Speak up or stay silent: Can teacher responses towards bullying predict victimized students’ disclosure of victimization?

Moderators of the Link Between Social Preference and Persistent Peer Victimization for Elementary School Children

OBJECTIVE

Current antibullying programs can reduce overall rates of victimization but appear to overlook processes that give rise to persistent peer victimization. Needed are studies that delineate the interplay between social contextual and individual difference variables that contribute to persistent peer victimization. We examined the extent to which two individual-difference variables - internalizing symptoms (IS) and anxiety sensitivity (AS) - moderated the link between children's average social preference score across the school year and their status as persistent victims.

METHOD

Participants included 659 4th-grade students (Mage = 9.31 years, SD = 0.50, 51.8% girls; 42.3% Latinx, 28.9% non-Hispanic White, 10.2% Pacific Islander, 7.7% Bi/Multiracial, 1.9% Black, 1.7% Asian, 1.7% Native American, and 3.4% unreported) from 10 public elementary schools in the U.S.

RESULTS

As expected, higher social preference scores predicted a decreased likelihood of being persistently victimized. Conversely, IS and AS were positively linked to persistent victim status. AS significantly moderated the link between social preference and persistent victim status such that for children with high AS, compared to those with AS scores at or below the mean, the negative association between social preference and persistent victim status was attenuated.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings provide evidence that children who experience high levels of IS and AS are at risk for being persistently victimized by peers and that high AS could signal increased risk for persistent victimization even when children are generally liked by peers. We discuss the implications of these findings for efforts to develop focused interventions for chronically bullied children.

Non-Disclosure and Suicidal Ideation in Adolescent Victims of Bullying: An Analysis from the Family and School Context

In recent years, suicide rates among bullying victims have raised much concern among educators and health professionals. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of preventable death among adolescents, data that warn about the need to monitor the signs before victims' suicidal behavior to prevent this fatal outcome. In the present study, the role of victims' silence about their victimization situation was analysed, as well as the particular impact of family and school environments. More specifically, we examined the mediating role of the victim's non-disclosure between the parental styles (observing the father's and mother's roles separately) and the school climate, concerning suicidal ideation in victims. The sample consisted of 2,977 adolescents (48.5% boys), aged 11-17 years (M = 14.1, SD = 1.42), of whom 635 (21.3%) reported having been victims of bullying in the past year. The results showed that parental styles of rejection and indifference were positively related to victims' non-disclosure of bullying and suicidal ideation. Conversely, a positive school climate showed a negative relationship with victims' disclosure of the bullying situation and suicidal ideation. The findings also indicated that non-disclosure mediates the relationship between the mother's parental style and suicidal ideation. These findings expand knowledge about the role of bullying victims' social context and the variable disclosure with regards to suicidal ideation in adolescents victimized by peers at school.

Prevalence of Aggressive Behavior in Greek Elementary School Settings from Teachers' Perspectives

The present study aims to estimate the prevalence of bullying in Greek elementary schools and to study the risk factors that lead to bullying episodes. A structured questionnaire was given to 221 teachers of elementary schools and 71 kindergarten teachers from urban and rural Greek schools. They were asked to note the forms and the frequency of aggressive behaviors that they had witnessed during the school years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, as well as the sociodemographic characteristics of the aggressive children involved. Statistical analyses of the data were conducted, and the obtained results show that specific forms of aggression are significantly correlated with gender and low academic performance. In addition, there is no form of aggressive behavior that is associated with the perpetrator's age, nationality or family status. Further, the results of the factor analysis revealed four dominant factors in the aggressive behavior observed by teachers. The forms of bullying and the prevailing factors of aggressive behavior that dominate in Greek school settings are reported in the present study. Furthermore, a novel evaluation tool for teachers could potentially be developed based on the results of the present study.

Teachers' Responses to Bullying Questionnaire: A Validation Study in Two Educational Contexts

Given the high prevalence and dramatic impact of being bullied at school, it is crucial to get more insight into how teachers can reduce bullying. So far, few instruments have measured elementary teachers' responses to bullying. This study investigated the validity of the student-reported Teachers' Responses to Bullying Questionnaire. The factor structure and measurement invariance were tested across two educational contexts among fourth and fifth grade students from Italy (n = 235) and Belgium (n = 667). Furthermore, associations between student-perceived teachers' responses and students' bullying behavior were examined. Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the predicted five-factor structure, distinguishing Non-Intervention, Disciplinary Methods, Group Discussion, Mediation, and Victim Support. A partial factor means invariance model was found, allowing for valid comparisons between the Italian and Belgian educational contexts. Significant associations were found between self-reported, but not peer-nominated, bullying behavior and most student-perceived teachers' responses.