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Teachers play an important role in evidence-based antibullying programs (e.g., Kallestad & Olweus, 2003; Salmivalli, 2010), but these programs are not routinely implemented and are difficult to sustain over time (Olweus & Limber, 2010; Vernberg & Gamm, 2003). Without such programs, individual differences in teachers' beliefs and attitudes likely influence the extent to which they address issues of school bullying and peer victimization (Kochenderfer-Ladd & Pelletier, 2008; Veenstra, Lindenberg, Huitsing, Sainio, & Salmivalli, 2014; Yoon & Kerber, 2003). In this study, we examined the relation between teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and children's peer victimization. Previous research has produced mixed findings regarding the strength and direction of this relation (Boulton, Hardcastle, Down, Fowles, & Simmonds, 2014; Byers, Caltabiano, & Caltabiano, 2011; Oldenburg et al., 2015), reflecting perhaps both methodological and conceptual limitations. In this study, we tried to address those limitations by using a more extensive measure of teacher self-efficacy and including teachers’ intentions to use recommended antibullying practices in our predictive model.
Bullying and Peer Victimization
Bullying is defined as unwanted, aggressive behavior by another youth or group of youth that involves (a) an observed or perceived power imbalance, (b) repetition over time, and (c) risk of emotional or physical harm to targeted youth (Gladden, Vivolo-Kantor, Hamburger, & Lumpkin, 2014). Peer victimization is a term that shifts focus to the plight of victims and has been defined as repeated exposure to peer interactions that convey harmful intent, produce harmful effects, and are sanctioned (often implicitly) by peer groups in which nonintervention is the norm (Elledge, Cavell, Ogle, & Newgent, 2010; Salmivalli, 2010). Peer victimization has been linked to harmful effects, including peer rejection, loneliness, and low self-esteem (Card & Hodges, 2008; Hawker & Boulton, 2000). Chronic peer victimization can lead to serious psychosocial maladjustment, including depression, anxiety, psychosomatic complaints, eating disorders, and substance use—all of which can carry forward into adulthood (McDougall & Vaillancourt, 2015).
Teachers' Roles in Preventing Peer Victimization
Teachers can play a key role in addressing the problems of school bullying and peer victimization; they are the adults most likely to witness peer victimization and are authorized to act as needed to limit instances of peer victimization. Not surprisingly, research-based antibullying programs routinely include teacher components (Frey et al., 2005; Kärnä et al.,...