Abstract
BACKGROUND: Peer harassment can have serious implications for students' success and well-being, and prevention programs need to consider the school context. This study aimed to: (1) identify groups of similar schools based on their risk and protective factors and demographic characteristics and (2) examine associations between school profiles and students' bullying involvement. METHODS: Data came from 505 schools and 122,106 students who completed the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey. School-level risk and protective factors and demographic characteristics were included in a latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify profiles of schools. Multilevel logistic regression was used to assess associations between school profiles and peer harassment. RESULTS: Six qualitatively different school profiles were identified. Unadjusted models showed that schools with higher levels of risk had greater odds of peer harassment. However, after controlling for student-level risk and protection, regardless of school-level risk, students in metro-area schools with a more diverse student body reported lower odds of bullying involvement. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of the social environment into peer harassment. In addition to addressing student-level risk and protection, larger community factors and norms also need to be taken into account for developing, selecting, and implementing the most effective approaches to bullying prevention.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 832-841 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of School Health |
| Volume | 87 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:aPostdoctoral Fellow, (kmgloppen@gmail.com), University of Minnesota, 717 Delaware St. SE, Suite 353, Minneapolis, MN 55414. bResearch Associate, (gowe0009@umn.edu), University of Minnesota, 717 Delaware St. SE, Suite 353, Minneapolis, MN 55414. cAssociate Professor, (mcmo0023@umn.edu), University of Minnesota, 6-190 Weaver-Densford Hall, 308 Harvard Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0342. dAssociate Professor, (eisen012@umn.edu), University of Minnesota, 717 Delaware St. SE, Suite 353, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Address correspondence to: Kari M. Gloppen, Postdoctoral Fellow, (kmgloppen@gmail.com), University of Minnesota, 717 Delaware St. SE, Suite 353, Minneapolis, MN 55414. This study was supported by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Research Program(grant # R40 MC 26815) and the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAH) Fellowship Training Program, University of Minnesota (grant # T71-MC-00006, MCHB, HRSA, DHHS). Minnesota Student Survey data were provided by public school students in Minnesota via local public school districts and managed by the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey Interagency Team.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, American School Health Association
Keywords
- bullying
- emotional health
- program planning
- school harassment
- school health policy
