TY - JOUR
T1 - Examining the link between forms of bullying behaviors and perceptions of safety and belonging among secondary school students
AU - Goldweber, Asha
AU - Waasdorp, Tracy Evian
AU - Bradshaw, Catherine P.
PY - 2013/8
Y1 - 2013/8
N2 - Research suggests that students who bully may perceive the school climate less favorably. Person-centered analyses were used to identify distinct groupings of bullying behaviors and related social-emotional factors (i.e., victimization, internalizing, and perception of school and bullying climate). Latent class analyses were conducted on a sample of 10,254 middle and 2509 high school students and indicated four classes in middle school (Low Involvement, Verbal, High Physical/High Verbal, and High Involvement) and three classes in high school (Low Involvement, Verbal, and High Involvement). A Low Involvement bullying class characterized most students and was related to positive adjustment, whereas a High Involvement bullying class represented the smallest proportion of the sample (1.6% middle school and 7.3% in high school). Students in the High Involvement class reported increased victimization and internalizing problems, feeling less safe and less belonging, and perceiving the school climate to be more supportive of bullying (i.e., perceiving adults' prevention and intervention efforts as ineffective). In middle school, the High Physical/High Verbal class reported significantly higher levels of victimization as compared to the Verbal class. Findings highlight heterogeneity in bullying behaviors and underscore the importance of prevention and intervention programming that addresses safety and belonging.
AB - Research suggests that students who bully may perceive the school climate less favorably. Person-centered analyses were used to identify distinct groupings of bullying behaviors and related social-emotional factors (i.e., victimization, internalizing, and perception of school and bullying climate). Latent class analyses were conducted on a sample of 10,254 middle and 2509 high school students and indicated four classes in middle school (Low Involvement, Verbal, High Physical/High Verbal, and High Involvement) and three classes in high school (Low Involvement, Verbal, and High Involvement). A Low Involvement bullying class characterized most students and was related to positive adjustment, whereas a High Involvement bullying class represented the smallest proportion of the sample (1.6% middle school and 7.3% in high school). Students in the High Involvement class reported increased victimization and internalizing problems, feeling less safe and less belonging, and perceiving the school climate to be more supportive of bullying (i.e., perceiving adults' prevention and intervention efforts as ineffective). In middle school, the High Physical/High Verbal class reported significantly higher levels of victimization as compared to the Verbal class. Findings highlight heterogeneity in bullying behaviors and underscore the importance of prevention and intervention programming that addresses safety and belonging.
KW - Bullying behaviors
KW - Latent class analyses
KW - School climate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84880604212&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84880604212&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jsp.2013.04.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jsp.2013.04.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 23870442
AN - SCOPUS:84880604212
SN - 0022-4405
VL - 51
SP - 469
EP - 485
JO - Journal of School Psychology
JF - Journal of School Psychology
IS - 4
ER -