Social Environmental Factors of anti/Prosocial Behaviour Development: Current Knowledge and Future Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

Research has shown that both anti- and prosocial behavior may be highly impacted by social and environmental factors that contribute to both as a risk or protective factor. Most research until now has focused on social environmental variables as risk factors, analyzing different levels, such as family, peers, intimate relationships, and communities, and especially how they are related to antisocial behavior. Less attention has been paid to the protective role of social environmental factors and their implications for prosocial behavior development. Both risk and protective factors must be considered while designing primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention programs. This research area impacts all levels of Bronfenbrenner’s biopsychosocial ecological model, with implications for physical and mental health, education/job performance, offending and victimization, and economics.

Thus, the aim of this Special Issue is to compile original and emerging works in the field of social environment factors of anti/prosocial behavior development, allowing for a comprehensive and deeper understanding of the topic. Relying on multidisciplinary perspectives, this Special Issue of Societies will enhance the knowledge about challenges, risks, and opportunities for antisocial or prosocial behavior development, inspiring future studies and providing insights for different professionals (e.g., health professionals, school professionals, justice system professionals) and policymakers.

Research on these topics is welcomed:

• Social environmental factors as a risk factor for the development of antisocial behavior development;
• Social environmental factors as a protective factor for the development of prosocial behavior development;
• The presentation and assessment of intervention programs targeted to promote prosocial behavior and minimize/decrease antisocial behaviors, including social environmental factors;
• The interplay between antisocial and prosocial behavior development in a life-course perspective;
• Development, validation, and/or cultural adaptation of measures of antisocial and prosocial behavior and/or social environmental factors.

In this Special Issue, contributions must fall under one of three paper categories of this journal—article, conceptual paper, or review—and must address the topic of the Special Issue.

Dr. Vanessa Azevedo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as conceptual papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• social environmental factors
• risk factors
• protective factors
• antisocial behavior development
• prosocial behavior development
• lifespan perspective
• family
• peers
• intimate partners
• community