A Multilevel, Statewide Investigation of School District Anti-Bullying Policy Quality and Student Bullying Involvement.
J Sch Health
; 87(3): 174-181, 2017 03.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28147459
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Although nearly all states in the United States require school districts to adopt anti-bullying policies, little research examines the effect of these policies on student bullying and health. Using a statewide sample, we investigated associations between the quality of school district anti-bullying policies and student bullying involvement and adjustment.METHODS:
School district anti-bullying policies (N = 208) were coded for their quality based on established criteria. District-level data were combined with student reports of bullying involvement, emotional distress, and school connectedness from a state surveillance survey of 6th, 9th, and 12th grade students (N = 93,437).RESULTS:
Results indicated that policy quality was positively related to bullying victimization. Furthermore, students reporting frequent perpetration/victimization who also attended districts with high-quality policies reported more emotional distress and less school connectedness compared with students attending districts with low quality policies. Although statistically significant, the magnitude of these associations was small.CONCLUSIONS:
Having a high-quality school district anti-bullying policy is not sufficient to reduce bullying and protect bullying-involved young people. Future studies examining policy implementation will inform best practices in bullying prevention.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Schools
/
Students
/
Organizational Policy
/
Bullying
Type of study:
Guideline
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
J Sch Health
Year:
2017
Document type:
Article