Bullying incorporates a range of behaviours such as name-calling, physical assaults, social exclusion and verbal and physical intimidation. Engaging in and being the target of bullying is a significant risk factor for future criminal behaviour and poor mental health, making bullying a significant threat to an individual’s long-term psychological and personal development. The present investigation had three aims: (1) to create robust psychometric instruments to reliably measure bullying, bystander roles, and related constructs in adolescents: (2) to explicate the psychosocial determinants of bullying, identify characteristics which differentiate bullies and their targets, and investigate the role of other motivators in the incidence/maintenance of bullying and being bullied: and (3) to assess the effectiveness of a new whole-school anti-bullying intervention on reducing bullying incidents and enhancing pro-social attitudes and behaviour. Participants were a total of 5204 secondary school students (2277 males and 2929 females) in Years 7 to 11 and 256 teachers from six secondary non-government schools in NSW, Australia. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), reliability analysis and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) of factorial invariance were conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the instruments used in this study. Results demonstrated that the measures developed had sound psychometric properties. Boys were found to bully and be bullied more than girls across verbal, social and physical forms of bullying. The findings have important implications for theory, research and practice. This study has yielded several measures to further advance theory and research in bullying: the identification of a reciprocal effects model that explains the relation between psychological traits such as self-concept, bullying and being bullied advanced understandings about the casual effect of bullying on negative psychological outcomes, thus highlighting the importance of intervention: and an effective anti-bullying intervention for secondary school students. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/181946 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Parada, Roberto H., University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, School of Education |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
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