Date Presented 04/23/21
School bullying is a global problem, and with their expertise OTs should be part of the interprofessional team to address bullying. However, OTs do not currently play a central role, in part because of a lack of knowledge of existing occupation-based interventions to address the issue. Therefore, this systematic review provides an overview of the documented evidence for antibullying interventions that could be incorporated into school-based practice.
Primary Author and Speaker: Gabrielle Caguete
Additional Authors and Speakers: Virginia W. Chu
Contributing Authors: Sheena Davis
PURPOSE: School bullying is a public health concern globally (Menesini & Salmivalli, 2017). According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), prevalence rates of school bullying range from 22.8% to 48.2% globally, with North America having an overall prevalence of bullying of 31.7% (UNESCO, 2019). Given the training occupational therapists (OTs) receive in mental health, social participation, and child development, OTs have the skills to be part of the interprofessional team that addresses bullying. However, addressing bullying is not yet an established part of the work carried out by OTs. A study of school-based OTs showed that even though they recognize that bullying is occurring in their schools, they reported a lack of knowledge and training, including on evidence-based interventions as key barriers to why they were not taking on a role (Njelesani, Schweitzer, Faulkner, & Jeon, 2019). Furthermore, despite the vast amount of research conducted on school bullying, there is a dearth of literature on interventions for OTs to use (D’Elia & Brooks, 2017). Thus, OTs need to be equipped with evidence-based interventions to address bullying in schools as part of the interprofessional team. To fill this knowledge gap, the objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of school-based anti-bullying interventions.
DESIGN: A systematic review was conducted with studies of levels of evidence 1-5. The inclusion criteria included a study on school bullying or cyberbullying interventions, written in English, and published in a peer-reviewed journal.
METHODS: Nine databases were searched to identify intervention studies published in English using the search terms; school, bullying, and intervention. Study quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) checklist. Covidence was used to screen all studies. Extracted data were synthesized using a narrative approach.
RESULTS: 215 studies were found that met the inclusion criteria. Synthesis of the articles suggests that the most effective school-based bullying interventions are whole-school approaches (Tier 1) that target bullies, victims, bystanders, and parents. Occupation-based approaches such as social skills training classified under Tier 2 were also moderately effective, while individualized therapy for bullying victims and/or bullies under Tier 3 was found to be the least effective. Across all Tiers, the most common occupations used were computer games, martial arts, arts and crafts, physical education games, musical performance, and friendship building activities. Most interventions were bequeathed to teachers with other school staff including OTs less involved.
CONCLUSION: This review fills the knowledge gap in current literature regarding occupation-based school bullying interventions as it provides OTs with a synthesis of research across all fields and identifies documented evidence-based bullying interventions that align with the scope of OT practice and that therapists may consider implementing. For future research, OTs could collaborate with students, parents, and interprofessional teams to develop occupation-based interventions at the levels of Tiers 1 and 2.
References
D’Elia, M., & Brooks, R. (2017). Bullying Prevention: A Survey of School-based Occupational Therapists. Children, Young People and Families Occupational Therapy Journal, 21(2), 12-18.
Menesini, E., & Salmivalli, C. (2017). Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions. Psychology, health & medicine, 22(sup1), 240–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2017.1279740
Njelesani, J., Schweitzer, B., Faulkner, A., & Jeon, H. (2019). OTs' Roles in Addressing Bullying Against Students With Disabilities. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73(4_Supplement_1), 7311505147.
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2019). Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying. UNESCO Publishing. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000366483
