Reducing Bullying and Victimization: Student- and Classroom-Level Mechanisms of Change

Abstract

This longitudinal study examines the mediating mechanisms by which the KiVa antibullying program, based on the Participant Role approach, reduces bullying and victimization among elementary school students. Both student-level mechanisms leading to reduced perpetration of bullying and classroom-level mechanisms leading to reductions in bullying and victimization are considered. Analyses are based on a sample of 7,491 students (49.5% boys) nested within 421 classrooms within 77 schools. At the beginning of program implementation, the children were in Grades 4, 5, and 6 (mean age 11.3 years). Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to analyze whether changes in the hypothesized mediators accounted for later reductions in the outcomes. At the student level, antibullying attitudes and perceptions regarding peers' defending behaviors and teacher attitudes toward bullying mediated the effects of KiVa on self-reported bullying perpetration. The effects on peer-reported bullying were only mediated by antibullying attitudes. At the classroom level, the program effects on both self- and peer-reported bullying were mediated by students' collective perceptions of teacher attitudes toward bullying. Also, perceived reinforcing behaviors predicted bullying but did not emerge as a significant mediator. Finally, bullying mediated the effects of the classroom-level factors on victimization. These findings enhance knowledge of the psychosocial developmental processes contributing to bullying and victimization and shed light on the key mechanisms by which school bullying can successfully be counteracted.

Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions

“…the proportion of boys in a classroom, the proportion of immigrants in a classroom), or the findings have been controversial. Classroom differences can be better explained by factors related to peer group dynamics or teacher characteristics (for a review, see Saarento, Boulton, & Salmivalli, 2015).…”

“…A study examining the mediators of the KiVa antibullying programme (Saarento et al, 2015) found that changes in student perceptions of their teachers' bullying-related attitudes mediated the effects of the programme on bullying. During the year when the KiVa programme was implemented, students started to perceive their teachers' attitudes as more disapproving of bullying, and consequently, their bullying behaviour was reduced.…”

Why Does a Universal Anti-Bullying Program Not Help All Children? Explaining Persistent Victimization During an Intervention

“…Group-based interventions, including KiVa, emphasize that bullying is a group phenomenon; the aim is to increase empathy for victims, and develop bystanders' efficacy to counteract bullying in safe ways, so that more students disapprove of bullying and stand up for victims (Saarento et al 2014). However, targeting peer dynamics still implies that victimized children possess qualities that make them desirable as friends.…”

Teachers’ Intervention in School Bullying: A Qualitative Analysis on Italian Teachers

“…Research has mostly studied bullying at the peer group level, emphasizing its role in influencing the current and future behaviors of the perpetrators, victims, and witnesses (Salmivalli et al, 1996;Salmivalli, 2010;Boulton et al, 2017). However, while reactions from peers certainly affect how students may become involved in and cope with these events (Saarento et al, 2015), other facts are just as important.Recent research has stressed the role of teachers in recognizing episodes of bullying and identifying their actors, as well as in preventing and intervening on them (DeOrnellas and Spurgin, 2017 reinforces or inhibits the various possible behaviors on the part of the bullies, the victims, and the bystanders (Craig et al, 2011), and in general affects how pupils perceive and react to bullying (Gini, 2005;Twemlow et al, 2006;Bjereld et al, 2017). Indeed, there is evidence showing that students who perceive their teachers as disapproving of bullying are less likely to bully others; conversely, bullying is more common when students feel that their teachers tolerate it (Saarento et al, 2013).…”

“…Research has mostly studied bullying at the peer group level, emphasizing its role in influencing the current and future behaviors of the perpetrators, victims, and witnesses (Salmivalli et al, 1996;Salmivalli, 2010;Boulton et al, 2017). However, while reactions from peers certainly affect how students may become involved in and cope with these events (Saarento et al, 2015), other facts are just as important.…”