School Climate Counts: A Longitudinal Analysis of School Climate and Middle School Bullying Behaviors

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether student perceptions of school climate were associated with traditional and cyber bullying participant behaviors over the course of a school year. Additionally, gender was explored as a moderator in the associations between school climate perceptions and bullying participant behaviors. Data were collected from 870 6th through 8th grade middle school students using the Bullying Participant Behaviors Questionnaire (BPBQ;

The Mediating Effect of Parental Involvement on School Climate and Behavior Problems: School Personnel Perceptions

“…An association between SC and BP has also been demonstrated [10], as well the link between SC and school violence [9,29]. In line with this, the research has shown that a decline in SC is related to higher BP at school [30], which include telling lies and breaking rules [31] and externalizing behaviors [3], or even in the increase of absenteeism [27]. Research has shown that inadequate characteristics of the physical environment (e.g., inadequate lighting, hiding places, gang-related or hate-related graffiti, inadequate supervision of corridors, and poor maintenance) can create opportunities for conflict and violence and foster tolerance for aggressive behavior [32].…”

“…The present study has as main purpose to analyze the mediating effect of PI on the relationships between SC and BP, taking into consideration the school personnel perceptions, a topic that has not been previously studied in the Portuguese context. Similarly, and despite the existence of several international studies focused on these variables proving the existence of a positive relationship SC and BP (e.g., [2,10,29,30,44]) and between SC and PI (e.g., [20,23]), demonstrating that the educational and relational practices of school are important predictors of successful results [42] or even that PI increase social functioning [40] and could yet reduce other problems behaviors (i.e., dropout and substance use) [21], research about mediators is sparce. This study is expected to represent a relevant contribution to the understanding of this phenomenon and to contribute to the development of other studies in this area.…”

“…Furthermore, Aldridge, McChesney, and Afari [33] tried to analyze how SC influenced the prevalence of bullying and delinquent behavior, demonstrating the importance dimensions, such as connection to the school, the existence and clarity of the rules, and the support the teacher, have in preventing victimization experiences and delinquent behavior in the school context. In turn, a longitudinal analysis by Dorio et al [30] focused on middle school students' perceptions of SC factors that are associated with bullying participant behaviors in the traditional and cyber contexts found that students' observations of delinquency and illegal behaviors on school grounds were positively associated with engagement in bullying and outsider behaviors. Absenteeism is another significant chronic problem in schools that is also related to SC factors.…”

Socioeconomic Effects in Cyberbullying: Global Research Trends in the Educational Context

“…This axis is directly associated with the studio of the second line (student). Here, mainly, the aspects of the educational centre are examined as a space where this type of aggression begins [134] (bullying victimization, child safety, computer, cultural factor, ethnicity, or high school student).…”

Bullying of eighth graders in Slovenian primary schools (Secondary analysis of ICCS 2016)

“…The first criteria characterizing bullying is "aggressive behavior or intentional harm doing", secondly, bullying is "repeatedly and over time" and third, "in an interpersonal relationship characterized by an imbalance of power". Authors in literature argue, that students who were bullied and also bully, »reported low academic achievement, loneliness, and psychosocial maladjustment« (Nansel et al 2001;in Dorio et al, 2019).…”