Addressing school bullying: Insights from theories of group processes

A short-term longitudinal study on the development of moral disengagement among schoolchildren: the role of collective moral disengagement, authoritative teaching, and student-teacher relationship quality

The aim of this study was to examine whether collective moral disengagement and authoritative teaching at the classroom level, and student-teacher relationship quality at the individual level, predicted individual moral disengagement among pre-adolescent students 1 year later. In this short-term longitudinal study, 1,373 students from 108 classrooms answered a web-based questionnaire on tablets during school, once in fifth grade (T1) and once in sixth grade (T2). The results showed, after controlling for T1 moral disengagement, gender, and immigrant background, that students with better student-teacher relationship quality at T1 were more inclined to score lower on moral disengagement at T2, whereas students in classrooms with higher levels of collective moral disengagement at T1 were more inclined to score higher on moral disengagement at T2. In addition, both collective moral disengagement and authoritative teaching were found to moderate the associations between student-teacher relationship quality at T1 and moral disengagement at T2. These findings underscore the importance of fostering positive relationships between students and teachers, as well as minimizing collective moral disengagement in classrooms. These measures may prevent the potential escalation of moral disengagement in a negative direction.

The indirect association between moral disengagement and bystander behaviors in school bullying through motivation: Structural equation modelling and mediation analysis

Guided by the social-cognitive theory and self-determination theory, this study examined whether moral disengagement is indirectly associated with pro-bullying, passive bystanding, and defending, mediated by autonomous motivation, introjected motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation to defend victims of bullying among early adolescents. Participants were 901 upper elementary students from 43 school classes at 15 public schools in Sweden who completed a questionnaire in their classrooms. The results showed that students who were less inclined to morally disengage in peer bullying tended to be more autonomously motivated to take the victim’s side, which in turn was associated with greater defending and fewer pro-bullying behaviors. Introjected motivation to defend negatively mediated the association between moral disengagement and defending, and positively mediated moral disengagement’s associations with passive bystanding and pro-bullying behavior. Extrinsic motivation to defend mediated moral disengagement’s associations with passive bystanding and pro-bullying behavior. Finally, students who were more prone to morally disengage in peer bullying tended to be more amotivated to take the victim’s side, which in turn was associated with greater pro-bullying behavior and less defending.

Defending or Remaining Passive as a Bystander of School Bullying in Sweden: The Role of Moral Disengagement and Antibullying Class Norms

The overall aim of the present study was to examine whether moral disengagement and perceptions of antibullying class norms at individual level and at class level were associated with defending and passive bystanding in school bullying among school-age children. More specifically, we investigated the extent to which moral disengagement would contribute to explain defending and passive bystanding, after controlling for sex and perceptions of antibullying class norms at individual level and at class level. A total of 789 Swedish students (aged 10-14) from 40 middle school classes filled out a self-report survey. The findings revealed that girls and students who were less prone to morally disengage, and who perceived that their classmates endorsed more antibullying norms, were more likely to defend victimized peers. Students who were more inclined to morally disengage and perceive that classmates do not condemn bullying were more likely to act as passive bystanders. In addition, classes with higher levels of antibullying class norms were more likely to show higher rates of defending and lower rates of passive bystanding compared to the other classes. The findings suggest that schools and teachers need to develop educational strategies, methods, and efforts designed to make students aware of moral disengagement and to reduce their likelihood of morally disengaging in bullying situations. The present findings also point to the importance of teachers establishing class rules against bullying together with the students.

Prosocial Behavior and Aggression in the Daily School Lives of Early Adolescents

Research has not adequately addressed a possible mutual co-regulatory influence of prosocial and aggressive behaviors in adolescents' daily lives. This study explored bidirectional within-person associations between prosocial and aggressive behaviors in the daily school lives of early adolescents. The sample included 242 sixth-graders [M_age = 11.96 (SD = 0.18), 50% girls] and their teachers. Adolescents reported on daily prosocial behavior and reactive and proactive aggression for ten consecutive days. Teachers and adolescents reported on adolescents' overall prosocial behaviors. Across-day prosocial behaviors increased after days when adolescents exhibited more reactive aggression but not among self-reported low-prosocial adolescents. Increased prosocial behaviors did not mitigate aggression the next day. The findings suggest prosocial behaviors are a plausible compensatory strategy after daily aggressive reactions.

Evaluating Psychometric Properties of the New Teachers' Perceptions of Collective Efficacy to Handle Bullying Scale (TCEB)

Collective efficacy is a promising theoretical construct that has been used to explain bullying rates in school. The development of school collective efficacy scales has increased in bullying research in recent years; however, gaps remain in measuring collective efficacy to handle bullying. This research assessed the psychometric properties of a new scale to evaluate collective efficacy against bullying. This first-order one-dimensional scale is called the teachers’ perceptions of collective efficacy to handle bullying (TCEB) scale. A sample of 804 Mexican primary teachers completed questionnaires. The sample was randomly split into two subsamples for calibration (n = 402) and cross-validation analysis (n = 402). The factor structure was supported by confirmatory factorial analysis. Measurement equivalence was confirmed by gender. The latent means differences showed no statistically significant differences by teachers’ gender. The TCEB correlation with school environment factors (e.g., principal support, school climate, and bullying) confirms the scale’s discriminant and concurrent validity. Our findings suggest that TCEB is a suitable instrument to assess teachers’ perceptions of collective efficacy to handle bullying, a construct that has proved to help predict a positive whole-school context and student bullying involvement.

Naturalistic development of trait mindfulness: A longitudinal examination of victimization and supportive relationships in early adolescence

Scholars have only just begun to examine elements of young adolescents' social ecologies that explain naturalistic variation in trait mindfulness and its development over time. We argue that trait mindfulness develops as a function of chronically encountered ecologies that are likely to foster or thwart the repeated enactment of mindful states over time. Using data from 4,593 fourth and seventh grade students (50% female; MageG4 = 9.02; 71% English first language) from 32 public school districts in British Columbia (BC), Canada, we examined links from peer belonging, connectedness with adults at home, and peer victimization to mindfulness over time. Variable-centered analyses indicated that young adolescents with lower victimization in fourth grade reported higher mindfulness in seventh grade, and that cross-sectionally within seventh grade victimization, peer belonging, and connectedness with adults at home were each associated with mindfulness. Contrary to our hypothesis, connectedness with adults at home moderated the longitudinal association between victimization and mindfulness such that the negative association was stronger among young adolescents with high (vs. low) levels of connectedness with adults at home. Person-centered analysis of the fourth graders' data confirmed our variable-centered findings, yielding four latent classes of social ecology whose mindfulness levels in seventh grade largely tracked with their victimization levels (from highest to lowest mindfulness): (1) flourishing relationships, (2) unvictimized but weak relationships with adults, (3) moderately victimized but strong relationships, and (4) victimized but strong relationships. Overall, our findings contribute to a growing body of evidence indicating that trait mindfulness may develop as a function of ecologically normative experiences in young adolescents' everyday lives.

Anxiety and Depression in Cyberbullied College Students: A Retrospective Study

Cyberbullying is a worldwide phenomenon and its effects can be severe. To better understand the personal and situational factors in cyberbullying, we approach it from the perspective of the general aggression model. More specifically, we analyze the medium and long-term impact of past experiences of cyberbullying on university students. We also compare their psychological adjustment with peers who have not been cyberbullied by examining the recall of cyberbullying while attending secondary school of 1,593 university students. Participants from a Spanish University (N = 680) and a Bolivian University (N = 913) were invited to participate by filling in an online survey. It included the School Violence Questionnaire-Revised, CUVE-R, to assess school and classroom climate in relation to bullying and cyberbullying, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results show that among the participants, 5.1% reported having suffered cyberbullying and 19.3% reported having been a bystander of cyberbullying, with similar percentages between universities. Canonical correlation suggests that variables related to school climate best explain the variability among participants who have and have not been cyberbullied. Those who have been cyberbullied scored significantly higher on anxiety and depression symptoms as well. Being a bystander of cyberbullying was not associated to significant differences on psychological adjustment (i.e., anxiety and depression). Results indicated that experiencing cyberbullying in secondary school is associated to lower psychological adjustment years later as university students. School climate variables contribute more strongly to identifying victims of cyberbullying. These results support the need for psychosocial interventions from a broader perspective, addressing the different dimensions of this phenomenon and its impact on victims.

Standing up for the victim or supporting the bully? Bystander responses and their associations with moral disengagement, defender self-efficacy, and collective efficacy

The aim of the current study was to examine whether moral disengagement and defender self-efficacy at individual level and collective efficacy to stop peer aggression at classroom level were associated with defending and reinforcing in school bullying situations in late childhood. Self-reported survey data were collected from 1060 Swedish students from 70 classrooms in 29 schools. Multilevel analysis found that greater defender self-efficacy at individual level and collective efficacy to stop peer aggression at classroom level were associated with greater defending. We also found that greater moral disengagement and less (but very weakly) defender self-efficacy at individual level and less collective efficacy to stop peer aggression at classroom level were associated with greater reinforcing. The positive relationship between moral disengagement and reinforcing and the negative relationship between defender self-efficacy and reinforcing were less strong in classroom high in collective efficacy to stop aggression.

Preventing Teen Relationship Abuse and Sexual Assault through Bystander Training: Intervention Outcomes for School Personnel

The purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of exposure to Bringing in the Bystander-High School Curriculum (BITB-HSC) on school personnel, which included a seven session classroom curriculum for ninth through twelfth graders (student curriculum), a bystander training workshop for school personnel (school personnel workshop), and reading materials (handout). We examined how exposure to these various BITB-HSC intervention components was associated with school personnel's knowledge and bystander efficacy, intentions, and barriers specific to student relationship abuse (RA) and sexual assault (SA). Participants were 488 school personnel from 12 high schools in upper New England who completed the 4-month follow-up survey that assessed for intervention exposure (284 participants completed both the baseline and follow-up survey). Whereas 53% of participants were exposed to no intervention components, the other half of the sample were exposed to a combination of intervention components. Higher baseline knowledge and reactive bystander intentions were associated with subsequent exposure to both the student curriculum and the handout, and fewer barriers to bystander action predicted exposure to the school personnel workshop. Exposure to the school personnel workshop, student curriculum, and handout was associated with subsequent greater knowledge, exposure to the student curriculum predicted reactive bystander intentions, and exposure to the handout predicted higher reactive bystander intentions and bystander efficacy. Findings suggest that despite challenges with engagement, exposure to the BITB-HSC components may be a useful tool in improving school personnel's responses to RA and SA among high school students.

Individual and Classroom Social-Cognitive Processes in Bullying: A Short-Term Longitudinal Multilevel Study

The aim of this study was to examine whether individual and classroom collective social-cognitive processes (moral disengagement and self-efficacy) were associated with bullying perpetration among schoolchildren. An additional aim was to examine whether changes in these processes from grade 4 (Time 1) to grade 5 (Time 2) were associated with a change in bullying perpetration. Self-reported survey data were collected from 1,250 Swedish students from 98 classrooms. Results of multilevel analysis indicated that individual and classroom collective moral disengagement (CMD) were positively associated with bullying, and defender self-efficacy (DSE) was negatively associated with bullying. The effect of changes in individual moral disengagement on changes in bullying was positive, and the effects of changes in DSE and classroom collective efficacy on changes in bullying were negative. Thus, the findings demonstrate the changeability of moral disengagement, DSE and collective efficacy over time, and how these changes are linked to changes in bullying perpetration.

Cyberbullying in Gifted Students: Prevalence and Psychological Well-Being in a Spanish Sample

The differential characteristics of gifted students can make them vulnerable to cyberbullying. There is very little empirical evidence about cyberbullying and giftedness. In the Spanish context, it is unexplored. The main goal of this work is to determine the prevalence of cyberbullying, its distribution in the different roles, and its relationship with other psychological variables. A cross-sectional study was performed with 255 gifted students (M = 11.88 years, SD = 2.28 years) in Spain (155 males, 60.8%). We used the cyberbullying test and the Spanish versions of the DASS-21, ISEL, KIDSCREEN-10, and the SWLS. The results indicate that 25.1% of the students are pure-cybervictims, 3.9% pure-cyberbullies, and 6.6% cyberbully-victims. Pure-cybervictims and cyberbully-victims present worse scores (p < 0.001) in health-related quality of life, depression, life satisfaction and stress than the uninvolved individuals. The results suggest that the gifted sample presents more cybervictimization and less cyberbullying than observed in other studies of the general population.

Why do children and adolescents bully their peers? A critical review of key theoretical frameworks

Bullying is a significant public health problem for children and adolescents worldwide. Evidence suggests that both being bullied (bullying victimisation) and bullying others (bullying perpetration) are associated with concurrent and future mental health problems. The onset and course of bullying perpetration are influenced by individual as well as systemic factors. Identifying effective solutions to address bullying requires a fundamental understanding of why it occurs. Drawing from multi-disciplinary domains, this review provides a summary and synthesis of the key theoretical frameworks applied to understanding and intervening on the issue of bullying. A number of explanatory models have been used to elucidate the dynamics of bullying, and broadly these correspond with either system (e.g., social-ecological, family systems, peer-group socialisation) or individual-level (e.g., developmental psychopathology, genetic, resource control, social-cognitive) frameworks. Each theory adds a unique perspective; however, no single framework comprehensively explains why bullying occurs. This review demonstrates that the integration of theoretical perspectives achieves a more nuanced understanding of bullying which is necessary for strengthening evidence-based interventions. Future progress requires researchers to integrate both the systems and individual-level theoretical frameworks to further improve current interventions. More effective intervention across different systems as well as tailoring interventions to the specific needs of the individuals directly involved in bullying will reduce exposure to a key risk factor for mental health problems.

Preservice Preschool Teachers' Responses to Bullying Scenarios: The Roles of Years of Study and Empathy

The present study is aim to examine whether preservice preschool teachers' respond differently to physical, verbal and relational bullying, and how their years of study and trait empathy related their responses. There were 242 preservice teachers in the present study. Empathy was measured with the self-report Interpersonal Reactive Index; the Bullying Attitude Questionnaire was used to assess their perceptions of incident seriousness, their sympathy toward the victim of the bullying, and their possibility to intervene in the situation. The results revealed that the participants responded most to physical bullying and least to relational bullying. Interestingly, responses to relational bullying tended to decrease during the university period. The empathy dimensions played different roles in the participants' responses to bullying, while cognitive empathy have little relationship with the participants' responses to bullying, emotional empathy played a more complex role in the participants' responses to bullying: empathic concerns moderated the relationship between years of study and responses to bullying, and personal distress negatively predicted the participants' responses to all types of bullying. The implications for bullying intervention and the suggestion for teacher education are discussed.

Brief note: Applying developmental intergroup perspectives to the social ecologies of bullying: Lessons from developmental social psychology

Over the past decades, the field of bullying research has seen dramatic growth, notably with the integration of the social-ecological approach to understanding bullying. Recently, researchers (Hymel et al., 2015; Hawley & Williford, 2015) have called for further extension of the field by incorporating constructs of group processes into our investigation of the social ecologies of bullying. This brief note details the critical connections between power, social identity, group norms, social and moral reasoning about discrimination and victimization, and experiences of, evaluations of, and responses to bullying. The authors highlight a parallel development in the bridging of developmental social-ecological and social psychological perspectives utilized in the field of social exclusion that provides a roadmap for extending the larger field of bullying research. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled [VSI: Bullying] IG000050.