Schools should intervene actively against bullying rather than relying on adolescents' social support networks¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 7 claims (3 for, 4 mixed) · 1 study (1 associational), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 7 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article recommends that schools take a more active role in tackling bullying because peer and family support, while protective for academic outcomes, cannot mitigate the mental-health consequences of victimisation. The conclusion states that "support from friends and family alone cannot mitigate against the strong negative effect that bullying has on mental health" and that early, wide-ranging intervention may prevent serious consequences and avoid specialist psychiatric referral.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Schools must recognise that existing social support from friends and family is insufficient to protect bullied pupils' mental health

Constraints¶

• The recommendation rests on an observational prospective study in East London secondary schools, not on a tested intervention

Target Learners¶

• secondary school adolescents (years 7 and 9, ages 11–14)

Target Learning Goals¶

• protecting academic achievement and mental health of bullied pupils

Claims¶

• In an East London adolescent cohort, adjusting for friend or family support barely changed the association between being bullied and boys' later depressive symptoms, which the authors read as support not being sufficient protection [+W]
• Bullying predicts depressive symptoms two years later for boys but not for girls [+W]
• Bullied adolescents are about half as likely to reach the national academic achievement benchmark for their age group two years later [+W]
• Adolescents with moderate or high friend support are about half as likely to report being bullied [~W]
• High family social support is associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms [~W]
• High levels of support from friends protect bullied adolescents from poor academic achievement, but moderate or low friend support does not [~W]
• Bullying was not associated with lower academic achievement among adolescents with moderate family support, unlike those with high or low support, in a weakly supported interaction [~W]

Related Strategies¶

• Prevent and intervene early against bullying in preadolescence to protect cognitive development
• Two-step bullying intervention: first reduce victimisation and rebuild motivational factors, then raise achievement and engagement
• Bystander Intervention Training

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Rothon Catherine, Head Jenny, Klineberg Emily, Stansfeld Stephen. (2011). Can social support protect bullied adolescents from adverse outcomes? A prospective study on the effects of bullying on the educational achievement and mental health of adolescents at secondary schools in East London. Journal of Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.02.007