Evaluation of the Olweus Bully Prevention Program in an Urban School System in the USA

Antibullying Interventions in Schools: Assessing the Evidence Base

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review used established rating criteria to describe the level of evidence for interventions aimed at preventing or reducing bullying perpetration and victimization in schools, synthesized the evidence for students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, and reviewed the literature for available information to conduct an economic analysis of the interventions.

METHODS

Major databases, gray literature, and evidence-base registries were searched to identify studies published from 2008 through 2022. The authors rated antibullying intervention models as having high, moderate, or low evidence depending on the number and rigor of studies with positive findings.

RESULTS

Overall, 80 articles reporting on 71 original research studies describing a total of 48 antibullying interventions met the inclusion criteria for this review. Two schoolwide interventions received a high-evidence rating: the KiVa (Kiusaamista Vastaan) Antibullying Program and the Friendly Schools program. Multilevel interventions with components at the levels of school, classroom, and individual student most consistently showed strong evidence for reducing bullying behavior in elementary and middle school grades. Four interventions yielded positive effects in reducing bullying and victimization among diverse samples of students.

CONCLUSIONS

Antibullying interventions can reduce bullying in schools. Some interventions show effectiveness with students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds. The gains relative to per-student costs were in the range that is considered cost-effective. Most implementation costs are spent on staff training and support. Research on successful implementation of whole-school interventions and additional synthesis of evidence pertaining to program structures would further advance the antibullying evidence base.

Challenges in Evaluating a Community-Level Intervention to Address Root Causes of Youth Violence

Violence disproportionately impacts Black American youth, representing a major health disparity. Addressing the possible root causes of structural inequities to reduce violence may increase the impact of prevention strategies. However, efforts to evaluate the impact of such interventions pose numerous methodological challenges, particularly around selecting an effective evaluation design to detect change at the community level, with adequate power and sampling, and appropriate constructs and measurement strategies. We propose a multiple baseline experimental design to evaluate the impact of a community-level youth violence and suicidality prevention strategy. A multiple baseline experimental design with multiple community units balances the need for scientific rigor with practical and values-based considerations. It includes randomization and plausible counterfactuals without requiring large samples or placing some communities in the position of not receiving the intervention. Considerations related to the conceptualization of the logic model, mechanisms of change, and health disparity outcomes informed the development of the measurement strategy. The strengths and weaknesses of a multiple baseline experimental design are discussed in comparison to versions of randomized clinical trials. Future health disparity intervention evaluation research will benefit from (1) building a shared sense of urgent public need to promote health; (2) respecting the validity of values- and partnership-based decision-making; and (3) promoting community-based and systems-level partnerships in scientific grant funding. The described study has been registered prospectively at clinicaltrials.gov, Protocol Record 21-454.

Empowering Students against Ethnic Bullying: Review and Recommendations of Innovative School Programs

Despite research on anti-bullying interventions, there is no systemic approach or resources for teachers to address ethnic and race-related bullying in schools. In this article, we selectively reviewed theories and programs to help teachers identify and address ethnic bullying in their classrooms. We provide recommendations for workshops (e.g., cultural awareness training, empathy-building activities, bystander intervention, and stigma-based intervention). These anti-ethnic bullying workshops should promote understanding of different cultures, strengthen empathy for those who are different, encourage bystanders to take action, and reduce stigma and stereotypes. Through the sharing of diverse perspectives, expertise, and experiences, we hope this article can cultivate interactive dialogues and collaborations between educators and researchers to effectively address ethnic and race-related bullying.

Beliefs as Mediators of Relations Between Exposure to Violence and Physical Aggression During Early Adolescence

This study examined beliefs about aggression and self-efficacy for nonviolent responses as mediators of longitudinal relations between exposure to violence and physical aggression. Participants were a predominantly African American (79%) sample of 2,705 early adolescents from three middle schools within urban neighborhoods with high rates of violence. Participants completed measures across four waves (fall, winter, spring, and summer) within a school year. Beliefs supporting proactive aggression, beliefs against fighting, and self-efficacy for nonviolence partially mediated relations between witnessing violence and physical aggression. Indirect effects for beliefs supporting proactive aggression and self-efficacy were maintained after controlling for victimization and negative life events. Beliefs supporting proactive aggression mediated the effects of violent victimization on physical aggression, but these effects were not significant after controlling for witnessing violence and negative life events. The findings underscore the importance of examining the unique pathways from witnessing community violence versus violent victimization to physical aggression.

School bullying associated suicidal risk in children and adolescents from Yunnan, China: The mediation of social support

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to investigate the mediation of social support in the association between school bullying and suicidal risk among a large group of Chinese children and adolescents.

METHOD

In this two-wave cross-sectional study, we analyzed 6,063 children and adolescents from southwest China. A two-stage simple random clustering sampling method with probability proportionate to sample size design had been used to select study subjects. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression models were adopted to determine the inter-associations between school bullying, suicidal risk indicators, and social support. Path models were further fitted to estimate the mediation of social support.

RESULTS

Compared with students who were not involved in school bullying, only victimization was associated with increased suicidal risk, the adjusted ORs for suicidal ideation, suicidal plan, and suicidal attempt were 2.06 (95% CI: 1.61-2.65), 2.07 (95% CI: 1.62-2.64), and 2.41 (95% CI: 1.90-3.05), respectively. Path model indicated that parental social support significantly mediated the association between bullying victimization and suicidal risk. For different types of victimization, only relational bullying victimization was associated with increased suicidal risk, social support from classmates and close friends presented as significant mediators.

LIMITATIONS

Causal inference cannot be made because of cross-sectional study design. Information was collected by using self-reporting method, the possibility of information bias exists. Generalization of study results could be limited.

CONCLUSIONS

Intervention measures on improving parental and peer social support may be effective in reducing school bullying victimization associated suicidal risk for Chinese children and adolescents.

The influence of exposure to violence on adolescents' physical aggression: The protective influence of peers

INTRODUCTION

This study examined the degree to which peers can serve as a protective factor to mitigate the negative effects of exposure to violence (i.e., victimization, witnessing violence) on adolescents' physical aggression. Four specific dimensions of peer influence were examined - friends' support for nonviolence, friends' support for fighting, peer pressure for fighting, and friends' delinquent behavior.

METHODS

Analyses were conducted on four waves of data collected every 3 months (i.e., fall, winter, spring, summer) from a predominantly African-American (78%) sample of 2575 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders attending three public middle schools in the United States. The sample was 52% female, with a mean age of 12.3 years (SD = 1.00).

RESULTS

Findings for relations with victimization differed by sex. For boys, low levels of friends' delinquent behavior attenuated the relation between victimization and changes in physical aggression across all three waves. The protective effect of low levels of peer pressure for fighting was only evident in the winter for boys, whereas the protective effect of friends' support for nonviolence was only evident in the summer. For girls, high levels of friends' support for nonviolence attenuated the relation between victimization in the winter and changes in physical aggression in the spring. In contrast, none of the peer factors moderated the relation between witnessing violence and physical aggression.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that prevention and interventions that increase positive peer influences and decrease negative peer influences may benefit adolescents by reducing risks associated with victimization.

Evaluation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in US Urban Middle Schools Using a Multiple Baseline Experimental Design

We evaluated the impact of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) in an 8-year study in urban middle schools that served primarily African American students living in low-income areas. Participants included 2755 students and 242 teachers. We evaluated the OBPP with a multiple-baseline experimental design where the order and intervention start time was randomly assigned for each school. We assessed the frequency of bullying behaviors and experiences including physical, relational, and verbal aggression and victimization using teacher ratings of student behavior and student-reported data, as well as cyber aggression and victimization and school climate measures using student-reported data. For teacher ratings of student behavior, we found significant main effects across all subtypes of aggression and victimization, with some variability in the timing of effects. The pattern of findings showed delayed intervention effects for boys and a weaker impact of the OBPP on 6th graders. We found main effects for student-reported cyber aggression and victimization, relational aggression, and a composite of physical, verbal, and relational victimization. Decreases in victimization emerged in the 1st or 2nd year of intervention, and reductions in aggression emerged during the 3rd year. Across all findings, once intervention effects emerged, they remained significant in subsequent intervention years. The OBPP resulted in significant decreases in student- and teacher-reported aggression and victimization. However, this intervention had limited impact on general areas of school climate including teacher support, positive peer interactions, and school safety. Overall, the findings offer important prevention and research implications.

Patterns of Parental Messages Supporting Fighting and Nonviolence Among Urban Middle School Students

The purpose of this study was to identify subgroups of adolescents with distinct perceptions of parental messages supporting fighting and nonviolence. Latent class analysis identified four subgroups among 2,619 urban middle school students (90% African American; 52% female): messages supporting fighting (32%), messages supporting nonviolence (29%), mixed messages (23%), and no messages (16%). We found significant differences across subgroups in their frequency of physical aggression and peer victimization and beliefs about the use of aggressive and nonviolent responses to peer provocation. Beliefs significantly mediated the relation between parental messages subgroups and both aggression and victimization. Findings illustrate the heterogeneity in the messages urban adolescents perceive from their parents, as well as relations with adolescents' beliefs and behavior.

Spatial Analysis of the Impact of a School-Level Youth Violence Prevention Program on Violent Crime Incidents in the Community

This study investigated the effect of a school-based violence prevention program on community rates of violence for youth aged 10 to 18 in three urban communities with high rates of crime and poverty. We evaluated the impact of the Olweus Bully Prevention Program (OBPP) combined with a family intervention using a multiple baseline design in which we randomized the order and timing of intervention activities across three schools. Outcomes were police reports of violent crime incidents involving offenders aged 10 to 18 years (N = 2859 incidents) across a 6-year period. We used Bayesian hierarchical regression modeling to estimate the reduction of youth violence in the census blocks of the intervention middle school zones. Models controlled for percent female head-of-household, median household income, and percent renter-occupied housing units. Block groups within the attendance zones of schools receiving the intervention had a reduced risk of violence compared with those that did not (relative risk = 0.83, 95% credible interval = 0.71, 0.99). Our findings suggest that the school-level intervention was associated with a significant reduction in community-level youth violence. Public health professionals, program planners, and policy-makers should be aware of the potential community-wide benefit of school-level interventions.

Bidirectional Relations between Witnessing Violence, Victimization, Life Events, and Physical Aggression among Adolescents in Urban Schools

Although there is empirical evidence supporting associations between exposure to violence and engaging in physically aggressive behavior during adolescence, there is limited longitudinal research to determine the extent to which exposure to violence is a cause or a consequence of physical aggression, and most studies have not addressed the influence of other negative life events experienced by adolescents. This study examined bidirectional relations between physical aggression, two forms of exposure to violence-witnessing violence and victimization, and other negative life events. Participants were a sample of 2568 adolescents attending three urban public middle schools who completed measures of each construct every 3 months during middle school. Their mean age was 12.76 (SD = 0.98); 52% were female. The majority were African American (89%); 17% were Hispanic or Latino/a. Cross-lagged regression analyses across four waves of data collected within the same grade revealed bidirectional relations between witnessing violence and physical aggression, and between witnessing violence and negative life events. Although physical aggression predicted subsequent changes in victimization, victimization predicted changes in physical aggression only when witnessing violence was not taken into account. Findings were consistent across sex and grades. Overall, these findings highlight the need for interventions that break the connection between exposure to violence and aggression during adolescence.

Longitudinal relations between trauma-related psychological distress and physical aggression among urban early adolescents

There is convincing evidence that trauma-related psychological distress and aggressive behavior are highly related among adolescents. The evidence is less clear regarding the direction of this relation.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine reciprocal longitudinal relations between trauma-related distress and physical aggression.

METHOD

A predominantly African American sample of early adolescents (N = 2,271; mean age = 12.9) living in an urban, under-resourced community participated in this investigation. The current study used autoregressive cross-lagged models to examine changes across four waves of data within each grade of middle school.

RESULTS

Support was found for trauma-related distress uniquely predicting increased levels of physical aggression. This effect was consistent across gender and within and across middle school grades. Conversely, physical aggression did not predict changes in trauma-related distress.

CONCLUSIONS

Violence prevention efforts should routinely screen for trauma-related distress.

Deviant Peer Factors During Early Adolescence: Cause or Consequence of Physical Aggression?

This study investigated reciprocal relations between adolescents' physical aggression and their perceptions of peers' deviant behaviors and attitudes. Analyses were conducted on four waves of data from 2,290 adolescents (ages 10-16) from three urban middle schools. Autoregression models revealed reciprocal relations between peer factors (i.e., friends' problem behavior, peer pressure for fighting, friends' support for fighting) and adolescents' reporting of their aggressive behavior. Bidirectional relations were also found between peer pressure for fighting and adolescents' frequency of physical aggression based on teacher ratings. Findings were consistent across sex, grade, and time. Findings suggest that multiple dimensions of peers' behaviors uniquely play a role in the development of adolescents' aggression and have important implications for interventions to reduce problem behaviors.

Dating violence perpetration and perceived parental support for fighting and nonviolent responses to conflict: An autoregressive cross-lagged model

INTRODUCTION

The current study examined longitudinal and bidirectional relationships between adolescent perceptions of parental support for fighting and nonviolent responses to conflict and dating violence perpetration. These relationships were examined among a sample of predominately African American youth from an economically disadvantaged urban neighborhood in the United States, a group of adolescents who may be at a high risk for dating violence and for receiving a mixture of parental support for how to respond in conflict situations.

METHOD

Participants were 1014 early adolescents (51% female, 91% African American) who were currently dating or had been recently dating. Adolescents completed measures on their perceptions of parental support for fighting and nonviolent responses to conflict, as well as dating violence perpetration.

RESULTS

Using an autoregressive cross-lagged path analysis across four time points, perceptions of parental support for fighting were inversely associated with changes in perceived parental support for nonviolent responses to conflict, but not with changes in dating violence over time. However, perceived parental support for nonviolent responses to conflict were inversely associated with changes in dating violence perpetration over time.

CONCLUSIONS

Although parents in high-burden communities may give a mixture of messages about how to handle conflict, encouraging parents to provide messages supporting nonviolent responses to conflict may protect youth from perpetrating violence within their dating relationships. These findings inform future research directions and dating violence prevention programs.

Assessment of In-Person and Cyber Aggression and Victimization, Substance Use, and Delinquent Behavior During Early Adolescence

This study evaluated the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale-Adolescent Report (PBFS-AR), a measure designed to assess adolescents' frequency of victimization, aggression, substance use, and delinquent behavior. Participants were 1,263 students (50% female; 78% African American, 18% Latino) from three urban middle schools in the United States. Confirmatory factor analyses of competing models of the structure of the PBFS-AR supported a model that differentiated among three forms of aggression (in-person physical, in-person relational, and cyber), two forms of victimization (in-person and cyber), substance use, and delinquent behavior. This seven-factor model fit the data well and demonstrated strong measurement invariance across groups that differed on sex and grade. Support was found for concurrent validity of the PBFS-AR based on its pattern of relations with school office discipline referrals.

Beliefs about Fighting and Their Relations to Urban Adolescents' Frequency of Aggression and Victimization: Evaluation of the Beliefs about Fighting Scale

This study investigated the structure and concurrent validity of the Beliefs About Fighting Scale (BAFS). Participants were 2,118 students from three urban middle schools who completed measures of their beliefs, frequency of physical aggression, victimization, and nonviolent intentions. Ratings of students' frequency of physical aggression, physical victimization, and nonviolent behavior were also obtained from their teachers. The majority of the sample was African American (81%). Confirmatory factor analyses supported a model with separate factors representing beliefs against fighting, beliefs that fighting is sometimes necessary, beliefs supporting reactive aggression, and beliefs supporting proactive aggression. Support was also found for strong measurement invariance across sex, grade, and groups that differed in whether a violence prevention program was being implemented at their school. The four BAFS factors were associated with adolescents' frequency of aggression, victimization, and nonviolent behavior. This study underscores the importance of assessing multiple aspects of beliefs associated with aggressive behavior.