risk…

The ESCAPE curriculum model was developed to enhance emotional awareness and behavioral support for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to help with stressful events and escape from emotional distress. The instructional phases represent an emotion regulatory process: starting with emotional and behavioral awareness, followed by…

Objective: To identify subgroups of urban youth based on their self- and teacher-reported mental health symptoms, and to explore characteristics of these subgroups. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 426 eighth-grade students (M[subscript age] = 13.22 years; 70.1% Black/ African American; 58.7% female) across 20 Baltimore City public schools were…

This research aimed to establish the relationship between the social exclusion perceived by gifted and talented students and their sense of humor. Besides, the goal was to evaluate the relationship between the variables of the use of humor, the process of coping through a sense of humor, and the appreciating humor in cases of ignoring and avoiding…

The way that students cope with the difficulties and setbacks they encounter daily in their academic work can make a material difference to their learning, school success, and capacity to re-engage with challenging educational activities. Because of their potential importance to students' everyday academic resilience, educators and researchers are…

Prospective associations linking parental responses to peer victimization (i.e., coping suggestions, school contact) with adolescents' coping and experiences of peer victimization were examined. Participants were 203 adolescents (X-bar[subscript] age = 12.16 years, SD = 0.98) and a parent (81% mothers). At Time 1, parents provided open-ended…

Victimisation among students has been identified as a serious problem in Australian schools. This study investigated approaches taken by South Australian middle school students for dealing with victimisation. Over 170 students (aged 11-16) described how they coped with bullying and situations where they needed to take action against bullying. A…

This essay provides a broad overview of adverse childhood experiences and their impact on the middle level learner. The author finds points of intersection between current research on traumatized students and tenets of the middle level philosophy to make the argument for trauma informed practices that holistically serve young adolescents.