Aim: This research sought to understand the experience and perception of relational bullying among young people in England. Background: Bullying among young people has been widely acknowledged as a public health concern. Bullying behaviours can be categorised as physical, verbal, relational and cyber. Relational bullying causes harm through the systematic manipulation and damage of peer relationships and may include behaviours such as rumour spreading and social exclusion. Evidence indicates relational bullying can be detrimental for young people’s wellbeing, but it is often considered to be less harmful than other forms of bullying. Wider perceptions among adults and young people suggest these behaviours are commonly not defined as bullying, particularly in a UK context. Further, relational bullying has traditionally been perceived as a female form of aggression. The way in which relational bullying is perceived is likely to influence detection and intervention efforts; considering the potential negative outcomes for young people, relational bullying warranted further exploration from the perspective of young people themselves. The social-ecological theory has been applied within the study of bullying as it acknowledges the social context in which these behaviours happen; the social-ecological theory may be particularly pertinent to the study of relational bullying which often occurs among friendship groups.

Methods: The social-ecological theory was adopted as a guiding theoretical framework, positioning young people central in the research. A sequential mixed methods approach was employed, with the quantitative methodology playing a dominant role. Secondary analysis of data from 5335 young people (aged 11, 13 and 15 years old) who participated in the 2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in England was undertaken. Descriptive statistics established the prevalence and demographic picture of relational bullying. A series of three multilevel regression models examined the association between relational bullying and three health and wellbeing outcomes: general self-rated health, health related quality of life (HRQL) and life satisfaction. A fourth multilevel regression model identified factors from the ecologies of young people which helped them to successfully navigate relational bullying. The quantitative findings informed 11 face-to-face interviews with young people (aged 12-18 years), providing a unique opportunity to gain in-depth insight into young people’s perspective of relational bullying and the factors which they perceived as influencing the navigation of relational bullying.

Results: The quantitative analysis identified 16.6% of the young people (13.7% of boys and 19.7% of girls) had experienced relational bullying in the ‘past couple of months’ prior to the survey. Multilevel regression models identified a significant association between experiencing relational bullying and reporting poorer health and wellbeing outcomes, whilst controlling for other forms of bullying and demographic variables. Possessing positive attributes in relation to body image, general self-efficacy, family activities and family support significantly increased the odds of reporting improved wellbeing amongst those who experienced weekly relational bullying. Thematic analysis of qualitative data resonated with the quantitative findings, also illustrating the harmful effects of relational bullying and identifying internal (e.g., personal wellbeing) and external (e.g., the family) resources which young people perceived as supporting them through relational bullying. Further, the qualitative findings provided insight into the perspectives and experiences of young people, including the role of social media and friends in relational bullying. Both the quantitative and qualitative findings were united in order to inform the development of the Young People’s Relational Bullying model, which provides a visual illustration of how young people experience and perceive this form of bullying.

Conclusions: Relational bullying is significantly associated with the health and wellbeing of young people. Bullying interventions, and those which help enable young people to manage friendships and peer relationships successfully, are likely to have considerable reach in terms of improving the health of young people. The results challenge the assumption of relational bullying as a female problem, with both boys and girls reporting equal levels of distress from relational bullying. The research identifies factors from the young person’s perspective which may help and hinder the navigation of relational bullying – the family plays a crucial role in mitigating the negative effects, supported by both the quantitative and qualitative results. The Young People’s Relational Bullying model provides a framework for understanding relational bullying, with a focus on the young person’s perspective. Considering wider inconsistent understandings of relational bullying it was important to recognise how young people themselves experience these behaviours. While this study specifically focused on relational bullying, the results are likely to have relevance to other forms of bullying.

School bullying research has often focused on children, but neglected the parent’s perspective. Little is known about how parents respond to their child’s peer victimisation and how these responses are related to children’s experiences. Thus, this thesis aimed to address three main research questions: (a) how do parents respond to their children’s peer victimisation? (b) What factors are associated with parents’ responses to their children’s peer victimisation? (c) How are parents’ responses related to children’s experiences of peer victimisation? A mixed-methods sequential exploratory design, comprising of three stages, was utilised. Firstly, focus groups and interviews were conducted with parents to gain greater understanding of their perspective. The focus group/interview findings informed the content of parent and child questionnaires which were developed in a series of pilot studies, during stage two of the research. In the third stage, these questionnaires were administered to parents and children (aged I 1-12 years) to examine parental responses to peer victimisation, factors related to parental responses, and children’s victimisation experiences. The findings suggested three categories of parental responses: supportive/problem solving, confrontational and avoidant. Parents’ responses were related to their perceptions of how their child would cope, and their attitudes towards how schools/teachers deal with bullying. Additionally, parents’ perceptions of their role in school bullying were influenced by what they thought a ‘good’ parent should do. Children’s perceptions of avoidant and parental supportive/problem solving responses moderated the relationship between peer victimisation and loneliness; there was also an indirect relationship between perceived parental responses and peer victimisation, through child coping. This thesis concludes that in school bullying situations, parents form one element of a broader system, which also involves children and teachers. Thus, parentteacher communication and collaboration is vital and the importance of empowering parents to take a supportive/problem solving approach when helping their child is highlighted.

Research exploring the psychological consequences of workplace bullying has demonstrated that exposure to bullying may have devastating effects on the health and well-being of those who experience it. However, the nature of this relationship remains virtually unknown and there is an increasing call for researchers to undertake a more interpretive and individualised orientation to the bullying phenomenon. There is little research into workplace bullying from a counselling psychology perspective and yet research developing therapeutic guidelines for models of intervention with targets of workplace bullying is essential given the impact of bullying upon psychological health. The current study therefore aims to consider the therapeutic needs’ of targets of workplace bullying by exploring how targets make sense of and give meaning to their experiences. It is hoped that this will provide insights into the ways in which workplace bullying can have detrimental psychological effects and point to potential interventions that may be utilised when working therapeutically with targets of workplace bullying. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, the current study explores in-depth the experiences of eight self-labelled targets of workplace bullying. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken to explore: how participants have experienced workplace bullying, how they have made sense of their experience, how they perceive effects on their psychological health, how they might explain such effects, and how they have coped with their experience. The findings comprise of four superordinate themes: ‘Bullying as a Powerful Experience’, ‘Psychological Consequences of Workplace Bullying’, ‘Impact of Workplace Bullying on Identity’ and ‘Coping with the Experience of Being Bullied’. These support the conceptualisation of workplace bullying as a traumatic experience with devastating impacts upon targets ‘ sense of self. A rich description of the participants’ experiences of psychological distress following being bullied at work is presented and discussed. Implications and applications for the clinical practice of counselling psychology are subsequently highlighted.

The aetiology and impact of inappropriate behaviour in Malaysia is not well understood. This study was designed to explore inappropriate behaviour at work in Malaysia among health care employees. In this research, inappropriate behaviour was defined as harassment, bullying or mobbing, according to the definitions from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and Labour Relations Agency (2006). The research was conducted in three stages: an explanatory study; a large-scale quantitative survey; and an interview-based qualitative study. Results indicated that 42.6% of employees experience inappropriate behaviour in the.workplace. The inappropriate behaviour perpetrators are both superiors and co-workers, but the pattern of findings suggests that there is no association between demographics and the reports of inappropriate behaviour. This suggests that inappropriate behaviour occurs throughout the workforce. However, there was little variation in ethnicity in the sample, so conclusions about this variable are tenuous. When compared to participants who had not experienced harassment, those who did were less satisfied with the support provided by the organisation in this situation and were less satisfied at work, according to scores on the Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS). Additionally, the research suggests that the factor structure of the JSS may not be appropriate in a Malaysian sample and an alternative factor structure is proposed. In the final qualitative study, participants from different professions expressed feelings of frustration at their experiences of inappropriate behaviour and a sense of helplessness/hopelessness that anything could be done to remedy this situation. Consequently, participants found themselves in a situation where they felt forced to tolerate the inappropriate behaviour because they feared the adverse consequences of making a complaint about their experiences. Overall, these findings contribute to an awareness of inappropriate behaviour at work, its enablers and its consequences in a culturally diverse, non-Western society.

A systematic review of the literature was conducted to ascertain whether or not childhood bullying predicts the later development of psychotic symptoms. A meta-analysis and review of ten prospective studies suggests that this is the case. What is lacking from the literature, is adequate investigation into other potential mediating factors that contribute to some of the variance. The current review serves to highlight the significant role of bullying within this complex interaction. Potential influencing mediators are explored, including a dose-response effect for the severity and frequency of victimization. Suggestions for targeting intervention are also suggested alongside clinical implications and recommendations for future research. The first empirical paper compared rates of self-reported trauma with that which was recorded in patients’ case notes. High levels of lifetime, childhood and Troubles-related trauma were reported within a psychosis sample. As expected, large discrepancies were noted. In line with similar studies, the results suggest that mental health practitioners continue to be reluctant to enquire about trauma histories with this population and as a result, case notes extensively underestimate the prevalence rates of trauma. The second empirical paper asked people with psychosis about their perspective with regards to participating in trauma-related research. The results suggest that enquiring about trauma within a psychosis population does not cause considerable distress and that a significant majority participants also report, in line with previous research, favourable views on the importance of such even if they do find it somewhat difficult.

The purpose of this research is to recognize and analyse the relationship between work stress and job satisfaction. The research was conducted using a survey questionnaire which was sent to 118 participants who were working across 14 different organizations. The response received was uploaded into SPSS for analysis. The scale of reliability was conducted and the findings were reflected in chapter 4 of this document.

The major cause for work stress was identified as workload and poor interpersonal relationships, whereas the major cause for job satisfaction was identified as pay and career prospects, which contributed as a stability factor to the employee. The final objective of the study was to identify the relationship between work stress and job satisfaction, and it was concluded that they have a negative relationship. This research has supported previous studies in the similar arena and have covered the aspect of work stress and job satisfaction in marketing industry of Mumbai, India.

Section A: This section reviews literature regarding the validation of existing resilience measures within Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) populations. These groups are at enhanced risk of worse outcomes later in life; therefore resilience-enhancement is of particular importance. Despite their use within the literature, it is unclear whether mainstream resiliency measures are applicable within SEND groups. Nine validation papers were identified, largely demonstrating utility of measures with SEND populations. However, a number of methodological limitations mean firm conclusions cannot be drawn. Several methodological limitations are considered, along with discussions of the challenges and complexities of research in this area. Section B: This research investigated perspectives from stakeholders of specialist schools for students with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties on defining factors of resilience and the mechanisms involved in its promotion. A three- round Delphi survey was used to explore areas of consensus and divergence between students, carers, care staff and education staff across two schools. Overall, 153 stakeholders participated. Results indicated consensus across a number of statements covering both areas. These spanned a number of systemic levels, offering support for the socio-ecological model of resilience. Clinical and research implications are discussed.