Posttraining Outcomes, Acceptability, and Technology-Based Delivery of the STAC Bystander Bullying Intervention Teacher Module: Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Background Bullying is a significant problem for youth associated with wide-ranging negative consequences. Providing students who witness bullying with intervention strategies to act as defenders can reduce bullying and negative associated outcomes for both targets and bystanders. Educating teachers about bullying and training them to support students to intervene as defenders may increase the efficacy of bystander programs as teachers’ attitudes and responses to bullying relate to bystander behavior. This is particularly important in middle school, when bullying peaks and rates of reporting bullying to teachers begin to decline. Reducing implementation barriers, including limited time and resources, must also be considered, particularly for schools in low-income and rural areas. Technology-based programs can increase access and scalability but require participant buy-in for adoption. Objective We used a mixed methods design to inform the development of the STAC teacher module, a companion training to a brief bullying bystander intervention. STAC stands for the four bystander intervention strategies: Stealing the Show, Turning it Over, Accompanying Others, and Coaching Compassion. Objectives included examining the effectiveness of the STAC teacher module and informing the translation of the training into a technology-based format that can be used as a companion to the technology-based STAC. Methods A sample of 17 teachers recruited from 1 middle school in a rural, low-income community completed pre- and posttraining surveys assessing immediate outcomes (ie, knowledge, confidence, comfort, and self-efficacy), intention to use program strategies, and program acceptability and relevance, followed by a qualitative focus group obtaining feedback regarding program appropriateness, feasibility, content, perception of need, and desire for web-based training. Descriptive statistics, 2-tailed independent-sample t tests, and thematic analyses were used to analyze the data. Results Assessment of pre- and posttraining surveys indicated that teachers reported an increase in knowledge and confidence to support defenders, confidence and comfort in managing bullying, and bullying self-efficacy. Furthermore, most participants reported that they were likely or very likely to use STAC strategies to support students who intervene in bullying. Quantitative and qualitative data revealed that participants found the training easy to use, useful, relevant, and appropriate. Qualitative data provided feedback on ways of improving the program, including revising role-plays and guidance on understanding student behavior. Participants shared positive perceptions regarding program feasibility and need for bullying-specific prevention, the most significant barriers being cost and parent buy-in, suggesting the importance of including parents in the prevention process. Finally, participants shared the strengths of a web-based program, including ease of implementation and time efficiency, while indicating the importance of participant engagement and administration buy-in. Conclusions This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the STAC teacher module in increasing knowledge and bullying self-efficacy and provides support for developing the module, including key information regarding considerations for web-based translation.

Feasibility of a Bullying Bystander Intervention (STAC) Parent Module for Rural Schools

“…The STAC Parent Module can be included as part of the current STAC intervention, which is a relatively low-cost program compared to comprehensive, school-wide bullying prevention programs. Next, although research suggests that school personnel in rural middle schools believe that parents need to be involved in bullying prevention (Midgett et al, 2021; Midgett et al, 2022), parent involvement in bullying prevention has been identified as an obstacle for rural schools (Leadbeater et al, 2013). Findings from this study indicate that program flexibility may remove barriers to implementation related to time constraints experienced by parents in rural communities such as providing access the training through a smartphone.…”

“…The intention to use Parent STAC strategies was measured using an adapted version of the Use of STAC Strategies for students (Midgett, Doumas, et al, 2017) and teachers (Midgett et al, 2022). The items were adapted for parents by replacing “student” with “adolescents.” The four-item measure asks parents “How likely are you to use these strategies to support your adolescent to intervene in bullying in the future?…”

“…Intention to Use Parent STAC Strategies. The intention to use Parent STAC strategies was measured using an adapted version of the Use of STAC Strategies for students (Midgett, Doumas, et al, 2017) and teachers (Midgett et al, 2022). The items were adapted for parents by replacing "student" with "adolescents."…”

“…Overall, both quantitative and qualitative findings seem to support the acceptability of the STAC Parent Module. Developing training with high levels of acceptability for parents in rural communities is particularly important as school personnel in rural middle schools have identified parental involvement as an important component in bullying prevention (Doumas et al, 2021;Midgett et al, 2021Midgett et al, , 2022. Further, program acceptability is associated with parent buy-in (Sadjadi et al, 2021), which is essential for successful program implementation.…”