Online and offline peer led models against bullying and cyberbullying

Transcription

1 Psicothema Vol. 24, nº 4, ISSN CODEN PSOTEG Coyright 2012 Psicothema Online and offline eer led models against bullying and cyberbullying Benedetta Emanuela Palladino, Annalaura Nocentini and Ersilia Menesini University of Florence (Italy) The aim of the resent study is to describe and evaluate an ongoing eer-led model against bullying and cyberbullying carried out with Italian adolescents. The evaluation of the roject was made through an exerimental design consisting of a re-test and a ost-test. Particiants in the study were 375 adolescents (20.3% males), enrolled in 9th to 13th grades. The exerimental grou involved 231 students with 42 eer educators, and the control grou involved 144 students. Results showed a significant decrease in the exerimental grou as comared to the control grou for all the variables excet for cyberbullying. Besides, in the exerimental grou we found a significant increase in adative coing strategies like roblem solving and a significant decrease in maladative coing strategies like avoidance: these changes mediate the changes in the behavioural variables. In articular, the decrease in avoidance redicts the decrease in victimization and cybervictimization for eer educators and for the other students in the exerimental classes whereas the increase in roblem solving redicts the decrease in cyberbullying only in the eer educators grou. Results are discussed following recent reviews on evidence based efficacy of eer led models. Modelos online y offl ine contra el acoso y el acoso cibernético realizados or ares. El objetivo del resente estudio es describir y evaluar un modelo conducido or ares contra el acoso y el acoso cibernético realizado con adolescentes italianos. La evaluación del royecto se realizó mediante un diseño exerimental que consiste en un re-test y un ost-test. Los articiantes en el estudio fueron 375 adolescentes (varones= 20,3%), matriculados en los grados El gruo exerimental envolvió 231 alumnos (42 ares educadores), y en el gruo de control articiaron 144 estudiantes. Los resultados mostraron una disminución significativa en el gruo exerimental en comaración con el gruo de control ara todas las variables, exceto ara cyberbullying. Además, en el gruo exerimental se encontró un aumento significativo de estrategias adatativas (roblem solving) y una disminución significativa en las estrategias de afrontamiento desadatativas como la evitación: estos cambios median los cambios en las variables de comortamiento. En articular, la disminución de la evitación redice la disminución de la victimización y cibervictimización en todo el gruo exerimental, mientras que el aumento de roblem solving redice la disminución de la ciber-intimidación solo en el gruo de ares educadores. Se discuten los resultados de acuerdo con las revisiones recientes sobre la eficacia, basada en la evidencia, de los modelos conducidos or ares. Cyberbullying is one of the most frequent risks related to ICT use by young eole. It has been defined as bullying eretrated by the use of electronic devices (Smith et al., 2008). Results from a recent meta-analysis show a high revalence of the roblem in all countries (Garaigordobil, 2011): aroximately, 40% and 55% of students are involved in some way (as victims, eretrators, or observers). In the face-to-face context, there are similar concerns. According to a recent Italian national study, u to 25.2% of all students have suffered some kind of victimization (AA.VV., 2011). These ercentages of involvement demand attention because research has highlighted that bullying is a significant risk factor for the hysical and sychological well-being of children and adolescents (e.g., in this Fecha receción: Fecha acetación: Corresondencia: Benedetta Emanuela Palladino Diartamento di Psicologia University of Florence Florence (Italy) benedetta_alladino@yahoo.it secial issue, Anderson & Hunter, 2012; del Rey, Elie, & Ortega, 2012; Heirman & Walrave, 2012; Wachs, Wolf, & Pan, 2012). From a recent meta-analysis (Ttofi, Farrington, Losel, & Loeber, 2011) we know that bullying is associated with externalizing and delinquent behaviours (Paul, Smith, & Blumberg, 2012; Vandebosch, Beirens, D Haese, Wegge, & Pabian, 2012) while being victimized is associated with the develoment of general sychological distress, increased levels of deression and anxiety (Arsenault, Bowes, & Shakoor, 2010) above and beyond revious sychological symtoms and other genetic, family and social risk factors. In addition, school bullying has a negative imact on bystanders and other children in the class (Gini, Pozzoli, Borghi, & Franzoni, 2008). Similarly, the growing literature about cyberbullying highlights the interconnection between online and offline bullying and similar trajectories for bullies and victims in the two contexts (Gradinger, Strohmeier, & Siel, 2009; Menesini, Calussi, & Nocentini, 2012). Given these results, the need for interventions to limit the harm caused by bullying and cyberbullying is clear and urgent. From a recent meta-analysis (Ttofi & Farrington, 2011) there is evidence of

2 ONLINE AND OFFLINE PEER LED MODELS AGAINST BULLYING AND CYBERBULLYING 635 the fact that revention models can be effective to contrast bullying and victimization and the most efficacious comonents being: discilinary methods, class and school rules, class management, awareness activities and arents training. On the contrary, working with eers showed controversial results. In articular, in the same meta-analysis (Ttofi & Farrington 2011) eer led models were associated with an increase in victimization. These authors exress the need for future research with a more rigorous design and higher methodological standards (Flay et al., 2005) along with theoretically grounded intervention models. In reviewing literature about intervention on cyberbullying we found that it is a relatively new tye of intervention and there is a aucity of studies on its effectiveness. One of these was carried out with Italian adolescents using a eer education aroach (Menesini & Nocentini, 2012). The evaluation of the efficacy highlighted a decrease in cyberbullying but mainly in a subgrou of articiants (male eer educators) and an increase in awareness of some rotective coing strategies. How can cybervictims handle a cyberbullying attack? Coing strategies useful to deal with cyberbullying are relevant to this regard. For examle, some victims may remove themselves from the website, stay offline, talk about their exerience with a friend or inform an adult about what they exerienced (Hinduja & Patchin, 2007). In England, uils aged 11 through 16 years suggested blocking/ avoiding messages and telling someone as the best coing strategies though many cybervictims had told nobody about it (Smith et al., 2008). Similar coing strategies were identified for different tyes of traditional bullying using interviews with uils in England and Jaan (Kanetsuna, Smith, & Morita, 2006). Although hel seeking was often recommended as the most effective coing strategy, we know that often uils do not do it sontaneously. Problem solving coing strategies and erceived eer normative ressure for bystanders are ositively associated with active hel towards a victim and negatively related to assivity (Pozzoli & Gini, 2010). Bullying is often considered a social tye of aggression because it involves a grou of eers in which each member lays a secific role. This grou dimension shows that the bystanders can otentially influence the situation in different ways: they can reinforce the bully, joining or assively acceting the situation, or conversely they can dissociate themselves from the bullies, defending the victims (Salmivalli, 2010). As otential targets of intervention, bystanders are easier to address as comared to bullies and victims because they often reort anti-bullying attitudes although they might have roblems to intervene directly. Literature on victims suort and on bystanders role has underlined the value of involving the grou and secifically uninvolved children, i.e. the so called silent majority to change the dynamics of bullying and to sto negative behaviors (Menesini, Codecasa, Benelli, & Cowie, 2003). Given that, an aroach focused on eer involvement aears to be relevant and suitable to be used for anti-bullying and anti-cyberbullying interventions. Peer education and eer suort models are based on the assumtion that eers learn from each other, have significant influence on each other, and that norms and behaviors are most likely to change when liked and trusted grou members take the lead in changing the situation (Maticka-Tyndale & Barnett 2010; Naylor & Cowie 1999; Turner & Sheherd, 1999). Starting from these considerations, the aim of the resent study is to describe and evaluate an ongoing eer-led model called Noncadiamointraola! (Let s not fall into the tra!) 2 nd edition, carried out with Italian adolescents. This intervention consists in both online and face-to-face activities to revent and contrast bullying and cyberbullying. In order to understand ossible mechanisms we will analyse the role of different coing strategies that can mediate the effects of the roject on bullying and cyberbullying behaviours. In articular, secific aims and hyotheses are: 1. We aim to evaluate if the exerimental grou and the control grou have a different change across time in relation to the target variables (bullying, cyberbullying, victimization and cybervictimization): to this regards we hyothesize a significant decrease of the target behaviours across time in the exerimental grou and a non-significant change in the control grou. 2. We aim to evaluate if both comonents of the exerimental grou (eer educators and the rest of the exerimental grou) have a different change across time in relation to the target variables (bullying, cyberbullying, victimization and cybervictimization) and to the rocess-mediating variables (coing strategies): to this regard we hyothesize a significant decrease of the target behaviours, a significant decrease of maladative coing strategies and a significant increase of adative strategies across time in both comonents of exerimental grou, although this change could be more consistent for the eer educators grou. 3. Finally, focusing on the exerimental grou, we aim to evaluate if the change in the target variables is affected by the change in the rocess-mediating variables: to this regard we hyothesize that the decrease in the target behaviour should be influenced by the increase in the adative and the decrease in the maladative coing strategies. Particiants Method Particiants in the study were 375 adolescents (males= 20.3%), enrolled in 9 th to 13 th grades of 4 high schools in Tuscany. 53.1% of the students attended Lyceum high schools, 31.5% Technical Institutes and 15.5% Vocational high schools. The majority of students were from Italian background (90.4%). The exerimental grou was comosed by 231 adolescents (Males= 15.4%; mean age= 16.8; SD= 1.92) attending 10 classes of 3 high schools. 42 students (Males= 23.8%) were enrolled as eer educators. Comared to the other students in the exerimental classes, they articiated in eer educators training. The control grou was comosed by students who did not receive any kind of intervention (N= 144; Males= 20.8%; mean age= 15.15; SD=.90). The schools were selected using a self-selection inclusion rocess and the classes were selected by the school staff. Self-reort questionnaires were administered in class by trained researchers during school time (in December 2010 and in May 2011). Consent rocedure for research consisted of aroval by the schools and consent by the arents: 100% of the families agreed to their children s articiation in the research. Instruments Outcome behaviours Bullying and Victimization. In order to analyze the involvement in bullying and victimization we used the Bullying and Victimization

3 636 BENEDETTA EMANUELA PALLADINO, ANNALAURA NOCENTINI AND ERSILIA MENESINI Scales (Menesini, Calussi, & Nocentini, 2012). This questionnaire is comosed by two scales: one for eretration and one for bullying received (victimization). Each scale consists of 11 items, asking how often adolescents had exerienced in the ast coule of months several behaviours as eretrators or victims (e.g. I threatened someone ; I beat and ushed ; I was threatened, I was beaten and ushed ). Each item was evaluated along a 5-oint scale from never to several times a week. Reliability coefficients showed accetable values: for bullying alhas were 0.75 at T1 and 0.82 at T2 and for victimization alhas were 0.74 at T1 and 0.71 at T2. A mean score was used in the following analyses. Cyberbullying and Cybervictimization. In order to evaluate cyberbullying and cybervictimization, a revised version of the Cyberbullying Scale (Menesini, Nocentini, & Calussi, 2011) was used. It is comosed by two scales, one for eretration and one for victimization. Each scale consists of 18 items, asking how often in the ast coule of months adolescents had exerienced several behaviours ( I sent with threats and insults ; or I received with threats and insults ). Each item was evaluated along a 5-oint scale from never to several times a week. Reliability coefficients showed accetable values: for cyberbullying alhas were 0.79 at T1 and 0.82 at T2 and for cybervictimization alhas were 0.80 at T1 and 0.87 at T2. A mean score was used in the following analyses. Process variables Coing strategies. In order to analyze the role of coing strategies as ossible mediators of the rogram efficacy, we used the Coing Strategy Indicator (Amirkhan, 1990). The CSI is a standardized measure which assesses general coing styles in the resence of stressful events. It consists of 33 items belonging to three scales that measure three different styles of coing: (a) Problem Solving Scale (T1 α=.85; T2 α=.85); (b) Seeking Social Suort (T1 α=.85; T2 α=.87); (c) Avoidance (T1 α=.69; T2 α=.69). A mean score was used in the following analyses. Procedure Noncadiamointraola is an ongoing intervention roject started in Each year it has been enriched by adding and modifying comonents following the results found in the revious editions. In Noncadiamointraola 2 nd edition we imroved the model: 1) aying stronger attention to the victim s role in each ste; 2) involving bystanders more; 3) working on coing strategies that adolescents may use in bullying and cyberbullying situations; 4) requesting greater collaboration of curricular teachers on secific class activities; 5) creating a facebook grou comlementing the webage forum. In articular, the second edition was carried out through the following stages: 1. Initial evaluation and needs analysis. 2. Launch of the roject and awareness develoing. Presentation of the roject and first communication on issues related to bullying and cyberbullying. 3. Selection of eer educators from each articiating class through self-nomination. 4. Day training for eer-educators (focussing on: communication, emathy, coing strategies and social skills in real and virtual interactions). 5. Face-to-face eer educator s activities: in each class the intervention was carried out in collaboration with teachers and its aim was to roduce a final roduct such as: a short movie, a eer counselling service, a new guideline for ICT use, a oster advertising the roject. 6. Online eer educators intervention was carried out for a eriod of two weeks as forum moderators (htt://www. squarciagola.net/cyberbullismo/) and as facebook grou administrators. 7. Final evaluation. Data analyses Analyses were conducted in three stes. First, we evaluated longitudinal differences (re and ost-intervention) in bullying, victimization, cyberbullying and cybervictimization between the control and exerimental grou by using reeated measures ANOVA. Effect size was evaluated using artial eta squared (η 2 ). Second, we focused on the exerimental grou differentiating eer educators and the other students of the exerimental classes. In articular, we evaluated differences in behaviours and differences in rocesses (coing strategies) that could be involved in this change, by using reeated measures ANOVA (re and ostintervention) between eer educators and the other students of exerimental classes. Unfortunately, due to schools difficulties we don t have the data on the coing strategies in the control grou. In order to analyze the relation between these changes in rocesses and the outcome behaviours we used the residualized change in a two-wave mediation model (MacKinnon, 2008). The first ste in the calculation of the residualized change score is to obtain redicted values of the ost-intervention measure by using the re-intervention measure. The residualized change score is the difference between the observed score at ost-intervention and the redicted score at ost-intervention, where the re-intervention measure was used to redict the ost-intervention measure. We obtained the residualized change scores searately for both the behaviours and the mediators (coing strategies) and they were analyzed as if there were a single measure of each variable. In order to evaluate the mediation role of the coing strategies in the changes of the behaviours we regressed the residualized change score of the coing strategies on the residualized change score of the behavioural variables, considering the interactions between the rocesses variables and the grous (eer educators or exerimental classes). Results Exerimental vs. Control grou: the intervention effects Table 1 shows descritive analyses for both grous in behavioural variables (re- and ost- intervention). Reeated measures ANOVA were carried out in order to evaluate the effect of time on these variables across the two grous. For bullying and victimization results showed no significant effect of time and a significant interaction time*grou for bullying (F (1, 375) = 5.993; <.05; η 2 =.016) and for victimization (F (1, 375) = ; <.01; η 2 =.031). For cyberbullying and cybervictimization, results showed a non-significant effect of time and a non-significant interaction time*grou for cyberbullying. For cybervictimization, results showed a significant interaction for time*grou (F (1, 375) = 5.706; <.05; η 2=.015).

4 ONLINE AND OFFLINE PEER LED MODELS AGAINST BULLYING AND CYBERBULLYING 637 Table 1 Means and standard deviations of the behavioral variables re and ost- intervention (Wave 1 and Wave 2) in the exerimental grou and in the control grou Exerimental grou Control grou Criterion Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 1 Wave 2 Bullying M SD Victimization M SD Cyberbullying M SD Cybervictimization M SD Table 2 Means and standard deviations of the behavioral variables and of coing strategies re and ost- intervention (Wave 1 and Wave 2) in the exerimental grou (eer educators and the other students in the exerimental classes) Peer educators The other students in the exerimental classes Criterion Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 1 Wave 2 Bullying M SD Victimization M SD Cybervictimization M SD Problem solving M SD Seeking social suort M SD Avoidance M SD Peer educators vs. the other students in the exerimental classes: changes and mediation analyses. Table 2 shows descritive analyses for both grous in behavioural variables (re and ost- intervention) and in rocess variables (coing strategies). We found significant effects of intervention in both grous in relation to behavioural and rocesses variables. Changes in behaviours: For the three variables results of reeated measures ANOVA showed a tendency to the significance of the effect of time for bullying (F (1, 231) = 3.453; =.06 ) and a significant effect of time for victimization (F ( 1, 231) = 4.178; <.05; η 2=.018) and cybervictimization (F = 8.919; <.01; (1, 231) η2 =. 037). Non-significant interaction effects for time*grou were found. Changes in rocesses: for the three coing variables, results of reeated measures ANOVA showed a significant effect of time for avoidance (F( 1, 228) = ; <.001; η 2 =.143) and roblem solving (F (1, 228) = 4.747; <.05; η 2 =.021) and a non-significant effect of time for seeking social suort. Non-significant interaction effects for time*grou were found. Mediation analyses We conducted three multile regression analyses with the residualized change score of bullying, victimization and cybervictimization as the deendent variable. Indeendent variables were the residualized change score of avoidance and roblem solving and the grou (eer educators or other students in the exerimental classes); finally, interaction between coing strategies and grou (eer educator vs. other students in the exerimental classes) was considered. In the model redicting bullying non significant redictors were found. Table 3 summarize results of the regression analyses on victimization and cybervictimization. The model redicting victimization was significant (R 2 = 0.32, F (5, 222) = 20.71, <0.001). The residualized change score of avoidance (B=.254, <.05) redicted ositively the residualized change score of victimization, meaning that a greater reduction in avoidance redicts a greater reduction in victimization. None of the interactions were significant above and beyond the main effects. The model redicting cybervictimization was significant (R 2 =0.19, F (5, 222) = , <0.001) and a significant effect of residualized change score of avoidance (B=.075, SE=.033, <.05) on the residualized change score of cybervictimization was found. We found also a significant interaction between grou and roblem solving (B=.056, SE= Table 3 R 2, B, standard errors (SE) and F resulted from the regression models Victimization Cybervictimization R² B SE F R² B SE F *** *** Grou -.023* **.006 Problem solving -.118* **.036 Avoidance -.254* **.033 Problem solving grou -.058* **.019 Avoidance grou -.004* **.018 Note: *<.05; **<.01; ***<.001

5 638 BENEDETTA EMANUELA PALLADINO, ANNALAURA NOCENTINI AND ERSILIA MENESINI.019, <.01). In order to interret this interaction we calculated the regression effects searately for the two grous, which showed that the change in roblem solving, for the other students in the exerimental classes (R 2 =0.08, F (2, 184) = 7.435, <0.01) controlling for avoidance (B= , SE= 0.008, <.001) didn t redict the change in cyberbullying (B=.000, SE= 0.006, ns). In contrast, for eer educators (R 2 = 0.51, F (2, 184) = , <0.001) the change in cybervictimization was negatively redicted by the change in roblem solving (B= , SE= 0.018, <.01), controlling for avoidance (B= 0.054, SE= 0.016, <.01): it means that for eer educators a greater increase in roblem solving redicts a greater decrease in cybervictimization. Discussion The resent study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Noncadiamointraola 2 nd edition rogram. On the whole, the results give clear suort of the efficacy of this intervention: they show a significant attern of decrease in bullying, victimization and cybervictimization in the exerimental grou in comarison with the control grou (albeit the effect size is not very strong). Differently from the first edition (Menesini & Nocentini, 2012) we found effects in the whole exerimental classes without differences related to the roles layed by the students. In articular, the eer educators were able to be agents of change in their classes: they were not simly the direct beneficiaries of the intervention. These results are aarently in contrast with a metaanalysis on the effectiveness of school-based rograms to reduce bullying (Ttofi & Farrington, 2011). The authors suggested that this aroach is not useful. Probably this conclusion does not take into account that there are different comonents that can lay a role in the effectiveness of a rogram. The same authors found that the most imortant rogram elements that were associated with a decrease in victimization were also videos and cooerative grou work and we used them within the framework of a eer- led model. Besides, we can understand that within a eer education- eer suort model the tye of roles eer educators lay is highly relevant. If they undertake a rocess of ersonal change and cannot involve the other students, this aroach may have limited effects (Menesini & Nocentini, 2012). On the contrary, if they are suorted in their caacity to romote initiatives and active articiation of other students, the rocess of change can involve the entire class. The resent study also aimed to understand which rocesses could exlain the observed results. Starting from what students think about coing strategies (Hinduja & Patchin, 2007; Smith et al., 2008; Kanetsuna, Smith, & Morita, 2006) and from literature findings (Pozzoli & Gini, 2010) we decided to work intensively during the rogram on the coing strategies that could be used by victims and bystanders in order to tackle bullying and cyberbullying. We found a significant increase in the exerimental samle between re- and ost-intervention measures in the use of an adative coing strategy such as roblem solving and a significant decrease in a maladative coing strategy such as avoidance. Regression analyses show that these two strategies can mediate the efficacy of the rogram: the greater decrease in avoidance redicts the greater reduction in victimization and cybervictimization. This result is the same across grous (eer educators and the other students in the exerimental classes). Conversely, roblem solving is a mediator of the change in cybervictimization but only in the eer educators grou. We can seculate that it could be the effect of the secific training attended by eer educators. An unexected result we found was a non significant increase in seeking social suort as a ositive coing strategy desite our focus during the roject. Looking at descritive analyses (table 2), we can see that there is an increasing though not significant - trend in both grous. Probably, we can hyothesize that it is easier to change coing strategies that deend on individuals such as roblem solving or avoidance. On the contrary, in order to adot a coing strategy based on seeking social suort an individual needs first to be able to trust other eole of his/her social contest, rocess that we were not able to catch in the time length of the intervention. Coing strategies are not involved in mediating the reduction in bullying. This is not a surrising finding because we exected that other individual and contextual variables (e.g. attitudes, beliefs and moral disengagement) lay a role to this regard. We also did not work directly on this role but we focussed more on victims and bystanders. Further analyses are needed to understand if the efficacy of the roject in reducing bullying was caused by an increase in defending behaviours acted by the bystanders. In suort of this hyothesis, we can seculate that in our exerimental grou there was an increase in roblem solving and we know that this strategy is ositively associated with active hel towards the victims and negatively related to assive roles (Pozzoli & Gini, 2010). Finally, some limitations of the study have to be discussed: 1) in terms of method, we did not follow u the outcomes after a few months, while we know that it is imortant to determine the stability of changes according to the standards of evidence of revention science (Flay et al., 2005); 2) the analyses on mediational rocesses are restricted to the exerimental grou because we didn t have data about coing strategies for the control grou: the control schools didn t allow us to administer the comlete set of questionnaires. However, the changes in the coing strategies show how these rocesses can affect bullying and cyberbullying similarly or differently across the two sub-grous: eer educators and the other students of the exerimental classes; 3) we don t have a lacebo grou and a randomized control trial because schools decided to take art in the intervention and we tried to find a control grou with similar characteristics. Desite these limitations, the resent study integrates revious knowledge and gives some relevant suggestions to researchers and ractitioners working on bullying and cyberbullying. In articular, starting from the standards of evidence as defined by international research (Flay et al., 2005), we evaluated the efficacy of a roject highlighting different comonents that can exlain a reduction of the henomenon, and we focused on ossible mechanisms resonsible for changes and/or the stability of the roblem. Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank the Province of Lucca for the financial suort at the roject and the schools, teachers and students for their collaboration.

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