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Bias-based harassment has emerged as a significant concern in schools globally. Unsurprisingly, exposure to such negative treatment has detrimental effects on the psychological functioning, academic performance, and behavioural adjustment of children and adolescents. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop a comprehensive understanding of the factors that exacerbate or mitigate the negative consequences of bias-based harassment on its victims, as well as the factors that lead young people to engage in bias-based harassment. To address this need, this paper begins by providing a brief overview of the literature on bias-based harassment and bullying among early adolescents and adolescents. Subsequently, we introduce the studies featured in this special issue and present an integrated summary of their key findings. Our goal with this special issue is to compile scientific evidence on this social concern across diverse school settings and pave the way for future initiatives aimed at addressing bias-based harassment more comprehensively and efficiently.

Introduction: Despite recent efforts to understand the possible impact of contextual factors on adolescents’ involvement in ethnic bullying, most existing studies have focused on the effects of one context at a time. As adolescents are simultaneously exposed to the influence of multiple socialization agents, the aim of this study was to investigate whether teachers’ and classmates’ tolerance towards ethnic minorities could buffer the effect of perceived parental prejudice on adolescents’ involvement in ethnic bullying.

Methods: Data were collected between January and February 2020 from 9th grade adolescents (N = 582; Mage = 15.23; SD = 0.65; 50.9% female; 30.7% with an immigrant background), and their teachers (N = 72; aged between 27 and 65 years; 79% female), belonging to 37 classrooms located in Italy.

Results: A cross‐sectional multilevel analysis showed that teachers’ tolerance mod-erated the effect of perceived parental prejudice on adolescents’ involvement in ethnic bullying. Specifically, we found that in classrooms with low levels of teachers’ tolerance, perceived parental prejudice was significantly associated with students’ involvement in ethnic bullying. Conversely, in classrooms with high levels of teachers’ tolerance, parental prejudice was no longer associated with ethnic bullying. Furthermore, classmates’ tolerance was not significantly associated with students’ involvement in ethnic bullying and did not moderate the association between perceived parental prejudice and adolescents’ engagement in ethnic bullying.

Conclusions: Findings are discussed highlighting the important role of school as a context to promote positive multicultural relations and the unique role played by teachers in affecting adolescents’ behaviors.

Immigrant and refugee adolescents who migrate to a new country face acculturative challenges in addition to their ongoing developmental challenges. Nevertheless, most preventive interventions for recently arrived youth focus on a small segment of this population who may potentially be at risk for mental health issues related to psychological distress and past trauma. The PIA Youth Program was developed as a 6-week cognitive dissonance-based universal intervention to support newly arrived youth in promoting their adjustment and development in the host society. The program content was informed by the newly arrived youth’s own description of needs and research on the risk and protective factors related to migration and resettlement processes. The program is delivered to 3 to 6 recently arrived youth by trained group leaders in the home language of participants or Swedish. The youth engage in active discussions around potentially challenging acculturative and developmental issues, including learning (and improving) language, exploring the new environment, negotiating cultural differences, social interactions, seeking support, building a sense of belonging, and taking a stance for their future and setting goals. A single-group pre- and post-test pilot study (N = 29) demonstrated the feasibility of the implementation process, relevance of the program content, and appropriateness of the measures. Additionally, the findings from the pilot data suggested trends of improvements in most outcome measures, such as increased internal motivation to learn Swedish (d = .47), increased confidence in achieving academic goals (d = .28), and improved persistence in dealing with school difficulties (d = .22).The pilot test of the PIA Youth Program was followed by a randomized controlled trial with two arms (active intervention and waiting-list control condition) and a pre-, post-, and six-month follow-up design. Twenty-eight schools with students who came to Sweden in 2015 or later were identified based on records from the National Agency for Education and randomized into either the intervention or control condition. Seventh to ninth-grade students who can participate in the program sessions in Arabic, Dari, Kurdish, Somalian, Tigrinya, or Swedish were invited to participate in the study. In Fall 2023, a total of 17 groups (N = 71) were completed with pre- and post-test measures. The trial will continue until Spring 2025 and aims to complete a total of 55 groups. The current presentation (1) focuses on the implementation process of the RCT study and (2) the experiences of the program leaders and participants with the implementation process of the PIA Youth Program, and (3) presents preliminary findings. 

Sense of academic futility entails feelings of having no control over ones' educational success. Although mounting evidence points to its negative consequences for students' educational outcomes, less is known about its socio-contextual antecedents. Relatedly, the current study explored how fair and supportive relationships with teachers are related to the sense of academic futility and if class belonging mediates this link in a sample of adolescents with immigrant and non-immigrant backgrounds. A total of 1065 seventh-grade students (Mage = 13.12; SD = 0.42; 45% girls) from 55 classrooms completed questionnaires at two time points 1 year apart. Results of multilevel analyses indicated that fair and supportive relationships with teachers contributed to decreases in sense of academic futility at the individual but not at the classroom level. No mediation or moderation effects emerged. These findings highlight the crucial role of democratic student-teacher relationships in supporting the positive school adjustment of all students in increasingly multicultural societies.

Schools face an increasing need to develop effective strategies for fostering social inclusion in educational settings, yet it remains unclear which factors might hinder or promote adolescents’ engagement in socially inclusive behaviors in diverse school settings. This study aimed to examine the association adolescents’ attitudes toward diversity and their willingness to engage in inclusive behaviors and whether the classroom social climate moderates this association. The sample included 1065 adolescents residing in Sweden (Mage=13.12, SD=.42; 55% males). Multilevel modeling at two analytic levels was conducted. At the individual level, we found that female adolescents and those with high levels of openness to diversity were more willing to engage in socially inclusive behaviors. At the classroom level, positive inter-ethnic contact norms were associated with increased inclusive behaviors among adolescents, whereas negative inter-ethnic contact norms showed the opposite effect. Furthermore, perceived negative inter-ethnic contact norms in class significantly moderated the association between adolescents’ openness to diversity and their willingness to engage in socially inclusive behaviors. Specifically, adolescents with high levels of openness to diversity were less likely to engage in socially inclusive behaviors when they perceived their class context as not valuing and appreciating diversity. These findings underscore the potential influence of both individual and contextual factors in the formation of inclusive behaviors. Importantly, adolescents with greater openness to diversity seem to be constrained to show their potential for engaging in socially inclusive behaviors when diverse views and values are not appreciated and respected, and prejudiced behaviors are tolerated in their class context.

Developing a comprehensive understanding of adolescents' defending behaviors in peer victimization incidents is crucial, as these behaviors are instrumental in preventing victimization in schools. Despite recent efforts to examine various defender subgroups and their characteristics, the heterogeneity in defending behaviors within the context of ethnic victimization remains unclear. To address this gap in knowledge, the current study examined naturally occurring subgroups of defenders in ethnic victimization incidents and investigated whether these subgroups differ in their socio-cognitive skills, class norms, and social status within peer relationships. The sample included adolescents in Sweden (N = 1065; Mage = 13.12, SD = 0.41; 44.5% females). Cluster analysis yielded four distinct subgroups: victim-oriented defenders (41.3%), hybrid defenders (23.5%), bully-oriented defenders (9.8%), and non-defenders (25.4%). Hybrid and victim-oriented defenders had higher levels of perspective taking skills and positive attitudes toward immigrants than non-defenders. All three defender subgroups perceived their classroom climate as more socially cohesive than non-defenders. All four subgroups did not significantly differ in their peer status. These findings emphasize the importance of fostering inclusive class norms and implementing classroom practices that facilitate the development of perspective taking skills among students. Such effort can enhance adolescents' active defending behaviors in instances of ethnic victimization.

The current study examined whether bystander behaviours in class were associated with being perpetrators of ethnic victimization and whether they moderated the association between disengagement from morality and perpetrating ethnic-based victimization. The sample included 1065 adolescents residing in Sweden (Mage = 13.12, SD=.42; 55% males) from the first wave of a three-year longitudinal study. Students completed self-report measures. The results showed that adolescents with high levels of moral disengagement had greater likelihood of engagement in ethnic victimization. At the classroom level, lower levels of defending intentions and higher levels of reinforcing behaviours were related to higher likelihood of engagement in ethnic victimization. None of the cross-level interactions between moral disengagement and classroom-level bystander behaviours were statistically significant. Together, these findings suggest that intervention programmes designed to reduce bias-based hostile behaviours in schools may focus on promoting defending behaviours in class. However, the findings also highlight that targeting social context (or at least bystanders in class) might not be sufficient by itself to intervene with morally disengaged adolescents' involvement in ethnic victimization. Intervention efforts may also benefit from including specific components targeting moral disengagement mechanisms.

Schools are crucial socialization contexts where civic norms and values such as appreciating diverse perspectives and embracing differences can be systematically transmitted to the next generations. This process, in turn, can foster the development of more inclusive societies. However, increasing polarized political climate poses a risk for the formation of harmonious interactions between youth of different ethnic origins in schools. Teachers are considered as crucial resources in addressing negative student interactions and helping victims in overcoming the consequences of their negative experiences. Nevertheless, our understanding of how teachers respond to ethnic victimization incidents is limited, along with the factors influencing their responses. To address this gap in knowledge, we examined the relative contributions of teachers' general efficacy (i.e., managing disruptive behaviors in class) and diversity-related efficacy (i.e., addressing challenges of diversity) on their responses to ethnic victimization incidents. The sample consisted of head teachers of 8th grade students (N = 72; 56% females). The results showed that teachers adopt a diverse range of strategies to address incidents of ethnic victimization, with a primary focus on prioritizing the comfort of the victim as the foremost action. Further, we found that teachers' efficacy in handling disruptive behaviors in class, as opposed to their efficacy in addressing diversity-related issues, explained their responses to victimization incidents. Specifically, teachers with a high sense of efficacy for classroom management were more likely to contact parents of both victims and perpetrators and to provide comfort to the victim. These findings highlight the necessity of supporting teachers to enhance their efficacy in classroom management, and in turn to address potential challenges in diverse school settings more effectively.