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Promoting Kindness Through the Positive Theatrical Arts: Assessing Kuwait’s Boomerang Programme
Abstract
As the field of positive psychology aims to build and strengthen the well-being of individuals, its repertoire of empirically validated strategies designed to do so is growing. Kuwait’s “Boomerang” anti-bullying theatre programme designed to increase social kindness in schools is an example. The tools of applied theatre were taught to facilitators, who in turn trained seven to ten students who were real-life bullies, victims, and bystanders across seven Kuwaiti schools to become actors in each institution’s culminating theatre play. Participating acting students and audience members were assessed to determine the effects of the programme. Results showed that their perceptions of social cohesion and trust, a positive school climate, and life satisfaction improved. Implications for student well-being are discussed, alongside the broader use of the positive arts, an emerging area of positive psychology.
... The recent literature has shown that, since general trust is associated with social wellbeing [31], students who trust their schools and their teachers show higher levels of social well-being: they tend to exhibit greater self-efficacy [32], higher life satisfaction [33], lower levels of depression [34], and are more likely to engage actively in the learning process, as they feel more supported by their educational environment [35]. ...
School dropout is a global issue that compromises individual and societal well-being. Researchers in psychology emphasize that dropout often results from a prolonged erosion of bonds between individuals, schools, and society, especially in socioeconomically disadvantaged contexts. School trust, described as the “connective tissue” within the school system, fosters psychological well-being and is associated with self-esteem, self-efficacy, life satisfaction, and reduced depression. This study aimed to explore the interaction of various relational constructs related to school life, which could be used to improve student well-being and reduce the risk of dropout. A total of 645 high school students from impoverished and high-crime neighborhoods in Naples were involved in the cross-sectional study, investigating the role that school trust plays in relation to positive teaching, self-efficacy, and the sense of belonging. The results indicate that positive teaching significantly enhances the sense of school belonging through the mediating role of students’ trust in teachers. These findings highlight the crucial role of trust as a mediator in strengthening student–school relationships. Schools should prioritize fostering trust by promoting teacher transparency, consistency, and care. Such efforts can enhance students’ sense of belonging, ultimately mitigating dropout risk and restoring their connection with education. This systemic approach is especially vital in contexts with significant socioeconomic challenges.
... Prevention programs against cyberbullying that use drama and theatre as intervention methods have been deemed effective in raising awareness and understanding of bullying (Elpus & Carter, 2016;Gourd & Gourd, 2011;Grădinariu & Diac, 2023;Lambert et al., 2023;Lyngstad et al., 2022;Mavroudis & Bournelli, 2016;O'Toole & Burton, 2005;Shiakou & Piki, 2020;Yan et al., 2019). Arts and theatre contribute to awareness and understanding (Asimidou et al., 2021;Kladaki & Mastrothanasis, 2022;Mastrothanasis et al., 2024), allowing participants to examine conflict from different perspectives (Berceanu et al., 2020;Folostina et al., 2015;Karaosmanoğlu, 2024), develop empathy (Goldstein, 2024;Lenakakis & Koltsida, 2017;, engage with humanitarian values (Grammatas et al., 2023;Mastrothanasis & Grammatas, 2022) and gain a deeper understanding of other's feelings and experiences (Mastrothanasis & Kladaki, 2020;Papakosta et al., 2020;Vasiou et al., 2023). ...
The study investigates the effectiveness of psychodrama as an intervention method for preventing cyberbullying in schools. Its aim is to highlight the need for new approaches that address the social and emotional needs of students, as traditional prevention methods often fail to fully address the complexity of cyberbullying. Psychodrama, a therapeutic approach that uses drama and role-playing, is identified as an effective tool for promoting empathy, self-awareness, and emotional expression among students. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with school psychologists, the chapter examines their views on psychodrama, the techniques they consider most effective, and the obstacles they experience in implementing it for cyberbullying prevention. The findings reveal that psychodrama helps make schools safer and more supportive and that psychologists need regular training and support to use it well.
Background
Bullying and peer victimization are the most pressing social problems affecting the wellbeing of children and adolescents. This study attempts to estimate the prevalence and examine the association of bystander’s sex, her/his relationship with the victim and with the bully, and bystander’s reaction to school bullying in East Gojjam Administrative Zone, Ethiopia.
Methods
This study followed an explanatory mixed-method study design. For the quantitative phase, 612 participants were selected using multistage cluster sampling techniques and for qualitative phase, 18 participants were selected using purposive sampling technique. We used self-reported questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect data from students attending grades 7, 8, 9, and 10.
Results
This study revealed that 55% of bystanders remained passive while 38% of them defended the victim upon witnessing bullying incidents. Pearson Chi-Square test for independence indicated a significant association between bystanders’ relationship with the victim and/or bully, and bystanders’ reaction. In contrast, sex has no significant association with bystanders’ reaction. The semi-structured interview data also suggested that large number of bystanders most often stood by passively while some of them defended the victim.
Conclusion
The practice of defending among students attending their education in governmental primary and secondary schools in East Gojjam Administrative Zone was low. Close social relationships (being close friends, relatives, and classmates) with the victim and bully were significantly associated with the practice of defending.
Objectives:
To develop and investigate the effectiveness of an integrative counseling intervention for enhancing social intelligence and reducing bullying behaviors among lower secondary school students in Bangkok, Thailand.
Methods:
An interventional mixed-method design was employed in 2 phases. Phase 1 involved the development of a qualitative method-based integrative counseling program from key informants using the eclecticism technique. In phase 2, a randomized controlled trial with a wait-list control was conducted and qualitative research was performed with students who demonstrated bullying behaviors. Demographic data, Social Intelligence Scale (SIS) scores, and Bullying-Behavior Scale (BBS) scores were collected at baseline. Changes in SIS scores and qualitative findings obtained from in-depth interviews were examined after counseling ended, and BBS scores were collected again 1 month later.
Results:
The developed social intelligence counseling program included eight 1-hour weekly sessions consisting of 3 components: (1) social awareness, (2) social information processing, and (3) social skills. After receiving this intervention, scores for the SIS overall (p<0.001) and all of its components (p<0.05) were significantly enhanced in the experimental group compared to the control group. Moreover, the mean BBS scores in the experimental group significantly decreased 1 month after counseling (p=0.001). With regard to the qualitative research results, the experimental students demonstrated improvements in all components of social intelligence.
Conclusions:
The results indicated that a preventive counseling program may enhance social intelligence, decrease bullying behaviors among lower secondary school students, and prevent further incidents of school violence. However, further studies in various population subgroups should also be performed.
Youth wellbeing is a pressing international problem, and it is a key concern of educational institutions, considering the substantial amount of time that youth spend in school. Educators require empirically validated and theoretically sound methods to support students’ wellbeing. This article critically examines the literature on youth wellbeing and interventions in positive education and proposes an innovative, social ecological approach to promoting wellbeing in education. Personal Projects Analysis is a complementary approach addressing several gaps identified in existing interventions (e.g. lack of consideration of ecological and cultural contexts, need for a person-centred approach to support unique goals of diverse students). Implications and applications are discussed to demonstrate how school leadership and educators can apply Personal Projects Analysis to promote the wellbeing of all students.
Our understanding of child subjective well-being and how to promote it has improved substantially over the last decade. In relation to the role of education policy in shaping subjective well-being, although valuable research has been conducted, many questions remain unanswered. This paper aims to fill this gap by studying the links between education policy and students’ life satisfaction. We use linear and multilevel regression to analyse PISA 2015 data on 15-year-old students in 33 countries. Our interest is in within society differences and how these vary across societies. We find that (1) there is an association between multiple education policy-relevant factors and students’ life satisfaction, which is particularly prominent –and observed in a larger number of countries- in the domains of family relationships, schoolwork-related anxiety and bullying. Our models explain between one-fifth and one-third of the variation in students’ life satisfaction. Results also indicate that (2) schools may play an important role in shaping students’ life satisfaction. This is supported by evidence that these associations tend to vary by school; by evidence on the existence of school effects in all countries but two; and by the finding that a proportion - substantial in some countries- of the variation in students’ life satisfaction is explained by differences between schools. Finally, we find that (3) in relation to both questions, there are important differences across societies. Overall, these results provide evidence that an association between education policy and children’s subjective well-being seems to exist but is of a complex nature.
In the discipline of positive psychology, “well-being” is considered a fundamental aspect of “human flourishing.” Inherent to this multidimensional model are emotional, psychological, and social forms of well-being, which can be grounded in positive relationships in the work environment. By adopting an interpretive framework that emphasizes these dynamics, researchers are able to focus on elements that actively help sustain the process of flourishing, rather than on negative environmental features that should be avoided if possible. Within this broader discussion, the specific question of teachers’ well-being is one that has global relevance and merits greater academic attention. After all, it has significant consequences for the educational environment and students’ ability to learn. The literature suggests that teachers are increasingly exposed to violence on the part of students and/or their parents. Inappropriate and/or aggressive behavior like this can reduce a teacher’s occupational well-being and make it more difficult to build positive relationships in the classroom. Ultimately, it is one of the most serious work-related stress factors affecting the profession today. Previous studies have attempted to characterize the contexts in which violence occurs, and its negative impact on both the individuals involved and the broader educational climate. Less attention has been devoted to the capacity of teachers to deal with violence and develop a more resilient mindset. The positive psychology perspective focuses on well-being as a multidimensional construct wherein psychosocial and physical comfort does not simply arise provided there is an absence of suffering and violence. Rather, according to this model, such experiences can be counteracted by a capacity to endure and build positive environments. With these considerations in mind, our study presents data gathered in primary and secondary schools in northern Italy. A total 475 teachers completed an online, self-report questionnaire. The results indicate that teachers can experience occupational well-being even if they are subjected to aggressive behaviors. Supportive leadership and good relationships with colleagues may be considered valuable resources for fostering well-being among teachers.
For at least four decades, researchers have studied the effectiveness of interventions designed to increase well-being. These interventions have become known as positive psychology interventions (PPIs). Two highly cited meta-analyses examined the effectiveness of PPIs on well-being and depression: Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) and Bolier et al. (2013). Sin and Lyubomirsky reported larger effects of PPIs on well-being (r = .29) and depression (r = .31) than Bolier et al. reported for subjective well-being (r = .17), psychological well-being (r = .10), and depression (r = .11). A detailed examination of the two meta-analyses reveals that the authors employed different approaches, used different inclusion and exclusion criteria, analyzed different sets of studies, described their methods with insufficient detail to compare them clearly, and did not report or properly account for significant small sample size bias. The first objective of the current study was to reanalyze the studies selected in each of the published meta-analyses, while taking into account small sample size bias. The second objective was to replicate each meta-analysis by extracting relevant effect sizes directly from the primary studies included in the meta-analyses. The present study revealed three key findings: (1) many of the primary studies used a small sample size; (2) small sample size bias was pronounced in many of the analyses; and (3) when small sample size bias was taken into account, the effect of PPIs on well-being were small but significant (approximately r = .10), whereas the effect of PPIs on depression were variable, dependent on outliers, and generally not statistically significant. Future PPI research needs to focus on increasing sample sizes. A future meta-analyses of this research needs to assess cumulative effects from a comprehensive collection of primary studies while being mindful of issues such as small sample size bias.
Inequalities in health and well-being are important contemporary public health issues. This article is the first to investigate the institutional causes of inequality in well-being among youth in a comparative perspective. Data from the European Social Survey are used to analyse how educational policies moderate the association between social background and well-being. Multilevel techniques are used to investigate cross-level interactions between social background and educational policies on life satisfaction. Four indicators of inclusive educational policies are analysed: age of tracking, costs of education, enrolment rates, and second-chance opportunities in the educational system. The results show that educational policies indeed moderate the association between social background and well-being: inequalities as measured by the father’s social class are smaller in countries where educational policies are more inclusive. Moreover, the analysis shows that the moderating impact of education policies is mediated by individual-level education, activity status, and income.
Objectives
The present review aimed to assess the quality, content and evidence of efficacy of universally delivered (to all pupils aged 5–16 years), school-based, mental health interventions designed to promote mental health/well-being and resilience, using a validated outcome measure and provided within the UK in order to inform UK schools-based well-being implementation.
Design
A systematic review of published literature set within UK mainstream school settings.
Data sources
Embase, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PsychArticles, ASSIA and Psychological and Behavioural Sciences published between 2000 and April 2016.
Eligibility criteria
Published in English; universal interventions that aimed to improve mental health/emotional well-being in a mainstream school environment; school pupils were the direct recipients of the intervention; pre-post design utilised allowing comparison using a validated outcome measure.
Data extraction and synthesis
12 studies were identified including RCTs and non-controlled pre-post designs (5 primary school based, 7 secondary school based). A narrative synthesis was applied with study quality check. ¹
Results
Effectiveness of school-based universal interventions was found to be neutral or small with more positive effects found for poorer quality studies and those based in primary schools (pupils aged 9–12 years). Studies varied widely in their use of measures and study design. Only four studies were rated ‘excellent’ quality. Methodological issues such as small sample size, varying course fidelity and lack of randomisation reduced overall study quality. Where there were several positive outcomes, effect sizes were small, and methodological issues rendered many results to be interpreted with caution. Overall, results suggested a trend whereby higher quality studies reported less positive effects. The only study that conducted a health economic analysis suggested the intervention was not cost-effective.
Conclusions
The current evidence suggests there are neutral to small effects of universal, school-based interventions in the UK that aim to promote emotional or mental well-being or the prevention of mental health difficulties. Robust, long-term methodologies need to be pursued ensuring adequate recording of fidelity, the use of validated measures sensitive to mechanisms of change, reporting of those lost to follow-up and any adverse effects. Further high-quality and large-scale research is required across the UK in order to robustly test any long-term benefits for pupils or on the wider educational or health system.
This study tests an ecological, relationship‐based model of children's subjective well‐being with 9‐ to 14‐year‐old children (n = 25,906) from 14 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. Children completed the Children's Worlds survey, a self‐report measure of contextual and well‐being indicators. Multilevel modeling was used to predict children's well‐being (life satisfaction and self‐image) at two levels, child (age, gender, home context, family relationships, peer relationships, school context, teacher relationships, and neighborhood quality), and country (gross domestic product and income inequality). Findings indicated that intercepts varied significantly across countries. The majority of variance in children's well‐being was attributed to child‐level rather than country‐level factors. Country‐level factors did not strongly predict well‐being but marginally improved model fit.
Wellbeing is predictive of improved learning outcomes, better mental health, prosocial and civic behavior, higher work productivity, and enhanced life satisfaction. Given that literature in support of wellbeing is robust, it is incumbent on local communities to put this research into practice and develop culturally-competent programs that promote the skills to increase it. In collaboration with Alnowair, a non-profit organization committed to increasing wellbeing in Kuwait, a semester-long positive psychology program, called Bareec, was designed to generate positive emotions and increase levels of flourishing in university and secondary school students. The Bareec program consisted of 15-min weekly instructions in positive psychology and positive psychology interventions. To test the program’s efficacy, Bareec was implemented in the national public university and in 10 secondary schools (total N = 977). Relative to control groups, Bareec university participants showed greater levels of flourishing (eudaimonic wellbeing; d = .32), while secondary school participants showed enhanced positive affect (hedonic wellbeing; d = .27) in addition to a small improvement in flourishing (d = .15).
Bullying has been recognized as an important risk factor for mental health. A growing number of researchers have encouraged parents to work collaboratively with schools to prevent and intervene in bullying situations. This study explores the relationship between parents’ awareness of bullying involvement, adolescents’ self-reported victimization, and six possible parents’ responses to their child’s victimization. The participants were 1044 seventh–tenth grade students and their parents. Logistic regressions analyses were applied to determine if parents’ awareness of victimization and adolescents’ self-reporting of victimization were associated with parents’ responses to bullying victimization. The results showed that parents’ awareness of bullying and adolescents’ self-reported victimization were only associated with the “defends herself/himself” and “talks to bully” response. In other words, the parents who believe their child has been bullied are less likely to encourage their children to talk with the bully, and when children are victimized, it is less likely that their parents will encourage them to defend themselves or talk with the bully.
Adolescent involvement in bullying as a victim or perpetrator has been associated with negative health outcomes, including emotional distress and substance use. Whether negative affect and substance use are acute responses to bullying involvement or whether they develop over time is unknown. Such knowledge is needed to understand the conditions under which bullying contributes to adverse outcomes, as well as to inform the development of appropriate interventions. This study examined the daily-level associations among bullying, negative affect, and substance use (i.e., alcohol, cigarettes, electronic-cigarettes, marijuana) among a community sample of adolescents (N = 204) ages 13–16 years (55% female, 81% European American, 13% African–American) who had reported bully victimization or perpetration in the past 6 months. Participants completed a brief on-line survey every day for 56 consecutive days, reporting on their experiences with bully victimization, bully perpetration, mood, and substance use for that day. Consistent with hypotheses, being bullied on a given day was associated with reporting greater than average levels of sadness (b = 0.279, 95% CI = [0.172, 0.387]), anger (b = 0.354, 95% CI = [0.242, 0.466]), and cigarette use (OR = 1.453, 95% CI = [1.006, 2.099]) on that day; however, it was not associated with alcohol, electronic-cigarette, or marijuana use. Perpetration was not associated with same day negative affect or substance use. Results of the current study suggest that negative affect and cigarette use may be acute responses to bully victimization. Bully perpetration does not appear to be proximally linked to mood or substance use after accounting for victimization.
Is the subjective well-being (SWB) of high achieving students generally higher compared to low achieving students? In this meta-analysis, we investigated the association between SWB and academic achievement by synthesizing 151 effect sizes from 47 studies with a total of 38,946 participants. The correlation between academic achievement and SWB was small to medium in magnitude and statistically significant at r = .164, 95% CI [0.113, 0.216]. The correlation was stable across various levels of demographic variables, different domains of SWB, and was stable across alternative measures of academic achievement or SWB. Overall, the results suggest that low-achieving students do not necessarily report low well-being, and that high-achieving students do not automatically have high well-being.
Positive relationships with family, friends and school staff are consistently linked with health and wellbeing during adolescence, though fewer studies explore how these micro-systems interact to influence adolescent health. This study tests the independent and interacting roles of family, peer and school relationships in predicting substance use, subjective wellbeing and mental health symptoms among 11–16 year olds in Wales. It presents cross-sectional analyses of the 2013 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey, completed by 9055 young people aged 11–16 years. Multilevel logistic regression analyses are used to test associations of family communication, family support, relationships with school staff, school peer connectedness, and support from friends, with tobacco use, cannabis use, alcohol use, subjective wellbeing and mental health symptoms. Positive relationships with family and school staff were consistently associated with better outcomes. Support from friends was associated with higher use of all substances, while higher school peer connectedness was associated with better subjective wellbeing and mental health. Better relationships with school staff were most strongly associated with positive subjective wellbeing, and fewer mental health symptoms where pupils reported less family support. Support from friends was associated with higher cannabis use and worse mental health among pupils with lower family support. Relationships with family and school staff may be important in protecting young people against substance use, and improving wellbeing and mental health. Interventions focused on student-staff relationships may be important for young people with less family support. Interventions based on peer support should be mindful of potential harmful effects for pupils with less support from family.
This article seeks to measure the effect of bullying in math scores of students in the 6th grade of public elementary school in the city of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil from a survey by Joaquim Nabuco Foundation in 2013. The methodology applied is Propensity Score Matching (PSM) in order to compare students who report having suffered bullying with a control group, consisting of students who did not suffer bullying. Specifically, we aim to understand the role of social emotional skills and their potential influence on bullying. The results suggest that bullying has a negative impact on performance in mathematics and that social emotional skills can help students deal with bullying. Several econometric techniques were used to circumvent endogeneity problems. To identify personality traits, we use a factor model that also serves to correct for prediction error bias. The sensitivity analysis indicated potential problems of omitted variables. The results indicate that anti-bullying programs should take into account social emotional skills.
The Bystander Intervention Model proposed by social psychologists Latané and Darley has been used to examine the actions of peer bystanders in bullying. The five-stage model consists of notice the event, interpret event as an emergency, accept responsibility for intervening, know how to intervene, and implement intervention decisions. The current study examined associations among gender, social skills, and the bystander intervention model among 299 sixth- to eighth-grade students. Analyses revealed that girls reported significantly greater cooperation and empathy, and noticed bullying events, interpreted them as an emergency, and intervened more often than boys. The best fitting structural equation model included both empathy and cooperation, with significant positive path coefficients between empathy and bystander intervention. Students with greater empathy were more likely to engage with each step of the model, except noticing the event. Assertiveness was positively associated and cooperation was negatively associated with greater knowledge of how to intervene.
Bullying at school can be a distressing experience for children. It is also likely to be distressing for their parents. In spite of this, research in the field of school bullying and peer victimisation has tended to overlook the experience of parents when their child is bullied. This study explored school bullying from the parent’s perspective. Twenty-one parents took part in semi-structured focus groups and interviews to share their experiences. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts identified two main themes: ‘perceived institutional factors’ and ‘being a good parent’. It was found that parents viewed their principal role as protecting their child; they referred to this as an instinct and fundamental to them being a good parent. However, during their attempts to help their child, many parents talked about difficulties working with schools and this triggered frustration and distrust towards teachers. The findings highlight the importance of communication between parents and teachers and ensuring that parents are kept informed of progress when teachers are trying to address the problem. Additionally, the findings indicate that parents may hold different views to teachers about their role in school bullying situations. This would suggest that parents looking at the situation from the teacher’s perspective, and vice versa, could help to build better parent–teacher relationships when tackling school bullying.
Background . Peer victimization (bullying) is a universal phenomenon with detrimental effects. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and factors of bullying among grades 7 and 8 middle school students in Kuwait. Methods . The study is a cross-sectional study that includes a sample of 989 7th and 8th grade middle school students randomly selected from schools. The Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire was used to measure different forms of bullying. After adjusting for confounding, logistic regression identified the significant associated factors related to bullying. Results . Prevalence of bullying was 30.2 with 95% CI 27.4 to 33.2% (3.5% bullies, 18.9% victims, 7.8% bully victims). Children with physical disabilities and one or both non-Kuwaiti parents or children with divorced/widowed parents were more prone to be victims. Most victims and bullies were found to be current smokers. Bullies were mostly in the fail/fair final school grade category, whereas victims performed better. The logistic regression showed that male gender (adjusted odds ration = 1.671, p=0.004 ), grade 8 student (adjusted odds ratio = 1.650, p=0.004 ), and student with physical disabilities (adjusted odds ratio = 1.675, p=0.003 ), were independently associated with bullying behavior. Conclusions . There is a need for a school-wide professional intervention program and improvement in the students’ adjustment to school environment to control bullying behavior.
This investigation’s aims were to map prevalence, normative trends, and patterns of continuity or change in school-based peer victimization throughout formal schooling (i.e., Grades K–12), and determine whether specific victimization patterns (i.e., differential trajectories) were associated with children’s academic performance. A sample of 383 children (193 girls) was followed from kindergarten (Mage = 5.50) through Grade 12 (Mage = 17.89), and measures of peer victimization, school engagement, academic self-perceptions, and achievement were repeatedly administered across this epoch. Although it was the norm for victimization prevalence and frequency to decline across formal schooling, 5 trajectory subtypes were identified, capturing differences in victimization frequency and continuity (i.e., high-chronic, moderate-emerging, early victims, low victims, and nonvictims). Consistent with a chronic stress hypothesis, high-chronic victimization consistently was related to lower—and often prolonged—disparities in school engagement, academic self-perceptions, and academic achievement. For other victimization subtypes, movement into victimization (i.e., moderate-emerging) was associated with lower or declining scores on academic indicators, and movement out of victimization (i.e., early victims) with higher or increasing scores on these indicators (i.e., “recovery”). Findings provide a more complete account of the overall prevalence, stability, and developmental course of school-based peer victimization than has been reported to date.
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.
This systematic review examines the meta-analytic evidence on four broad categories of preventive interventions for children and adolescents, including: mentoring, service learning, outdoor adventure, and social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. There were 15 meta-analytic studies that fit the criteria for inclusion. For each intervention type, the target population, main implementation strategies, and meta-analytic evidence are reported. The review considers the effectiveness of these preventive interventions across various content areas and populations, providing an indication of which type of intervention has the strongest effects on what outcomes, where they are most beneficial, and for whom they are most promising. Experimental evidence has demonstrated that mentoring, service learning, outdoor adventure, and SEL programs can all promote positive development and prevent problematic behaviors. Overall, service learning, outdoor adventure, and SEL programs have shown small to large effects on a variety of outcomes, while mentoring has shown small but significant effects. The review concludes with a discussion of key criteria that should be considered when choosing a particular program type.
There has been a rapid growth in positive psychology, a research and intervention approach that focuses on promoting optimal functioning and well-being. Positive psychology interventions are now making their way into classrooms all over the world. However, positive psychology has been criticized for being decontextualized and coercive, and for putting an excessive emphasis on positive states, whilst failing to adequately consider negative experiences. Given this, how should policy be used to regulate and evaluate these interventions? We review evidence that suggests these criticisms may be valid, but only for those interventions that focus almost exclusively on changing the content of people’s inner experience (e.g., make it more positive) and personality (improving character strength), and overemphasize the idea that inner experience causes action. We describe a contextualized form of positive psychology that not only deals with the criticisms, but also has clear policy implications for how to best implement and evaluate positive education programs so that they do not do more harm than good.
A number of international studies have highlighted the prevalence of mental health disorders, and the combined lifetime incidence of mental illnesses has been estimated to be as high as 30 percent worldwide. Due to geopolitical, economic, cultural, and religious factors, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have been recognized as being particularly susceptible to the socioeconomic impact of mental health disorders, and our report examines the current state of mental healthcare policies in the Arab world and discusses the administrative/infrastructural and social/cultural challenges faced in the provision of adequate mental health care in Kuwait.
The relevance of the arts to wellbeing has been recognised within clinical fields, as reflected in therapeutic forms based on various art modalities, from music to drama therapy. However, there has hitherto been little appreciation in fields such as positive psychology of the broader potential of the arts as a vehicle for flourishing and fulfilment. As such, this paper proposes the creation of ‘positive art’ as a field encompassing theory and research concerning the wellbeing value of art. To show the scope and possibilities of this proposed field, the paper provides an indicative summary of literature pertaining to four major art forms: visual art, music, literature and drama. Moreover, the paper identifies five main positive outcomes that are consistently found in the literature across all these forms: sense-making, enriching experience, aesthetic appreciation, entertainment, and bonding. The paper aims to encourage a greater focus on the arts in fields like positive psychology, enabling science to more fully understand and appreciate the positive power of the arts.
The purpose of this study is to further assess the international relevance of an ecological, relationship-based model of children’s subjective well-being with samples of 10-year-old children from the United States (n = 502, M
age = 10.66, SD = .55) and 10 other countries: Algeria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, Nepal, Romania, Rwanda, South Korea, and Uganda (n = 502, M
age = 10.12, SD = .48). All children completed the Children’s Worlds survey, which includes individual factors, contextual factors of home and family, life and neighborhood, school, and peers, and subjective well-being measures for life satisfaction, mental health, and self-image. The strongest predictors of children’s subjective well-being were family and peer relationships, school, and neighborhood quality. Findings support the international relevance of an ecological, relationship-based model of children’s subjective well-being.
In this study, we sought to create and validate a brief measure to assess students’ perceptions of kindness in school. Participants included 1,753 students in Grades 4 to 8 attending public schools in a large school district in southern British Columbia. The School Kindness Scale (SKS) demonstrated a unidimensional factor structure and adequate internal consistency. The pattern of associations of the SKS to a corpus of theoretically relevant constructs obtained via student self-reports (classroom supportiveness, optimism, happiness, prosocial and social goals, satisfaction with life, and academic self-efficacy) provided evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Furthermore, the SKS was significantly and positively associated with teacher reports on students’ empathy, social skills, and peer acceptance. Analyses by gender and grade indicated that girls perceived significantly higher levels of kindness in school than did boys, and that students’ perceptions of kindness in school decreased from fourth to eighth grade, with fourth-grade students reporting the highest levels of kindness in school and eighth-grade students reporting the lowest levels. The theoretical importance of investigating students’ perceptions of kindness in the school context and the practical implications of this research for informing educational efforts to promote social and emotional competencies in school communities are discussed.
This study explored the effects of being bullied from a dual-factor lens, specifically examining the relation between victimization and constructs that contribute to social-emotional well-being. Prior to carrying out the main analyses, the factor structure of self-report items related to experiencing bullying and harassment from the California Healthy Kids Survey, which was administered to more than 14,000 high school students, was examined to establish that these items represent an overall factor: students’ experience of victimization. This factor was then used as an independent variable in a series of planned comparisons with a dependent variable represented by constructs addressed by the Social Emotional Health Survey–Secondary: belief-in-self, emotional competence, belief-in-others, and engaged living. With increased frequency of victimization, suicidality increased and belief-in-others decreased. For other constructs, belief-in-self, engaged living, and depression, there were significant differences found between individuals who had experienced frequencies of bullying as low as less than once a month and those who did not experience bullying at all but no further detrimental impacts were seen with even higher frequencies of victimization, indicating that being victimized at all is significantly worse than not being victimized for these variables. Implications and future directions for research are explored.
Bullying continues to be a concern in schools and communities across the United States and worldwide, yet there is uncertainty regarding the most effective approaches for preventing it and addressing its impacts on children and youth. This paper synthesizes findings from a series of studies and meta-analyses examining the efficacy of bullying prevention programs. This paper considers some methodological issues encountered when testing the efficacy and effectiveness of bullying prevention and intervention approaches. It also identifies several areas requiring additional research in order to increase the effectiveness of bullying prevention efforts in real-world settings. Drawing upon a public health perspective and findings from the field of prevention science, this paper aims to inform potential future directions for enhancing the adoption, high quality implementation, and dissemination of evidence-based bullying prevention programs. It is concluded that although bullying prevention programs can be effective in reducing bullying and victimization among school-aged youth, there is a great need for more work to increase the acceptability, fidelity, and sustainability of the existing programs in order to improve bullying-related outcomes for youth. The findings from this review are intended to inform both policy and public health practice related to bullying prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record
(c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
Systematic reviews, such as meta-analyses, are highly valued within scientific, professional, and lay communities because they provide an easily digestible aggregate of a large body of work. A recently published meta-analysis of positive psychology interventions concluded that these interventions have small effects and argued for the use of these interventions in diverse populations (Bolier et al., 2013). We caution researchers against drawing conclusions from this study because of the unusual definition of what is (and is not) a positive psychological intervention. Bolier and colleagues (2013) define their area of inquiry as “pure positive psychology interventions” and limit their sample to studies conducted within the years following the formal founding of the positive psychology movement. This decision – while well intentioned, as it provides specificity to their criteria for inclusion – is, in our view, too narrow, excluding a host of studies that use the same intervention strategies and target the same outcomes but do not explicitly reference “positive psychology”. The inclusion criteria of a systematic review directly impact its findings and conclusions. Using the criterion of papers that explicitly reference positive psychology creates an arbitrary boundary that reflects neither the research nor practice of the field; the best practitioners prioritize effectiveness and efficiency over explicit ties to “positive psychology”. Arbitrary boundaries hinder science and impair the ability of researchers, clinicians, and the general public to draw accurate conclusions from the findings. It also limits the meta-analyst’s ability to conduct moderation analysis that can help drive the field forward by answering research questions that are difficult to address in a single study. Positive psychology and psychology more generally would benefit from definitions of terms that are conceptually-based and thus meta-analyses that are theoretically sound.
This study aimed to investigate how public school teachers perceive student bullying and how they perceive their own as well as school administrators’ efforts to protect students from bullying. A total of 238 elementary, middle, and high school teachers responded to 18 questions. The study found that student bullying exists in Kuwait public schools, it is more widespread in boys’ schools, and it occurs more in middle schools. Further, the study found a significant relationship between student bullying and school administrators’ efforts to protect students from bullying. A discussion of these results and relevant recommendations for future studies are included.
Objective:
We assessed changes in traditional and cyberbullying victimization, and their associations with mental health, before and after the introduction of a nationwide antibullying program in Finnish schools in 2009.
Method:
This time-trend assessment comprised two methodologically identical cross-sectional survey studies, with 2,061 adolescents in 2008 (response rate 90.2%) and 1,936 in 2014 (91.8%). Their mean age was 14.4 years. They completed questionnaires about traditional and cyberbullying, mental health, and perceptions of school safety. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% CIs are presented with 2008 as the reference year.
Results:
From 2008 to 2014, traditional victimization decreased from 28.9% to 19.1% (odds ratio [OR] = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.4-0.7) among boys and from 23.2% to 17.4% (OR = 0.7, 95% CI = 0.6-0.9) among girls. Cyberbullying victimization remained fairly stable at 3.3% and 3.0% (OR = 0.7, 95% CI = 0.4-1.2) for boys and at 2.7% and 4.1% (OR = 1.4, 95% CI = 0.9-2.4) for girls. Combined traditional and cyberbullying victimization decreased from 6.1% to 3.9% (OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.4-0.8) among boys and from 7.5% to 6.7% (OR = 0.8, 95% CI = 0.6-1.2) among girls. Those experiencing both traditional and cyberbullying reported the highest mental health problems. Perceived school safety improved among boys, but not among girls. Both boys and girls reported greater efforts by teachers and fellow students to stop bullying.
Conclusion:
Combined traditional and cyberbullying victimization was an indicator of comorbid mental health problems. Interventions that target both types of bullying, and that are integrated with mental health promotion, are needed.
Positive Art Therapy Theory and Practice outlines a clear, systematic approach for combining positive psychology with art therapy’s capacity to mobilize client strengths; induce engagement, flow and positive emotions; transform perceptions; build healing relationships and empowering narratives; and illuminate life purpose and meaning. Woven throughout are clinical illustrations, state-of-the-art research, discussion questions, and reflections on how therapists can apply this approach to their work with clients, and their personal and professional development. The book also includes a comprehensive list of more than 80 positive art therapy directives, a robust glossary, and lists of strengths and values. Written in an inviting and amusing style, this manual is both entertaining and practical-an invaluable tool for any practitioner looking to apply the most current theory and research on positive psychology and art therapy to their clinical practice.
Background:
Factors within the school environment may impact young people's mental health and wellbeing. The aim of this study was to understand the association between teacher and student mental health and wellbeing. Further, it seeked to identify possible explanations by examining whether the strength of any association is weakened once quality of teacher-student relationships, teacher presenteeism and absence are considered.
Methods:
Cross-sectional data were collected from 3216 year 8 (aged 12-13 years) students and from 1182 teachers in 25 secondary schools in England and Wales. The association between teacher wellbeing (measured by Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS)) with student wellbeing (WEMWBS) and with student psychological distress (Total Difficulties Score (TDS)) was assessed using Random Effects Mixed Models. Analyses were repeated using teacher depression (measured by Patient Health Questionnaire) as the explanatory variable.
Results:
Better teacher wellbeing was associated with i) better student wellbeing (standardised effect = 0·07, 95% CI = 0·02 to 0·12) and ii) lower student psychological distress (standardised effect = -0·10, 95% CI = -0·16 to -0·04). Teacher presenteeism and the quality of the teacher-student relationship appeared to be on the pathway of these relationships. Higher levels of teacher depressive symptoms were associated with poorer student wellbeing and psychological distress (standardised effect = -0·06, 95% CI = -0·11 to -0·01 & 0·09, 95% CI = 0·03 to 0·15). This association did not withstand adjustment for teacher presenteeism.
Limitations:
Cross sectional in design so unable to establish temporal associations.
Conclusions:
Associations were found between teacher wellbeing and student wellbeing and psychological distress. There were also an association between teacher depression and student wellbeing. Both may be partially explained by teacher presenteeism and quality of teacher-student relationships.
This article explores the relationship between children's knowledge and perceptions about their rights and subjective well‐being (SWB) in a sample of 8‐, 10‐ and 12‐year‐olds in 18 countries, taking account of gender differences. Children's knowledge and perceptions about their rights were analysed considering whether they reported that they knew their rights, whether they had heard about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and whether they thought that, in their country, adults respected their rights. To explore SWB, a modified version of the Student's Life Satisfaction Scale, adapted by the Children's Worlds project, was used. Children reporting that they knew their rights, knew about the CRC, or thought that in their country adults respected their rights demonstrated significantly higher SWB scores than those reporting otherwise in the 18 countries. The effects of perceiving that adults in general respected children's rights in their own country on SWB were much more important than the knowledge of children's rights or the knowledge of the CRC. Results provide useful indications on how to promote children's well‐being in public policies, including in education, through the promotion of their rights.
Being bullied is associated with mental health problems in childhood, with increasing evidence of persisting negative impacts, and increased mental health service use, into adulthood. There are also impacts of bullying victimisation on employment, income and being in poverty, but little is known about the long-term economic impacts. We therefore aimed to estimate the most important economic consequences at age 50 of being bullied in childhood: to our knowledge this is the first study that does so. Using 1958 British birth cohort data collected in 1965, 1969, 1991, 2003 and 2008 (study samples size 7323-9242), we find substantial and durable individual and societal economic impacts four decades after the childhood bullying occurred. Both men and women who were bullied in childhood were less likely to be in employment and had accumulated less wealth in the form of home-ownership or savings than participants who were not bullied. Individual earnings from paid employment were lower for women who were bullied in childhood. Frequent bullying in childhood was also associated with higher societal employment-related costs for men and higher health service costs for women. Our findings underline the importance of preventing bullying in childhood and, as the consequences are so long-lasting and pervasive, supporting people still experiencing the negative consequences in the decades that follow.
The current study investigated the relations among traditional and cyber victimization, depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and gender in a school-based sample of 403 9th grade (13 to 16-year-old) adolescents. Path analyses indicated that both traditional victimization and cyber victimization were associated with suicidal ideation indirectly through depressive symptoms. Although there was little evidence of gender differences in the associations among peer victimization and depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation, the relation between depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation was found to be significantly stronger for girls than boys. The current investigation confirms the complexity of the association between peer victimization and suicidal ideation and that depressive symptoms, as well as gender, may play a role in this complex relation. Future research should continue to explore the associations among victimization, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation within a social ecological framework.
Teachers are key players in efforts to address school bullying and peer victimization. Recent studies found that teachers' responses to peer victimization can vary based on their beliefs and attitudes. We examined relations among teacher self-efficacy, teachers' intentions to use recommended antibullying practices, and peer victimization as rated by teachers and students. In Study 1 (N = 79), we examined the internal structure, reliability, and initial validity of the Teacher Efficacy for Antibullying Scale (TEAS), a new measure of teachers' self-efficacy regarding school bullying and peer victimization. In Study 2, we used data from elementary school teachers (N = 34) and their students (N = 654) to test whether the interaction between teacher self-efficacy and intentions to use recommended antibullying practices predicted children's peer victimization. We also tested whether the relation between teacher self-efficacy and children's peer victimization was curvilinear. Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), we found support for a curvilinear relation between teacher self-efficacy and children's peer victimization that was moderated by teachers' intentions to use antibullying practices; except in classrooms where teachers held very strong intentions to use best practices, children's peer victimization was greater in classrooms where teachers reported either very low or very high self-efficacy relative to classrooms where teachers had more moderate levels of self-efficacy. Discussed are the research and practice implications of these findings for teacher-based antibullying training and intervention.
Since ancient times, the arts have been used by humans across the globe as healing methods and vehicles for communication. The arts are increasingly becoming clinical tools to promote health and psychological well-being in individuals. This clinical paper features positive arts interventions which positive arts therapists, positive psychologists and positive psychotherapists can administer in their clinical practice for individuals of all ages to creatively tap into their imagination, reflect upon life goals, gain insight into their character strengths, activate their positive emotions, determine their sources of life meaning and explore spiritual avenues. The following positive arts interventions will be described in great detail: Scribble Drawing, My Strengths Collage, Bridge Drawing with Path (BDP), A Favourite Kind of Day (AFKD), Tree of Life, My Sources of Meaning and Spiritual Pathway. To illustrate these positive arts-based activities, the authors share clinical case examples from Australia, Canada and Ukraine.
We make use of a newly-available international data set from a survey of children aged 8 to 12 years old across 16 diverse countries to explore variations in rates of schools-based bullying of children and the associations between experiences of being bullied and child subjective well-being, both within and between countries. The analysis is consistent with previous international studies in showing very substantial variation in rates of bullying at the country level. There are also between-country variations in the rates of different types of bullying. In terms of individual variations, we find significant variations in the likelihood of being bullied according to age, gender and deprivation, although the influence of these factors varies by country. There was no apparent link at a country-level between rates of bullying and mean life satisfaction scores. On the other hand, in almost all countries, children who had been bullied had significantly lower subjective well-being than children who had not. However there were substantial differences in the strength of association across countries. We find some tentative evidence to suggest that being bullied may make a greater contribution to explaining variations in child subjective well-being in rich countries than in poor countries. The implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.
Objective:
Peer victimisation is a common antecedent of poor social and emotional adjustment. Its relationship with objectively measured academic performance is unclear. This study aimed to quantify the cross-sectional associations between peer victimisation and academic performance in a large population sample of children.
Methods:
Eight-nine year olds were recruited from a stratified random sample of primary schools in Australia. Academic performance was measured on a national achievement test (one year of learning equals 40 points). Physical and verbal victimisation were measured by child self-report.
Results:
Multilevel mixed-effects linear regression analyses were conducted. For females, verbal victimisation was associated with poorer academic performance on writing (β -17.2, 95% CI -28.2, -6.2) and grammar/punctuation (β -20.8, 95% CI -40.1, -1.6). Physical victimisation was associated with poorer performance on numeracy (males: β -29.0, 95% CI -53.8, -4.1; females: β -30.1, 95% CI -56.6, -3.5) and writing (females: β -21.5, 95% CI -40.4, -2.7). Verbal and physical victimisation were associated with poorer performance on reading (males: β -31.5, 95% CI -59.9, 3.1; females: β -30.2, 95% CI -58.6, -1.8), writing (females: β -25.5, 95% CI -42.8, -8.2), spelling (females: β -32.3, 95% CI -59.6, -4.9), and grammar/punctuation (females: β -32.2, 95% CI -62.4, -2.0).
Conclusions:
Children who were physically victimised were six to nine months behind their 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.
This article details key findings from a longitudinal study conducted in collaboration with Kids Company, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The focus of this article is the role of the ‘teacher as witness’ to the impact of a participatory theatre project with vulnerable young people. This research argues that the opportunities afforded by challenging pre-emptive constructs of vulnerable youth held by a teacher, can enable changes that take place within a workshop, which can often remain temporary and confined to the space and time of a project, to transition back into the wider school environment. Drawing upon the concept of witnessing discussed by Felman, and Laub [1992. Testimony: Crisis of Witnessing in Literature, Psychoanalysis, and History. Abingdon: Routledge], Rymaszewska [2006. Reaching the Vulnerable Child: Therapy with Traumatized Children. London: Jessica Kingsley], Gerhardt [2004. Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain. East Sussex: Routledge] and Coady [2002. Testimony: A Philosophical Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press], this article proposes that witnessing change can offer a means of sustaining impact. Insights into this proposition are offered in an example case-study analysis of a project I conducted within a Kids Company-supported primary school setting in Lambeth, south-east London.
National concern regarding the social and emotional wellbeing of children and young people is now strongly reflected in a wide range of Australian policy initiatives. A considerable number of these target schools and point firmly to the role education is perceived to play in promoting student wellbeing. Given that wellbeing can be difficult to define and complex to measure, closer attention needs to be paid to whether and how the current wellbeing policy environment provides conceptual clarity and intelligible implementation pathways. This article explores some of the current policy ambiguity by drawing on findings from a large-scale, mixed methods study exploring student wellbeing at school. These findings emerged from an extensive analysis of wellbeing-related policy, together with policy-related data from in-depth interviews with teachers and principals. They suggest that approaches to supporting student wellbeing are constrained by an ad hoc policy environment characterised by competing discourses and a consequential lack of clarity regarding how wellbeing is understood and best facilitated within the context of schools. The implications of these findings are discussed with particular attention to the interface between policy and practice with regard to student wellbeing in schools in Australia.
As the average American adult spends more time at work than anywhere else, the workplace, and the relationships built therein, plays a key role in overall well-being. With this in mind, many organizations dedicate significant time and resources to improve employee well-being, often in the form of fun, social events. In recent years, improvisational comedy, or improv, has emerged as a popular teambuilding activity due to its foundations in play, spontaneity, and trust. However, improv is more than just fun and laughs. Beyond merely being an energizing teambuilding event, I argue that improv has the ability to generate positive social connections and strengthen workplace relationships by improving communication, collaboration, and interpersonal understanding. Within this paper, I provide a historical overview of improvisation in the theater and applied settings, connecting modern-day improv to organizational well-being via the lens of positive psychology. I then theorize that improv enhances positive, workplace relationships by linking the improv principles of being present, co-creation, and heightening offers to constructs of interpersonal mindfulness, perspective taking, and active constructive responding. This paper culminates with recommendations to culturally embed improv into regular work activities and suggestions for further research. An appendix provides easily implementable, short improv exercises that can be used by anyone to develop positive workplace relationships.
As the average American adult spends more time at work than anywhere else, the workplace, and the relationships built therein, plays a key role in overall well-being. With this in mind, many organizations dedicate significant time and resources to improve employee well-being, often in the form of fun, social events. In recent years, improvisational comedy, or improv, has emerged as a popular teambuilding activity due to its foundations in play, spontaneity, and trust. However, improv is more than just fun and laughs. Beyond merely being an energizing teambuilding event, I argue that improv has the ability to generate positive social connections and strengthen workplace relationships by improving communication, collaboration, and interpersonal understanding. Within this paper, I provide a historical overview of improvisation in the theater and applied settings, connecting modern-day improv to organizational well-being via the lens of positive psychology. I then theorize that improv enhances positive, workplace relationships by linking the improv principles of being present, co-creation, and heightening offers to constructs of interpersonal mindfulness, perspective taking, and active constructive responding. This paper culminates with recommendations to culturally embed improv into regular work activities and suggestions for further research. An appendix provides easily implementable, short improv exercises that can be used by anyone to develop positive workplace relationships.
The Anti-Bullying Handbook is an essential source of information which provides a clear overview of what we understand about bullying. This fully revised second edition of Keith Sullivan's very popular book is an ideal resource to increase knowledge on a difficult subject. It covers a vast range of issues with clarity and precision. It has been updated and expanded to include: What we know and can do about cyber bullying; Using puppet theatre to teach Early Childhood and Primary Children about bullying; Confronting issues through using a collaborative and restorative justice techniques; Social Action Drama This book is for parents, teachers, administrators, counselors, therapists, psychologists, teacher trainers and students. Keith Sullivan is a widely published author. He is professor of Education at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
Importance:
Bullying is the most widespread form of peer aggression in schools. In an effort to address school bullying, 49 states have passed antibullying statutes. Despite the ubiquity of these policies, there has been limited empirical examination of their effectiveness in reducing students' risk of being bullied.
Objective:
To evaluate the effectiveness of antibullying legislation in reducing students' risk of being bullied and cyberbullied, using data from 25 states in the United States.
Design, setting, and participants:
A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using a population-based survey of 63 635 adolescents in grades 9 to 12 from 25 states participating in the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System study (September 2010-December 2011). Data on antibullying legislation were obtained from the US Department of Education (DOE), which commissioned a systematic review of state laws in 2011. The report identified 16 key components that were divided into the following 4 broad categories: purpose and definition of the law, district policy development and review, school district policy components (eg, responsibilities for reporting bullying incidents), and additional components (eg, how policies are communicated). Policy variables from 25 states were linked to individual-level data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System on experiencing bullying and cyberbullying. Analyses were conducted between March 1, 2014, and December 1, 2014.
Exposure:
State antibullying legislation.
Main outcomes and measures:
Exposure to bullying and cyberbullying in the past 12 months.
Results:
There was substantial variation in the rates of bullying and cyberbullying across states. After controlling for relevant state-level confounders, students in states with at least 1 DOE legislative component in the antibullying law had a 24% (95% CI, 15%-32%) reduced odds of reporting bullying and 20% (95% CI, 9%-29%) reduced odds of reporting cyberbullying compared with students in states whose laws had no DOE legislative components. Three individual components of antibullying legislation were consistently associated with decreased odds of exposure to both bullying and cyberbullying: statement of scope, description of prohibited behaviors, and requirements for school districts to develop and implement local policies.
Conclusions and relevance:
Antibullying policies may represent effective intervention strategies for reducing students' risk of being bullied and cyberbullied in schools.
Much research has investigated how individual components of subjective well-being (e.g., life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect) influence adolescent functioning. Little is known, however, about how the third component of subjective well-being (SWB), life satisfaction, contributes to positive adolescent outcomes when investigated simultaneously with positive and negative emotions. The current study extends Lewis et al.’s (J Psychoeduc Assess 27:397–408, 2009. doi:10.1177/0734282908330571) work by considering the incremental validity of life satisfaction (LS) relative to negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) as predictors of student engagement and achievement in a sample of middle school students. Results indicated LS provided incremental validity over affective states in predicting student engagement and some aspects of academic achievement. Gender also moderated these relationships. Practitioners are encouraged to include all components of SWB in assessments, especially when trying to understand students’ school functioning.