Training Students Who Occasionally Bully to Be Peer Advocates: Is a Bystander Intervention Effective in Reducing Bullying Behavior?

A pilot evaluation of the social validity of a bullying bystander program adapted for high school students

“…Bradshaw () suggests applying a tiered approach to bullying, which might include delivering classroom lessons about bullying to all students (Tier 1), intervening with small groups of students who are at high‐risk for bullying involvement (Tier 2), and finally, providing interventions for students identified as targets or perpetrators (Tier 3). Although the STAC intervention was originally designed to be implemented with student leaders, researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of school‐wide implementation of the STAC program in reducing bullying perpetration (Midgett, Doumas, & Johnston, ; Midgett, Doumas, Trull, & Johnson, ) and victimization (Midgett, Doumas, & Johnston, ). Additionally, the STAC program has been successfully used to reduce bullying among students who had a history of occasionally bullying (Midgett, Doumas, Trull, & Johnson, ).…”

“…Although the STAC intervention was originally designed to be implemented with student leaders, researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of school‐wide implementation of the STAC program in reducing bullying perpetration (Midgett, Doumas, & Johnston, ; Midgett, Doumas, Trull, & Johnson, ) and victimization (Midgett, Doumas, & Johnston, ). Additionally, the STAC program has been successfully used to reduce bullying among students who had a history of occasionally bullying (Midgett, Doumas, Trull, & Johnson, ). Thus, STAC could be universally delivered as a classroom lesson as a Tier 1 program or implemented with small groups of students identified as at risk for bullying involvement.…”

“…Eight items are summed to form a Knowledge scale and three items are summed to create a Confidence scale. The SAPPS has established content validity and adequate internal consistency with Cronbach's α ranging from 0.75 to 0.81 for elementary and middle school students (Midgett, Doumas, & Trull, ; Midgett, Doumas, Trull, & Johnson, ; Midgett & Doumas, ; Midgett et al, ) and α = 0.83 for high school students (Johnston et al, ). For this study, Cronbach's α were α = 0.77 and α = 0.73 for the Knowledge and Confidence scales, respectively.…”

“…(a) Stealing the Show—using humor to get the attention away from the bullying situation, (b) Turning it Over—telling an adult about what you saw, (c) Accompanying Others—reaching out to the student who was the target of bullying, and (d) Coaching Compassion—helping the student who bullied develop empathy for the target.” Items were rated on a 5‐point Likert Scale ranging from 1 ( never/almost never ) to 5 ( always/almost always ) . Prior research has used these items to examine use of STAC strategies posttraining with middle school (Midgett, Doumas, Trull, & Johnson, ) and high school students (Johnston et al, ).…”

“…Middle school students also report using the STAC strategies when they witness bullying (Midgett, Doumas, Trull, & Johnston, ). Additionally, studies examining the efficacy of the STAC program demonstrate reductions in bullying perpetration (Midgett, Doumas, & Johnston, ; Midgett, Doumas, Trull, & Johnson, ) and victimization (Midgett, Doumas, & Johnston, ) among elementary school students. Although research provides support for the STAC program, the program was developed for elementary and middle school students.…”