Editorial: Selective Prevention in Anti-Bullying Programs: Could Targeting Personality Be the Answer?

Abstract

Bullying is increasingly being viewed as a major public mental health problem; children and adolescents who are victims of bullying are at increased risk for negative psychological, social, and educational outcomes.¹ Children who bully others may also be at risk; as a group, they show higher levels of substance abuse, antisocial behavioral problems, and criminal offending when compared to children who do not bully others.^2,3 Yet bullying is tractable; systematic reviews provide evidence that complex, whole-school interventions are effective at reducing victimization and bullying.⁴ Although whole-school anti-bullying interventions have reported reductions in overall prevalence of bullying perpetration and victimization, it has been noted that some vulnerable children continue to be bullied. Of particular concern is the finding that such children may experience even greater levels of internalizing symptoms as overall rates of bullying and victimization decline-the so called "healthy context paradox." For example, in a study of 10- to 12-year-olds, children who were bullied suffered from lower self-esteem than their non-bullied peers and had even lower self-esteem in classrooms that had lower levels of peer-reported bullying victimization.⁵ Similarly, adolescents who reported higher rates of victimization experienced somatic problems more often when they were in classrooms with lower overall levels of self-reported victimization.⁶ Analyses from randomized controlled trial data from the Dutch implementation of the KiVa anti-bullying program similarly revealed that-despite the overall success of the intervention-those who remained or became victimized in intervention schools had more depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem after 1 year, compared to those who remained or became victimized in control schools.⁷ These early findings have led to calls for more targeted prevention programs designed specifically to support the most vulnerable children and adolescents.