Completed Research

Project Duration
2000 – 2002

Funding Body
Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation (Healthway)

Investigators
Professor Donna Cross
Dr Margaret Hall
Associate Professor Clare Roberts
Dr Deidra Young
Dr Greg Hamilton

Project Director
Ms Erin Erceg
Ms Yolanda Pintabona

Outline and Rationale

The Western Australian Child Health Survey found that parents and teachers identified 11% of students in Western Australian primary and secondary schools as being bullied in the previous six months (one in nine students). Given bullying often occurs out of sight of adults, the actual number of students who are bullied is likely to be higher.

International and national research has found that bullying can be reduced and managed in the school setting. However, while many schools in WA are engaged in efforts to address bullying, communication with schools during a 1999 formative study, suggests that many are unsure of what action to take or whether strategies being used are effective. A need exists to evaluate the effectiveness of bullying prevention strategies so that schools can take action with confidence.

The Friendly Schools Bullying Intervention Project assessed the effectiveness of a whole-school intervention aimed at preventing, reducing and managing bullying in the primary school setting. This project was evaluated by following approximately 2000 students, their teachers and parents across Years 4 and 5 during 2000 and 2001.

Objectives
To measure in the Year 4 cohort, the extent to which a two-year whole school intervention designed to enhance both the school’s capacity to respond to conflict-related problems and to empower teachers and students to cope more effectively with these situations can:

• Reduce reported frequency of bullying behaviour;
• Enhance social skills and peer support;
• Improve perceptions of positive outcome expectancies should they become involved in a bullying situation;
• Increase the proportion of students who tell someone they are bullied or observe others being bullied;
• Increase parents’ knowledge and skills to help their children to cope adaptively with bullying;
• Improve teachers and school staff’s capacity to empower the students and their parents to cope positively; and
• Increase students’ feelings of safety, happiness and liking of school.

Key outcomes / findings
The major research outcome of the Friendly Schools Project was self-reported bullying behaviour. The project also assessed change in attitudes toward bullying and the impact of the Friendly Schools program on the mental and physical health factors associated with bullying, including symptoms of depression and anxiety, somatic symptoms and self-esteem.

The two year classroom and whole-school intervention was found to be effective in reducing self-reported bullying behaviours. For students who were bullied ‘lots of times’ at the start of the program those who received the FS intervention were up to five times less likely to be bullied in that way following the intervention compared with those students who did not receive the intervention. Similarly, those students who were bullied ‘sometimes’ at the start of the program and received the FS intervention, they were three times less likely to be bullied at the end of the program than those students who did not receive the program.

Benefits of the Research
The Friendly Schools Project has contributed greatly to our understanding of bullying behaviours and whole-school strategies designed to reduce their prevalence. Given the significant reductions in bullying behaviours seen in schools that received the FS intervention, this project has demonstrated its worth in improving the mental health of young Western Australian children.

Further research in this field has begun to extend on the successful strategies trialed as part of the FS Project. This new project is known as the Friendly Schools Friendly Families Project and information can be found by clicking here.

For more information on how to purchase your copy of the CHPRC’s successful evidence-based bullying intervention materials, please click here.

Publications
For a full list of publications from this project, please click here.