What is known about bullying behaviour? Sarah Woods Dieter Wolke University of Hertfordshire Psychology Department - DWRU

What is Bullying? Direct Bullying: “ A Student is being bullied or victimised when he or she is exposed repeatedly and over time to negative action on the part of one or more others students. (Olweus, 1991) Relational Bullying: “The purposeful damage and manipulation of peer relationships and feelings of social exclusion. (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995)

Types of Bullying Physical: Hitting, kicking, taking belongings. Verbal: Name calling, cruel teasing, taunting, threatening. Relational/Psychological: Social exclusion, malicious rumour spreading, deliberate withdrawal friendship. Gender Differences have been found for different types of bullying

Bullying Sub-groups ‘Pure’ Bullies ‘Pure’ Victims Bully/victims Neutrals 22/09/2019

Precursors of Bullying Behaviour No special models Lack of longitudinal studies Adapted from conduct disorder Speculative

Participation in Antisocial Behaviour: Three groups % of antisocial behaviour

Antisocial Behaviour (persistent) 5-6% of offenders commit >50% of crime. life-persistent antisocial group often in contact with law before adolescence. Remain with anti-social personality disorder. To differentiate life-persistent from adolescence onset – need to know pre-adolescent behaviour.

Bullying Behaviour and Antisocial Behaviour Bullying: different antecedents for group: V; B/V; B General Antisocial: focuses solely perpetrator

Bullying and victimisation % of antisocial behaviour

Bullying Behaviour and Antisocial Behaviour Both are dependent on Social Context: Behaviour Tendencies and Opportunities Bullying: Class & School context General Antisocial: Beyond School: Family, Neighbourhood

Characteristics Bully Sub-Groups and Risk Factors Some Findings from our Research

How widespread is bullying in schools cross-culturally? Germany Consistent Estimations across studies. Over 6mths – 1yr: Children generally reported 1-2 acts of bullying others (e.g. Schaefer, 1996). At least once week: Prevalence rates in the range of 4%-12% for bullying others and between 5%-16% for being victims of bullying (e.g. Schaefer, 1996; Tillmann et al., 1996).

How widespread is bullying in schools cross-culturally? Portugal Few studies have been carried out in Portugal regarding bullying behaviour. One large scale study involving 6200 students aged 6-15 yrs (Tomas de Almeida & Smith). 3 or more times over school term: 15%-20% of children said that they bullied others, 21%-22% said that they were victims of bullying. Physical bullying was more prevalent among primary school pupils and verbal among secondary pupils.

How widespread is bullying in schools cross-culturally? U.K. Widespread studies carried out in the U.K. among primary and secondary school children Sometimes or more often: 12%-17% of children reported bullying others, 17%-27% of children reported being victimised. Once a week or more often: 4%-10% reported bullying others, 8-23% reported being victimised.

Universities of Hertfordshire and Munich Psychology Department - DWRU BULLYING & VICTIMISATION IN ENGLAND & GERMANY: PREVALENCE & SCHOOL FACTORS Dieter Wolke Henrike Schulz Sarah Woods Katherine Stanford Universities of Hertfordshire and Munich Psychology Department - DWRU

RESEARCH QUESTIONS Are there differences in the prevalence & characteristics of bullying & victimisation experienced by English & German primary school children? What is the relationship of social and school factors to bullying & victimisation in the UK & Germany?

VICTIMISATION P < 0.001

BULLYING OTHERS P < 0.001

BULLYING CLASSIFICATION P < 0.001

SCHOOL RELATED FACTORS GERMANY: None of the school and social factors were related to bullying behaviour. U.K.: School size Class size all related to bullying bullying Urban/rural School & Social factors were trichotomised by country.

Bullying and Behaviour Problems among Primary School Children Dieter Wolke Linda Bloomfield Sarah Woods Lyn Karstadt University of Hertfordshire Psychology Department - DWRU

Research Questions What is the extent of behaviour problems for children involved in direct or relational bullying? Are there any differential effects of direct and relational bullying on behaviour problems? Do those children involved in both types of bullying have the most behaviour problems?

Average Total Difficulties scores from the SDQ for direct & relational bullying

Average Prosocial Behaviour scores from SDQ for direct & relational bullying

RESULTS Direct and relational bullying and behaviour problems in the clinical range.

Total Difficulties scores in the clinical range (> 90th percentile) for direct and relational bullying sub-groups *** ***

RESULTS Involvement in both types of bullying (direct & relational) and behaviour problems.

Total Difficulties in the clinical range for direct bullying only, relational bullying only and both types of bullying

Bullying and Health Problems among Primary School Children Dieter Wolke Sarah Woods Lyn Karstadt University of Hertfordshire Psychology Department - DWRU

Research Questions What is the extent of health problems for children involved in direct or relational bullying? Are there any differential effects of direct and relational bullying on health complaints? Do those children involved in both types of bullying have the most health complaints?

RESULTS Direct bullying and total physical health problems. No significant differences between relational bullying and total physical health problems.

Average Total Physical Health problems for Direct Bullying

RESULTS Direct bullying and total Psychosomatic health problems. No significant differences between relational bullying and total Psychosomatic health problems.

Average Total psychosomatic Health problems for Direct Bullying

Is bullying behaviour related to academic achievement at school? Dieter Wolke Sarah Woods University of Hertfordshire Department of Psychology, Hatfield, UK

Background Uncertainty surrounding whether bullying behaviour at school has a negative impact on academic achievement at school. Past research suggests that the aggressive behaviour of bullies has a negative impact on school performance and others suggest that victimisation results in poor grades.

Research Questions Is there any relationship between direct and relational bullying on SATs test results and teacher assessments? What school factors predict SATs test results and teacher assessments? Does children’s performance on SATs tests contribute to involvement in bullying behaviour?

Results: What predicts relational bullying? 95% CI for Exp (B) Odds ratio Sig (P) Lower Upper SATS TR Avg/above avg) 5.74 0.08 0.77 42.72 Gender (boys) 0.42 0.02 0.21 0.86 Class Size (small) 0.48 0.05 0.23 0.99 Emotional hlth probs (at least 1 prob) 0.50 0.25

Results No relationship between direct bullying and academic achievement was revealed. Relational bullies had significantly higher SATs test results and Teacher Assessment results compared to victims and neutral children. Having average or above average academic achievement in year 2 contributed to bullying being a bully in year 4.

Conclusions & Implications No support generated for the theory that under achievement and frustration at school leads to direct bullying behaviour. Educational professionals need to be aware of the characteristics of relational bullies including good academic achievement, competent social skills, good school attendance and healthy individuals.

Background: Anti-Bullying Intervention Programmes Some Schools still do not have anti-bullying policies. Only recently schools were provided with guidelines on how to devise comprehensive anti-bullying policies. Only 4 studies have carried out evaluations of whole school anti-bullying interventions. These revealed inconsistent & inconclusive findings.

Research Question Does the detail of anti-bullying policies tell us anything about bullying rates in British primary schools?

Anti-Bullying Scores & Direct Bullying Sub-Groups NS

Anti-Bullying Scores & Relational Bullying Sub-Groups

Future Directions Distinction between efficacy versus effectiveness studies needed. More attention on early intervention at primary school level required. Issue of relational bullying & policies needs more careful consideration. Increase in liaison with teachers, governors & community as a whole to develop new initiatives.

Characteristics Bully Sub-Groups Individual Differences Social Cognition Sociometric Status Family Functioning

Characteristics of Victims INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: withdrawn, anxious, low self-esteem, unassertive, upset easily, boys physically weak. SOCIAL COGNITION: negative attitude to violence, poor social understanding, poor in conflict resolution strategies. SOCIOMETRIC STATUS: low social impact, few or no friends (lonely), rejected or neglected. FAMILY FUNCTIONING: over protective mothers, enmeshed family (abused by siblings?) or father often distant, cold, no role model.

Characteristics of Bully/victims INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: irritable, angry and hot tempered, impulsive, hyperactive, short attention. SOCIAL COGNITION: +ive attitude to aggression, misinterpret hostile intentions (ambiguous provocation), low-mod social understanding. SOCIOMETRIC STATUS: moderate to high social impact, few friends, highly rejected by peers, reinforcer or assistant. FAMILY FUNCTIONING: experiences of violence in family, inconsistent discipline & parenting, often marital conflict, father often absent, dysfunctional.

Characteristics of Bullies INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: little anxiety, good self-esteem, well regulated, physically strong boy SOCIAL COGNITION: uses aggression to dominate, ‘cool cognition’, good understanding of social situations; little empathy. SOCIOMETRIC STATUS: high social impact, no. of friends, ring leader, popular & rejected (controversial). FAMILY FUNCTIONING: harsh discipline, but no violence, disengaged family structure, -ive sibling relations, father to have been bully himself.

Consequences of Bullying: Victims Truancy or overadaptation (to teacher) Decrease in Academic Achievement or high academic achievement (learning niche) Psychological Symptoms: anxiety, depression, low self-esteem

Consequences of Bullying: Victims Physical Health Problems Problems in later adult life: work bullying victim; lost of trust, love shyness, avoidance of romantic relationships SUICIDE

Consequences of Bullying: Bully/Victims Truancy Decrease in Academic Achievement; School dropout Psychological Symptoms: depression, low self-esteem, conduct problems, dangerous pursuits (attention seeking)

Consequences of Bullying: Bully/Victims Offending, drug use Problems in later adult life: unemployment, frequent job changes, association deviant partner

Consequences of Bullying: Pure Bullies Good Academic Achievement? Group Leader; e.g. healthy, good sport achievement? Psychological Symptoms: lack of empathy, high self-esteem?

Consequences of Bullying: Pure Bullies Manager – cool operator? Or leader in antisocial group?

What is the link between bullying & VICTEC? Intervention studies to date have had mixed success rates. An innovative approach for tackling bullying problems in schools is required. Using Virtual Learning Environments could be an innovative and novel way of dealing with bullying problems.

Why use Virtual Environments? They should be fun and attractive to interact with. They provide a safe environment for children to try out different ways of dealing with bullying behaviour. Children can look closely and understand more fully the different roles and perspectives involved in bullying behaviour.

What is the ultimate goal of VICTEC? Should be able to use virtual learning environments as a means of dealing with bullying experiences. Ultimately, would be beneficial to use VLE for other social problems such as workplace bullying, general anti-social behaviour etc.

Average Conduct Problem Scores from SDQ for direct & relational bullying

Average Hyperactivity scores from SDQ for direct & relational bullying

Average Peer Problem scores from SDQ for direct & relational bullying