Background: Cyberbullying victimization is associated with recent poor mental health among adolescents, but the roles of digital and offline contextual indicators require careful interpretation. Objective: Guided primarily by Stress Process Theory and secondarily by bounded routine activity concepts, this study examined cross-sectional associations among traditional school bullying, cyberbullying, social media use, physical activity frequency, and recent poor mental health among U.S. high school students. Methods: Complete-case 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data for U.S. high school students (N = 10,295; 49.5% female; 42.7% White, 21.9% Hispanic/Latino, 11.2% Black or African American, and 24.2% all other races) were analyzed in two non-survey-weighted, model-based indirect-association specifications using PROCESS Model 6. Both models adjusted for sex, grade, sexual identity, race/ethnicity, and the alternate bullying indicator. Results: Traditional bullying and cyberbullying were each positively associated with more frequent recent poor mental health after mutual adjustment (β = 0.113 and β = 0.111, respectively). No indirect associations were statistically supported in the traditional bullying model. In the cyberbullying model, the indirect association through social media use was statistically supported but small, and the sequential indirect association through social media use and physical activity frequency was statistically supported but extremely small. Conclusions: Findings support a cautious, cross-sectional interpretation in which bullying victimization is treated as peer-related strain and social media use and physical activity frequency are contextual indicators rather than causal mediators.
Adolescence is a developmental stage characterised by identity formation, increasing independence, and a strong need for belonging. For adolescents in foster care, these developmental tasks are often complicated by unresolved trauma arising from abuse, neglect, abandonment, or the loss of primary caregivers. Frequent placement disruptions and difficulty establishing secure attachments with foster parents may further exacerbate emotional distress and risk behaviours. Despite these challenges, little research has examined foster parents’ experiences of caring for adolescents exhibiting risk behaviours. This qualitative study explores foster parents’ perspectives on the challenges they encounter, the coping strategies they employ, and the support systems they utilise while caring for adolescents exhibiting risk behaviours. Face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted in English and Setswana with eight purposively selected foster parents receiving services at the Joe Morolong Local Municipality in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Conducting the interviews in the participants’ home languages enhanced rapport and generated richer, more nuanced data. Data collection continued until saturation was reached. The participants described managing a range of behavioural challenges, including truancy, absconding, aggression, defiance, dishonesty, stealing, association with negative peer groups, and refusal to attend to household responsibilities. These behaviours contributed to considerable emotional strain and caregiving stress. Foster parents also reported inadequate professional and psychosocial support, leading to feelings of isolation, being overwhelmed, and burnout. Although compassion and cultural values strengthened resilience, caregiving capacity was constrained by poverty, unemployment, and limited support services. The findings underscore the need for strengthened supervision of foster care placements and sustained professional support, including counselling and caregiver support groups, to enhance foster parents’ well-being, improve coping capacity, and promote stable foster care placements for adolescents.
The mental health of young people has increasingly emerged as a public health priority due to the growing prevalence of mental health problems during adolescence and early adulthood. The literature has identified community-based programs as effective strategies for promoting well-being and preventing psychological symptomatology. In this context, the present study aimed to evaluate the impact of the interventions provided by junior psychologists working in the Youth Health Offices of the Cuida-te Program of the Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth (IPDJ) on the quality of life, well-being, and mental health of Portuguese youth through a pre- and post-intervention analysis. A total of 1164 young people, aged between 12 and 29 years old, participated across three editions of the program. Self-report instruments were used to assess the quality of life, the well-being, and the psychological symptoms (stress, depression, and anxiety) of the participants. The results revealed statistically significant improvements between pre- and post-intervention assessments, including increased quality of life and well-being, as well as reduced levels of stress, depression, and anxiety. These findings were observed among both female and male participants and across different age groups. Non-binary participants showed less pronounced results, although with no statistically significant differences identified, suggesting the need for more research with larger samples and for inclusive interventions tailored to the specific needs of sexual and gender minorities. Overall, the work carried out appears to constitute an effective and cost-effective community-based response for the prevention of mental health symptoms and the promotion of mental health in adolescents and young adults, reinforcing the importance of permanent, accessible, and inclusive public policies.
Promoting morality among youth is an important educational priority in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces. However, few culturally grounded learning interventions based on the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy have been systematically developed and evaluated. This study aimed to develop and preliminarily evaluate the Digital Learning Innovation for Strengthening Society (DLISS), a culturally grounded learning intervention designed to promote self-reported morality among youth. A four-phase research and development design was employed, including needs assessment, intervention and instrument development, preliminary field implementation, and post-implementation expert appraisal. Self-reported morality was assessed using the Sufficiency Economy Moral Scale (SEMS), which underwent psychometric evaluation with 1640 youth. Preliminary implementation involved 22 youth leaders assessed at pretest, immediate posttest, and post-reinforcement assessment. The SEMS demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties. Participants showed statistically significant within-participant changes in the five measured dimensions of self-reported morality across the three assessment occasions. Experts rated the DLISS model favorably for its appropriateness, feasibility, utility, and contextual relevance. The DLISS model represents a promising culturally grounded learning intervention for promoting self-reported morality among youth. The findings provide preliminary evidence supporting further evaluation using larger samples and controlled research designs.
This qualitative study explored the conditions that shape effective volunteer activity organisation by emerging adult university students (aged 18–25) in a religiously and ethnically diverse Thai setting. The study was conducted at Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Hat Yai Campus, where Buddhist and Muslim students form the two largest religious communities. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 30 purposively selected student volunteer leaders and analysed using a hybrid deductive-inductive content analysis approach. Four conditions emerged as foundational: (1) motivational readiness to engage across cultural boundaries; (2) substantive knowledge of cross-cultural communication, both verbal and non-verbal; (3) the capacity to examine and adjust one’s own cultural assumptions; and (4) active, structurally expressed respect for religious and cultural diversity. The findings reveal that family-transmitted stereotypes, knowledge gaps regarding Islamic practice, and the absence of institutional accommodation jointly constrain inclusive participation. Drawing on Cultural Intelligence (CQ) theory and Putnam’s social capital framework, the study advances two arguments: first, that intercultural competence among emerging adult volunteers cannot be reduced to individual skill and disposition; and second, that institutional programme design—schedules, catering arrangements, and physical infrastructure—constitutes an independent determinant of inclusion that CQ frameworks have not yet adequately theorised. The four-condition model offers a structured, trainable framework for volunteer leadership development and extends the literature on civic formation and intercultural learning during the formative years of emerging adulthood.
