JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Bullying is a significant problem for youth that is associated with a wide range of negative consequences. Providing students who witness bullying as bystanders with intervention strategies to act as “defenders” can reduce both bullying and the negative associated outcomes for both targets and bystanders. Educating teachers about bullying and training them to support students to intervene as “defenders” may increase the efficacy of bullying bystander programs, as teacher attitudes and responses to bullying are related to bystander behavior. This is particularly important in middle school when bullying peaks and rates of reporting bullying to teachers begin to decline. Reducing implementation barriers, including limited time and resources, must also be considered, particularly for schools in low-income and rural areas. Technology-based programs can increase program access and scalability, but require participant buy-in for program adoption.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to use a mixed-methods design to inform the development of the STAC Teacher Module, a companion training to a brief, bullying bystander intervention (STAC). Objectives included examining the effectiveness of the STAC Teacher Module, as well as informing the translation of the training into a technology-based format that can be used as a companion model to the STAC-T program.

Methods:

A sample of 18 teachers recruited from one middle school in a rural, low-income community completed pre- and post-training surveys assessing immediate outcomes (i.e., knowledge, confidence, comfort, and self-efficacy), intention to use the program strategies, and program acceptability and relevance followed by a qualitative focus group to obtain feedback regarding program appropriateness, feasibility, content, perception of need, and desire for an online training. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data.

Results:

Assessment of pre- and post-training surveys indicated teachers reported an increase in knowledge and confidence to support “defenders,” confidence and comfort in managing bullying, and bullying self-efficacy. Further, the majority of participants reported they were likely or very likely to use the STAC strategies to support students who intervene in bullying in the future. Both quantitative and qualitative data revealed participants found the training was easy to use, useful, relevant, and appropriate, while qualitative data provided feedback on ways to improve the program, including revising role-plays and guidance on understanding student behavior. Participants also shared positive perceptions regarding program feasibility and the need for bullying-specific prevention, with the most significant barriers being cost and parent buy-in, suggesting the importance of including parents in the prevention process. Finally, participants shared strengths of an online program, including ease of implementation and time efficiency, while pointing out the importance of participant engagement and administration buy-in.

Conclusions:

This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the STAC Teacher Module in increasing teacher knowledge and bullying self-efficacy and provides support for the development of the STAC-T Teacher Module, including key information for considerations for online translation.