Bullying: What We Know Now

1. Bullying: What We Know Now Stephen Erath, Ph.D. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University

2. Bullying: What we know now • Description and prevalence of bullying • Correlates of bullying and victimization • Coping with peer victimization • Why children bully • Evidence-based intervention programs • What parents can do

3. What is bullying? • A subset of aggression intended to harm, and characterized by repetition and imbalance of power • Types of aggression • Verbal (say mean things or make fun) • Relational (ignore, exclude, lies, rumors) • Physical (hit, push, kick, shove) • Electronic (humiliate with computer/cell phone) • Types of power imbalance • Physical, social, emotional

4. Prevalence of bullying • Often victimized: 10% • Often bully: 10% • Both: 5% • Varies by context • Peaks around middle school • Boys slightly more involved than girls • Occurs around peers, not adults

5. Correlates of peer victimization • Predictors • Disliked by peers, few friends • Withdrawn, anxious, easily upset, submissive or reactively aggressive • Different (behaviors, interests, appearance) • Possible outcomes • Loneliness, anxiety, depression, low self esteem, suicidal ideation • School avoidance, poor academic performance

6. Coping with peer victimization • Worse • Aggressive/retaliatory strategies • Submissive/emotionally reactive strategies • Better • Behavior change • Ignoring/nonchalance • Seeking social support and advice

7. Correlates of bullying • Predictors • Bullying: Proactive aggression, status concerns, social-cognitive biases, social intelligence? • Involvement in bullying and victimization: Reactive aggression, poor social skills, internalizing problems, disliked by peers • Possible outcomes • Depression, academic problems, delinquent behavior

8. Why do children bully? • Individual model: children involved in bullying and victimization exhibit skill deficits or differences that set the stage for bullying • Social skills training can remediate social skill deficits • Evidence for reductions in bullying and victimization is mixed

9. Why do children bully? • Peer group/ behavioral reinforcement model: bullying is met with more rewards than negative consequences • Consequences • Adult intervention • Rewards • Responses of victimized children • Peer group reinforcement

10. Participant roles (Salmivalli, 1999) • Victimized ( 12%) • Bullying (8%) • Assistants (7%) – join bullying • Reinforcers (20%) – encourage bullying • Onlookers (24%) – watch bullying • Defenders (17%) – try to stop bullying • No clear role (13%)

11. Defending • Peers (and adults) defend in only about 10-30% of bullying incidents, despite . . . • Prevailing views against bullying • Effectiveness of defending • Social status of defenders

12. Why is defending uncommon? (Salmivalli, 2010) • Diffusion of responsibility • Pluralistic ignorance • Brief/mild appearance of some bullying incidents • Fear of children who bully • Negative perceptions of children who are victimized

13. Exemplary Programs (Kärnä et al., 2010) • KiVa (against bullying) program • Decrease in assisting and reinforcing • 30% reduction in self-reported victimization • 17% reduction in self-reported bullying • Some key features of KiVa • Raise awareness of participant roles • Increase empathy toward victimized children • Promote strategies for supporting victimized children • Prosocial, high-status peers help lead defending efforts

14. Exemplary Programs (Olweus et al., 1999) • Olweus Bullying Prevention Program • Up to 50% reduction in bullying and victimization • School level components • Raise awareness among students and teachers • Broad-based participation • Increased adult supervision • Classroom level components • Classroom rules • Parent involvement • Individual level components • Talks with children involved in bullying/victimization • Consistent rewards and consequences

15. Summary of evidence • Meta-analyses • School-based programs tend to produce modest positive effects on bullying and victimization • Programs are more likely to influence knowledge and attitudes than bullying behaviors • Review of 48 studies (Craig et al., 2010) • 48% resulted in reductions in bullying • 33% resulted in reductions in victimization

17. Evidence-based practices • Remediate social-emotional skills deficits • Raise awareness of bullying and understanding of participant roles • Increase adult monitoring • Provide training and reinforcement for prosocial, anti-bullying behavior • Provide consistent consequences for bullying behavior • Comprehensive, including all school staff, students, and parents • Sustained, lasting years rather than days or months • Evaluated, including implementation and effects

18. What can parents do? (Kazdin & Rotella, 2009) • Open lines of communication, provide support • Problem-solve • Identify the problem as specifically as possible • Generate a range of solutions • Discuss the pros and cons of various solutions • Make a plan to implement • Encourage broader efforts

19. References Craig, W. M., Pepler, D. J., Murphy, A., McCuaig-Edge, H. (2010). What works in prevention? In E. M. Vernberg & B. K. Biggs (Eds.), Preventing and treating bullying and victimization (pp. 215-241). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Hawker, D. S. J., & Boulton, M. J. (2000). Twenty years’ research on peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment: A meta-analytic review of cross-sectional studies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 441-455. Hawkins, D. L., Pepler, D. J., & Craig, W. M. (2001). Naturalistic observations of peer interventions in bullying. Social Development, 10, 512-527. Hodges, E. V. E., Boivin, M., Vitaro, F., & Bukowski, W. (1999). The power of friendship: Protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization. Developmental Psychology, 35, 94-101. Kärnä, A., Voeten, M., Little, T., Poskiparta, E., Kaljonen, A., & Salmivalli, C. (in press). A large-scale evaluation of the KiVa anti-bullying program. Child Development. Kazdin, A. E., & Rotella, C. (2009). Bullies: They can be stopped, but it takes a village. Slate, Available online, http://www.slate.com/id/2249424/. Kochenderfer, B. J., & Ladd, G. W. (1997). Victimized children’s responses to peers’ aggression: Behaviors associated with reduced versus continued victimization. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 59-73.

20. References Merrell, K., Gueldner, B. A., Ross, S. W., Isava, D. M. (2008). How effective are school anti-bullying programs? A meta-analysis of intervention research. School Psychology Quarterly, 23, 26-42. Olweus, D., Limber, S. & Mihalic, S.F. (1999). Blueprints for Violence Prevention, Book Nine: Bullying Prevention Program. Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. See also: http://www.clemson.edu/olweus/ Nansel, T. R., Overbeck, M., Pilla, R. S., Ruan, W. J., Simon-Morton, B., & Scheidt, P. (2001). Bullying behaviors among US youth: Prevalence and association with psychosocial adjustment. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285, 2094-2100. Nishina, A., & Juvonen, J. (2005). Daily Reports of Witnessing and Experiencing Peer Harassment in Middle School. Child Development, 76, 435-450. Salmivalli, C. (1999). Participant role approach to school bullying: Implications for interventions. Journal of Adolescence, 22, 453-459. Salmivalli, C. (2010). Bullying and the peer group: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15, 112-120. Smith, J. D., Schneider, B. H., Smith, P. K., Ananiadou, K. (2004). The effectiveness of whole-school anti-bullying programs: A synthesis of evaluation research. School Psychology Review, 33, 547-560.