The Potential of Anti-Bullying Efforts to Prevent Academic Failure and Youth Crime. A Case Using the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP)

Nicolai Topstad Borgen,Mona Elin Solberg,Ivar Frønes,Lars Johannessen Kirkebøen,Kyrre Breivik,Donna Cross,Oddbjørn Raaum,Dan Olweus

doi:10.1007/s11121-021-01254-3

Abstract

The effectiveness of bullying prevention programs has led to expectations that these programs could have effects beyond their primary goals. By reducing the number of victims and perpetrators and the harm experienced by those affected, programs may have longer-term effects on individual school performance and prevent crime. In this paper, we use Norwegian register data to study the long-term impact of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) on academic performance, high school dropout, and youth crime for the average student, which we call population-level effects. The OBPP program is widely acknowledged as one of the most successful programs reducing school-level bullying; yet, using a difference-in-difference design, no statistically significant population-level effects of the OBPP were found on any of the long-term outcomes in this study. When studied at the population level, as in the current project, the base rate prevalence of bullying is a major explanatory factor for these results. Earlier studies have shown that OBPP reduces bullying prevalence by 30–50%. This decrease translates into absolute reductions in bullying victimization and perpetration at the population level of “only” four and two percentage points, respectively. Our results suggest the average causal effects of school bullying involvement are too small to translate this reduction in bullying into a sizeable population-level impact on students’ long-term outcomes. However, a limited potential of anti-bullying programs to prevent population-level adversity can very well be compatible with substantial program effects for individual bullies and victims. Further, our results do not speak to the main objective of anti-bullying programs of limiting childhood abuse and safeguarding children’s human rights.

Highlights

Exposure to bullying by peers in schools is associated with and very likely is a direct cause of often incapacitating psychological, social, and academic problems in targeted students (Arseneault, 2018; Klomek et al, 2015; Nakamoto & Schwartz, 2010; Olweus, 1993; Olweus & Breivik, 2014)
The present paper fills a gap in the literature by examining the long-term effects for students exposed to the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP)
We compare the long-term outcomes of students from OBPP schools with earlier cohorts of students who went to the same schools

Summary

Introduction

Exposure to bullying by peers in schools is associated with and very likely is a direct cause of often incapacitating psychological, social, and academic problems in targeted students (Arseneault, 2018; Klomek et al, 2015; Nakamoto & Schwartz, 2010; Olweus, 1993; Olweus & Breivik, 2014). 20% (Gaffney et al, 2019a, b; Ttofi & Farrington, 2011) From these promising evaluations, some have suggested that anti-bullying programs can be used to prevent academic failure (Cornell et al, 2013), early crime, suicide, and mental health problems (Klomek et al, 2015; Menesini & Salmivalli, 2017; Ttofi et al, , 2011, 2012). Sizeable population-level effects of bullying prevention on long-term outcomes are only likely if programs substantially reduce the fraction of the student population who are bullies and/or victims and the causal influences of bullying are large. We are restricted to studying average program effects across all students, which we call population-level program effects

Methods

Results

Conclusion