Developing a bullying prevention program that transcends physical boundaries

据估计，20%至24%的中学生“经常”或更经常地欺负同龄人。 学期参与欺凌与外部化问题有关（例如，酒精使用）的欺凌和 内化行为（例如，抑郁性精神病学），以及受害者的自杀意念和行为。 努力减少欺凌行为，从而也减少受害，是至关重要的。现有欺凌 预防计划在小学环境中的影响很小，在小学环境中的影响更小。 中学。避免成人参与和整合较少禁止性语言的方法可能会 对行为改变的影响更大。 我们认为，短信是一种这样的方法，因为它提供了新的机会，“去那里的青年 几乎所有（91%）拥有手机的青少年都使用短信，而且使用率很高 在种族、收入、农村和城市环境之间。内容可以写得平易近人，而不是像 重要的是，新出现的证据表明，短信- 基于程序可以影响行为改变。 这个R21提案是我们BullyDown开发工作的扩展，BullyDown是一个基于文本消息的 为中学生设计的防止欺凌计划。以社会情感学习为指导 (SEL)模型，干预内容和计划功能已在持续的 来自全国各地中学生的反馈。该程序随后进行了beta测试， 伊利诺伊州的学生。十分之九的人说他们喜欢这个项目，所有的干预参与者都说， 让他们掌握将来不欺负别人的技能。 在我们有希望的发现的基础上，我们建议进一步开发BullyDown，然后在 随机对照试验（RCT）的中学生。具体而言，我们的目标是： 具体目标1：完成BullyDown计划。来自beta测试参与者的反馈将 融入干预。我们还将更新节目内容，以承认越来越多的注入， 技术在课堂上，以及它所需要的在线互动。要做到这一点，我们将首先进行重点 小组了解年轻人如何在学术环境中在线互动。则 更新后的内容将由内容咨询团队进行审查，以确保其易于理解和突出。 具体目标2：对7周BullyDown干预的可行性和可接受性进行初步测试， 一项针对150名中学生的随机对照试验。青少年将被随机分配到BullyDown，一个4-message- 每天的节目，或者注意力匹配的对照组谈论“健康生活方式”话题（例如，锻炼）。 我们的主要成果指标将是可行性（例如，保留率）和可接受性（例如，正编程 评价）。行为结果将为权力分析提供信息，包括欺凌行为。

An estimated 20-24% of middle school students bully their peers ‘regularly’ or more often each semester. Bullying involvement is associated with externalizing problems (e.g., alcohol use) for bullies and internalizing behaviors (e.g., depressive symptomatology), and suicidal ideation and behavior for victims. Efforts to reduce bullying perpetration, thereby also reducing victimization, are critical. Existing bullying prevention programs have only a modest impact in elementary school settings and even less of an impact in middle schools. Approaches that avoid adult involvement and integrate less proscriptive language may have more impact on behavior change. We believe text messaging is one such approach as it provides novel opportunities to “go where youth are”: Nearly all (91%) of the nine in ten teens who own cell phones use text messaging, and usage is high across race, income, and rural vs. urban settings. Content can be written to be approachable and not sound as if it is being delivered by an authority figure, Importantly, emerging evidence suggests that text messaging- based programs can affect behavior change. This R21 proposal is an extension of our development work with BullyDown, a text messaging-based bullying prevention program designed for middle school students. Guided by the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) model, the intervention content and program features have been iteratively refined within ongoing feedback from middle school youth from across the country. The program was then beta tested with 22 middle school students in Illinois. Nine in 10 said they liked the program, and all intervention participants said that it equipped them with skills needed to not bully others in the future. Building upon our promising findings, we propose to further develop and then pilot test BullyDown in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of middle school students. Specifically, we aim to: Specific Aim 1: Finalize the BullyDown program. Feedback from beta test participants will be integrated into the intervention. We also will update program content to acknowledge the growing infusion of technology in the classroom, and the online interactions that it requires. To do so, we will first conduct focus groups to understand how young people are interacting with each other online in academic settings. Then the updated content will be reviewed by Content Advisory Teams to ensure that it is understandable and salient. Specific Aim 2: Pilot test the 7-week BullyDown intervention for feasibility and acceptability in an RCT of 150 middle school students. Youth will be randomly assigned to either BullyDown, a 4-message- per-day program, or an attention-matched control group talking about ‘healthy lifestyle’ topics (e.g., exercise). Our main outcome measures will be feasibility (e.g., retention rates) and acceptability (e.g., positive program appraisal). Behavioral outcomes will inform power analyses, and include bullying perpetration.