 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Joseph A. Dake, PhD, MPH1, James. H Price, PhD, MPH2, Susan K Telljohann, HSD, CHES2, and Jean Funk, PhD3. (1) Division of Health, Wayne State University, 262 Matthaei Bldg., Detroit, MI 48202, 313-577-0023, jdake@wayne.edu, (2) Department of Public Health, University of Toledo, 2801 West Bancroft, Toledo, OH 43606, (3) Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, 2801 West Bancroft, Toledo, OH 43606
Purpose: To examine elementary school principals’ perceptions and practices regarding bullying prevention activities described in the Norwegian Bullying Prevention Program, the only bullying prevention program identified by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (based in Colorado) in their “Blueprints for Violence Prevention.” Methods: A four-page, 33-item questionnaire was developed to assess principals’ Stages of Change and perceived barriers regarding selected bullying prevention activities as well as the effectiveness of bullying prevention activities. To establish content validity, the instrument was sent to an expert panel for review (n=7). Stability reliability of the instrument was established through test/retest of a convenience sample and was found to have 88.8% agreement for the barrier items and r =0.64 for the perceptions of effectiveness items. Internal reliabilities for barrier items were 0.71 (KR20) and _=0.91 for perception of effectiveness items. A national random sample of 700 principals were mailed the survey and 55% responded. Results: None of the school-based bullying prevention activities were being done by more than one in five schools even though principals perceived no major barriers regarding these activities. Characteristics that affected the offering of these activities included: number of perceived barriers, whether the principal had received violence/bullying prevention training, perceptions regarding the extent of bullying, and the number of bullying problems reported to them. Conclusion: Few schools implement school-based activities that have been shown to reduce the problems of school bullying. The findings suggest that pre-professional and continuing education needs to be implemented to educate principals regarding this area.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.