Investigating associations between school climate and bullying in secondary schools: Multilevel contextual effects modeling

• Published in: School psychology international 2017-06, Vol.38 (3), p.240-263
• Main Authors: Konishi, Chiaki, Miyazaki, Yasuo, Hymel, Shelley, Waterhouse, Terry
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bullying; Caregiving; Context Effect; Contextual effects; Discipline; Educational Environment; Foreign Countries; Grade 8; Hierarchical Linear Modeling; Justice; Maximum Likelihood Statistics; Peer Influence; Predictor Variables; School environment; School Safety; Secondary School Students; Secondary schools; Statistical Analysis; Student Surveys; Students; Victims
• ISSN: 0143-0343; 1461-7374
• DOI: 10.1177/0143034316688730

This study examined how student reports of bullying were related to different dimensions of school climate, at both the school and the student levels, using a contextual effects model in a two-level multilevel modeling framework. Participants included 48,874 secondary students (grades 8 to 12; 24,244 girls) from 76 schools in Western Canada. Results revealed significant associations for student perceptions of all school-climate dimensions at the student level and for a majority of the aggregated school-climate dimensions (except adult-related variables) at the school level in relation to bullying, when each school-climate dimension was included as the sole predictor in the contextual effects model. When examining the roles of all school-climate dimensions together, results showed that, at the school level, the effects of three school-climate variables – peer support, discipline/fairness/clarity of rules, and school safety – remained significant predictors of being bullied and bullying others, controlling for the effects of other school-climate dimensions at both the school and the student levels. The implications of these findings for building a safe and caring school environment are discussed.