NRS 434 Adolescence Contemporary Issues and Resources

Sample Answer

Adolescents often face psychological challenges associated with the transition from childhood to adulthood. Adolescence is a period of self-discovery whereby adolescents adjust to new experiences and other changes happening to them biologically and socially. The changes in adolescence often bring distress to individuals, leading to behavioral issues in this population. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a contemporary issue in adolescence, describe assessment strategies for this issue, and identify support options.

Contemporary Issue

Bullying is the selected contemporary issue faced by adolescents. It has been identified as a serious public health problem in childhood due to its undisputed stressful nature. Bullying is an aggressive behavior aimed at showing power and control over another person (Källmén & Hallgren, 2021). Besides, bullies may harass others using technology like text messages, social media posts, and blogs. Heerde and Hemphill (2019) explain that victims of bullying have anxious, depressive, and somatic symptoms, low self-esteem, poor academic performance, and suicidal ideations.

Studies have shown that adolescent female victims have a higher risk for internalizing symptoms like depression and suicidal ideation (Fredrick & Demaray, 2018; Cao et al., 2020). Furthermore, adolescent girls exhibit higher negative psychological symptoms and suicidal behavior than their male counterparts (Rey et al., 2019). External stressors associated with bullying include peer rejection, school failure, being a victim of bullying, low self-esteem, and childhood neglect, abuse, or lack of love and security at home. Besides, some adolescents displace anger, rejection, and frustration by bullying others. Exposure to violence through media and exposure to parents’ bullying behavior can cause adolescents to be bullies.

Assessment Strategies for Screening Bullying in Adolescents

The self-report questionnaire is the most common assessment strategy to screen bullying in adolescents. The Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ) is one of the widely used screening instruments for bullying worldwide. OBVQ provides adolescents with a clear definition of bullying that comprises the three fundamental characteristics Intention to cause harm to another person; repetitive conduct; and power imbalance between the victim and the bully (Gaete et al., 2021).

Clinicians can also assess common characteristics common among victims and perpetrators. Adolescents facing bullying tend to become very irritable and constantly want to skip school. They are also easily tearful, more tense, worried than usual, and throw sudden temper tantrums. Furthermore, they begin to exhibit sudden defiant behavior, make unreasonable demands, and have a significant decline in their academic performance (Källmén & Hallgren, 2021). On the other hand, perpetrators are usually quick to blame others and reluctant to be accountable for their actions. They also lack empathy, and compassion, want to be in control, and have underdeveloped social skills. Besides, they are usually frustrated, nervous, or depressed.

Support Options for Adolescents Encountering External Stressors

Support options for adolescents facing bullying include school bullying and violence prevention programs. Bullying prevention programs have been implemented to create a more positive school environment. Besides, bullying prevention programs raise awareness of this issue within the entire school community, improve the school environment, and reduce conflict and instances of bullying (Sainz & Martín-Moya, 2023). Mediation Teams is a bullying prevention program where victims and perpetrators of bullying are helped to work things out by a mediator.

Conclusion

Perpetrators of bullying violate the space of another person through physical, verbal, and non-verbal abusive behavior. Victims of bullying exhibit anxious, depressive, and somatic symptoms, low self-esteem, poor academic performance, and suicidal ideations. Bullying can be screened using the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire or assessing various characteristics common among victims and perpetrators of bullying.

References

• Cao, Q., Xu, X., Xiang, H., Yang, Y., Peng, P., & Xu, S. (2020). Bullying victimization and suicidal ideation among Chinese left-behind children Mediating effect of loneliness and moderating effect of gender. Children and youth services review, 111, 104848.
• Fredrick, S. S., & Demaray, M. K. (2018). Peer victimization and suicidal ideation The role of gender and depression in a school-based sample. Journal of school psychology, 67, 1–15. https //doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2018.02.001
• Gaete, J., Valenzuela, D., Godoy, M. I., Rojas-Barahona, C. A., Salmivalli, C., & Araya, R. (2021). Validation of the revised Olweus Bully/Victim questionnaire (OBVQ-R) among adolescents in Chile. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 578661.
• Heerde, J. A., & Hemphill, S. A. (2019). Are Bullying Perpetration and Victimization Associated with Adolescent Deliberate Self-Harm? A Meta-Analysis. Archives of suicide research official journal of the International Academy for Suicide Research, 23(3), 353–381. https //doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2018.1472690
• Källmén, H., & Hallgren, M. (2021). Bullying at school and mental health problems among adolescents a repeated cross-sectional study. Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 15(1), 74. https //doi.org/10.1186/s13034-021-00425-y
• Sainz, V., & Martín-Moya, B. (2023). The importance of prevention programs to reduce bullying A comparative study. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1066358. https //doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1066358