This study applies the social context model within which to examine the relations of antisocial and aggressive and social withdrawn behaviors to peer victimization as functions of the classroom norms of these behaviors. Based on a large sample of 4650 middle school students, the results support the hypotheses that the classroom norm of aggression and social withdrawal, respectively, attenuates the negative associations between these two behaviors at the student level and peer victimization.

Meta分析的结论 易受各种偏倚的影响,"发表偏倚"是其中重要的偏倚之一.所以,评价所纳入的研究是否存在发表偏倚是Meta分析的一项重要的前期准备工作.Begg's 检验、Egger's检验和Macaskill's检验是常见的用于定量评价Meta分析"发表偏倚"的方法 ,为了便于这些检验方法 的应用,本文编写了基于SAS系统的这三个检验的程序,经实例数据分析,其运行结果 与Stata软件完全相同.为研究人员提供r同时实现这三个检验的有效途径.

A modified version of Olweus Bullying/Victimization Questionnaire was employed in a sample of 9205 primary and junior middle school children from both urban and rural areas, in order to evaluate the prevalence and explore the major characteristics of school bullying. The results indicated that serious bullying problems existed in primary and junior middle schools, with nearly one out of five (19%)of the children investigated getting involved in bullying problems. The ratios of victims and bullies decreased with the children's age, but that of the bullies kept relatively stable across the junior middle school years. Direct verbal bullying was the most common type of bullying behavior among primary and junior middle school children. Gender differences existed in regard to the incidence of bullying others and being bullied, children's attitudes towards bullying and the types of bullying behavior they suffered.

采用行动研究法在某小学进行欺负问题的干预研究,通过为期五周的干预,实验班学生上学和放学路上受欺负的比率和在学校情境中受欺负的程度显著下降,三年级的下降幅度大于五年级的;学生在学校里安全感增强;教师的研究意识和解决问题的能力得到增强和提高。

This study was conducted for the purpose of assessing the effects on reducing bullying of a school bullying prevention program (BPP). A pre-test/post-test and control group, semi-experimental design was used for the research. The universe and sampling for the study comprised 583 pupils, ages 12–15, enrolled in two elementary schools in Istanbul. The BPP was prepared in accordance with the Behavioral–Ecological Model (BEM) and the Neuman Systems Model (NSM) and it encompassed faculty members, families and students. In the post-test, the mean scores of the study group in all of the sub-scales of the Peer Victimization Scale (PVS) and in the “threatening/intimidating” sub-scale of the Peer Bullying Behavior Scale (PBBS) were found to be significantly lower than those of the control group (p<.05). It was concluded that the BPP organized in line with the BEM and the NSM was effective in reducing bullying and could be used in nursing practices.

Abstract Clinicians do not have the time or resources to consider the underlying evidence for the myriad decisions they must make each day and, as a consequence, rely on recommendations from clinical practice guidelines. Guideline panels should consider all the relevant factors (criteria) that influence a decision or recommendation in a structured, explicit, and transparent way and provide clinicians with clear and actionable recommendations. In this article, we will describe the EtD frameworks for clinical practice recommendations. The general structure of the EtD framework for clinical recommendations is similar to EtD frameworks for other types of recommendations and decisions, and includes formulation of the question, an assessment of the different criteria, and conclusions. Clinical recommendations require considering criteria differently, depending on whether an individual patient or a population perspective is taken. For example, from an individual patient's perspective, out-of-pocket costs are an important consideration, whereas, from a population perspective, resource use (not only out-of-pocket costs) and cost effectiveness are important. From a population perspective, equity, acceptability, and feasibility are also important considerations, whereas the importance of these criteria is often limited from an individual patient perspective. Specific subgroups for which different recommendations may be required should be clearly identified and considered in relation to each criterion because judgments might vary across subgroups. This article is a translation of the original article published in the British Medical Journal. The EtD frameworks are currently used in the Clinical Practice Guideline Programme of the Spanish National Health System, co-ordinated by Gu aSalud. Copyright 2017 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier Espa a, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The present study reports the short‐ and long‐term effects of an anti‐bullying intervention program based on a particular set of curricular activities that aimed to create classroom opportunities for awareness raising, self‐reflection, and problem‐solving situations relevant to bullying. The core of the intervention was a four‐week period during which a series of activities were organised in each individual class. An experimental pre‐test/post‐test design with a control group was used. The sample consisted of 454 pupils (206 control: 123 boys and 83 girls; and 248 experimental: 126 boys and 122 girls) drawn from the fourth‐ to sixth‐grade classrooms of 10 primary schools in central Greece (mean age = 10.23, SD = .84). Data were collected using self‐report measures, before the intervention (December 2003), immediately after the intervention, at the end of the same school year (May 2004), and six months afterwards (November 2004). The results indicated that the program contributed to a positive reduction in outsider behaviour (children remaining uninvolved and thus silently allowing bullying to continue) and enhanced students’ self‐efficacy beliefs for both assertion and intervening in bully/victim incidents. However, the long‐term effectiveness of the program was limited. These findings have important implications for interventions to tackle the negative effects associated with bullying in schools.

The present study evaluates the effect of an intervention program on the reduction of bullying and victimization in schools with a sample of 239 students aged 10-16 years old in Rome, Italy. The program deals with bullying and violence. It consists of three videos and a booklet that help students to develop the social cognitive competence skills to understand the negative consequences of aggressive behavior. The intervention was evaluated using an experimental design with pre-test and post-test analyses. Students were randomly allocated to experimental or control classes. Students completed a self-report questionnaire in which they were asked to indicate on a 5-point scale how often they were victimized or bullied others. Victimization and bullying were assessed by using questions about specific types of actions, a composite measure of victimization and bullying, and a single question about victimization and bullying in general. Results showed that the program worked best for older students, but not for younger ones who in some cases reported an increased level of victimization after the intervention. For older students there was a decrease in victimization according to the sum of types of behavior for the experimental group, but an increase for the control group. The same result was found for direct victimization, having belongings stolen, and being called nasty names. Therefore, the program seemed to be beneficial for older students but possibly damaging for younger students. It is suggested that the program could have worked better with older students because of the cognitive skills it required. Younger students could have reported higher levels of bullying after the intervention because they became more sensitized to the topic of bullying. Aggr. Behav. 30:1-15, 2004. ? 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PurposeTo examine the effectiveness of a widely disseminated bullying prevention program.MethodsA nonrandomized controlled trial with 10 public middle schools (7 intervention and 3 control) was conducted. Student-reported relational (e.g., spreading rumors, social exclusion) and physical victimization, and whether the program improved student attitudes and perceptions toward bullying were assessed pre- and post-implementation using available school survey data.ResultsRegression analyses controlling for baseline prevalence and school characteristics showed no overall effect on student victimization. However, when stratified by ethnicity/race, reports of relational and physical victimization decreased by 28% (RR = .72, 95% CI: .53 .98) and 37% (RR = .63, 95% CI: .42 .97), respectively, among white students relative to those in comparison schools. No similar effect was found for students of other races/ethnicities; there were no differences by gender or by grade. Students in intervention schools were more likely to perceive other students as actively intervening in bullying incidents, and 6th graders were more likely to feel sorry and want to help victims.ConclusionsThe program had some mixed positive effects varying by gender, ethnicity/race, and grade but no overall effect. Schools implementing the program, especially with a heterogeneous student body, should monitor outcomes and pay particular attention to the impact of culture, race and family influences on student behavior. Future studies of large-scale bullying prevention programs in the community must be rigorously evaluated to ensure they are effective.

This research evaluates an anti-bullying program, Dare to Care: Bully Proofing Your School. Students in Grades 4-6 (N = 197, 77 boys, 120 girls) from four Calgary elementary schools completed the Colorado School Climate Survey (Garrity, Jens, Porter, Sager, & Short-Camilli, 2000) and the Provictim Scale - Short Version (Rigby & Slee, 1991). The first research component was a pretest - 3-month posttest comparison between a school that was about to implement the program and one that was not planning to do so. At pretest, students in the no-program school gave more positive reports on many variables than the school about to implement the program, making the intended across-school statistical comparison unfeasible. Within the 3-month program school, however, the frequency of bullying witnessed by the students significantly decreased, but remained stable in the no-program comparison school. Further, attitudes towards victims significantly worsened in the no-program school, but remained stable in the program school. The second research component compared three schools that had implemented the anti-bullying program for various lengths of time. Students in the schools with the longer program duration reported more positive attitudes towards victims than students in the school with shorter program duration; however, other indicators of program effectiveness were not significantly different. The results raise questions about evaluating anti-bullying programs.

This study tested the efficacy of an intervention for anxious adolescent boys experiencing bullying at school. The cognitive ehavioral intervention focused on targeting individual factors that appear to increase an adolescent's vulnerability to bullying experiences such as anxiety, low self-esteem, and use of maladaptive coping strategies. Adolescent boys reporting anxiety symptoms and the recent experience of being bullied at school (grades 7 10) were randomly assigned by group to intervention (n = 22) or wait-list (n = 24) conditions. Depressive and anxiety symptoms and bullying experiences were measured before and after the intervention, and at a 3-month follow-up for the intervention condition. The intervention was effective in significantly reducing adolescent's bullying experiences as well as their anxiety, depression, and the degree of distress associated with being bullied. Intervention gains were maintained at the 3-month follow-up. The intervention was not effective in enhancing adolescent's self-esteem or changing aggressive or avoidant responses to bullying situations. This study provides preliminary support for the value of individually focused interventions for boys in the effort to reduce the incidence of bullying within schools.

Bullying is recognized as one of the most significant public health concerns facing children in...

This article examines whether differences in the equations commonly used to calculate effect size for single group pretest-posttest (SGPP) designs versus those for control group designs can account for the finding that SGPP designs yield larger mean effect sizes (e.g., M. S. Lipsey and D. B. Wilson, 1993). It was found that the assumptions of no control group effect and the equivalence of pretraining and posttraining dependent variable standard deviations required for these equations to produce equivalent estimates of effect size were violated for some dependent variable types. Results indicate that control group effects and inflation in the standard deviation of the posttraining dependent variable measure account for most of the observed difference in effect size. The most severe violations occurred when the dependent variable was a knowledge assessment. Methods for including data from SGPP designs in meta-analyses that minimize potential biases are discussed.

61A review of traditional school and cyberbullying in Chinese societies is provided.61Characteristics of perpetrators, victims, and offense circumstances are discussed.61A review of the whole-school anti-bullying intervention approach is provided.61Its origin, key components, and factors leading to its effectiveness are described.61Potential implications for its application in Chinese societies are discussed.

This study tested the efficacy of a generic social skills intervention, Social Skills GRoup INtervention (S.S.GRIN), for children experiencing peer dislike, bullying, or social anxiety. Third-grade children were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 187) or no-treatment control (CO; n = 194) groups. Examination of the direction and magnitude of change in functioning revealed that S.S.GRIN increased peer liking, enhanced self-esteem and self-efficacy, and decreased social anxiety compared to controls. S.S.GRIN was equally efficacious for all subtypes of peer problems targeted. Particular benefits were found for aggressive children who showed greater declines in aggression and bullying behavior and fewer antisocial affiliations than aggressive control participants. Discussion focuses on the benefits of heterogeneous versus homogeneous groups of participants and the potential value of utilizing generic social skills training protocols.

Summary. We study recently developed nonparametric methods for estimating the number of missing studies that might exist in a meta-analysis and the effect that these studies might have had on its outcome. These are simple rank-based data augmentation techniques, which formalize the use of funnel plots. We show that they provide effective and relatively powerful tests for evaluating the existence of such publication bias. After adjusting for missing studies, we find that the point estimate of the overall effect size is approximately correct and coverage of the effect size confidence intervals is substantially improved, in many cases recovering the nominal confidence levels entirely. We illustrate the trim and fill method on existing meta-analyses of studies in clinical trials and psychometrics.

This preliminary study tested the benefits of school-based lunchtime mentoring as a form of selective prevention for bullied children. Participants were 36 elementary school children in grades 4 and 5 who had been identified as bullied (based on child and teacher reports). Children in the Lunch Buddy program ( n 02=0212) were paired with a college student mentor who visited twice each week during the spring semester of an academic year. Also participating were 24 matched-control children; 12 were from the same school as Lunch Buddy children (“Same” controls) and 12 were from a school different from that of Lunch Buddy children (“Different” controls). Results indicated that compared to Different control children, Lunch Buddy children experienced significantly greater reductions in peer reports of peer victimization from fall to spring semesters. Lunch Buddy children and mentors viewed the relationship as positive, and parents and teachers were very satisfied with Lunch Buddy mentoring. We discuss the implications of our findings for both research and practice.

61Overall, 11 of the 22 (50%) studies examining bullying perpetration observed significant effects61Overall, 18 of 27 (67%) studies examining victimization reported significant program effects61Studies conducted outside of the United States were more likely to report significant findings61Studies with racially homogenous samples were more likely to report significant findings61Measures in most studies lack construct validity and measurement is a challenge for the field

The main aim of this article is to identify systematic reviews of the effects of developmental prevention programs. These programs are defined as community-based programs designed to prevent antisocial behavior, targeted on children and adolescents up to age 18, and aiming to change individual, family, or school risk factors. Only evaluations that reported effects on the outcomes of delinquency, offending, violence, aggression, or bullying were included. In total, 50 systematic reviews were assessed: five general reviews, 11 reviews of individually focused interventions, nine reviews of family-based programs, and 25 reviews of school-based programs. It was possible to calculate effect sizes from 33 reviews. Every summary odds ratio effect size was greater than 1, indicating that all types of programs were effective. Furthermore, the effect size was statistically significant in 22 out of 26 cases. The median effect size was 1.46, which corresponds (on some reasonable assumptions) to a decrease in aggression of about a quarter. This article makes recommendations about how to improve systematic reviews and concludes that more investment in developmental prevention is warranted.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of an antibullying school intervention in elementary schools. Design: Two-year follow-up randomized intervention group-control group. Setting: Forty-seven elementary schools in the Netherlands. Participants: Three thousand eight hundred sixteen children aged 9 to 12 years. Intervention: During the first study year, an antibullying school program was implemented in the schools in the intervention group. Main Outcome Measures: A questionnaire measuring bullying behavior, depression, psychosomatic complaints, delinquent behavior, and satisfaction with school life and peer relationships was filled out by the students at 3 times to obtain the following data: a baseline measurement, a first-effect measurement at the end of the first year, and a second-effect measurement at the end of the second year. Results: The number of bullied children decreased by 25% in the intervention group compared with the control group (relative risk, 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.57-0.98). The intervention group also showed a decline in the scale scores of victimization (-1.06 vs 0.28; P<.01) and active bullying behaviors (-0.47 vs 0.12, P<.05). Self-reported peer relationships also improved in the intervention schools (0.48 vs 0.11; P<.05), and there was a trend for a decrease in reported depression in the intervention schools (-0.33 vs -0.10; P<.10). At follow-up, there were no differences between the intervention and control groups for the outcome measures. Schools had also lowered their antibullying activities during the second study year. Conclusions: An antibullying school policy can reduce bullying behavior. To keep bullying at a consistently low level, schools must continue antibullying measures every year. Continued counseling may help schools in their efforts to establish a lasting antibullying policy. 2006 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.

(2016). Students’ views of factors affecting their bystander behaviors in response to school bullying: a cross-collaborative conceptual qualitative analysis. Research Papers in Education. Ahead of Print. doi: 10.1080/02671522.2016.1271001

Several programmes have been developed to help support victims of bullying, but few have been formally evaluated. On the basis of previous research and from a review of existing programmes, a Social Skills Training (SST) Programme was developed for victims of bullying, and the effectiveness of this intervention was evaluated. Twenty-eight children (aged nine to 11 years) took part in the SST Programme – 15 in the experimental group and 13 in the waiting-list control group. A Peer Nomination Inventory was used to assess social skills problems, peer victimization and friendship/peer acceptance. In addition, a number of psycho02social adjustment variables (i.e. depression, anxiety, self-esteem) were assessed, using self-report. The measures were completed at three time points over the course of an academic year. It was found that there was an increase in ‘global self-worth’ (i.e. self-esteem) for the experimental group (compared to the control group). However, there were no other significant improvements, e.g. in terms of social skills problems or victim status. These findings have important implications for interventions to tackle the negative effects associated with bullying in schools.

Abstract Six schools were randomly assigned to a multilevel bullying intervention or a control condition. Children in Grades 3-6 (N=1,023) completed pre- and posttest surveys of behaviors and beliefs and were rated by teachers. Observers coded playground behavior of a random subsample (n=544). Hierarchical analyses of changes in playground behavior revealed declines in bullying and argumentative behavior among intervention-group children relative to control-group children, increases in agreeable interactions, and a trend toward reduced destructive bystander behavior. Those in the intervention group reported enhanced bystander responsibility, greater perceived adult responsiveness, and less acceptance of bullying/aggression than those in the control group. Self-reported aggression did not differ between the groups. Implications for future research on the development and prevention of bullying are discussed.

This study examines how bullies’ perceptions of how they were treated by a teacher (or other school personnel) during discussions aimed at putting an end to bullying influenced their intention to change their behavior. After each discussion, which took place as part of the implementation of an anti-bullying program, bullies anonymously reported the extent to which they felt that the teacher aroused their empathy for the victim, condemned their behavior, or blamed them. Half of the schools implementing the program were instructed to handle these discussions in a confrontational way—telling the bully that his behavior is not tolerated—while the other half were instructed to use a non-confronting approach. Schools were randomly assigned to one of the two approaches. A total of 341 cases (188 in primary and 153 in secondary schools) handled in 28 Finnish schools were analyzed. Regression analyses showed that attempts at making bullies feel empathy for the victim and condemning their behavior both increased bullies’ intention to stop. Blaming the bully had no significant effect. Bullies’ intention to change was the lowest when both empathy-arousal and condemning behavior were low. The effects of empathy arousal were stronger when condemning the behavior was low (and vice versa), suggesting that teachers tackling bullying should make sure to use at least one of these strategies. When choosing not to raise the child’s empathy, clear reprobation of the behavior is key.

It is well-documented that cyberbullying and victimization co-occur with traditional forms indicating that they share similar mechanisms. Therefore, it was hypothesized that the general antibullying program ViSC might also be effective in tackling these new forms of bullying. A longitudinal randomized control group design has been applied to examine the program effectiveness in 18 schools. In total, 2,042 students in Grades 5 to 7 (47.3% girls) aged 11.7 (SD = 0.9) attending 105 classes participated in the study. Utilizing a multiple group bivariate latent change score model controlling for traditional aggression, traditional victimization, and age, results demonstrate program effectiveness for cyberbullying (latent d = 0.39) and cyber victimization (latent d = 0.29) indicating that these behaviors reflect a systemic (school) problem.

The primary aim of this study was to investigate how students’ perceptions of relationships with peers at school and teachers’ classroom management are associated with school refusal-related reasons and truancy-related reasons for school non-attendance. The study included controls for emotional stability and relevant parental variables. A student self-report questionnaire was implemented, and students were recruited from 45 schools in seven municipalities in Norway. The survey was conducted at the end of the autumn term in 2012, with a total of 5,465 students from the 6th–10th grades participating. The sample of students was examined to obtain a subsample consisting of those students who reported that they had been absent from school at some time during the past 302months ( \(\hbox {N}=3{,}629\) ). Multivariate associations were studied in this subsample through the use of structural equation modeling. The findings of this study suggest that poor relationships with peers at school could be an important risk factor for school refusal and could be a moderate risk factor for truancy. Moreover, according to these results, teachers’ classroom management could play a role in school refusal indirectly by preventing bullying and social exclusion by peers. Finally, a direct association of teachers’ classroom management with school refusal-related and truancy-related reasons was found among secondary school students, suggesting that perceived poor support from teachers could increase the risk of school refusal and truancy among these students. The present study underscores the importance of efforts to prevent bullying as a measure to reduce school refusal. Finally, the findings imply that the role of school factors must always be taken into account in connection with unexcused school non-attendance.

ABSTRACT There are 2 families of statistical procedures in meta-analysis: fixed- and random-effects procedures. They were developed for somewhat different inference goals: making inferences about the effect parameters in the studies that have been observed versus making inferences about the distribution of effect parameters in a population of studies from a random sample of studies. The authors evaluate the performance of confidence intervals and hypothesis tests when each type of statistical procedure is used for each type of inference and confirm that each procedure is best for making the kind of inference for which it was designed. Conditionally random-effects procedures (a hybrid type) are shown to have properties in between those of fixed- and random-effects procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The current study examined the effects of a community-based, whole-school peer victimization prevention program (WITS Primary Program), implemented from Grades 1 to 3, on trajectories of child-reported peer victimization and help-seeking and teacher-reported social-emotional adjustment from Grades 1 to 6. This quasi-experimental design followed a cohort of 432 children in 11 program and 6 comparison public elementary schools over 6 years. There were significant and meaningful effects of the WITS Primary Program on linear changes in physical victimization (Cohen's d = .17), relational victimization (Cohen's d = .20), and social competence (Cohen's d = .20); significant and small effects on physical aggression (Cohen's d = .09); and nonsignificant effects for help seeking and internalizing (Cohen's d values = .04 and .10, respectively) during elementary school. Following the transition into middle school, the program effects faded, with the exception of some subgroups in high-risk contexts. Our findings suggest that peer victimization prevention programming implemented in early elementary school may need to be sustained to maintain the promising early intervention gains through the transition into middle school.

School bullying is a serious social problem that results in potentially severe and long lasting consequences for youth, parents, teachers, and school officials. Commensurate with the serious nature and outcomes of bullying, there has been a number of bullying prevention and intervention programs and measures in schools. The current review provides a synthesis and evaluation of the existing research on bullying prevention and intervention strategies in South Korean schools, set within Bronfenbrenner’s social–ecological contexts, including the micro- (i.e., family, peer, school), meso- (i.e., family–school), and macro- (i.e., religion, policies) systems. We also discuss the strengths and limitations of the research reviewed and provide directions for future research focusing on major empirical gaps in the literature on bullying prevention and intervention strategies in South Korea.

Published studies examining antecedents or effects (or both) of perceived therapist credibility were subjected to a meta-analytic review to test S. R. Strong's (1968) 2-phase model of interpersonal influence in counseling. Results conformed to the predictions of the model, with therapist credibility cues moderately related to credibility, and credibility strongly related to therapist... [Show full abstract]

In meta-analysis, the usual way of assessing whether a set of single studies is homogeneous is by means of the Q test. However, the Q test only informs meta-analysts about the presence versus the absence of heterogeneity, but it does not report on the extent of such heterogeneity. Recently, the I(2) index has been proposed to quantify the degree of heterogeneity in a meta-analysis. In this article, the performances of the Q test and the confidence interval around the I(2) index are compared by means of a Monte Carlo simulation. The results show the utility of the I(2) index as a complement to the Q test, although it has the same problems of power with a small number of studies.

This study assessed an intervention targeting bullying. Six schools were recruited, with 444 children aged between 12 and 15 years. Schools were randomly allocated to an intervention comprising education to students, parents and teachers about bullying and strategies believed to prevent bullying, or wait-list condition. Students reported bullying experiences on the Peer Relations Questionnaire and attitudes using the Attitude to Victim and Bully Scales, prior to the intervention and one year later. There was little difference between conditions on most measures. Short-term educational approaches appear to have little impact on bullying behaviour, and schools may need to develop alternative approaches.

This article provides an introductory overview of findings from the past 40 years of research on bullying among school-aged children and youth. Research on definitional and assessment issues in studying bullying and victimization is reviewed, and data on prevalence rates, stability, and forms of bullying behavior are summarized, setting the stage for the 5 articles that comprise this American Psychologist special issue on bullying and victimization. These articles address bullying, victimization, psychological sequela and consequences, ethical, legal, and theoretical issues facing educators, researchers, and practitioners, and effective prevention and intervention efforts. The goal of this special issue is to provide psychologists with a comprehensive review that documents our current understanding of the complexity of bullying among school-aged youth and directions for future research and intervention efforts.

The large number of studies published in recent years aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of school-based anti-bullying programs recommends research to focus on synthesizing the evidence found in this regard. This study presents a meta-analysis of random clinical trials that assess the efficacy of 14 anti-bullying school programs. Sample size was of 30,934 adolescents aged between 10 and 16years, of whom 16,243 made up the Intervention Groups and 14,691 made up the Control Groups. Meta-analysis was conducted for each outcome measure, as well as heterogeneity analysis. Analysis of subgroups was performed when necessary, as well as analysis of publication bias. Results show moderate effect sizes for the outcome measuresBullying FrequencyandVictimization Frequency,AttitudesandSchool Climate.Greater impact was observed in interventions of less than one school year duration, as well as those targeting children younger than 10years. Subgroup analysis confirmed greater heterogeneity in studies evaluating complex interventions. In general, our results indicate that bullying and violence prevention programs in school settings are obtaining beneficial, albeit discrete, results in the outcome measures evaluated.

Abstract Drama, theater and role-playing methods are commonly used in health promotion programs, but evidence of their effectiveness is limited. This paper describes the development, implementation and evaluation of a school-based drama program to enhance social relationships and decrease bullying at school in children in grades 4-5 (mean age of 10.4 years). Students (n = 190) were recruited from two primary schools with similar demographics and socio-economics in the Southern Finland and purposively allocated either to an intervention group or a control group. The drama program included classroom drama sessions, follow-up activities at home and three parents' evenings concerning issues of social well being during the school year September 2007-May 2008. Data on social relationships in the class room and experiences of bullying were obtained before and after the program using self-completed questionnaire from the same students (n = 134). The response rate was 71%. No differences in socio-demographics existed between intervention group and control group at pretest. The positive effect on social relationships resulting from the intervention approached statistical significance (p = 0.065). Moreover, the positive effect was found to be statistically significant in the high-intensity intervention classes (p = 0.011). Bullying victimization decreased 20.7 percentage units from pretest (58.8%) to posttest (38.1%) in the intervention group (p < 0.05). The study indicates that using applied drama and theater methods in the classroom may improve children's social relationships at school.

This study investigated the effectiveness of the KiVa Antibullying Program in two samples of students, one from Grades 1-3 (7-9 years old, N = 6,927) and the other from Grades 7-9 (13-15 years old, N = 16, 503). The Grades 1-3 students were located in 74 schools and Grades 7-9 students in 73 schools that were randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that after 9 months of implementation, the intervention had beneficial effects in Grades 1-3 on self-reported victimization and bullying (odds ratios approximate to 1.5), with some differential effects by gender. In Grades 7-9, statistically significant positive results were obtained on 5 of 7 criterion variables, but results often depended on gender and sometimes age. The effects were largest for boys' peer reports: bullying, assisting the bully, and reinforcing the bully (Cohen's ds 0.11-0.19). Overall, the findings from the present study and from a previous study for Grades 4-6 (Karna, Voeten, Little, Poskiparta, Kaljonen, et al., 2011) indicate that the KiVa program is effective in reducing bullying and victimization in Grades 1-6, but the results are more mixed in Grades 7-9.

This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the KiVa antibullying program using a large sample of 8,237 youth from Grades 4–6 (10–12 years). Altogether, 78 schools were randomly assigned to intervention (39 schools, 4,207 students) and control conditions (39 schools, 4,030 students). Multilevel regression analyses revealed that after 9 months of implementation, the intervention had consistent beneficial effects on 7 of the 11 dependent variables, including self- and peer-reported victimization and self-reported bullying. The results indicate that the KiVa program is effective in reducing school bullying and victimization in Grades 4–6. Despite some evidence against school-based interventions, the results suggest that well-conceived school-based programs can reduce victimization.

61This study examined adolescent victims, bullies, and bully-victims in Australia.61Victims reported more internalizing problems than uninvolved students and bullies.61Bullies reported more externalizing problems than uninvolved students and victims.61Bully-victims had the highest suicidality, internalizing and externalizing problems.

Although the Internet has transformed the way our world operates, it has also served as a venue for cyberbullying, a serious form of misbehavior among youth. With many of today's youth experiencing acts of cyberbullying, a growing body of literature has begun to document the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of this behavior, but the literature is highly fragmented and lacks theoretical focus. Therefore, our purpose in the present article is to provide a critical review of the existing cyberbullying research. The general aggression model is proposed as a useful theoretical framework from which to understand this phenomenon. Additionally, results from a meta-analytic review are presented to highlight the size of the relationships between cyberbullying and traditional bullying, as well as relationships between cyberbullying and other meaningful behavioral and psychological variables. Mixed effects meta-analysis results indicate that among the strongest associations with cyberbullying perpetration were normative beliefs about aggression and moral disengagement, and the strongest associations with cyberbullying victimization were stress and suicidal ideation. Several methodological and sample characteristics served as moderators of these relationships. Limitations of the meta-analysis include issues dealing with causality or directionality of these associations as well as generalizability for those meta-analytic estimates that are based on smaller sets of studies (k < 5). Finally, the present results uncover important areas for future research. We provide a relevant agenda, including the need for understanding the incremental impact of cyberbullying (over and above traditional bullying) on key behavioral and psychological outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

School bullying is a pervasive problem resulting in significant negative consequences to both the bullies and their victims. Bullying behaviors in schools are most prevalent in less supervised and unstructured areas, including the playground, cafeteria, locker rooms, and the school bus. This study investigated the effectiveness of an anti-bullying program developed using components of the resource kit in reducing bullying behaviors on elementary school buses. Video cameras, mounted on the interior of the school bus, were utilized to monitor student behavior and thereby determine the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing bullying behaviors. It was hypothesized that the control group would exhibit a significant reduction in bullying behaviors. While the results indicated a significant reduction in bullying behaviors for both the control and experiment groups, the reduction was greater for students who participated in the anti-bullying program.

This paper reports on the evaluation of a peer support model implemented in two Italian secondary middle schools as an anti-bullying intervention. Specifically, the aims of the intervention were (1) to reduce bullying episodes through developing in bullies an awareness of their own and others' behaviour, (2) to enhance children's capacity to offer support to the victims of bullying, (3) to enhance responsibility and involvement on the part of bystanders, (4) to improve the quality of interpersonal relationships in the class group, and (5) to analyse possible age and gender differences related to the effect of intervention. Two middle schools from central Italy took part in the study (age range of pupils, 11-14 years). In the two schools, nine classes (94 boys and 84 girls) were part of the experimental group, whereas the remaining five classes formed the control group (63 boys and 52 girls). The intervention was implemented for one school year, from October 1998 to May 1999. Before and after the intervention, two measures were administered in the experimental and control classes: (1) a questionnaire on the participants' roles in bully/victim relationships, originally developed by Sahnivalli et al. [1996: Aggressive Behavior 22:1-15] and revised for younger children by Sutton and Smith [1999: Aggressive Behavior 25:97-111], and (2) a questionnaire on attitudes toward bullying-an Italian questionnaire comprising 11 attitude items previously developed [Menesini E, et al. 1997: EARLI Conference] on the basis of Rigby and Slee's 11991: Journal of Social Psychology 131:615-627] pro-victim scale. Given the within-subjects design of the study, a MANOVA was run using time as the within-subjects factor and sex and age as between-subject factors. The results of this short-term study highlight the fact that a befriending intervention had a positive effect on the experimental classes, preventing the increase of negative behaviours and attitudes reported in the group that did not receive the intervention. The findings that related to the pro-bullying roles and to the role of outsiders are particularly relevant since these roles remained stable or decreased in the experimental group, whereas they clearly increased in the control group. The opposite trend was registered for children's pro-victim attitude, which shows a decrease in the control sample and good stability in the experimental group. On the whole, the intervention seemed to prevent the escalation of negative behaviours and attitudes that often develop spontaneously in young people of this age.

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This article is a retrospective analysis of the research difficulties faced during an intervention for 54 bullying boys from a sub-economic background. The research comprised the design, implementation and evaluation of a behavioural intervention at three targeted primary schools. An experimental groups design was used, with three assessment times, pre-, post- and one-month follow-up testing. The t-test for matched participants, with alpha set at 0.05, produced insignificant change for all three experimental conditions, at all three targeted schools, over time. Three issues are addressed, namely problems experienced with: 1) the conceptualisation of bullying behaviour, 2) the effects of the socio-economic environment and 3) the time-focused approach of the project. The article closes with future recommendations for intervention.

Bullying involvement in any form can have lasting physical and emotional consequences for adolescents. For programs and policies to best safeguard youth, it is important to understand prevalence of bullying across cyber and traditional contexts. We conducted a thorough review of the literature and identified 80 studies that reported corresponding prevalence rates for cyber and traditional bullying and/or aggression in adolescents. Weighted mean effect sizes were calculated, and measurement features were entered as moderators to explain variation in prevalence rates and in traditional yber correlations within the sample of studies. Prevalence rates for cyber bullying were lower than for traditional bullying, and cyber and traditional bullying were highly correlated. A number of measurement features moderated variability in bullying prevalence; whereas a focus on traditional relational aggression increased correlations between cyber and traditional aggressions. In our meta-analytic review, traditional bullying was twice as common as cyber bullying. Cyber and traditional bullying were also highly correlated, suggesting that polyaggression involvement should be a primary target for interventions and policy. Results of moderation analyses highlight the need for greater consensus in measurement approaches for both cyber and traditional bullying.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUNDBullying behavior in schools can lead to psychosocial problems. School-based interventions are important in raising student awareness, developing their skills and in planning to reduce bullying behavior. METHODSA randomized controlled trial, using a school-based educational intervention to reduce verbal bullying, was conducted among grade 10 students in 16 urban and rural schools in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in 2013. Baseline and postintervention questionnaires, developed using the Integrated Model for Behavior Change theoretical model, were used to assess changes in verbal bullying. RESULTSPostintervention there were reduced verbal bullying experiences. Improved social norms and awareness of verbal bullying were associated with reduced verbal bullying experiences and behavior. Although less likely to bully others verbally, girls were more likely to experience verbal bullying. Students with no living father were more likely to bully others verbally. CONCLUSIONSThe study findings indicate that a school-based intervention can positively impact on verbal bullying experiences and behavior.

Abstract The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the KiVa anti-bullying program in Italy through a randomized control trial of students in grades 4 and 6. The sample involved 2042 students (5102% female; grade 4, mean age65=658.85; ds65=650.43; grade 6, mean age65=6510.93; ds65=650.50); 13 comprehensive schools were randomly assigned into intervention (KiVa) or control (usual school provision) conditions. Different outcomes (bullying, victimization, pro-bullying attitudes, pro-victim attitudes, empathy toward victims), analyses (longitudinal mixed model with multiple-item scales; longitudinal prevalence of bullies and victims using Olweus' single question), and estimates of effectiveness (Cohen's d; odds ratios) were considered in order to compare the Italian results with those from other countries. Multilevel models showed that KiVa reduced bullying and victimization and increased pro-victim attitudes and empathy toward the victim in grade 4, with effect sizes from 0.24 to 0.40. In grade 6, KiVa reduced bullying, victimization, and pro-bullying attitudes; the effects were smaller as compared to grade 4, yet significant (d65≥650.20). Finally, using Olweus dichotomous definition of bullies and victims, results showed that the odds of being a victim were 1.93 times higher for a control student than for a KiVa student in grade 4. Overall, the findings provide evidence of the effectiveness of the program in Italy; the discussion will focus on factors that influenced successfully the transportability of the KiVa program in Italy.

The article presents the logic and other characteristics of an “extended selection cohorts” quasi-experimental design. Possible threats to the validity of conclusions based on this kind of design are discussed. It is concluded that chances are good that conclusions about the effects or non-effects of school-based intervention programs will be roughly correct in most cases. The design may be particularly useful in studies where it is not possible or desirable to use a random selection of “control schools” and it should be of value to both practitioners and researchers. The design is illustrated with a study in which three consecutive cohorts of students (n approximately 2165000) were administered the Bully/Victim Questionnaire before and after some 8 months of intervention with the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP). Results indicated quite substantial reductions (by 32–49%) in bully/victim problems. The “time-series” nature of the data showed convincingly that a “history interpretation” of the findings (Cook & Campbell, Quasi-experimentation. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1979) is very unlikely. The data in this project were obtained in the context of a government-funded new national initiative against bullying in Norway. The characteristics of this initiative and the model used in implementing the program in more than 450 schools were briefly described.

The NoTrap! (Noncadiamointrappola!) program is a school-based intervention, which utilizes a peer-led approach to prevent and combat both traditional bullying and cyberbullying. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of the third Edition of the program in accordance with the recent criteria for evidence-based interventions. Towards this aim, two quasi-experimental trials involving adolescents (age M =6514.91, SD =65.98) attending their first year at different high schools were conducted. In Trial 1 (control group, n =65171; experimental group, n =65451), latent growth curve models for data from pre-, middle- and post-tests showed that intervention significantly predicted change over time in all the target variables (victimization, bullying, cybervictimization, and cyberbullying). Specifically, target variables were stable for the control group but decreased significantly over time for the experimental group. Long-term effects at the follow up 6 months later were also found. In Trial 2 (control group, n =65227; experimental group, n =65234), the moderating effect of gender was examined and there was a reported decrease in bullying and cyberbullying over time (pre- and post-test) in the experimental group but not the control group, and this decrease was similar for boys and girls. Aggr. Behav. 42:194–206, 2016. 08 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The goal of this study was to describe the strength-based bullying prevention program, Strengths in Motion, and to evaluate the program utilizing a mixed-method design. Participants included students in Grades 4 to 8 from an intervention (n = 50) and a comparison (n = 53) school in Northern Ontario. Measures of bullying, strengths, and classroom climate were completed at three time points: One month prior to the start of the program (baseline), and at 3 and 8 months after the program had started. Quantitative analyses revealed that there was a significant decrease in students' bullying victimization over time, an increase in classroom climate, and students' personal awareness of their strengths. Semistructured interviews conducted 20 months after the start of the program with various stakeholders, including parents and school staff, complemented these findings and provided additional information on the efficacy of the program and the strength-based approach. Study findings are discussed in terms of the implications for future research.

School bullying is increasingly viewed by researchers as a group phenomenon that extends beyond the perpetrator-victim dyad and is embedded in the wider social context. This paper reviews the literature on classroom and school factors contributing to bullying and victimization among children and adolescents. Considerable variability in the prevalence of these problems exists between classrooms and schools, which are highly relevant contexts for students' social development. Along with individual characteristics, both classroom- and school-related factors explain the bullying dynamic. The contexts may also exacerbate, or buffer against, the effects of individual-level risk for bullying involvement and the consequences of victimization. We discuss findings on the contributions of demographic and structural characteristics (e.g. grade level, classroom and school size), peer contextual factors (e.g. status hierarchy, group norms and bystander behaviours) and the role of teachers. Finally, implications for research and school-based antibullying programs are considered. 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

78 Emphatic education program was effective on bullying behaviors of students. 78 The program was effective on decreasing bullying behaviors of experimental group. 78 No change was observed on control group. 78 The program made positive impact in developing empathic skills of bully students.

In 2006, the Finnish Ministry of Education mandated our research group to develop an antibullying program for comprehensive schools. The new program, KiVa, includes both universal and indicated actions to reduce bullying. The present study reports the effects of KiVa on nine different forms of being bullied in a sample of 5,651 fourth to sixth graders from 78 schools (39 intervention, 39 control). The findings showed positive effects on each form of being bullied assessed. After 9 months of intervention, control school students were 1.3209” 1.94 times as likely to be bullied as students in intervention schools. A well-designed, research-based program can thus reduce multiple forms of being bullied, and there might be no need to develop specific programs for different forms of bullying.

One of the major problems of the contemporary educational phenomenon is school violence. In terms of its manifestation, it may take the form of physical, verbal or symbolic violence but events with major impact on the quality of the educational environment are bullying-type events. Generally defined as a frequently and deliberately behavior aimed at both physical or psychical injury as well as instituting a relation of domination to this person, bullying-type events have a negative impact on the student's personal and academical development. Based on these observations, our research aims to study the extent to which the development of social and emotional skills of students reduces bullying-type events. In this respect, it was necessary to implement an Anti-Violence Program in schools, based on the rogram Achieve. You Can Do It! by Bernard (2008) to which a component for parents was added. The number of subjects involved in the research was 231 students from two middle-schools from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 117 of which belonged to the experimental group, and 114 belonging to the control group. The questionnaire for evaluating violent behavior was filled out before and after the implementation of the Anti-Violence Program. Comparing the results of the pretest stage with the data from the posttest stage indicates a significant reduction in violence among the students in the experimental group compared to the control group.

Background. The positive results of the Norwegian anti-bullying programme (Olweus, 1992) stimulated other countries to tackle bully/victim problems. However, outcome studies found rather low levels of effect or even inconsistent results. Aims. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate behavioural effectiveness of a school-based anti-bullying approach within Flemish schools. In addition, specific attention was given to the relationship between outcome findings and external support. Sample. A total of 18 schools, comprising 1104 primary and secondary school children were recruited for this study. Students ranged in age from 10 to 16 years. Method. For this study, an experimental pre-test/post-test design was used which included a control group. Three groups were established. The first group, Treatment with Support, involved students from schools that implemented a school-based anti-bullying intervention with additional support from the research group. The second group, Treatment without Support, also involved students from schools that implemented a school-based anti-bullying programme. However, in contrast with those falling under the first condition, this group of schools could not appeal to the research group for additional help. The last group involved students from schools that did not implement the anti-bullying programme and served as a Control condition. Repeated measures analyses of variance were carried out. Results. The findings regarding the effects of the school-based anti-bullying intervention programme on the extent of bullying and victimisation showed a mixed pattern of positive changes in primary schools and zero outcomes in secondary schools. The findings regarding the effects of external support revealed limited outcomes. Conclusions. The outcomes of the evaluation study confirm that a schoolbased anti-bullying intervention strategy can be effective in reducing problems with bullying, especially within primary schools. It was argued that the developmental characteristics of secondary school students interfered with the outcomes. In addition, the findings revealed no extra effects of training sessions.

Abstract The effectiveness of a class-based antibullying prevention program on cognitions, emotions, and behaviors was investigated. The program consists of a cognitive-behavioral (Rational Emotive Behavioral Education; REBE) and a behavioral (Viennese Social Competence; ViSC) component. The REBE program is based on rational emotive behavioral theory and contains 9 student lessons. The ViSC program is based on social learning theory and comprises 10 student lessons. The order of the programs was experimentally manipulated. The REBE-ViSC program was implemented in 5 schools (14 classes), the ViSC-REBE program was implemented in 3 schools (9 classes), and 3 schools (11 classes) served as an untreated control group. Data were collected during 1 school year at pretest, midpoint, and posttest. Emotions (overt and internalizing anger), cognitions (learning and entitlement), and behaviors (bullying perpetration and bullying victimization) were measured with self-assessments. To examine the effectiveness of the REBE-ViSC/ViSC-REBE program, multilevel growth models were applied (time points at Level 1, individuals at Level 2, and classes at Level 3). The analyses revealed that the program effects differed depending on the order of the programs. The REBE-ViSC condition was more effective in changing negative emotions than the ViSC-REBE condition; both experimental conditions were effective in reducing dysfunctional cognitions, whereas no behavioral change was found in the 2 experimental groups when compared with the control group. To improve program effectiveness regarding behavioral changes, a multilevel whole-school approach including a teacher component is recommended. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

AbstractThis article presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of anti-bullying programs in schools. Studies were included if they evaluated the effects of an anti-bullying program by comparing an intervention group who received the program with a control group who did not. Four types of research design were included: a) randomized experiments, b) intervention-control comparisons with before-and-after measures of bullying, c) other intervention-control comparisons, and d) age-cohort designs. Both published and unpublished reports were included. All volumes of 35 journals from 1983 up to the end of May 2009 were hand-searched, as were 18 electronic databases. Reports in languages other than English were also included. A total of 622 reports concerned with bullying prevention were found, and 89 of these reports (describing 53 different program evaluations) were included in our review. Of the 53 different program evaluations, 44 provided data that permitted the calculation of an effect size for bullying or victimization. The meta-analysis of these 44 evaluations showed that, overall, school-based anti-bullying programs are effective: on average, bullying decreased by 20 23% and victimization decreased by 17 20%. Program elements and intervention components that were associated with a decrease in bullying and victimization were identified, based on feedback from researchers about the coding of 40 out of 44 programs. More intensive programs were more effective, as were programs including parent meetings, firm disciplinary methods, and improved playground supervision. Work with peers was associated with an increase in victimization. It is concluded that the time is ripe to mount a new program of research on the effectiveness of anti-bullying programs based on these findings.

The main aim of this paper is to investigate whether there is a significant long-term association between bullying at school and drug use later in life. A meta-analysis is presented based on results from major prospective longitudinal studies with available unadjusted and adjusted effect sizes. Results are based on thorough systematic searches of the literature across 19 databases and 63 journals. The unadjusted summary effect size suggests that youth who bully are at least twice as likely compared with non-involved students to use drugs later in life (OR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.60 3.07). The adjusted summary effect size is markedly reduced to an OR of 1.41 (95% CI: 1.20 1.66) suggesting that a lot of variation in the final model is explained by other contributing factors, while bullying has a significant yet small effect over and above the contribution of these factors. Contributing factors include childhood risks falling within the individual, family and school domains that are significantly associated with both the predictor and the outcome. It is concluded that school bullying, drug use and other problem behaviors are intercorrelated, thus highlighting the need to create a meaningful holistic framework for the prevention of drug problems and other associated mental, emotional, and behavioral maladies. Implications for policy and practice arising from these findings are discussed.

Background: School bullying is a wide-spread problem with severe consequences for victims, bullies and bystanders. Schools are strongly encouraged to implement both schoolwide, preventive interventions and reactive measures to handle existing bullying situations. In the Dutch implementation of the KiVa anti-bullying programme, pervasive-bullying situations are addressed according to the support group approach. The support group approach is widely used for addressing bullying situations, but little is known about its effectiveness. Purpose: We investigated the effectiveness of the support group approach in reducing victimisation, increasing defending and improving the victim well-being over the course of a school year, over and beyond of the effects of the universal KiVa intervention. Programme description: The support group approach is a non-punitive, problem-solving strategy to address pervasive-bullying situations. In this intervention, trained teachers form a support group that consists of 6 8 children, including the bullies and their assistants, defenders or friends of the victim and prosocial classmates. The purpose of the support group is to create mutual concern for the well-being of the victim and to trigger the bullies willingness to alter their behaviour. Sample: We used data from 66 Dutch elementary schools that participated in the KiVa intervention study. Data were collected in October 2012 and 2013, and May 2013 and 2014. The sample used in the analyses consisted of 38 victims for whom a support group intervention was organised (44.7% boy, Mage = 9.24; SDage = 1.20). Design and method: To get insight into the effects above and beyond those of the KiVa programme itself, victims with a support group (N = 38) were matched to similar victims without a support group (N = 571). Statistical analyses were undertaken to examine whether the changes in victimisation, defending and well-being at school differed between the two groups. Result: Victims reported positive effects of the support group approach in reducing victimisation in the short term, but this decrease in victimisation was not lasting over the course of a school year. The intervention also did not improve the victims well-being at school in the longer term. Victims with a support group, however, were found to have more defenders at the end of the school year than victims without a support group. Conclusion: The effectiveness of the support group approach in tackling bullying situations appears to fade over time. The findings of this study illustrate that for future evaluations of anti-bullying interventions it is essential to investigate longer term effects.

Background: Bullying is a widespread problem in schools. Although several effective school-based bullying intervention programmes have been developed to reduce bullying and victimisation, it has rarely been investigated whether intervention programmes are also effective in helping bully-victims. Purpose: This study investigates the effectiveness of the KiVa antibullying programme in reducing the prevalence of bully-victims, compared with those defined as ‘pure bullies’ and ‘pure victims’. Programme description: The KiVa antibullying programme is a national anti-bullying programme in Finland. It consists of universal actions targeting all the students through student lessons and virtual learning environments (e.g. anti-bullying computer games), and indicated actions, i.e. tackling the acute bullying cases. The programme aims at reducing bullying and victimisation by changing the responses of bystanders witnessing bullying. Sample: The target sample consisted of 23,520 participants (age range 8–1502years) from 738 intervention classrooms and 647 control classrooms in 195 Finnish schools. There were 12,450 primary (grades 2–6, 52.9%) and 11,070 secondary (grades 8–9, 47.1%) school students. Design and methods: The pre- and post-test data were collected in two waves 1202months apart, always in the end of a school year. The KiVa intervention took place during one school year, i.e. nine months. The effects on bully-victims, as well as on pure bullies and pure victims, were examined by prevalence changes as well as two-level multinomial logistic regression analyses. Results: The prevalence changes of bully-victims in intervention schools, in comparison with control schools, were 618% and 6141% when identified by self-reports and peer-.reports, respectively. Controlling for student gender, school level (primary/secondary) and pretest bullying/victimisation status, the odds of being a bully-victim after the intervention year were 1.51 (self-reports) and 1.63 (peer-reports) times higher for a student in a control school, in comparison with a student in an intervention school. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that KiVa is effective in reducing the prevalence of bully-victims, and these effects are comparable or even larger than the effects on pure bullies and pure victims. It is possible that intervention for bully-victims might not be more difficult than that for bullies and victims.

61Bullying appears to be effectively prevented in 7th grade and below.61In 8th grade there is a sharp drop to an average of zero.61There was a seeming reversal in efficacy through the high school years, such that programs, if anything, cause harm.61Developmental theory suggests why this may be the case and provides opportunities for future improved interventions.

61A systematic review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses is conducted.61Main topics and findings of the articles in the field are reviewed and synthesized.61One of every three children is involved in some forms of bullying and one of every five children is involved in cyberbullying.61Relationships between age, sex, and involvement in bullying and cyberbullying are complex. Bullying is an important problem among minorities.61There are personal and contextual risk and protective factors related to bullying. Consequences of being involved are devastating.61Anti-bullying programs can be effective in decreasing this kind of violence, but its effects are usually small. Some components are more effective than others.61Methodologies and evaluation should be improved.