Children’s Decisions to Support Victims of Bullying: Friend and Peer Influences and the Effects of a Cross-Age Teaching of Social Issues Intervention

Bullying among school children is a social phenomenon that is now recognised as a widespread and serious problem across the globe. While decades of research have generated valuable insights as regards prevalence, main correlates and detrimental health consequences, many questions and gaps remain. For instance, it is unclear why the great majority of peer bystanders not intervene to support victims in a bullying conflict despite holding anti-bullying beliefs. Furthermore, great efforts have been made in the area of peer support and anti-bullying initiatives however there is still no intervention that has shown to be effective long term and cross-culturally. This thesis consists of two empirical studies. To advance knowledge of factors that influence pupils’ victim support behaviour, the first study examined the role of perceived friend and peer consequences in predicting intentions to three types of help: provide emotional support, help to stop the bully and get adult support. Structural equation modelling revealed that perceived friend consequences were significantly associated with each of the victim support behaviours studied. Additionally, perceived peer reactions predicted intentions to get adult help. These findings suggest that friends play a more important role than peers in affecting victim support. Some significant gender effects emerged, showing that the overall pattern of associations held for boys, but not for girls. The findings highlight the concerns children hold with regard to their (dis)approving views related to victim support. Outcomes further suggest that victim defending should not be regarded as a broad homogeneous construct. The second study assessed the effectiveness of a cross-age teaching of social issues intervention (CATS) on enhancing pupils’ knowledge on three victim support behaviours, and their awareness of the value of helping. In small cooperative groups older pupils were invited to step into the tutor role to prepare a lesson and teach it to two years younger tutees. An experimental-control group design was employed to test participants’ performance at three time points over a six to eight week period. CATS tutors significantly improved their knowledge and awareness of the provictim behaviours studied while no positive changes were evident for participants in the control group. Furthermore, children who participated in the project expressed high satisfaction with the intervention. Based on the positive findings it was concluded that CATS is a viable technique for enhancing pupils’ knowledge and awareness on prosocial topics. Helping children to see the value of supporting victims of bullying, in any of the ways studied, could help them avoid anticipating negative reactions from friends and peers, and in turn make it more likely that they would choose to help if the need arose

Promoting Junior School Students’ Anti-bullying Beliefs with the CATZ Cross-age Teaching Zone Intervention

In tackling the widespread problem of bullying victimisation, researchers have acknowledged the value of focusing on changing bullying-related beliefs and using peer-based interventions. In three studies (N = 419, 237 intervention and 182 controls), we tested the effectiveness of the CATZ cross-age teaching programme by inviting small groups of 11-year-olds to incorporate information supporting positive beliefs (concerning non-physical forms of bullying, the value of disclosing being bullied to adults, and helping victims) into a lesson they devised for themselves and to deliver that to small groups of 9-year-olds. Specifically, we examined if the intervention would promote that (i) non-physical forms of bullying are unacceptable (study 1), (ii) disclosing bullying to adults and getting the right kind of help have value and importance (study 2), and (iii) victims can be assisted in safe ways (study 3). Self-reports of nine specific aspects of these beliefs were collected from CATZ tutors and age-matched controls prior to and following the intervention, and at five-week follow-up in one study, using both open and closed questions. Results indicated significant positive effects of CATZ on all nine outcome variables, with mostly medium and high effect sizes. These findings support the use of CATZ to foster positive anti-bullying beliefs, and issues related to its wider uptake are discussed.N/

Predicting Adolescents’ Intentions to Support Victims of Bullying from Expected Reactions of Friends versus Peers

From Crossref journal articles via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: ppub 2023-11-10, issued 2023-11-10Publication status: PublishedGiven the crucial role of bystanders in combating bullying in schools, there is a need to understand the reasons why children may or may not intervene on behalf of a victimised peer. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between children’s expectations of general peer reactions versus the reactions of their friends on three subtypes of victim support: consoling the victim, addressing the bully, and getting adult help. A sample of 630 students (297 girls; 333 boys, Mage = 12.5) from three public secondary schools in Germany completed a 30-item questionnaire measuring expected peer reactions, expected friend reactions, past victim support experiences, and intentions to support victims. Results revealed the more influential role of expected reactions of friends over general peers in predicting victim support with expected negative consequences from friends reducing children’s willingness to engage in victim helping, irrespective of the three sub-types of support studied. Expected negative outcomes from peers were also found to significantly affect students’ intentions to approach a teacher for help. Boys were found to be more concerned about their friends’ and peers’ reactions to victim support than girls. The findings are discussed in relation to bystanders’ willingness to offer victim support and associated practical implications for addressing the widespread problem of bullying in schools

Predicting Adolescents’ Intentions to Support Victims of Bullying from Expected Reactions of Friends versus Peers

This article is not available on ChesterRepGiven the crucial role of bystanders in combating bullying in schools, there is a need to understand the reasons why children may or may not intervene on behalf of a victimised peer. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between children’s expectations of general peer reactions versus the reactions of their friends on three subtypes of victim support: consoling the victim, addressing the bully, and getting adult help. A sample of 630 students (297 girls; 333 boys, Mage = 12.5) from three public secondary schools in Germany completed a 30-item questionnaire measuring expected peer reactions, expected friend reactions, past victim support experiences, and intentions to support victims. Results revealed the more influential role of expected reactions of friends over general peers in predicting victim support with expected negative consequences from friends reducing children’s willingness to engage in victim helping, irrespective of the three sub-types of support studied. Expected negative outcomes from peers were also found to significantly affect students’ intentions to approach a teacher for help. Boys were found to be more concerned about their friends’ and peers’ reactions to victim support than girls. The findings are discussed in relation to bystanders’ willingness to offer victim support and associated practical implications for addressing the widespread problem of bullying in schools