The Stand Together trial has shown that involving the whole school in the task of reducing bullying works.
Following seven years of piloting the Finnish KiVa school based anti-bullying programme in the UK a large multi-centre cluster randomised controlled trial was funded by the NIHR to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of KiVa, (a whole school anti-bullying programmed). The trial involved 11,000 children and 118 primary schools.
Research funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Collaborators
The Stand Together Trial brought together many collaborators from institutions across the UK. Our team members are from Bangor University (the trial sponsor), University of Oxford, University of Exeter and the University of Warwick.
The trial was managed by the Centre for Trials Research at Cardiff University.
Bangor University (North Wales Centre)
- Prof Judy Hutchings: Co-chief investigator and trial lead for Bangor University
- Dr Suzy Clarkson: Research associate
- Prof Rhiannon Tudor Edwards
- Dr Joana Charles
- Dr Margiad Williams
- Dr Holly Whiteley
- Dr Richard Watkins: GwE
- Dr Anwen Jones
Oxford University (Oxfordshire Centre)
- Prof Lucy Bowes: Co-chief investigator and trial lead for Oxford
- Naomi Rose
University of Warwick (Birmingham Centre)
- Prof Richard Hastings: Trial lead for Birmingham
- Dr Julia Badger: Senior research associate
University of Exeter (Devonshire Centre)
- Dr Rachel Hayes: Senior research fellow
Cardiff University (Centre for Trials Research)
- Dr Julia Townson
- Dr Elinor Coulman
- Dr Rebecca Cannings-John
- Dr Jeremy Segrott
- Dr Fiona Lugg Widger
- Melanie Varley
- Helin Gosalia
- Mackenzie Fong
- Mia Sydenham
- Eleri Owen-Jones
- Malavika Babu
Institute for Mental Health, University of Birmingham
- Sadja Butt
- Chris Chiswell
- Matthew Broome
Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge
- Prof Tamsin Ford
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
- Dr Paul Patterson
- Catlin Murray
- Bryony Longdon
- Hayley Gains
- Paul Patterson
Background
Bullying
Bullying is an extremely important public mental health risk. Around 1 in 5 primary school children report being bullied at least weekly. Children who are bullied are more likely to experience depression and anxiety and are at heightened risk of mental health issues in adolescence and adulthood.
KiVa antibullying programme
KiVa is an anti-bullying programme that was developed in Finland by Professor Christina Samivalli of the University of Turku. A large study in Finland involving 28,000 primary school pupils found that KiVa significantly reduced bullying and improved mental well-being. Ongoing use of KiVa in schools is associated with year-on-year incremental reductions in bullying. In the UK, two small pilot trials of KiVa have shown promising results in Welsh schools.
KiVa involves three main components:
1. A core curriculum delivered over two years and taught to years 3-6 in 45-minute lessons, fortnightly by the class teacher.
2. A KiVa team of school staff, who address any identified instances of bullying with both the bully and the bully-victim, using KiVa processes, forms and scripts.
3. A whole school awareness approach, that includes school assemblies, parental information, posters and KiVa vest/ tabards, worn by staff during breaks.
Each school has at least two members of staff, who hold the KiVa roles:
KiVa Coordinator
• Attends the two-day training course
• Train other school staff in delivery of the core curriculum
• Coordinates delivery of all KiVa elements within the school
• Provide general oversight and support of the programme
KiVa Team Lead
• Attends the two-day training course
• Assess referrals to the KiVa Team
• Coordinates the KiVa Team who deal with confirmed bullying incidents using scripted processes and forms
About the Stand Together Trial
We wanted to see whether the KiVa anti-bullying programme was more effective at reducing bullying and improving wellbeing in pupils in Years 3-6 compared to usual anti-bullying practices.
Between November 2019 and February 2021, 118 primary schools were recruited across the four trial sites. Schools were randomised to the KiVa intervention or to a normal practice control arm. At baseline, 11,111 pupils completed questionnaires with follow up data collected from 5,321 students in KiVa intervention schools and 4,660 students in control schools.
Stand Together Video
The primary study outcome was self-reported bullying victimisation, measured by responses on the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ) (Olweus, 1996). The OBVQ measures different forms of bullying, including verbal, physical, relational and cyber-bullying. Additional information was also collected, from pupils, teachers and information about the schools:
The primary study outcome was self-reported bullying victimisation, measured by responses on the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ) (Olweus, 1996). The OBVQ measures different forms of bullying, including verbal, physical, relational and cyber-bullying. Additional information was also collected, from pupils, teachers and information about the schools:
Pupils
• Experience of bullying at school
• Happiness at school
• Empathy
• General wellbeing
• Contacts with the school regarding bullying
• Pupil absenteeism
Teachers
• Behaviour and wellbeing of pupils in Years 3-6
• Confidence in dealing with bullying
• Mental well-being
• and burnout
Administrator and (deputy) Head Teacher
• School’s demographic information
• Usual anti-bullying policy
Papers published
The trial protocol paper was published and is available here.: https://rdcu.be/dVZGf
Clarkson, S., Bowes, L., Coulman, E. et al. The UK stand together trial: protocol for a multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of KiVa to reduce bullying in primary schools. BMC Public Health 22, 608 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12642-x
Bullying in school: How the association between bullying and mental health is influenced by social disadvantage
Evaluation of baseline data found children attending schools where a higher proportion of children received free school meals were more likely to report being either perpetrators or victims of bullying and were less likely to engage in defending behaviours during a bullying incident. In addition, children attending schools classed as more disadvantaged, were more likely overall to display emotional symptoms (measured using the Teacher Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire), whilst children self-reporting bullying behaviours showed fewer emotional symptoms than those from less disadvantaged schools. Children reporting more bullying behaviours were reported to have higher levels of externalising behaviours. Overall, children from more disadvantaged schools were significantly more likely to have poorer mental health than those from less disadvantaged schools, regardless of their involvement in bullying.
Researchers suggest a need to focus on encouraging defending behaviours within the most disadvantaged schools and reducing the social positioning and status of bullies.
Badger, J.R., Zaneva, M., Hastings, R.P., Broome, M.R., Hayes, R., Patterson, P., Rose, N., Clarkson, S., Hutchings, J. and Bowes, L. (2023) Associations between School-Level Disadvantage, Bullying Involvement and Children’s Mental Health. Children, 10, 1852. https://doi.org/10.3390/children1012185