Bullying continues to be a concern in schools and communities across the United States and worldwide, yet there is uncertainty regarding the most effective approaches for preventing it and addressing ...its impacts on children and youth. This paper synthesizes findings from a series of studies and meta-analyses examining the efficacy of bullying prevention programs. This paper considers some methodological issues encountered when testing the efficacy and effectiveness of bullying prevention and intervention approaches. It also identifies several areas requiring additional research in order to increase the effectiveness of bullying prevention efforts in real-world settings. Drawing upon a public health perspective and findings from the field of prevention science, this paper aims to inform potential future directions for enhancing the adoption, high quality implementation, and dissemination of evidence-based bullying prevention programs. It is concluded that although bullying prevention programs can be effective in reducing bullying and victimization among school-aged youth, there is a great need for more work to increase the acceptability, fidelity, and sustainability of the existing programs in order to improve bullying-related outcomes for youth. The findings from this review are intended to inform both policy and public health practice related to bullying prevention.
Abstract Purpose Cyberbullying appears to be on the rise among adolescents due in part to increased access to electronic devices and less online supervision. Less is known about how cyberbullying ...differs from traditional bullying which occurs in person and the extent to which these two forms overlap. Our first aim was to examine the overlap of traditional bullying (relational, verbal, and physical) with cyberbullying. The second aim examined student- and school-level correlates of cyber victimization as compared to traditional victims. The final aim explored details of the cyberbullying experience (e.g., who sent the message, how was the message sent, and what was the message about). Methods Data came from 28,104 adolescents (grades, 9–12) attending 58 high schools. Results Approximately 23% of the youth reported being victims of any form of bullying (cyber, relational, physical, and verbal) within the last month, with 25.6% of those victims reporting being cyberbullied. The largest proportion (50.3%) of victims reported they were victimized by all four forms, whereas only 4.6% reported being only cyberbullied. Multilevel analyses indicated that as compared to those who were only traditionally bullied, those who were cyberbullied were more likely to have externalizing (odds ratio = 1.44) and internalizing symptoms (odds ratio = 1.25). Additional analyses examined detailed characteristics of the cyberbullying experiences, indicating a relatively high level of overlap between cyber and traditional bullying. Conclusions Implications for preventive interventions targeting youth involved with cyberbullying and its overlap with other forms of bullying are discussed.
Recent years have seen increasing interest in and attention to evidence-based practices, where the “evidence” generally comes from well-conducted randomized trials. However, while those trials yield ...accurate estimates of the effect of the intervention for the participants in the trial (known as “internal validity”), they do not always yield relevant information about the effects in a particular target population (known as “external validity”). This may be due to a lack of specification of a target population when designing the trial, difficulties recruiting a sample that is representative of a prespecified target population, or to interest in considering a target population somewhat different from the population directly targeted by the trial. This paper first provides an overview of existing design and analysis methods for assessing and enhancing the ability of a randomized trial to estimate treatment effects in a target population. It then provides a case study using one particular method, which weights the subjects in a randomized trial to match the population on a set of observed characteristics. The case study uses data from a randomized trial of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS); our interest is in generalizing the results to the state of Maryland. In the case of PBIS, after weighting, estimated effects in the target population were similar to those observed in the randomized trial. The paper illustrates that statistical methods can be used to assess and enhance the external validity of randomized trials, making the results more applicable to policy and clinical questions. However, there are also many open research questions; future research should focus on questions of treatment effect heterogeneity and further developing these methods for enhancing external validity. Researchers should think carefully about the external validity of randomized trials and be cautious about extrapolating results to specific populations unless they are confident of the similarity between the trial sample and that target population.
School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a universal prevention strategy currently implemented in >16,000 schools across the United States. SWPBIS intends to reduce ...students' behavior problems by altering staff behaviors and developing systems and supports to meet children's behavioral needs. The current study reports intervention effects on child behaviors and adjustment from an effectiveness trial of SWPBIS.
The sample of 12,344 elementary school children was 52.9% male, 45.1% African American, and 46.1% Caucasian. Approximately 49% received free or reduced-priced meals, and 12.9% received special education services at baseline. The trial used a group randomized controlled effectiveness design implemented in 37 elementary schools. Multilevel analyses were conducted on teachers' ratings of children's behavior problems, concentration problems, social-emotional functioning, prosocial behavior, office discipline referrals, and suspensions at 5 time points over the course of 4 school years.
The multilevel results indicated significant effects of SWPBIS on children's behavior problems, concentration problems, social-emotional functioning, and prosocial behavior. Children in SWPBIS schools also were 33% less likely to receive an office discipline referral than those in the comparison schools. The effects tended to be strongest among children who were first exposed to SWPBIS in kindergarten.
These findings provide support for the hypothesized reduction in behavior problems and improvements in prosocial behavior and effective emotion regulation after training in SWPBIS. The SWPBIS framework appears to be a promising approach for reducing problems and promoting adjustment among elementary school children.
National data have shown for decades that Black students experience more frequent and severe disciplinary actions that remove them from school (e.g., suspension), compared with their White peers. ...Despite extensive research documenting the sequelae associated with suspension (e.g., school drop-out and delinquency), there has been relatively scant research addressing the discipline gap as it relates to students' sense of belonging and equitable treatment at school, or to potential adjustment problems it may evoke. The present observational study examined the Black-White discipline gap in 58 high schools with a sample of 19,726 adolescents (Black n = 7,064, White n = 12,622) in Maryland. Employing a multilevel framework and leveraging data from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights and the student-report Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools (MDS3) School Climate Survey, we characterized 58 high schools by their excess in Black relative to White student risk of out-of-school suspension. We then assessed whether Black students' excess risk of out-of-school suspension was negatively associated with perceived school equity and school belonging, and positively associated with adjustment problems (i.e., externalizing symptoms) in a stratified analysis of White and Black students. We found that school-level discipline gaps were associated with Black students' perceptions of less school equity (γ = −.54, p < .001), less school belonging (γ = −.50, p < .001), and increased adjustment problems (γ = .77, p < .001), even when accounting for student demographics (i.e., gender, grade level, socioeconomic status) and school-level contextual factors (i.e., socioeconomic status, student diversity, overall suspension rates), whereas these associations were not significant for White students. Study findings have implications for educational reform in high schools in which out-of-school suspension practices differ by race.
Raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be a stressful experience for parents. When left unmanaged, high stress levels can lead to the development of depressive symptomatology, ...highlighting the importance of coping supports. The current paper examined the stress level and psychological wellbeing of mothers with a child with ASD in a national survey. After adjusting for child, mother and family level characteristics, it was determined that mothers of children with ASDs were at greater risk for poor mental health and high stress levels compared to mothers of children without ASDs. The presence of maternal coping strategies, in the form of emotional and neighborhood social supports, as well as strong coping skills, reduced these risks between models.
Randomized trials remain the most accepted design for estimating the effects of interventions, but they do not necessarily answer a question of primary interest: will the programme be effective in a ...target population in which it may be implemented? In other words, are the results generalizable? There has been very little statistical research on how to assess the generalizability, or `external validity', of randomized trials. We propose the use of propensity-score-based metrics to quantify the similarity of the participants in a randomized trial and a target population. In this setting the propensity score model predicts participation in the randomized trial, given a set of covariates. The resulting propensity scores are used first to quantify the difference between the trial participants and the target population, and then to match, subclassify or weight the control group outcomes to the population, assessing how well the propensity-score-adjusted outcomes track the outcomes that are actually observed in the population. These metrics can serve as a first step in assessing the generalizability of results from randomized trials to target populations. The paper lays out these ideas, discusses the assumptions underlying the approach and illustrates the metrics by using data on the evaluation of a schoolwide prevention programme called `Positive behavioral interventions and supports'.
Stress and burnout are pervasive among public school teachers and amplified in urban schools, where job demands are often high and resources low. Relatively little is known about factors contributing ...to stress and burnout among urban school teachers specifically, or how these aspects of teacher occupational wellbeing relate to their use of effective classroom practices. Rather than utilizing objective measures, extant research has relied heavily on teacher self-report of antecedents and consequences of stress and burnout, which have also rarely been examined in tandem. To address this and other gaps in the literature, the current study examined the interplay of job demands and resources, stress and burnout, and effective classroom practices (operationalized as warm-demanding teaching). Two discrete observational measures, in addition to teacher self-report, were collected from a sample of 255 teachers in 33 low-income, urban middle schools. Findings indicated that White teachers, female teachers, and teachers in low-income schools reported higher stress and burnout. Teachers reporting more self-efficacy, affiliation with colleagues, and student emphasis on their academics (i.e., more resources) reported lower stress and burnout; furthermore, adding resources to the model attenuated associations between student disruptive behaviors and stress and burnout. In turn, stress was associated with lower levels of observed demanding teaching (instructional dialogue); however, surprisingly, burnout was related to higher levels of observed teacher warmth (sensitivity). We discuss these findings in light of prior research and consider implications for future research and professional development for teachers.
This cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of the CHAMPS classroom management program on the social behavioral and academic outcomes of a large diverse sample of middle school ...students within an urban context. Participants included 102 teachers and 1,450 students in sixth to eighth grade. Two-level hierarchical linear models (HLM) were conducted to examine the overall treatment effects on student behavior and academic outcomes. In addition, mediation analyses examined a hypothesized putative mechanism for observed academic outcomes. Findings indicated that CHAMPS improved teacher ratings of student concentration problems (d = −0.18) and classwork completion (d = 0.18), observed student time-on-task (d = 0.16), and student scores on broad English (d = 0.14), and math problem solving (d = 0.17) academic achievement tests. Null effects were observed for student prosocial and disruptive behaviors and self-regulation skills as well as reading comprehension and broad math achievement performance. Main effects on the English achievement test scores were partially mediated by student improvements in observed time-on-task. Practical significance of the findings and implications for schools and policymakers are discussed.
Educational Impact and Implications Statement
A teacher classroom behavior management training program, CHAMPS, caused improvements in teacher classroom management practices and student social and academic outcomes. The improvements in academic achievement were, in part, explained by increases in student time-on-task. Improving teacher classroom management training holds promise for increasing student achievement on a large scale.
Interest in youths' experience of the various forms of bullying has grown due to the numerous social-emotional correlates associated with bullying. Only recently has there been consideration of the ...school context in light of these associations. The current study examined the overlap in four different forms of bullying that youth commonly experience (i.e., verbal, relational, physical, electronic), with the aim of understanding their association with social-emotional correlates (i.e., internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, retaliatory attitudes) and exploring associations with school contextual factors such as supervision, school physical disorder, and behavioral expectations. Self-report data on the forms of peer bullying were collected from 24,620 adolescents (Grades 9-12; M age = 15.98, SD age = 1.32) enrolled in 52 high schools. Latent class analyses indicated significant overlap in the different forms of bullying victimization, with youth experiencing multiple forms of bullying reporting the greatest risk for social-emotional problems. A series of two-level hierarchical linear models revealed that indicators of school physical disorder and a lack of positive behavioral expectations were associated with increased risk for multiple forms of bullying. Several gender and age differences were also observed in relation to the patterns of bullying experienced. These findings extend prior research by emphasizing a potential link between the overlap in different forms of bullying and school contextual factors, even after controlling for individual-level risk factors.
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