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Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 1/2015

01-01-2015

Reducing Bullying and Victimization: Student- and Classroom-Level Mechanisms of Change

Auteurs: Silja Saarento, Aaron J. Boulton, Christina Salmivalli

Gepubliceerd in: Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology | Uitgave 1/2015

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Abstract

This longitudinal study examines the mediating mechanisms by which the KiVa antibullying program, based on the Participant Role approach, reduces bullying and victimization among elementary school students. Both student-level mechanisms leading to reduced perpetration of bullying and classroom-level mechanisms leading to reductions in bullying and victimization are considered. Analyses are based on a sample of 7,491 students (49.5 % boys) nested within 421 classrooms within 77 schools. At the beginning of program implementation, the children were in Grades 4, 5, and 6 (mean age 11.3 years). Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to analyze whether changes in the hypothesized mediators accounted for later reductions in the outcomes. At the student level, antibullying attitudes and perceptions regarding peers’ defending behaviors and teacher attitudes toward bullying mediated the effects of KiVa on self-reported bullying perpetration. The effects on peer-reported bullying were only mediated by antibullying attitudes. At the classroom level, the program effects on both self- and peer-reported bullying were mediated by students’ collective perceptions of teacher attitudes toward bullying. Also, perceived reinforcing behaviors predicted bullying but did not emerge as a significant mediator. Finally, bullying mediated the effects of the classroom-level factors on victimization. These findings enhance knowledge of the psychosocial developmental processes contributing to bullying and victimization and shed light on the key mechanisms by which school bullying can successfully be counteracted.
Voetnoten
1
Although observed variables (i.e., scale means at the student level) were used in the primary analyses, confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were first performed on all the items or parcels created by averaging a given set of items (see Little et al. 2013). The CFAs established support for the hypothesized structure of the constructs of interest. Furthermore, tests of weak factorial invariance (i.e., invariance of the factor loadings) at the different levels indicated full invariance across time for all the constructs. Thus, analyses of the structural relations between the measures were warranted (Vandenberg and Lance 2000). Details regarding the CFAs are not reported in the current paper but are available by request from the first author.
 
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Metagegevens
Titel
Reducing Bullying and Victimization: Student- and Classroom-Level Mechanisms of Change
Auteurs
Silja Saarento
Aaron J. Boulton
Christina Salmivalli
Publicatiedatum
01-01-2015
Uitgeverij
Springer US
Gepubliceerd in
Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology / Uitgave 1/2015
Print ISSN: 2730-7166
Elektronisch ISSN: 2730-7174
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-013-9841-x

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