A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Bullying Prevention Programs' Effects on Bystander Intervention Behavior

TLDR

This meta‑analysis synthesized the effectiveness of school‑based bullying prevention programs at increasing bystander intervention behavior. The meta‑analysis found a small but significant overall effect (g = 0.20) of bullying‑prevention programs on bystander intervention, with larger effects in high‑school samples (g = 0.43) than in K‑8 samples (g = 0.14), and it recommends that schools adopt such programs.

Abstract

.This meta-analysis synthesized bullying prevention programs' effectiveness at increasing bystander intervention in bullying situations. Evidence from 12 school-based programs, involving 12,874 students, indicated that overall the programs were successful (Hedges's g = .20, 95% confidence interval [CI] = .11 to .29, p < .001), with larger effects for high school (HS) samples compared to kindergarten through eighth-grade (K-8) student samples (HS effect size [ES] = 0.43, K-8 ES = 0.14; p < .05). A secondary synthesis from eight of the studies that reported empathy for the victim revealed treatment effectiveness that was positive but not significantly different from zero (g = .05, 95% CI = −.07 to .17, p = .45). Nevertheless, this meta-analysis indicated that programs increased bystander intervention both on a practical and statistically significant level. These results suggest that researchers and school administrators should consider implementing programs that focus on bystander intervention behavior supplementary to bullying prevention programs.