Bullying Prevention Research Articles

Preventing and Intervening with Bullying in Schools: A Framework for Evidence-Based Practice

Bullying is a pervasive problem that impacts children and youth in schools involved as perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. This paper synthesizes findings from the empirical literature, including meta-analyses, to examine the evidence for bullying prevention and intervention approaches with attention to developmental levels (preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school). Approaches and their evidence are described using a multi-tiered framework of universal prevention and more targeted and indicated prevention for the roles in bullying (perpetrators, victims, bystanders). The role of school mental health providers in comprehensive bullying prevention and intervention efforts is explicated. Challenges in the field and future directions for research, including the need for more methodologically rigorous studies assessing fidelity and using appropriate measurement, attending to the role of technology in bullying, and evaluating targeted and indicated interventions with bullying perpetrators and victims, are provided.

Teachers Perspectives’ in Curbing and Mitigating Bullying in their Work Place: A Case study

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the insights of 10 middle school teachers on how to curb incidents of bullying in their work place. In addition, a focus group consisting of four teachers honed in on their perspectives on how to intervene and prevent student-to-student incidents of bullying and cyber bullying in one middle school in Western United States. The study’s research questions explored teachers’ perspectives in witnessing bullying and cyber bullying in their classrooms and the strategies they utilized to identify and effectively intervene to prevent these harassing behaviors. The theoretical framework of social cognitive theory supported this exploratory qualitative case study. The theory demonstrated how students learn and derive meaning from their culture and environment. Data was collected from 10 purposely-selected participants and four purposely selected members of a focus group through personal interviews and collection of documents. Data analysis was achieved by coding, categorizing and the development of themes or patterns. Thematic analysis revealed that teachers and parents played an imperative role in intervention and prevention of bullying and cyber bullying. Inflicting physical harm, name-calling, teasing, and cyber bullying were identified as the common types of bullying in the middle school. Given all the reported negative outcomes associated with bullying and cyber bullying, very serious attention is called for, from teachers and all stakeholders, for intervention and prevention of these harassing behaviors.

Parents’ and Teachers’ Opinions on Bullying and Cyberbullying Prevention

Abstract. The goals of the present study were (1) to examine parents’ and teachers’ opinions on bullying and cyberbullying prevention, and (2) to investigate whether the involvement of their children or students in bullying affects their opinions. Altogether, 959 adults (466 parents, 493 teachers) reported on their opinions. More than 95% of parents and teachers regarded bullying as an important topic. Cyberbullying was seen as the least serious form and physical bullying as the most serious one. Ninety-five percent of parents and 90% of teachers stated that they would accept a bullying prevention program; 61% of parents and 75% of teachers were willing to actively participate in bullying prevention; 34% of parents and 66% of teachers reported that their own children or students were victims of bullying. This involvement moderated teachers’ opinions. Teachers of students affected by bullying rated verbal and cyberbullying as more serious, accepted prevention programs more readily, and were more willing to actively participate in a program compared to teachers whose students were not involved.

Peer Victimization and Academic Performance in Primary School Children

ObjectivePeer victimization is a common antecedent of poor social and emotional adjustment. Its relationship with objectively measured academic performance is unclear. In this study we aimed to quantify the cross-sectional associations between peer victimization and academic performance in a large population sample of children. MethodsEight- to 9-year-old children were recruited from a stratified random sample of primary schools in Australia. Academic performance was measured on a national achievement test (1 year of learning equals 40 points). Physical and verbal victimization were measured according to child self-report. ResultsMultilevel mixed-effects linear regression analyses were conducted. For female children, verbal victimization was associated with poorer academic performance on writing (β = 17.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], −28.2 to −6.2) and grammar/punctuation (β = −20.8; 95% CI, −40.1 to −1.6). Physical victimization was associated with poorer performance on numeracy (male children: β = −29.0; 95% CI, −53.8 to −4.1; female children: β = −30.1; 95% CI, −56.6 to −3.5), and writing (female children: β = −21.5; 95% CI, −40.4 to −2.7). Verbal and physical victimization were associated with poorer performance on reading (male children: β = −31.5; 95% CI, −59.9 to −3.1; female children: β = −30.2; 95% CI, −58.6 to −1.8), writing (female children: β = −25.5; 95% CI, −42.8 to −8.2), spelling (female children: β = −32.3; 95% CI, −59.6 to −4.9), and grammar/punctuation (female children: β = −32.2; 95% CI, −62.4 to −2.0). ConclusionsChildren who were physically victimized were 6 to 9 months behind their non-victimized peers on measures of academic performance. There are growing reasons for education systems to invest in the prevention of bullying and promotion of positive peer relationships from the earliest years of school.

School-based Prevention of Bullying and Relational Aggression: The fairplayer.manual

The fairplayer.manual is a manualized, school-based intervention program to prevent bullying and relational aggression. We present first results from an evaluation study conducted in Berlin (Germany) with 119 students (age 14-17) from a comprehensive school using a controlled pre-/post-/follow-up design. Utilizing standardized questionnaires we found a significant and practically relevant decrease in bullying behavior and in peer and teacher reported relational aggression in the intervention group after the fairplayer.manual was implemented.

Extension's Efforts to Help Kids Be SAFE: Evaluation of a Statewide Bullying Prevention Program

The evaluation reported in this article examined the effectiveness of a statewide bullying prevention program, Be SAFE. Be SAFE involves use of a positive youth development approach to influence peer groups rather than individual bullies or victims. Through the use of pre- and postprogram questionnaires, we found increases in youths' knowledge of how to help someone being bullied and how to be an ally. We found that grade level was associated with youths' knowledge gains across the lessons. The findings from the evaluation can be important for those interested in understanding the impacts of Be SAFE or applying bullying prevention efforts in general.

Is weight-related bullying addressed in school-based anti-bullying programs?

IntroductionThe high prevalence and numerous negative correlates of weight-related bullying among youth emphasize the need to prevent and counter this phenomenon in school settings. This scoping review aims at: (a) determining whether the anti-bullying programs identified in previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses take weight-related bullying into account, and (b) pinpointing effective intervention strategies against weight-related bullying. Literature findingsNone of the 10 systematic reviews and meta-analyses retained addressed weight-related bullying directly. However, their findings highlighted some intervention strategies that may help prevent and reduce this type of bullying. Discussion and conclusionThe results underscore the need to consider weight-related bullying more closely in anti-bullying programs implemented in elementary, middle, and high schools. It is also important to target the intervention strategies most likely to lead to the prevention and reduction of weight-related bullying. Such strategies could include, for example: (a) education, training, and awareness-raising, for school personnel, concerning weight bias, norms and prejudices; and (b) social and emotional support for students who are victims of weight-related teasing or bullying.

Assessing Middle School Teachers’ Perspectives on How to Intervene and Mitigate Student-to-Student Incidents of Bullying and Cyberbullying in One Middle School: A Case Study

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the insights of 10 middle school teachers on how to curb incidents of bullying in their work place. In addition, a focus group consisting of four teachers honed in on their perspectives on how to intervene and prevent student-to-student incidents of bullying and cyber bullying in one middle school in Western United States. The study’s research questions explored teachers’ perspectives in witnessing bullying and cyber bullying in their classrooms and the strategies they utilized to identify and effectively intervene to prevent these harassing behaviors. The theoretical framework of social cognitive theory supported this exploratory qualitative case study. The theory demonstrated how students learn and derive meaning from their culture and environment. Data were collected from 10 purposely selected participants and four purposely selected members of a focus group through personal interviews and collection of documents. Data analysis was achieved by coding, categorizing and the development of themes or patterns. Thematic analysis revealed that teachers and parents played an imperative role in intervention and prevention of bullying and cyber bullying. Inflicting physical harm, name calling, teasing, and cyber bullying were identified as the common types of bullying in the middle school. Given all the reported negative outcomes associated with bullying and cyber bullying, very serious attention is called for, from teachers and all stakeholders, for intervention and prevention of these harassing behaviors.

Interventions for prevention of bullying in the workplace.

Bullying has been identified as one of the leading workplace stressors, with adverse consequences for the individual employee, groups of employees, and whole organisations. Employees who have been bullied have lower levels of job satisfaction, higher levels of anxiety and depression, and are more likely to leave their place of work. Organisations face increased risk of skill depletion and absenteeism, leading to loss of profit, potential legal fees, and tribunal cases. It is unclear to what extent these risks can be addressed through interventions to prevent bullying. To explore the effectiveness of workplace interventions to prevent bullying in the workplace. We searched: the Cochrane Work Group Trials Register (August 2014); Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; The Cochrane Library 2016, issue 1); PUBMED (1946 to January 2016); EMBASE (1980 to January 2016); PsycINFO (1967 to January 2016); Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL Plus; 1937 to January 2016); International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS; 1951 to January 2016); Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA; 1987 to January 2016); ABI Global (earliest record to January 2016); Business Source Premier (BSP; earliest record to January 2016); OpenGrey (previously known as OpenSIGLE-System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe; 1980 to December 2014); and reference lists of articles. Randomised and cluster-randomised controlled trials of employee-directed interventions, controlled before and after studies, and interrupted time-series studies of interventions of any type, aimed at preventing bullying in the workplace, targeted at an individual employee, a group of employees, or an organisation. Three authors independently screened and selected studies. We extracted data from included studies on victimisation, perpetration, and absenteeism associated with workplace bullying. We contacted study authors to gather additional data. We used the internal validity items from the Downs and Black quality assessment tool to evaluate included studies' risk of bias. Five studies met the inclusion criteria. They had altogether 4116 participants. They were underpinned by theory and measured behaviour change in relation to bullying and related absenteeism. The included studies measured the effectiveness of interventions on the number of cases of self-reported bullying either as perpetrator or victim or both. Some studies referred to bullying using common synonyms such as mobbing and incivility and antonyms such as civility. Organisational/employer level interventionsTwo studies with 2969 participants found that the Civility, Respect, and Engagement in the Workforce (CREW) intervention produced a small increase in civility that translates to a 5% increase from baseline to follow-up, measured at 6 to 12 months (mean difference (MD) 0.17; 95% CI 0.07 to 0.28).One of the two studies reported that the CREW intervention produced a small decrease in supervisor incivility victimisation (MD -0.17; 95% CI -0.33 to -0.01) but not in co-worker incivility victimisation (MD -0.08; 95% CI -0.22 to 0.08) or in self-reported incivility perpetration (MD -0.05 95% CI -0.15 to 0.05). The study did find a decrease in the number of days absent during the previous month (MD -0.63; 95% CI -0.92 to -0.34) at 6-month follow-up. Individual/job interface level interventionsOne controlled before-after study with 49 participants compared expressive writing with a control writing exercise at two weeks follow-up. Participants in the intervention arm scored significantly lower on bullying measured as incivility perpetration (MD -3.52; 95% CI -6.24 to -0.80). There was no difference in bullying measured as incivility victimisation (MD -3.30 95% CI -6.89 to 0.29).One controlled before-after study with 60 employees who had learning disabilities compared a cognitive-behavioural intervention with no intervention. There was no significant difference in bullying victimisation after the intervention (risk ratio (RR) 0.55; 95% CI 0.24 to 1.25), or at the three-month follow-up (RR 0.49; 95% CI 0.21 to 1.15), nor was there a significant difference in bullying perpetration following the intervention (RR 0.64; 95% CI 0.27 to 1.54), or at the three-month follow-up (RR 0.69; 95% CI 0.26 to 1.81). Multilevel InterventionsA five-site cluster-RCT with 1041 participants compared the effectiveness of combinations of policy communication, stress management training, and negative behaviours awareness training. The authors reported that bullying victimisation did not change (13.6% before intervention and 14.3% following intervention). The authors reported insufficient data for us to conduct our own analysis.Due to high risk of bias and imprecision, we graded the evidence for all outcomes as very low quality. There is very low quality evidence that organisational and individual interventions may prevent bullying behaviours in the workplace. We need large well-designed controlled trials of bullying prevention interventions operating on the levels of society/policy, organisation/employer, job/task and individual/job interface. Future studies should employ validated and reliable outcome measures of bullying and a minimum of 6 months follow-up.

Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions

During the school years, bullying is one of the most common expressions of violence in the peer context. Research on bullying started more than forty years ago, when the phenomenon was defined as ‘aggressive, intentional acts carried out by a group or an individual repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him- or herself’. Three criteria are relevant in order to define aggressive behaviour as bullying: (1) repetition, (2) intentionality and (3) an imbalance of power. Given these characteristics, bullying is often defined as systematic abuse of power by peers. It is recognised globally as a complex and serious problem. In the present paper, we discuss the prevalence, age and gender differences, and various types of bullying, as well as why it happens and how long it lasts, starting from the large surveys carried out in western countries and to a lower extent in low- and middle-income countries. The prevalence rates vary widely across studies; therefore, specific attention will be devoted to the definition, time reference period and frequency criterion. We will also focus on risk factors as well as short- and long-term outcomes of bullying and victimisation. Finally, a section will be dedicated to review what is known about effective prevention of bullying.

Evaluation of Violence Prevention Approaches Among Early Adolescents: Moderating Effects of Disability Status and Gender

High prevalence rates of aggression during adolescence and associated adjustment difficulties for perpetrators and victims highlight the need for effective violence prevention programs. School-based prevention programs are advantageous as they occur in a key setting for youths' social and emotional development. The current study compared the efficacy of a combined universal violence prevention approach that included individual-level skill-building (i.e., lessons from Second Step) and school environment (i.e., Olweus Bullying Prevention Program; OBPP) interventions to OBPP alone. Participants were 231 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders (ages 11–15; M = 12.6, SD = 1.0) in middle school (48 % male, 67 % African American). A total of 14 classrooms were randomly assigned to the combined intervention (seven) or OBPP only comparison (seven) condition, split evenly across grades. Intervention effects were moderated by disability status and gender. Among students without disabilities those who received the combined intervention reported greater increases in anger regulation coping skills than those in the comparison condition. In contrast, among youth with disabilities greater increases in teacher-rated social skills were found for students in the combined intervention than students in the comparison condition at posttest. Gender-moderated effects included greater decreases in teacher ratings of externalizing problems and bullying behaviors for boys in the combined intervention versus the comparison condition at posttest. Study results inform school-based violence prevention programs and are discussed along with implications.

PREVENTION OF BULLYING EMERGING DUE TO LEARNING DIFFERENCES, APPLYING “LEARNING FOR LIFE” SYSTEM GROUNDED ON SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING (LIHUANIAN COUNTRY CASE)

Necessity, timeliness and significance of thelearning and teaching system “Learning for Life”, grounded on self-directed learning, are actualised by the lack of systematic approach to bullying prevention in Lithuania, lack of prevention of bullying due to learning differences and experience and situation of bullying prevention in the country that has formed in this context. Currently bullying cases are increasingly often spoken of but it has to be acknowledged that interest in this problems is taken more episodically, quite often reacting to resonant bullying cases. This demonstrates that the systemic approach is still missing, that the real scope of spread of bullying, its reasons, consequences have not yet been perceived and this aggravates possibilities to manage the situation. Prevention of bulling arising at school due to learning differences should be based on the learning and teaching system “Learning for Life”, grounded on self-directed learning and acknowledgement of the learner’s learning differences, characteristic to it, and not on the perception of differences as stigmatising shortcoming. In the article by using the method of content analysis, abstraction actualised necessity, timeliness and significance of selfdirected learning framework for the prevention of school bullying of these criteria : links of the system "Learning for Life”with European and national education documents on education; the education system "Learning for Life” interface with methodological approaches; pronciples of the system "Learning for life" as fundamental approaches; the aspects of manifestation of the education system "Learning for life"concept in the educational practice.

School-based interventions to address bullying

Following some background studies on the nature of school bullying, its prevalence, and the negative consequences it can have, this article reviews the history of anti-bullying interventions over the last 30 years. It considers several major programmes in detail, such as the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, KiVa, Steps to Respect, and Friendly Schools. The nature and evaluation of the interventions is discussed, followed by a review of meta-analyses of the programmes effectiveness. Issues considered are the effect at different ages; components of interventions; work with peers; disciplinary methods, non-punitive and restorative approaches; challenges regarding cyberbullying; the role of parents; the role of teachers and teacher training; set menu versus à la carte approaches; sustainability of interventions and societal context. Conclusions show that interventions have had some success, with traditional bullying. However, further progress is needed in strengthening theoretical underpinnings to interventions, and in tackling cyberbullying.

A process view on implementing an antibullying curriculum: How teachers differ and what explains the variation": Correction to Haataja et al. (2015).

Reports an error in "A process view on implementing an antibullying curriculum: How teachers differ and what explains the variation" by Anne Haataja, Annarilla Ahtola, Elisa Poskiparta and Christina Salmivalli (School Psychology Quarterly, 2015[Dec], Vol 30[4], 564-576). In the article, there was an error in the abstract. The abstract incorrectly stated: “Finally, good lesson preparation and student engagement were associated with a higher levels of implementation throughout the school year (the high group). Neither participation in preimplementation training nor classroom management skills were related to 3 implementation profiles.” The statement about student engagement as a significant predictor was incorrect. The abstract should have stated: “Finally, good lesson preparation was associated with higher levels of implementation throughout the school year (the high group). Student engagement, participation in preimplementation training or classroom management skills were not related to 3 implementation profiles.” The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2015-16487-001.) The present study provides a person-centered view on teachers’ adherence to the KiVa antibullying curriculum over a school year. Factor mixture modeling was used to examine how teachers (N = 282) differed in their implementation profiles and multinomial logistic regression was used to identify factors related to these profiles. On the basis of lesson adherence across time, 3 types of implementers emerged: (a) high implementers (53%) started at a very high level and remained so over time, (b) moderate implementers (30%) consistently utilized more than half of the lesson material, and (c) surrenders (17%) started at a high level that soon declined. Teachers’ beliefs toward program effectiveness were positively associated with starting at higher levels of fidelity (high and surrenders), whereas principal support for antibullying work predicted maintaining the initial level of implementation over the school year (high and moderate). Finally, good lesson preparation and student engagement were associated with a higher levels of implementation throughout the school year (the high group). Neither participation in preimplementation training nor classroom management skills were related to 3 implementation profiles. The findings highlight the importance of individual and interpersonal factors for successful implementation of school-based bullying prevention programs.

The indirect association of job strain with long-term sickness absence through bullying: a mediation analysis using structural equation modeling.

BackgroundIn this longitudinal study the complex interplay between both job strain and bullying in relation to sickness absence was investigated. Following the “work environment hypothesis”, which establishes several work characteristics as antecedents of bullying, we assumed that job strain, conceptualized by the Job-Demand-Control model, has an indirect relation with long-term sickness absence through bullying.MethodsThe sample consisted of 2983 Belgian workers, aged 30 to 55 years, who participated in the Belstress III study. They completed a survey, including the Job Content Questionnaire and a bullying inventory, at baseline. Their sickness absence figures were registered during 1 year follow-up. Long-term sickness absence was defined as at least 15 consecutive days. A mediation analysis, using structural equation modeling, was performed to examine the indirect association of job strain through bullying with long-term sickness absence. The full structural model was adjusted for several possible confounders: age, gender, occupational group, educational level, company, smoking habits, alcohol use, body mass index, self-rated health, baseline long-term sickness absence and neuroticism.ResultsThe results support the hypothesis: a significant indirect association of job strain with long-term sickness absence through bullying was observed, suggesting that bullying is an intermediate variable between job strain and long-term sickness absence. No evidence for the reversed pathway of an indirect association of bullying through job strain was found.ConclusionsBullying was observed as a mediating variable in the relation between job strain and sickness absence. The results suggest that exposure to job strain may create circumstances in which a worker risks to become a target of bullying. Our findings are generally in line with the work environment hypothesis, which emphasizes the importance of organizational work factors in the origin of bullying.This study highlights that remodeling jobs to reduce job strain may be important in the prevention of bullying and subsequent sickness absence.

The longitudinal effects of organizational change on experienced and enacted bullying behaviour

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the relation between organizational change and enacted or experienced workplace bullying. We find that there is a longitudinal relation between organizational change and bullying behaviour and that this effect varies depending on the type of preceding organizational change (task-related or relational change). Task-related change predicts experienced bullying behaviours and relational change predicts enacted bullying behaviours. Within a relationistic process precipitation framework, we find that among moderators at the organizational level (leadership quality) and individual level (affectivity), only positive affectivity slightly moderates the relation between relational change and enacted bullying behaviours. The findings are relevant for the development of evidence-based strategies for the prevention of workplace bullying during different types of organizational change.

Bullying and Students With Disabilities

Bullying is a serious issue affecting the psychological, social, and physical well-being of students. Although a substantial amount of bullying research has been conducted with general education students, there is a paucity of experimental prevention or intervention studies specifically focused on students with disabilities. The aim of this article is twofold. First, we introduce a special issue on bullying and students with disabilities. Summaries of recent studies conducted on the bullying and students with disabilities are described. Next, we report the findings from a systematic literature review on bully intervention studies focused on students with disabilities. We identified six experimental studies meeting the search criteria. One study met all of the quality research indicators. Findings, future directions, and conclusions are discussed taking into consideration quality research indicators for evidence-based bullying prevention or intervention studies.

Le harcèlement moral, un symptôme de la société moderne

ObjectivesEverywhere in the world, people have woken up to the reality of the phenomenon of workplace bullying and its disastrous consequences on the health and identity of the human target and also on the organizations. Nevertheless, it appears that a confusion may exist between bullying and other psychosocial risks. Even if harassment is a risk among psychosocial risks, the nature of the bullying process differentiates it from the other suffering at work. The purpose of this article is to provide ways of understanding the specificity of bullying and help to recognize the consequences of bullying or a target's health. This will lead us to explain why the prevention of bullying cannot come about through setting up additional processes but, on the contrary, by a work on dignity, allowing people to enter into an ethical relationship with others. Researchers agree that bullying is an interpersonal problem rooted in and played out in an organizational context but, for fear of stigmatizing people, many studies focus only on the organizational factors as the origin of the phenomenon, ignoring the human vector which relays it. However, it is the human element that makes the difference between bullying and psychosocial risks. In a bullying situation, it is not the work of a person which is attacked, but the person him/herself. This is the reason why it affects the physical and psychological health to such an extent. Studies have shown that the health outcomes of bullying are different from those of other occupational stressors with more rumination, hypervigilance, psychosomatic disorders. The gravity of these symptoms is a direct consequence of the ostracism and the attacks to the dignity. The growing number of problems of bullying throughout the world is undoubtedly indicative of a profound transformation of work organization, but also of the cultural changes of our society. Bullying is a complex process whose origin is not linked to a single cause but to several factors, managerial, sociological and psychological, which interact and reinforce each other. Concerning the organizational factors of bullying, it is clear that modern management is no longer expressed in a human relationship but through numbers, objectives and results. A management focused on standardized procedures leaves aside the human part of individuals which cannot always be objectified and cannot regulate the struggles of influence and abuse of power. Placed under permanent pressure, with fear of losing their jobs, employees may not be able to protect themselves or may lose their limits and use unfair methods such as bullying. On the other side, the logic of performance invades all domains of society and increasingly so because of new technologies. In addition to the direct pressure of work, there is a subtle pressure coming from the society, intimating to each one to be powerful, fulfilled and happy. Our society has changed and this has led individuals to change. Modern individuals have a great need for recognition, they fear not being up to standard, can present a great intolerance to frustration and a great difficulty in questioning themselves. These traits generate defense mechanisms, which may express through a hardening of relationship towards others. ConclusionsThese changes of individuals have a significant effect on management, and employers should take it into account. But if they have taken steps to combat stress, they are slow to identify bullying that seems too subjective, too tied to the personality of the employees and their potential fragility. If we want to set up an effective prevention of bullying, it is important to recognize the precise distinctive of bullying and help organizations to adapt their management style to the changing of modern individuals.

A serious game-based solution to prevent bullying

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a Serious Game with the main purpose of inducing attitude changes as a way to prevent bullying, in a target audience of young people between 10 and 12 years old. Design/methodology/approach The rationale for prevention is: first, to help victims of these aggressive episodes to acquire or improve competencies in avoiding or dealing with future real bullying situations; and second, to promote empathy toward the victims in bystanders. A back office application complements the game, providing substantial assistance to psychologists while using the game with patients in therapy or in research work. Findings Both components, the game and the back office, were evaluated with volunteers. The user study leads the authors to the conclusion that the current version of the game holds good potential in bullying prevention: the young people that played the game in a continuous time span, at the end of this testing process, have expressed improvements in their bullying prevention strategies. The back office application, a distinctive feature of the solution when compared to other similar bullying prevention solutions, was positively assessed by the psychologists who tested it. Originality/value The game deals with strong social features, such as number of friends and invitations to social events (e.g. a birthday party), to which young people give much importance. Additionally, it offers a variability of scenarios and consequences of actions, taking into account the user’s performance in the game. The main factors that makes the presented solution stand out in comparison with other similar bullying prevention solutions are mainly the following: It includes a back office application to assist therapists with data management features; the role of the player in the game can be chosen according to his own profile; it is possible to play even outside a therapy session (e.g. at home); and it is a portable solution.

Applying Mass Communication Theory to Bystander Intervention in Bullying

Bystander behavior in bullying has received increasing attention in the literature, but it is seldom grounded in a strong theoretical context and rarely draws from multiple disciplines. The current article proposes how theory in mass communication can aid research efforts seeking to better understand and prevent bullying through bystander intervention. This article first provides an overview of the research on bystanders in bullying and uses Latane and Darley’s (The unresponsive bystander: why doesn’t he help? Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1970) classic bystander intervention model as an organizing framework. Next, mass communication theory, with its focus on the strategic use of messaging to affect attitudes and behaviors, is reviewed. Theory and research in communication relevant to the prevention of bullying is then discussed, with particular attention to the bystander intervention model. The article concludes with recommendations for how future research and interventions grounded in communication and psychology may advance our understanding and encouragement of adolescent bystander intervention behavior in bullying.