The Relationship Between Witnessing Bullying, Defending Targets, and Internalizing Symptoms: An Analysis of Gender Differences Among Sixth-Grade Students

Midgett, Aida; Doumas, Diana M.; Peck, Matt; Windburn, Amanda

doi:10.1177/2156759x211058159

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 81 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Therefore, it is necessary to socialize the skills to properly defend the victim. This result was similar to the research which suggested equipping young people to have appropriate intervention skills for defending cyberbully victims [27].…”

Section: Witnessing Bullyingsupporting

confidence: 89%

Cyberbullying for Chinese Indonesian Youth: The Impacts and The Coping Strategies

Azaria¹

2023

Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social Science, Humanity and Public Health, ICoSHIP 2022, 05-06 November 202

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study examined the cyberbullying impact on young people, as well as coping strategies to deal with it. The significance of this study was to find appropriate strategies to minimize the adverse effects of cyberbullying related to personal lives, studies, and work. Additionally, this study tried to prevent someone from becoming an unexpected cyberbully by describing the types of cyberbullying that might be done. The approach used was a qualitative method using thematic analysis to analyze the data. This study involved 15 Chinese Indonesian participants with religion Christian and Catholic, from aged 19 to 22 years old, who were studying at Petra Christian University, Surabaya, Indonesia in 2022. To summarize, increasing socialization about the forms of cyberbullying, how victims deal with it, what to do when witnessing cyberbullying, and how to decrease the tendency to be cyberbullies should be done to significantly reduce the bad effects of cyberbullying.

show abstract

Section: Witnessing Bullyingsupporting

confidence: 89%

Cyberbullying for Chinese Indonesian Youth: The Impacts and The Coping Strategies

Azaria¹

2023

Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social Science, Humanity and Public Health, ICoSHIP 2022, 05-06 November 202

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Researchers have also identified gender differences when investigating mental health risks among bullying bystanders. Specifically, female students report depression and social anxiety related to witnessing bullying, whereas males do not [15]. This gender difference may be related to developmentally higher levels of empathy and perspective taking among females in this age group [20].…”

Section: Gender Differences In Witnessing Bullying and Defending Beha...mentioning

confidence: 91%

“…One explanation for this association is that bystanders may feel helpless [11], anxious about their own safety, or experience vicarious trauma [13] when observing bullying. Similar to witnessing bullying, depressive symptoms [7,11,14,15], anxiety [11,14], and social anxiety [7,15] are also related to intervening in bullying situations. Research indicates that the decision to intervene in bullying situations is impacted by social norms [16].…”

Section: Mental Health Outcomes For Bystandersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Association between Internalizing Symptoms and Witnessing School Bullying and Defending Behavior: An Analysis of Gender Differences among Elementary and Middle School Students

2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bullying is a significant public health concern that begins as early as elementary school and peaks in middle school. Although researchers have demonstrated the relationship between internalizing symptoms and being a target of bullying, there is limited research examining the association between internalizing symptoms and witnessing school bullying and defending targets or gender differences in these relationships. In this cross-sectional study, we examined gender as a moderator of the relationships between internalizing symptoms (e.g., depressive symptoms and social anxiety) and witnessing school bullying and defending behavior in a sample of elementary and middle school students (N = 126; 51.6% female; 3rd–8th grade). Results demonstrated that witnessing school bullying was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms. For social anxiety, the gender x witnessing school bullying interaction was significant for social avoidance and distress (SAD), such that among female students, SAD was positively related to witnessing school bullying. In contrast, the gender x defending behavior interaction was significant for fear of negative evaluation (FNE), such that among male students, FNE was positively related to defending behavior. Findings suggest bullying prevention should incorporate bystander training programs that include a focus on gender differences in social anxiety associated with being a bullying bystander.

show abstract

“…Among middle school students, being a target of bullying is associated with poor academic performance [ 4 , 5 ], absenteeism [ 5 , 6 ], somatic symptoms [ 7 ], anxiety [ 1 , 7 ], depression [ 1 , 7 , 8 ], suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts [ 1 ]. A growing body of literature demonstrates that students who witness school bullying as bystanders also report negative outcomes, including an increased risk of depression, anxiety [ 9 - 11 ], and somatic symptoms [ 12 ]. Similar trends are also emerging for middle school students who witness cyberbullying [ 13 - 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Midgett¹,

Doumas²,

Buller³

2022

JMIR Form Res

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

The Relationship Between Witnessing Bullying, Defending Targets, and Internalizing Symptoms: An Analysis of Gender Differences Among Sixth-Grade Students

Cited by 10 publications

References 81 publications

Cyberbullying for Chinese Indonesian Youth: The Impacts and The Coping Strategies

Cyberbullying for Chinese Indonesian Youth: The Impacts and The Coping Strategies

The Association between Internalizing Symptoms and Witnessing School Bullying and Defending Behavior: An Analysis of Gender Differences among Elementary and Middle School Students

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

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About