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Although many studies addressed bullying occurrence and its associations, they often use individual variables constructed from few items that probably are inadequate to evaluate bullying severity and type. We aimed to identify involvement patterns in bullying victimization and perpetration, and its association with alcohol use, school performance, and sociodemographic variables. Baseline assessment of a randomized controlled trial were used and a latent class analysis was conducted to identify bullying patterns among 1,742 fifth-grade and 2,316 seventh-grade students from 30 public schools in São Paulo, Brazil. Data were collected using an anonymous self-reported, audio-guided questionnaire completed by the participants on smartphones. Multinomial logistic regressions were performed to verify how covariant variables affected bullying latent classes. Both grades presented the same four latent classes: low bullying, moderate bullying victimization, high bullying victimization, and high bullying victimization and perpetration. Alcohol use was associated with all bullying classes in both grades, with odds ratio up to 5.36 (95% CI 3.05; 10.38) among fifth graders from the high bullying victimization and perpetration class. Poor school performance was also strongly associated with this class (aOR = 10.12, 95%CI = 4.19; 24.41). Black/brown 5th graders were 3.35 times more likely to fit into the high bullying victimization class (95% CI 1.34; 8.37). Lack of evidence for association of sociodemographic variables and bullying latent class among seventh-grade students was found. Bullying and alcohol use are highly harmful behaviors that must be prevented. However, prevention programs should consider how racial and gender issues are influencing the way students experience violence.

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The revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (rBVQ) is an internationally used instrument to identify bullying, but due to Brazilian students’ low proficiency in reading and writing, it had to be adapted for audio-guided use through smartphones. We investigated construct validity, using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), under a two-correlated factor solution. Participated 1,742 fifth graders and 2,316 seventh graders from 30 public schools in the city of São Paulo. We found excellent fit indices models for both grades (fifth grade: CFI=0.985, RMSEA=0.020; seventh grade: CFI=0.990, RMSEA=0.015), as well as factor loading higher than 0.4 for all items, indicating their relevance to the construct. The rBVQ demonstrated excellent psychometric properties and may help future studies that aim to investigate bullying in populations with similar profiles. In addition, this study innovates by evaluating an audio-guided instrument and using mobile technology.

Introduction Given the growing scientific evidence on the detrimental effects of bullying, several prevention programs have been implemented internationally to prevent this behavior among students. Brazil's Educational Program for Drug and Violence Resistance (PROERD) is an adaptation of US' DARE/Keepin' it REAL program, being the most widespread school‐based prevention program in the country. However, it has been offered without any effectiveness evaluation. As such, this study evaluates the effectiveness of PROERD in reducing bullying perpetration and victimization among students. Methods Two cluster randomized controlled trials were carried out with 4030 students (1727 5th graders and 2303 7th graders) in 30 public schools in São Paulo, Brazil. The intervention group attended 10 PROERD classes taught by trained police officers whereas the control group underwent no intervention. Data were collected by self‐administered questionnaires using smartphones at two moments (baseline preintervention and 9‐month follow‐up). Multilevel analysis included two paradigms, complete cases (CC) and intention‐to‐treat (ITT), using Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) and Multiple Imputation (MI). Results and conclusion Results show no statistical difference between groups, indicating lack of evidence on PROERD's effectiveness in preventing bullying behaviors. The insufficient number of classes on bullying prevention and the lack of cultural adaptation may explain these unexpected results. New in‐depth evaluation studies concerning the program's components and process are needed.