While research suggests that social emotional competencies (SECs) influence students' disciplinary outcomes, less is known of their potential to explain racial disparities or grade level differences in those outcomes. This study used survey and administrative data from 30,494 students in grades 3-12 to examine the degree to which SECs were related…

Previous research suggests both social contextual and individual difference variables contribute to chronic peer victimization. We tested whether two individual difference variables--anxiety sensitivity (AS) and internalizing symptoms (IS)--predicted persistent peer victimization in elementary school children. Participants were 677 fourth-grade…

Mass shootings in schools raise important questions about how best to keep individuals safe and increase survivability in such situations. One of the most common techniques used is lockdown drills, which train individuals to build time and space between them and the threat. Despite their use in 95% of public K-12 schools nationwide, their efficacy…

We used a large state-wide sample of adolescent students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades (N = 58,689) to examine the predictive value of screen time on bullying victimization, as well as its interaction with age by gender, including transgender and gender nonconforming identities. Participants were majority boys/men (52.3%), heterosexual (88.1%),…

The rise in highly publicized cases of sexual assault, along with offenders in these cases alluding that those alleged victims were being untruthful about their claims, has fostered myths about false reporting of sexual assault, increasing discussions over fears of being falsely accused. This study uses an exploratory approach to identify the…