Heritability of Bullying and Victimization in Children and Adolescents: Moderation by the KiVa Antibullying Program

Objective: Bullying affects approximately a quarter of schoolchildren and is associated with numerous adverse outcomes. Although distinct risk factors for bullying and victimization have been identified, few studies have investigated the genetic and environmental underpinnings of bullying and victimization. The aims of this study were twofold: first, to examine the contributions of genetic and environmental factors to bullying and victimization, and second, to analyze whether the KiVa antibullying program moderated the magnitude of these contributions by comparing estimates derived from the KiVa versus control groups.Method: The sample comprised students from schools that participated in the evaluation of the KiVa antibullying program in Finland during 2007-2009. Bullying and victimization were measured using peer nominations by classmates. The sample for the twin analyses comprised of 447 twins (107 monozygotic and 340 dizygotic twins) aged 7-15.Results: Genetic contributions accounted for 62% and 77% of the variance in bullying and in victimization at pre-intervention, respectively. There was a post-intervention difference in the overall role of genetic and environmental contributions between the intervention and the control group for bullying and victimization, with non-shared environmental effects playing a lesser role (and genes a larger role) in the intervention than in the control group context.Conclusions: This study replicates previous findings on the genetic underpinnings of both bullying and victimization, and indicates that a school-based antibullying program reduces the role of non-shared environmental factors in bullying and victimization. The results indicate that prevention and intervention efforts need to target both environmental and (heritable) individual level factors to maximize effectiveness.

Classroom Size and the Prevalence of Bullying and Victimization: Testing Three Explanations for the Negative Association

Classroom size - i.e., the number of students in the class - is a feature of the classroom environment often found to be negatively related to bullying or victimization. This study examines three possible explanations for this negative association: (a) it is due to measurement effects and therefore only found for peer-reports (Hypothesis 1), (b) bullying perpetrators are more popular and have more friends in smaller classrooms (Hypothesis 2), (c) targets of bullying are more popular and have more friends in larger classrooms (Hypothesis 3). Multilevel regression analyses were conducted on a sample from Austria (1,451 students; Mage = 12.31; 77 classes) and a sample from the Netherlands (1,460 students; Mage = 11.06; 59 classes). Results showed that classroom size was negatively associated with peer-reported bullying and victimization in both samples, and with self-reported bullying and victimization in the Dutch sample only, suggesting partial support for Hypothesis 1. Students high in bullying were found to be more popular in smaller than in larger classrooms in the Austrian sample. The negative link between victimization and popularity was found to be stronger in smaller classrooms than in larger classrooms in the Dutch sample. However, classroom size was not found to moderate links between bullying or victimization and friendship in either sample. Hypotheses 2 and 3 were supported, but only for popularity and in a single sample. Further research is needed to better understand the higher prevalence of bullying found in smaller classrooms in many studies.

Moral Disengagement of Pure Bullies and Bully/Victims: Shared and Distinct Mechanisms

The vast majority of adolescents recognize that bullying is morally wrong, yet bullying remains a problem in secondary schools, indicating young people may disengage from their moral values to engage in bullying. But it is unclear whether the same mechanisms enabling moral disengagement are active for bully/victims (who both bully and are bullied) as for pure bullies (who are not targets of bullying). This study tested the hypotheses that mechanisms of moral disengagement, including blaming the victim and minimizing the impact of bullying, may operate differently in bully/victims compared to pure bullies. From a sample of 1895 students from grades 7-9 (50.6% female; 83.4% from English speaking homes), 1870 provided self-reports on bullying involvement and mechanisms of moral disengagement associated with bullying. Two cut-offs were compared for bullying involvement (as perpetrator and as target of bullying) during the previous school term: a conservative cut-off (every few weeks or more often) and a liberal cut-off (once-or-twice). Using the conservative cut-off, both pure bullies and bully/victims enlisted moral disengagement mechanisms to justify bullying more than did uninvolved students and pure victims, with no significant difference in scores on any of the moral disengagement scales between pure bullies and bully/victims. For the liberal cut-off, bully/victims reported lower overall moral disengagement scores than did pure bullies, and specifically less distortion of consequences, diffusion of responsibility, and euphemistic labeling. This study advances bullying research by extending the role of moral disengagement in bullying episodes beyond pure bullies to victims, both pure victims and bully/victims. Examination of specific moral disengagement mechanisms and the extent of involvement in bullying enabled a more nuanced differentiation between the bullying groups. These results will inform future interventions aimed at reducing the use of moral disengagement mechanisms that sustain bullying and victimization. Targeted interventions are needed to challenge specific moral disengagement mechanisms from the perspectives of pure bullies and bully/victims.

Telling adults about one's plight as a victim of bullying: Student- and context-related factors predicting disclosure

We examined student‐ and context‐related factors related to whether bullied students tell adults about their plight at school or at home. The sample included 1,266 students in primary (Grades 4–6) and lower secondary (Grades 8–9) schools, who had answered an online questionnaire at two measurement points about 5 months apart and were identified as victims of bullying on the basis of the latter. Only 55.4% of the bullied students had told their situation to someone, and much fewer had told an adult. Telling an adult at home was more common (34.0%) than telling a teacher (20.6%) or some other adult at school (12.7%). In a longitudinal structural equation model (SEM), factors related to increased likelihood of telling an adult were female gender, lower grade level, the chronicity of victimization, perceived negative teacher attitude towards bullying (teacher not tolerating bullying), and perceived peer support for victims (classmates’ tendency to defend students who are victimized).

Two is more valid than one, but is six even better? The factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS)

INTRODUCTION

Self-compassion refers to a non-evaluative, interconnected and mindful attitude towards oneself especially when facing difficulties or feelings of personal inadequacies. The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) is a frequently used instrument designed to measure self-compassion either by using the six subscale scores, or by calculating a total score, averaged across all 26 items.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to examine the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale, and in particular, whether the widely used six-factor model and the unidimensional model can be confirmed.

METHODS

The internal structure of the SCS was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Six different models (a one-factor model, an oblique six-factor model, a higher-order model, an oblique two-factor model, a bi-factor model with one general factor (bifactor model) and a bi-factor model with two general factors, i.e. two-bifactor model) were tested in a sample of adolescents (n = 1725; 50.3% female; mean age = 16.56, SD = 1.95). All models were replicated using responses collected five months after the first data collection from 1497 students (W2), who were largely, but not completely, the same students involved in W1 data collection.

RESULTS

Fit indices for the two-factor model implied an acceptable fit, but none of the remaining models tested met the criteria for an adequate solution. Although the fit indices for the six-factor model suggested an acceptable fit to the data, in this model the negative components of the SCS were highly correlated with each other, especially with the over-identification factor.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study provide evidence to support the use of the separate self-compassion- and self-coldness -scores rather than the overall score of the SCS. Although the fit indices supported the six-factor model, the use of six subscale scores cannot be recommended on the basis of our results given the extremely high correlations within this model between some factors.

Sustainable antibullying program implementation: School profiles and predictors

We examined the sustainability of the KiVa antibullying program in Finland from its nationwide roll-out in 2009 to 2016. Using latent class analyses, we identified four different patterns of implementation. The persistent schools (43%) maintained a high likelihood of participation throughout the study period. The awakened (14%) had a decreasing trend during the first years, but then increased the likelihood of program participation. The tail-offs (20%) decreased in the likelihood of participating after the third year, and the drop-offs (23%) already after the first year. The findings suggest that many schools need support during the initial years to launch and maintain the implementation of evidence-based programs; yet a large proportion of schools manage to sustain the program implementation for several years. The logistic regression analyses showed that large schools persisted more likely than small schools. Lower initial level of victimization was also related to the sustainability of the program. Finally, persistent program participation was predicted by several school-level actions during the initial years of implementing the program. These results imply that the sustainability of evidence-based programs could be enhanced by supporting and guiding schools when setting up the program during the initial implementation.

Beyond the reactive-proactive dichotomy: Rage, revenge, reward, and recreational aggression predict early high school bully and bully/victim status

The role of reactive and proactive aggression in school bullying perpetration remains unclear. In this study, we explore the predictive value of an expanded model of aggression motives based on the Quadripartite Violence Typology (QVT), which distinguishes between motivational valence (appetitive or aversive) and recruitment of deliberative self-control to derive four classes of motives: Rage, Revenge, Reward, and Recreation. With a sample of 1,802 students from grades 7-9, we assessed aggression motives via self-report, along with self-report of bullying perpetration and victimization, which were used to assign students into categories of Pure Bully, Bully/Victim (B/V), Pure Victim, and Uninvolved. Two structural models were computed to examine the relationship between these four categories of bullying involvement and aggression motives, using conservative and liberal bullying cutoffs. As predicted, B/V status was more strongly related to Rage and Revenge motives. However, B/Vs had higher scores than Pure Bullies for almost all aggression motives, including Recreation. We discuss the implications of addressing Revenge and Recreation, as well as Reward and Rage (which map most clearly to proactive and reactive aggression, respectively) aggression motives, for bullying prevention and intervention strategies, especially among adolescents for whom extant bullying prevention strategies may be ineffective or counterproductive.

School Bullies' Intention to Change Behavior Following Teacher Interventions: Effects of Empathy Arousal, Condemning of Bullying, and Blaming of the Perpetrator

This study examines how bullies’ perceptions of how they were treated by a teacher (or other school personnel) during discussions aimed at putting an end to bullying influenced their intention to change their behavior. After each discussion, which took place as part of the implementation of an anti-bullying program, bullies anonymously reported the extent to which they felt that the teacher aroused their empathy for the victim, condemned their behavior, or blamed them. Half of the schools implementing the program were instructed to handle these discussions in a confrontational way—telling the bully that his behavior is not tolerated—while the other half were instructed to use a non-confronting approach. Schools were randomly assigned to one of the two approaches. A total of 341 cases (188 in primary and 153 in secondary schools) handled in 28 Finnish schools were analyzed. Regression analyses showed that attempts at making bullies feel empathy for the victim and condemning their behavior both increased bullies’ intention to stop. Blaming the bully had no significant effect. Bullies’ intention to change was the lowest when both empathy-arousal and condemning behavior were low. The effects of empathy arousal were stronger when condemning the behavior was low (and vice versa), suggesting that teachers tackling bullying should make sure to use at least one of these strategies. When choosing not to raise the child’s empathy, clear reprobation of the behavior is key.

Testing the Direction of Longitudinal Paths between Victimization, Peer Rejection, and Different Types of Internalizing Problems in Adolescence

The transition to secondary school is accompanied by the fragmentation of peer groups, while adolescents are also confronted with heightened incidents of bullying and increased levels of internalizing problems. Victimization, peer rejection, and internalizing problems are known to be interrelated, but how they influence each other over time remains unclear. We tested the direction of these associations by applying a cross-lagged path model among a large sample of Finnish adolescents (N = 5645; 49.1 % boys; M age at T1 = 14.0 years) after they transitioned to secondary school (grades 7-9). Self-reported depression, anxiety, and victimization and peer-reported rejection were measured 3 times over the course of 1 year. Results showed that depression was predictive of subsequent victimization for both boys and girls, in line with a symptoms-driven model; for girls, anxiety was reciprocally related to victimization, in line with a transactional model; for boys, victimization was related to subsequent anxiety, in line with an interpersonal risk model. Peer rejection was not directly related to depression or anxiety, but among girls peer rejection was bi-directionally related to victimization. Overall, our results suggest that associations between internalizing problems and peer relations differ between depression and anxiety and between genders. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Testing the Direction of Longitudinal Paths between Victimization, Peer Rejection, and Different Types of Internalizing Problems in Adolescence

The transition to secondary school is accompanied by the fragmentation of peer groups, while adolescents are also confronted with heightened incidents of bullying and increased levels of internalizing problems. Victimization, peer rejection, and internalizing problems are known to be interrelated, but how they influence each other over time remains unclear. We tested the direction of these associations by applying a cross-lagged path model among a large sample of Finnish adolescents (N = 5645; 49.1 % boys; M age at T1 = 14.0 years) after they transitioned to secondary school (grades 7-9). Self-reported depression, anxiety, and victimization and peer-reported rejection were measured 3 times over the course of 1 year. Results showed that depression was predictive of subsequent victimization for both boys and girls, in line with a symptoms-driven model; for girls, anxiety was reciprocally related to victimization, in line with a transactional model; for boys, victimization was related to subsequent anxiety, in line with an interpersonal risk model. Peer rejection was not directly related to depression or anxiety, but among girls peer rejection was bi-directionally related to victimization. Overall, our results suggest that associations between internalizing problems and peer relations differ between depression and anxiety and between genders. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Substance Use among Adolescents Involved in Bullying: A Cross-Sectional Multilevel Study

Being involved in bullying as a victim or perpetrator could have deleterious health consequences. Even though there is some evidence that bullies and victims of bullying have a higher risk for drug use, less is known about bystanders. The aim of this research was to study the association between bullying experience (as victims, bullies, or bystanders) and substance use. We gathered complete information from a nationally representative sample of 36,687 students (51.4% female) attending 756 schools in Chile. We used a self-reported questionnaire which was developed based on similar instruments used elsewhere. This questionnaire was piloted and presented to an expert panel for approval. We used multilevel multivariate logistic regression analyses, controlling for several variables at the individual (e.g., school membership, parental monitoring) and school levels (e.g., school type, school denomination). This study shows that bullies and bully-victims have a high risk for cigarette, alcohol, and cannabis use than bystanders. This is one of the few studies exploring the association between witnessing bullying and substance use. These findings add new insights to the study of the co-occurrence of bullying and substance use. Other factors, such as higher academic performance, stronger school membership, and better parental monitoring reduced the risk of any substance use, while the experience of domestic violence and the perception of social disorganization in the neighborhood, increased the risk. These findings may help the design of preventive interventions.

The KiVa antibullying program in primary schools in Chile, with and without the digital game component: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Bullying is a major problem worldwide and Chile is no exception. Bullying is defined as a systematic aggressive behavior against a victim who cannot defend him or herself. Victims suffer social isolation and psychological maladjustment, while bullies have a higher risk for conduct problems and substance use disorders. These problems appear to last over time. The KiVa antibullying program has been evaluated in Finland and other European countries, showing preventive effects on victimization and self-reported bullying. The aims of this study are (1) to develop a culturally appropriate version of the KiVa material and (2) to test the effectiveness of the KiVa program, with and without the online game, on reducing experiences of victimization and bullying behavior among vulnerable primary schools in Santiago (Chile), using a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design with three arms: (1) full KiVa program group, (2) partial KiVa (without online game) program group and (3) control group.

METHODS AND DESIGN

This is a three-arm, single-blind, cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a target enrolment of 1495 4th and 5th graders attending 13 vulnerable schools per arm. Students in the full and partial KiVa groups will receive universal actions: ten 2-h lessons delivered by trained teachers during 1 year; they will be exposed to posters encouraging them to support victims and behave constructively when witnessing bullying; and a person designated by the school authorities will be present in all school breaks and lunchtimes using a visible KiVa vest to remind everybody that they are in a KiVa school. KiVa schools also will have indicated actions, which consist of a set of discussion groups with the victims and with the bullies, with proper follow-up. Only full KiVa schools will also receive an online game which has the aim to raise awareness of the role of the group in bullying, increase empathy and promote strategies to support victimized peers. Self-reported victimization, bullying others and peer-reported bullying actions, psychological and academic functioning, and sense of school membership will be measured at baseline and 12 months after randomization.

DISCUSSION

This is the first cluster RCT of the KiVa antibullying program in Latin America.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier: NCT02898324 . Registered on 8 September 2016.

Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions

During the school years, bullying is one of the most common expressions of violence in the peer context. Research on bullying started more than forty years ago, when the phenomenon was defined as 'aggressive, intentional acts carried out by a group or an individual repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him- or herself'. Three criteria are relevant in order to define aggressive behaviour as bullying: (1) repetition, (2) intentionality and (3) an imbalance of power. Given these characteristics, bullying is often defined as systematic abuse of power by peers. It is recognised globally as a complex and serious problem. In the present paper, we discuss the prevalence, age and gender differences, and various types of bullying, as well as why it happens and how long it lasts, starting from the large surveys carried out in western countries and to a lower extent in low- and middle-income countries. The prevalence rates vary widely across studies; therefore, specific attention will be devoted to the definition, time reference period and frequency criterion. We will also focus on risk factors as well as short- and long-term outcomes of bullying and victimisation. Finally, a section will be dedicated to review what is known about effective prevention of bullying.

Decreases in the proportion of bullying victims in the classroom

Sharing a classroom environment with other victimized peers has been shown to mitigate the adverse effects of peer victimization on children’s social and psychological adjustment. By extension, this study hypothesized that classroom reductions in the proportion of victims would be harmful for children who remain victimized. Data were collected at the end of 2 subsequent school years from 4,466 fourth- to sixth-graders (mean age = 11 years), as part of the implementation of the Finnish anti-bullying program KiVa (an acronym for Kiusaamista Vastaan, “against bullying”). Multiple regression analyses were conducted on a subsample of 170 stable victims (children reporting being victimized at least 2–3 times a month at both time points) to test whether a decrease in the proportion of victims in their classrooms had an effect on their adjustment at Time 2. Stable victims felt more depressed, more socially anxious and were less liked at Time 2 in classrooms where the proportion of victims had decreased in 1 year compared to stable victims in classrooms where it had increased or remained the same. These effects were not moderated by the intervention status of the classroom. Paradoxically, an improved social environment can be detrimental for some children. These findings point to the necessity to maintain anti-bullying intervention efforts especially when successful.

Self-Evaluated Self-Esteem, Peer-Evaluated Self-Esteem, and Defensive Egotism as Predictors of Adolescents’ Participation in Bullying Situations

Three dimensions of self-esteem (SE) (self-evaluated, peer-evaluated, defensive egotism) were related to each other and to adolescents’ social behavior. In addition to exploring links between single variables, five SE profiles were formed by means of a cluster analysis and connected to adolescents’ behavior in situations of bullying. Self-and peer-evaluated SEs were significantly correlated, whereas defensive egotism was not connected to either self-or peer-evaluated SE. Adolescents’ SE profiles were associated with their behavior in bullying situations; these connections were stronger among boys than among girls. Bullying others and assisting or reinforcing the bully were typical of adolescents with so-called defensive SE. Defending the victims of bullying was typical of adolescents with genuine high SE. Being victimized by peers was most typical of adolescents with low SE and, among girls, of those in the cluster thed authors named “humble pride.” The social behavior of so-called self-belittlers did not clearly distinguish them from the other groups.

Connections between attitudes, group norms, and behaviour in bullying situations

We examined the connections between attitudes, group norms, and students’ behaviour in bullying situations (bullying others, assisting the bully, reinforcing the bully, defending the victim, or staying outside bullying situations). The participants were 1220 elementary school children (600 girls and 620 boys) from 48 school classes from Grades four, five, and six, i.e., 9–10, 10–11, and 11–12 years of age. Whereas attitudes did predict behaviour at the student level in most cases (although the effects were moderate after controlling for gender), the group norms could be used in explaining variance at the classroom level, especially in the upper grades. The class context (even if not classroom norms specifically) had more effect on girls’ than on boys’ bullying-related behaviours.

Situation-specificity of children's social goals: Changing goals according to changing situations?

Children's agentic and communal goals were examined in hypothetical conflict, group entry, victimization, and positive situations ( N = 310, 11—13 years). Multilevel modeling was used to separate the variation in goals to the between- and within- (i.e., situation-specific) individual levels. About half of the variation in goals was due to individual differences. Boys endorsed more agentic goals than girls. A positive perception of self was associated with more agentic goals, whereas a positive perception of peers was associated with high degrees of communal goals. In addition, agentic goals were associated with rejection, whereas communal goals were related to peer acceptance. Children aimed for closeness with peers most often when no stressful interaction pattern was imposed (positive situation), endorsing fewer affiliation aims when involved in a conflict, and having the least of these aims when victimized by peers. Agentic goals, in turn, were most common in the victimization situation, the next typical in conflict and positive situations, and least likely in the group entry situation. Finally, the way children adjusted their goals in response to the victimization situation varied between children, and was related to sociometric status in older children.