Anti-Bullying Interventions with an Emphasis on Bystanders: A Scoping Review

• Published in: The Journal of school health Vol. 93; no. 11; pp. 1036 - 1044
• Main Authors: Bezerra, Luiza Luana de Araújo Lira, Alves, Dayse Lorrane Gonçalves, Nunes, Bruna Rodrigues, Stelko-Pereira, Ana Carina, Florêncio, Raquel Sampaio, Gomes, Ilvana Lima Verde
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley 01-11-2023; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Adolescents; Audiences; Behavior Change; Bullying; Bystanders; Child psychology; Children; Curricula; Cyberbullying; Intervention; Parent Role; Program Effectiveness; Teacher Role; Teachers; Teaching methods; Teenagers; cyberbullying; psychosocial intervention; adolescents; bystanders; bullying; child
• ISSN: 0022-4391; 1746-1561
• DOI: 10.1111/josh.13349

Background: Bystanders' role in bullying situations is important, and may exacerbate or minimize the problem. Thus, this article aims to identify the characteristics of anti-bullying programs with an emphasis on bystanders. Methods: This is a scoping review. We included studies that addressed interventions with an emphasis on bystanders, carried out with school children and adolescents, aimed at reducing bullying/cyberbullying and/or increasing defending behavior. Fifteen portals/databases were searched. The selection and extraction processes were carried out through the blind review strategy. The synthesis took place descriptively. Results: We found 12 interventions. The most investigated were KiVa (n = 9), STAC (n = 3), and Curriculum-Based Anti-Bullying (n = 2). Conclusions: There are few anti-bullying programs with an emphasis on bystanders, and the majority are universal programs with strategies applied by teachers, giving little attention to parents. Moreover, most of these programs lack a broader mix of anti-bullying strategies. Therefore, we suggest developing anti-bullying programs with multiple components that contain universal, selective, and indicated strategies.