Implementation Process of the Flemish Antibullying Intervention and Relation with Program Effectiveness

Examining the relationship between completeness of teachers’ implementation of the Krachtvoer healthy diet programme and changes in students’ dietary intakes

Objective

The goal of the current study was to examine if the completeness of programme implementation and the completeness of implementation of specific programme elements of the Dutch school-based healthy diet promotion programme Krachtvoer are related to short- and longer-term changes in students’ fruit, sweets and breakfast intakes.

Design

Data on students’ dietary intakes were collected 1–4 weeks and 6 months after programme implementation. Teachers filled in a logbook on programme implementation after each lesson. The relationships between changes in students’ dietary intakes and completeness of implementation of the programme and of specific programme elements were tested using mixed linear regression analyses.

Setting

Thirteen Dutch prevocational schools.

Subjects

Eight hundred and seventy-six of the 1117 participating students and eighteen of the twenty-two participating teachers.

Results

Completeness of programme implementation was positively related to an increase in fruit consumption in the short term. Completeness of implementation of food exposure activities and a practical lesson on advertisements were related to an increase in fruit consumption in the short as well as the longer term. No such relationships were found for sweets and breakfast consumption.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that efforts should be made to help teachers implement the programme as fully as possible.

Anti-bullying intervention: Implementation and outcome

BACKGROUND

The participant role approach represents a view of bullying as a group process in which bystanders often encourage the bullying or silently witness it, while little support is given to the victim (e.g. Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Björkqvist, Osterman, & Kaukiainen, 1996). There is a discrepancy between students' attitudes (which are often against bullying) and their actual behaviour in bullying situations, and this may be an important factor contributing to the persistence of the problem.

AIM

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of an anti-bullying intervention programme targeting the group as a whole. Class teachers who attended a 1-year training course carried out the interventions in school classes. The present evaluation of the project is based on multi-level modelling, assessing the programme effects after 12 months of intervention, utilizing a cohort longitudinal design with adjacent cohorts (Olweus & Alsaker, 1991) also taking into account the degree of implementation of the programme.

SAMPLE

The intervention was implemented in 48 school classes (Grades 4, 5, and 6) from 16 Finnish schools, involving 1,220 children (600 girls and 620 boys).

METHOD

The present report is based on questionnaire data collected at two assessment points during the project, assessing the frequencies of bullies and victims, the extent of observed and experienced bullying, students' attitudes and efficacy beliefs related to bullying, and their participant role behaviours (self- and peer-reported). Reports were collected from teachers about the concrete actions taken in order to compare the actual content of the intervention to what had been planned.

RESULTS

A positive impact of the intervention programme was found on several outcome variables (e.g. frequencies of bullies and victims, observed and experienced bullying, attitudes and efficacy beliefs, and to some extent, participant role behaviours). The intervention effects were found more often in Grade 4 than in Grade 5, and often only in schools with a high degree of implementation of the programme.

Antibullying programs in schools: how effective are evaluation practices?

Bullying is a problem for schools around the world, and is an important topic for research because it has been associated with negative outcomes on numerous social, psychological, and academic measures. Antibullying prevention and intervention programs have varied greatly in their outcomes, with some studies reporting positive results while others have reported little or no positive impacts. Prompted by accountability demands, many agencies have developed standards with which to assess whether social programs are effective. Antibullying program evaluations have not been systematically reviewed to determine whether these types of standards are being applied. The purpose of this study was to assess the rigor of recent peer-reviewed antibullying program evaluations. Thirty-one peer-reviewed evaluations of antibullying programs, published within the last 10 years, were identified and coded for study characteristics. Shortcomings were identified in many of these program evaluations. In order to improve evaluation practices, researchers should consider using more rigorous designs to identify cause-effect relationships, including control conditions and random assignment, using more appropriate pre-post intervals, using more advanced methods of analyses such as hierarchical linear modeling, and systematically verifying program integrity to obtain dosage data that can be used in the outcome analyses.

Implementation matters: a review of research on the influence of implementation on program outcomes and the factors affecting implementation

The first purpose of this review was to assess the impact of implementation on program outcomes, and the second purpose was to identify factors affecting the implementation process. Results from over quantitative 500 studies offered strong empirical support to the conclusion that the level of implementation affects the outcomes obtained in promotion and prevention programs. Findings from 81 additional reports indicate there are at least 23 contextual factors that influence implementation. The implementation process is affected by variables related to communities, providers and innovations, and aspects of the prevention delivery system (i.e., organizational functioning) and the prevention support system (i.e., training and technical assistance). The collection of implementation data is an essential feature of program evaluations, and more information is needed on which and how various factors influence implementation in different community settings.

Learning disabilities and bullying: double jeopardy

Independently, learning disabilities (LD) and involvement in bullying each pose a risk for social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Based on the research to date and on the characteristics common to children with LD and children who are bullied, there is reason to believe that children with LD are at increased risk of victimization. However, there is little research on the relationship between LD and bullying. This article presents factors and characteristics that make children and youth with LD vulnerable to bullying. Risk factors and effects of bullying are reviewed. Implications for practice and research are discussed.