HOW PUPILS COPE WITH BULLYING: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF SUCCESSFUL AND UNSUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES Lorenzo Talamelli 1, Peter K Smith 1, Helen Cowie 2, Paul Naylor 2 and Preeti Chauhan 1 1 Goldsmiths College, University of London, and 2 University of Surrey Roehampton

Bullying and social exclusion is widespread during childhood and adolescence Some 10-20% of pupils report being the victims of bullying at school at some time during the last 3 to 6 months Victims of bullying feel socially anxious, depressed, lonely and lacking in self-esteem (Hawker & Boulton, 2000) Self-reported victim rates decrease with age, but there are some persistent victims who may be bullied for years

Coping strategies used by victims vary in effectiveness Kochenderfer & Ladd (1997) - longitudinal study of 5 to 6 year olds in U.S. kindergarten

Coping strategies used by victims vary in effectiveness Salmivalli, Karhunen & Lagerspetz (1996) year old Finnish pupils

Coping strategies used by victims vary in effectiveness Hodges et al Boulton et al. 1999

Victims often do not seek help 30% Smith and Shu (2000) found that around 30% of bullied pupils remained silent about their experience 14% In schools where there was a formalised system of peer support, the percentage of bullied pupils who said that they did not report the bullying was only 14% (Naylor et al., in press)

Sample Earlier survey: Naylor & Cowie (51 UK schools with an established Peer Support System) 35 school agreed to participate 264 former victims of bullying (now in Yr 9 and Yr 11) 264 former non-victims of the same schools were matched by age and gender (and, where possible, ethnicity) Final sample of 413 pupils (204 former V, 209 former NV)

Measures Structured interview (face to face, minutes) Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997) students and teachers versions Attendance (first 104 sessions) Pupils liking of school, number and quality of friendships Definition of bullying and description of a witnessed incident Description of a personal experience of victimization occurred over the last 2 years Knowledge and perceived effectiveness of the Peer Support System in the school General opinions about bullying (reasons, advice to give, possible actions if witnessed)

Measures Structured interview (face to face, minutes) Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997) students and teachers versions Attendance (first 104 sessions) Emotional problems Conduct problems Hyperactivity Peer problems Prosocial behaviour

Victim status groups

Content Analysis Types of Bullying Direct verbal abuse (128)Direct verbal abuse (128) Physical bullying (66)Physical bullying (66) General (non-specific) bullying (41)General (non-specific) bullying (41) Indirect bullying (14)Indirect bullying (14) Imbalance of power (11)Imbalance of power (11) Taking belongings (10)Taking belongings (10) Social exclusion (8)Social exclusion (8) Dont know/cant remember (5)Dont know/cant remember (5)

Content Analysis Coping strategies Talk to someone (115)Talk to someone (115) Ignore it (73)Ignore it (73) Stick up for yourself (67)Stick up for yourself (67) Avoid, stay away from the bully (42)Avoid, stay away from the bully (42) More/different friends (37)More/different friends (37) Fight back (14)Fight back (14) Different behaviour/attitude (6)Different behaviour/attitude (6) Conditional (10)Conditional (10)

Content Analysis Reasons for victimisation VICTIM-RELATED (81)VICTIM-RELATED (81) –Victim characteristics (43) –Victim behaviour (26) –Victim loneliness (12) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BULLY AND VICTIM (37)RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BULLY AND VICTIM (37) BULLY-RELATED (39)BULLY-RELATED (39) –Bully emotional gains (19) –Bully social gains (5) –Bully physical gains (3)

RESULTS Comparison of three groups

RESULTS Significant interaction: Female V-Vs score less Significant interaction: Female V-Vs score less

RESULTS Comparison of three groups Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS (self) p<.0001 (teacher) p<.001 CONDUCT PROBLEMS (self) X (teacher) p<.02 HYPERACTIVITY (self) X (teacher) p<.01 PEER PROBLEMS (self) p<.0001 (teacher) p<.0001 PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR (self) X (teacher) X NV-NV V-NV V-V sign. Significant interaction: V-V Girls differ from the other two groups NV-NV Boys differ from the other two Significant interaction: V-V Girls differ from the other two groups NV-NV Boys differ from the other two

RESULTS Comparison of two groups V-NV & V-V Types of Bullying Types of Bullying: No significant differences by victim status Coping strategies Coping strategies: More V-NV reported talking to someone about it (p<.01) and getting more/different friends (p<.05) Reasons for victimisation Reasons for victimisation: Victim-related reasons (especially characteristics and behaviour) much more frequent than bully- related reasons. NV-NV & V-NV Hypothetical coping strategies Hypothetical coping strategies: NV-NV more likely to report that they would talk to someone (78.9% vs. 68.4%). p<.05 V-NV more likely to report they would ignore it (19.1% vs. 10.5%) and stick up for themselves (27.2% vs. 17.0%). p<.05

V-VV-NV NV-NV Like less other pupils and breaktimeLike less other pupils and breaktime Miss school more oftenMiss school more often Have fewer friends at schoolHave fewer friends at school Have poor quality of friendshipHave poor quality of friendship Score more on Peer Problems and Emotional Problems (self and teacher rated SDQ)Score more on Peer Problems and Emotional Problems (self and teacher rated SDQ) Score more on Conduct Problems and Hyperactivity (teacher rated SDQ)Score more on Conduct Problems and Hyperactivity (teacher rated SDQ) and one third admit to have bullied others enjoyment of school, attendance, friendship, SDQ

V-NVNV-NV enjoyment of school, attendance, friendship, SDQ Like less other pupils and breaktimeLike less other pupils and breaktime Miss school more oftenMiss school more often Have fewer friends at schoolHave fewer friends at school Have poor quality of friendshipHave poor quality of friendship Score more on Peer Problems and Emotional Problems (self and teacher rated SDQ)Score more on Peer Problems and Emotional Problems (self and teacher rated SDQ) Score more on Conduct Problems and Hyperactivity (teacher rated SDQ)Score more on Conduct Problems and Hyperactivity (teacher rated SDQ) and one third admit to have bullied others

V-VV-NV Less likely to talk to someoneLess likely to talk to someone Dont try to have more/different friendsDont try to have more/different friends More often try to ignore itMore often try to ignore it Often blame themselves for being bulliedOften blame themselves for being bullied Coping strategies, Reasons More likely to talk to s.o. Try to have more/different friends V-NV Recommend to talk to s.o.Recommend to talk to s.o. Dont recommend to ignore it or stick up for themselvesDont recommend to ignore it or stick up for themselves Often suggest conditional coping strategiesOften suggest conditional coping strategies

Encouragement to tell (with effective response by the person told) Training in assertiveness skills (not ignoring, or blaming oneself) Training in friendship skills (including peer support schemes) Encouragement to tell (with effective response by the person told) Training in assertiveness skills (not ignoring, or blaming oneself) Training in friendship skills (including peer support schemes)