COLLEGE PARK, MD (December, 2015) Dr. Cixin Wang, an assistant professor of school psychology newly arrived in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education, is the lead author of two studies on bullying prevention that recently appeared in the Journal of Applied School Psychology and Contemporary School Psychology.
Dr. Wangs research takes in a wide range of issues in school psychology: bullying prevention, school-based mental health services and prevention of mental health problems, mental health literacy, help-seeking among culturally and linguistically diverse students, parenting practice, and family involvement. Her published work so far has especially emphasized the need for bullying intervention and prevention efforts.
National studies on the prevalence of bullying in the United States estimate that 27.8% to 41% of children and adolescents are involved in bullying, and research has shown the relationship of bullying to many psychosocial difficulties, including academic problems, depressive symptoms, anxiety, low self-esteem, and suicide ideation.
“Teachers Matter: An Examination of Student-Teacher Relationships, Attitudes toward Bullying, and Bullying Behavior,” Dr. Wang’s most recent article on the subject of bullying, appeared in the Journal of Applied School Psychology this fall and focused on middle school students’ bullying behaviors. The study’s results indicate that adolescents are less likely to have attitudes that support bullying, hence decreasing their likelihood of engaging in bullying perpetration, when they have secure bonds and positive relationships with their teachers, who are important adults in their lives. Given this correlation, the article argues, direct efforts in promoting student-teacher relationships among students who perpetrate bullying are essential in decreasing bullying behaviors and attitudes supportive of bullying.
Another of Dr. Wang’s articles, “The Bullying Literature Project: Using Children’s Literature to Promote Prosocial Behavior and Social-Emotional Outcomes among Elementary School Students,” was published in a special issue Contemporary School Psychology, entitled “School-Based Approaches to Promote Complete Mental Health: School Psychologists Working to Foster Students’ Thriving Well-Being.” This article assesses the outcomes of a five-session classroom intervention that uses children’s literature as a springboard to promote adaptive social-cognitive process, teach social skills, and encourage bystander intervention for bullying among elementary school students. Dr. Wang designed this short-term intervention to be easily embedded in the regular classroom curriculum, with minimal resources needed from teachers. By focusing on prosocial behaviors, the intervention encourages bystanders of bullying to help the victims and create a safe environment for all students. Participating teachers reported that they liked the program and have noticed changes in students’ prosocial behavior since it began.
The College of Education is proud to welcome Dr. Wang to our faculty ranks, and we look forward to fostering more of her exemplary research.
Dr. Cixin Wang is an assistant professor of school psychology in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Behavioral Psychology, she was previously on faculty in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Riverside. A licensed psychologist, Dr. Wang received her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
To learn more about Dr. Wang’s academic background and research, click here.
-end-
For more information on the College of Education, visit: www.education.umd.edu
or contact
Joshua Lavender, Communications Coordinator, at: lavender@umd.edu
