In het boek van Linda Duits en mezelf over meisjescultuur (check hier) komt ook het concept van ‘mean girls’ voor (net als ook de film). Deze vorm van pesten, roddelen,… onder meisjes krijgt veel media-aandacht, series als Gossip Girl zijn er zowat op gebaseerd. Maar wat kan je er aan doen?

Amerikaanse onderzoekers ontwikkelden nu een relationele therapie om dergelijke situaties te kunnen aanpakken:

“The intervention, Growing Interpersonal Relationships through Learning and Systemic Supports (GIRLSS), developed by MU researchers, is a 10-week, group counseling, caregiver training and caregiver phone consultation intervention for relationally aggressive middle school girls and their families. Students, ranging in age from 12 to 15, participated in one 70-minute session per week that included interactive discussions, media-based examples, role-playing, journaling and weekly goal setting. At the end of the intervention, school counselors and teachers reported a decrease in relationally aggressive behaviors among the girls.”

Abstract van het onderzoek:

We tested the effects of a school-based, multisystemic intervention to reduce relational aggression among adolescent girls, Growing Interpersonal Relationships through Learning and Systemic Supports (GIRLSS). GIRLSS is a 10-week, group counseling, caregiver training, and caregiver phone consultation intervention for relationally aggressive middle school girls. The study addresses the pressing need for empirical examination of ecologically valid, secondary intervention practices in this area. Thirty female youth in grades 6–8 (ages 12–15 years) and their parents were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (N = 22) or a wait list control group (N = 12). Changes in self, teacher and school counselor reported relationally aggressive behavior from pretest to posttest was compared across groups for statistical and clinically significant change. Intervention participants demonstrated significantly more change in the desired direction than control participants according to school counselors and an averaged score of school counselor and teacher-reported relational aggression. We discuss the clinical significance findings and implications of perceptual data from social validity surveys of each intervention component. Limitations are also discussed and the need for future research to further examine empirically and ecologically valid interventions for relational aggression in schools, community, and family contexts is highlighted.