The response patterns of youth who witness bullying have potential to influence future occurrence and persistence of bullying behaviors. Prevention efforts have included an increased focus on bystander interventions; however, the majority of adolescents rarely intervene in bullying situations. When they do, they often display of mixed pattern of…

School climate is an important construct for guiding violence prevention efforts in U.S. schools, but there has been less consideration of this concept in its neighboring country Mexico, which has a higher prevalence of violence. The U.S. Department of Education outlined a three-domain conceptualization of school climate (i.e., safe and supportive…

Background: Much etiologic research has focused on individual-level risk factors for teen dating violence (TDV); therefore, less is known about school-level and neighborhood-level risk factors. We examined the association between alcohol outlet density around high schools and TDV victimization and the association between markers of physical…

In this commentary, Cornell and Bradshaw report decades of research in school psychology have brought attention to the culture of peer bullying and harassment that was a largely neglected problem in most schools. At the same time, research on the school environment has brought recognition to the importance of a safe and supportive school climate.…

More than 14,000 schools nationwide have been trained in School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS), which aims both to reduce behavior problems and to promote a positive school climate. However, there remains a need to understand the programs and services provided to children who are not responding adequately to the…

Although the scientific community continues to struggle with the most accurate and efficient method for assessing the prevalence of bullying, the article by Bandyopadhyay, Cornell, and Konald (2009) highlights a critical but often overlooked aspect of assessment--the broader culture and climate of bullying. Through two large-scale studies, the…

Although bullying continues to be a growing public health concern in schools across the United States, there are considerable gaps in the American understanding of effective prevention approaches for addressing this seemingly intractable issue. This article applies a public health approach to addressing bullying through the multitiered Positive…

This study describes the process by which a statewide support system was developed in Maryland to promote high-quality implementation of a school-wide prevention model called Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). PBIS (Sugai & Horner, 2006) aims to prevent disruptive behavior problems and promote a positive school climate…

Although many bullying prevention programs aim to involve multiple partners, few studies have examined perceptual differences regarding peer victimization and the broader bullying climate among students, staff, and parents. The present study utilized multilevel data from 11,674 students, 960 parents, and 1,027 staff at 44 schools to examine the…

Children with developmental disabilities are at an increased risk for involvement in bullying, and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) may be at particular risk because of challenges with social skills and difficulty maintaining friendships, yet there has been little empirical research on involvement in bullying among children with ASD.…

There is growing interest in positive behavior supports among state departments of education and local school systems as an efficient and effective strategy for addressing students' increasing and intensifying discipline needs. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is one whole-school prevention strategy that alters the school…

Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a universal, schoolwide prevention strategy that is currently implemented in over 9,000 schools across the nation to reduce disruptive behavior problems through the application of behavioral, social learning, and organizational behavioral principles. SWPBIS aims to alter school…

In this chapter, we present a brief review of the developmental literature linking healthy adjustment to five core competencies: (1) positive sense of self, (2) self-control, (3) decision-making skills, (4) a moral system of belief, and (5) prosocial connectedness. A central premise of this chapter and the rest of the volume is that promoting…

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a universal, school-wide prevention strategy that is currently implemented in over 7,500 schools across the nation to reduce disruptive behavior problems through the application of behavioral, social learning, and organizational behavioral principles. PBIS aims to alter school environments…

Bullying poses a threat to children's social-emotional functioning and their perceptions of school climate, yet few studies have examined different types of social-emotional and behavior problems presented by children involved in bullying, as a bully, victim, or bully/victim across multiple school levels. The current study used data from 24,345…