To build on prior research documenting the impact of School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) on school climate and discipline problems to examine the extent to which it affects bullying and peer rejection during the transition into early adolescence.
DESIGN:
Three-level models were fit using hierarchical linear modeling to determine the effect of SWPBIS on children's involvement in bullying.
SETTING:
Thirty-seven Maryland public elementary schools.
PARTICIPANTS:
Data involved 12 344 children (52.9% male, 45.1% African American, 46.1% white) followed up longitudinally across 4 school years.
INTERVENTION:
A randomized controlled effectiveness trial of SWPBIS.
OUTCOME MEASURES:
Reports from teachers on bully-related behaviors were assessed through the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation-Checklist.
RESULTS:
Analyses indicated that children in schools that implemented SWPBIS displayed lower rates of teacher-reported bullying and peer rejection than those in schools without SWPBIS. A significant interaction also emerged between grade level of first exposure to SWPBIS and intervention status, suggesting that the effects of SWPBIS on rejection were strongest among children who were first exposed to SWPBIS at a younger age.
CONCLUSIONS:
The results indicated that SWPBIS has a significant effect on teachers' reports of children's involvement in bullying as victims and perpetrators. The findings were considered in light of other outcomes for students, staff, and the school environment, and they suggest that SWPBIS may help address the increasing national concerns related to school bullying by improving school climate.
Anxiety Stress Coping. 2012 Feb 1. [Epub ahead of print]
Associations between adults' recalled childhood bullying victimization, current social anxiety, coping, and self-blame: evidence for moderation and indirect effects.
Boulton MJ.
Source
a Department of Psychology , University of Chester , Parkgate Road , Chester , CH1 4BJ , UK.
Abstract
Abstract Prior studies have shown that bullying victimization is common during childhood and may have negative effects over the short term. Evidence is also emerging that childhood bullying victimization in the form of teasing may precipitate social anxiety in adulthood. The present study extended the field by testing for associations between adults' recall of four common subtypes of childhood bullying victimization and their current social anxiety. It also provided the first test of whether coping moderated those associations, if they were indirect effects through self-blame, and if sex differences existed. Data were collected from 582 students aged 23+ years at two universities in the UK. Collectively, and for social exclusion and relational victimization uniquely, the subtypes of bullying victimization did predict social anxiety. Evidence for hypothesized moderation and indirect effects was obtained but these varied by subtype of victimization (but not sex). The theoretical and practical implications of these results were discussed.
Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2012 Feb 12;6:8. doi: 10.1186/1753-2000-6-8.
Bullying behaviour in schools, socioeconomic position and psychiatric morbidity: a cross-sectional study in late adolescents in Greece.
Magklara K, Skapinakis P, Gkatsa T, Bellos S, Araya R, Stylianidis S, Mavreas V.
Source
Department of Psychiatry, University of Ioannina, School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece. nadia.magklara@gmail.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Bullying is quite prevalent in the school setting and has been associated with the socioeconomic position and psychiatric morbidity of the pupils. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between bullying and socioeconomic status in a sample of Greek adolescents and to examine whether this is confounded by the presence of psychiatric morbidity, including sub-threshold forms of illness.
METHODS:
5,614 adolescents aged 16-18 years old and attending 25 senior high schools were screened and a stratified random sample of 2,427 were selected for a detailed interview. Psychiatric morbidity was assessed with a fully structured psychiatric interview, the revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R), while bullying was assessed with the revised Olweus bully/victim questionnaire. The following socio-economic variables were assessed: parental educational level and employment status, financial difficulties of the family and adolescents' school performance. The associations were investigated using multinomial logit models.
RESULTS:
26.4% of the pupils were involved in bullying-related behaviours at least once monthly either as victims, perpetrators or both, while more frequent involvement (at least once weekly) was reported by 4.1%. Psychiatric morbidity was associated with all types of bullying-related behaviours. No socioeconomic associations were reported for victimization. A lower school performance and unemployment of the father were significantly more likely among perpetrators, while economic inactivity of the mother was more likely in pupils who were both victims and perpetrators. These results were largely confirmed when we focused on high frequency behaviours only. In addition, being overweight increased the risk of frequent victimization.
CONCLUSIONS:
The prevalence of bullying among Greek pupils is substantial. Perpetration was associated with some dimensions of adolescents' socioeconomic status, while victimization showed no socioeconomic associations. Our findings may add to the understanding of possible risk factors for bullying behaviours in adolescence.
J Phys Act Health. 2012 Feb 29. [Epub ahead of print]
