Theravive Home

A new study recently published in Child Psychiatry and Human Development looked at risk factors for bullying in adolescents in the United States. “The goal of our study was to examine which factors were most influential in increasing risk of being exposed to or involved in bullying among adolescents aged 12-17 years old,” study author Lea Sacca told us. "Specifically, we wanted to see whether social determinants including housing instability, food insecurity, access to healthcare services and whether parental determinants, most importantly caregiver mental health, increased the risk of having an adolescent child being bullied or bullying others.” [More]

A newly released book, Beyond Difficult: An attachment-based guide to dealing with challenging people, is about understanding what���s really driving difficult behavior and how to deal with it to build better relationships. “There’s a wealth of information and scientific evidence about what makes relationships thrive or flounder, and we believe this knowledge should be more accessible to everyone,” co-author Dr. Jessie Stern told us. “Our hope is that the book can be a guide for parents, educators, therapists, leaders, and anyone who has dealt with a difficult relationship at home or at work.” [More]

Digital self harm is on the rise among adolescents in the United States. Research published in the Journal of School violence found that digital self-harm among teenagers has increased by 88% since 2016. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Neurology looked at the association between peer victimization, gender diversity, mental health, and recurrent headaches in adolescents. “In this study, we wanted to try and understand if bullying and being gender diverse are associated with frequent headaches in teens,” study author Serena L. Orr told us. “Although some past studies have looked at the relationship between bullying and headaches, they have not adequately controlled for other risk factors associated with both of these, including mental health, age, and sex." [More]

Teenagers who bully may be using aggression as a technique to climb the social ladder. Research from UC Davis published recently in the American Journal of Sociology found that teens who harass, bully or victimize their peers don’t always do this due to an unhealthy home environment or due to psychological problems, but out of a desire to strategically move up in a school’s social hierarchy. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Child Development looked at how non-immigrant children respond when immigrant children are bullied. "This study examined how adolescents react to bias-based bullying of immigrant and non-immigrant peers," study author, Secil Gonultas told us. "We were interested in learning more about when and why adolescents are willing to intervene when they see others being bullied. [More]

Bullying is something parents worry about throughout the school year. You don't want your cyild to be bullied or have your child do any kind of bullying. Now, a new study, titled, Understanding the relationship between youths’ belonging and bullying behavior: An SEM Model, recently published in the journal of Educational and Child Psychology, showed that school belonging and family belonging have a significant direct and indirect relationship with student bullying behavior. [More]

Why would it matter if infants displayed empathy? “Empathy is defined as the ability to understand the emotion of others, and share in those emotions, while maintaining a self-other distinction,” Florina Uzefovsky, of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, told us. “As can be understood from the definition, empathy is basic and central in all social communication. This ability allows us to interact with others, to better understand their motives and actions, and to engage in meaningful social relationships.” [More]

A new European study recently published in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry is the first to show that chronic peer victimization, otherwise known as bullying, during adolescence, changes the brain structure of teens, making them more susceptible to developing anxiety. The findings are part of the IMAGEN project, a longitudinal study using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine links between mental illness and adolescent brain development. [More]

Do you know all the signs of a child who is being bullied? What may seem like "bad behavior" in your child could be a symptom of something much worse. Learn the signs of bullying. [More]