Factors on both levels can contribute to reduced grades. This stresses the need to investigate individual and contextual factors simultaneously when examining academic achievement. Our results indicated that students attending schools with higher levels of bullying may show poorer school performance. This was true for all students regardless of previous exposure to violence and sexual abuse. This emphasizes the need for preventive efforts that focus not only on vulnerable groups, but on all students and the school context.

Extant measures of well‐being, guided by western European values and beliefs, reveal a scientific commitment to develop and test indices to monitor the social, psychological, familial, and economic status of populations. The limitations of these measures to ethnic populations are addressed in this study. Relational Well‐being (RWB II), an indigenous, culture‐based 14‐item measure rooted in beliefs and values emphasizing family, ancestors, culture, and harmony with nature, was developed and tested with a sample (N = 810) of indigenous Hawaiians in Hawaii. Exploratory factor analysis (n = 408), confirmatory factor analysis (n  = 402), test of invariance, and tests of reliability and validity confirmed the psychometric quality of RWB II. The applicability of the composite index of Relational Well‐being II as well as its six underlying factors (Resilience, Community Involvement, Financial Stability, Cultural Practice, Family Commitment, and Health Care) to family theory of resilience, research, and education are discussed.

This paper investigates whether exposure to violence, sexual abuse, or bullying is associated with later work participation and whether high school completion has a potential mediating role. Self‐reported junior high school questionnaire data were linked for eight consecutive years to prospective registry data for the demographics, educational progress, employment activity, and social benefits of 11,874 individuals. Ordinal regression analysis showed that violence and/or bullying at 15 years of age predicted negative work participation outcomes eight years later, independent of high school completion and other relevant factors. Although increasing educational level may have some preventive effect, these results indicate that prevention efforts should be initiated at an early age and should target adverse life experiences.

BackgroundThe psychological impact on survivors of terrorism has been well documented. However, studies on adolescent survivors and the academic performance of high school students following a terrorist attack are lacking.ObjectiveThis study investigated academic performance, absenteeism, and school support amongst survivors of a terrorist attack in Norway.MethodData from a longitudinal interview study were linked to officially registered grades of students (N=64) who successfully completed their 3-year senior high school program. Statistical tests of mean differences and linear regression were used to compare the survivors’ registered grades with the national grade point average, before and after the event, as well as to assess absenteeism, self-reported grades and to test the association with school support.ResultsThe students’ grades were lower the year after the event than they had been the year before, and they were also lower than the national grade point average (p<0.001). However, their grades improved in the last year of high school, indicating possible recovery. Absence from school increased after the event, compared to the previous year. However, students reported high satisfaction with school support.ConclusionThe results indicate that academic functioning was reduced in the year after the traumatic event, but for students who successfully completed high school, the school situation improved 2 years after the event. The findings underscore the importance of keeping trauma-exposed students in school and providing support over time. A more defined educational approach to maintaining school attendance and educational measures which compensate for learning loss are needed in trauma-sensitive teaching.Highlights of the articleSchool functioning among high school students following a terrorist attack.The findings showed a decline in school performance and increased absence after the event.For students who successfully completed high school, high satisfaction with school support was reported and an improvement in grades could be observed over time, indicating possible recovery.The findings underscore the importance of keeping trauma-exposed students in schools and providing support over time.

Background: Psychological distress following experiencing bullying victimization in childhood has been well documented. Less is known about the impact of bullying victimization on psychosocial adjustment problems in young adulthood and about potential pathways, such as shame. Moreover, bullying victimization is often studied in isolation from other forms of victimization. Objective: This study investigated (1) whether childhood experiences of bullying victimization and violence were associated with psychosocial adjustment (distress, impaired functioning, social support barriers) in young adulthood; (2) the unique effect of bullying victimization on psychosocial adjustment; and (3) whether shame mediated the relationship between bullying victimization and these outcomes in young adulthood. Method: The sample included 681 respondents (aged 19–37 years) from a follow-up study (2017) conducted via phone interviews derived from a community telephone survey collected in 2013. Results: The regression analyses showed that both bullying victimization and severe violence were significantly and independently associated with psychological distress, impaired functioning, and increased barriers to social support in young adulthood. Moreover, causal mediation analyses indicated that when childhood physical violence, sexual abuse, and sociodemographic factors were controlled, shame mediated 70% of the association between bullying victimization and psychological distress, 55% of the association between bullying victimization and impaired functioning, and 40% of the association between bullying victimization and social support barriers. Conclusions: Our findings support the growing literature acknowledging bullying victimization as a trauma with severe and long-lasting consequences and indicate that shame may be an important pathway to continue to explore. The unique effect of bullying victimization, over and above the effect of violence, supports the call to integrate the two research fields.