Inclusive classroom norms and children's expectations of inclusion of peers with learning difficulties in their social world.

We examined whether inclusive classroom norms predicted children's reasoning and expectations about the inclusion of peers with learning difficulties from different perspectives (i.e., self, friends, and unfamiliar story protagonist). Swiss elementary school children (N = 1019; 51% girls; Mage = 10.20 years; Grades 3-6) shared their perceptions of inclusive classroom norms and answered questions regarding the inclusion of a character with learning difficulties in an academic scenario. Multilevel analyses revealed that children expected less inclusion from their friends (estimated OR = 0.14, p < .001) or the unfamiliar story protagonist (estimated OR = 0.15, p < .001) than from themselves. Inclusive classroom norms positively predicted children's own (estimated OR = 3.17, p = .041) and their friends' inclusion expectations (estimated OR = 4.59, p = .007). Moreover, individuals who perceived higher inclusive norms than the classroom average were less concerned that the inclusion of the child with learning difficulties would threaten successful group functioning (γ = - 0.19, p = .011). To target the inclusion of children with learning difficulties, school psychologists can heighten classmates' perceptions of inclusive norms and pay attention to individual differences in norm perception.

Socioeconomic status biases among children and adolescents: The role of school diversity and teacher beliefs in Nepal.

Investigating socioeconomic status (SES) biases, Nepalese children and adolescents (N = 605, 52% girls, Mage  = 13.21, SDage  = 1.74) attending schools that varied by SES composition were asked to anticipate whether a peer would include a high or low SES character as a math partner. Novel findings were that students attending mixed SES schools were more likely to expect inclusion of a low SES character than were students attending high SES schools. With age, high SES participants attending mixed SES schools increasingly expected the inclusion of the low SES character. Moreover, teachers' democratic beliefs in high SES schools predicted inclusive expectations. Teacher beliefs and school diversity play a significant role for fostering students' inclusivity in educational contexts.

Cohort differences in the development of civic engagement during adolescence.

Investigating whether changing societal circumstances have altered the development of civic engagement, this study compared developmental changes from mid- to late adolescence (i.e., age 15-18) across two cohorts of representative Swiss samples (born in 1991, N = 1258, Mage T1  = 15.30, 54% female, 33% migration background representing diverse ethnicities; born in 2000, N = 930, Mage T1  = 15.32, 51% female; 33% migration background). Findings from latent multigroup models revealed similar levels in attitudes about social justice in both cohorts, remaining stable over time. Adolescents reported lower levels of political efficacy and informal helping in the cohort born in 2000. Both aspects slightly increased during adolescence. Informal helping had a steeper increase in the 1991 compared to the 2000 cohort, suggesting developmental differences between cohorts.

Parental educational aspirations and children's academic self-concept: Disentangling state and trait components on their dynamic interplay.

The dynamic interplay of parental educational aspirations and children's academic self-concept was examined from late childhood through mid-adolescence within a transactional socialization framework. Parental and child data were gained from a representative Swiss sample within 3-year intervals (NT1  = 1118; 51% females; 28% migration background; Mage T1  = 9.26, Mage T2  = 12.14, Mage T3  = 15.32). Results from a random intercept cross-lagged panel model revealed positive associations between the two constructs at the between- and within-person level. Findings showed general and time-specific associations between children and parents and reciprocal spill-over effects, whereby higher than usual aspirations predicted higher than usual academic self-concept over time and vice versa, highlighting transactional processes in the context of educational transitions.

Developmental antecedents of young adults' solidarity during the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of sympathy, social trust, and peer exclusion from early to late adolescence.

This study explored characteristics of young adults' solidarity during the Covid-19 pandemic by identifying three different profiles, characterized by low (23%), average (54%), and high solidarity (23%). Based on longitudinal Swiss panel data (NT1  = 797, Mage T1  = 12.15 years, 51% female; 28% migration background representing diverse ethnicities; NT2  = 707, Mage T2  = 15.33 years; NT3  = 596, Mage T3  = 18.31 years), the study combined person- and variable-centered approaches to examine whether sympathy, social trust, and peer exclusion at earlier phases in development predicted membership in pandemic-related solidarity profiles (NT4  = 300, Mage T4  = 20.33 years). All developmental predictors were significantly associated with the likelihood of expressing solidarity during the pandemic as young adults.

Civic Competencies During Adolescence: Longitudinal Associations with Sympathy in Childhood.

Civic competencies are essential prerequisites for adolescents' active citizenship; however, little is known about their developmental precursors. In order to address this research gap, this study examined the role of sympathy in late childhood, early, and mid adolescence for civic competencies in mid and late adolescence. Based on a representative sample of 1118 Swiss children (51% females, Mage T1 = 9.26, SDageT1 = 0.20, rangeageT1: 8.50-9.67-years), this study investigated associations of sympathy with four components of civic competence: attitudes about social justice, informal helping, perceived efficacy to take responsibility and perceived political efficacy. The findings revealed that sympathy in late childhood (i.e., age 9) reflected an early predictor of all four components of civic competence assessed 6 years later. Moreover, sympathy in early adolescence (i.e., age 12) positively predicted attitudes about social justice and informal helping in late adolescence (i.e., age 18). Lastly, changes in sympathy from mid to late adolescence (i.e., age 15 to 18) positively correlated with changes in all four components of civic competence. This study highlights that civic competencies reflect a multidimensional construct that starts to form in late childhood, with sympathy being a central individual predictor in the emergence of civic competencies during adolescence.

Adolescents' own and parental expectations for cross-group friendship in the context of societal inequalities.

This study investigated adolescents' own and parental expectations about cross-group friendships between peers from different socio-economic status (SES). Nepalese adolescents (N = 389, M age = 14.08; grades: 7-10) evaluated an ambiguous peer encounter between a low and a high SES peer. Overall, adolescents attributed negative intentions to high-SES more than to low-SES peers. Most adolescents expected that high- and low-SES targets could not be friends, that parents of high-SES targets would disapprove of cross-group friendships, referencing social hierarchies and reputation, and that parents of low-SES targets would support friendship citing moral concerns and social mobility. Most adolescents were aware of systemic reasons that underlie SES biases. Given that low SES adolescents often suffer when excluded from peer experiences, these findings indicate that parental socialization strategies should focus not only on protecting children from experiences of discrimination but also from experiences related to social inequalities and a lack of social mobility.

Educational Concerns, Health Concerns and Mental Health During Early COVID-19 School Closures: The Role of Perceived Support by Teachers, Family, and Friends.

This study investigated whether school closures and health-related uncertainties in the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic posed risk factors for adolescents' mental health and whether perceived social support by parents, teachers, and friends functioned as protective factors. In particular, we argued that perceived social support would buffer negative associations between educational and health concerns and mental health. Based on a person-centered approach, we first examined resilience profiles. These profiles reflect configurations regarding the levels of these risk and protective factors and levels of mental health. Second, we analyzed whether these risk and protective factors predicted adolescents' mental health differently by using a variable-centered approach. The sample consisted of 1'562 adolescents (Mage = 16.18, SD = 1.48, range = 14-20 years; 72% females) in lower and higher secondary education from three regions: German-speaking part of Switzerland, N = 486; Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, N = 760; and Northern Italy N = 316. Results from the person-centered approach revealed three latent profiles characterized by low (19%), average (47%), or high resilience (34%). Lower resilience was associated with higher educational concerns, lower perceived social support, and lower mental health, while high resilience was characterized by lower concerns, higher support, and higher mental health. Importantly, educational concerns varied more between profiles than health concerns, and perceived teacher and family support varied more than perceived friend support. Corroborating these findings, the variable-centered approach (i.e., a path analysis) revealed that educational concerns were a stronger predictor than health concerns and pointed to a higher relative importance of perceived family support for adolescents' mental health relative to perceived teacher and friend support. Taken together, the findings suggest that adolescents' educational concerns and perceived family support, respectively, were stronger risk and protective factors for their mental health during school closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, adolescents from regions being more exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic, namely, Italian-speaking part of Switzerland and Northern Italy, were more likely classified in the low or the average rather than in the high resilience profile compared to students from the region with lower exposure, that is, the German-speaking part of Switzerland.

Links Between Teachers' Liking of Students, Peer Inclusion, and Students' Academic Achievement: A Two-Wave Longitudinal Study.

Students who are more liked by their teachers tend to be included by their peers and to perform successfully at school. Yet, very little is known whether peer inclusion can mediate the effect of teachers' liking of students on students' academic achievement. Teachers from Grades 5 and 6 reported their liking of each student and academic achievement (N = 1209; 49% females), whereas peers rated the inclusion of classmates. Results from a multilevel growth curve model revealed that, only at the individual level, higher values of peer inclusion mediated the association between teachers' liking of students and academic achievement over time. This study provides new insights into the complex associations between teachers' liking of students and academic achievement during early adolescence.

Inclusive classroom norms, children's sympathy, and intended inclusion toward students with hyperactive behavior.

As the classroom represents an important social context for the development of out-group attitudes, the current study investigated the role of inclusive classroom norms for students' attitudes toward hyperactive peers. The study included 1209 Swiss children from 61 school classes who were surveyed in the fifth grade (T1) and in the sixth grade (T2) (MageT1 = 11.55 years, MageT2 = 12.58 years). Students' attitudes toward hyperactive children was assessed by self-reports on students' sympathy and intended inclusion toward hypothetical children who show hyperactive behavior. Moreover, students rated their classmates' inclusive attitudes. Analyses with an autoregressive multilevel path model revealed that inclusive classrooms norms in the fifth grade predicted students' sympathy and intended inclusion toward hyperactive children in the sixth grade. The results implicate that group-level analyses are important in order to explain hyperactive children's peer group problems.

Promoting Inclusion Via Cross-Group Friendship: The Mediating Role of Change in Trust and Sympathy.

To understand the conditions fostering positive outcomes of inclusive schooling, this two-wave study examined the role of individual change in trust and sympathy for adolescents' cross-group friendships and inclusive attitudes toward students with low academic achievement. Cross-group friendships, intergroup trust, intergroup sympathy, and inclusive attitudes were obtained from surveys completed by 1,122 Swiss adolescents (Mage T1  = 11.54 years, Mage T2  = 12.58 years) from 61 school classes. Results from a parallel latent change score model revealed that the number of cross-group friendships positively related to individual change in trust and sympathy; this growing trust and sympathy in turn predicted adolescents' inclusive attitudes. These findings are discussed regarding theories of intergroup contact and inclusive schooling.

The role of cross-group friendship and emotions in adolescents' attitudes towards inclusion.

BACKGROUND: Most countries have started to educate students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools, but it remains unclear how inclusive attitudes towards students with SEN can be promoted. AIMS: This study investigated the role of adolescents' friendships and socio-moral competencies for their attitudes towards the inclusion of students with SEN. Specifically, we studied whether adolescents without SEN would develop more inclusive attitudes if they had close friendships with SEN students and if they expressed negative emotions about social exclusion. METHODS: Adolescents' inclusive attitudes and their emotions were gathered from survey data of 1225 Swiss students aged 11-13. Social network data were collected to assess adolescents' friendship relationships. RESULTS: The results indicated that adolescents' friendship closeness with SEN students positively related to their inclusive attitudes. However, this was only true for adolescents who anticipated more negative than positive emotions if a student with SEN was excluded. IMPLICATIONS: These findings highlight the role of friendship relationships between adolescents with and without SEN and adolescents' socio-moral experiences for their attitudes towards the inclusion of peers with SEN. Thus, inclusive education may benefit from promoting friendships among students with and without SEN as well as adolescents' socio-moral competencies.