Emerging Issues in School Bullying Research and Prevention

Bullying and peer victimization among school-age children are associated with serious academic and psychosocial problems that can harm students’ school performance in the form of school avoidance, lowered levels of academic achievement, heightened confl ictual relations with teachers and students, and poorer school adjustment (Cook, Williams, Guerra, Kim, & Sadek, 2010; Espelage, Hong, Rao, & Low, 2013; Glew, Fan, Katon, & Rivara, 2008; Juvonen, Nishina, & Graham, 2000; Nansel, Haynie, & Simons-Morton, 2003). In addition to negative school consequences, victims, bullies, and bully-victims oft en report adverse psychological eff ects, which have the potential to lead to subsequent victimization or perpetration (Espelage, Basile, & Hamburger, 2012; Espelage, Low, & De La Rue, 2012; Juvoven, Nishina, & Graham, 2000) and long-term eff ects into later adolescence and adulthood (Copeland, Wolke, Angold, & Costello, 2013; Espelage, Low, Rao, Hong, & Little, 2013). As a result, many schools and communities are struggling to understand how to prevent bullying and peer victimization to off set these adverse outcomes. Th is chapter includes a review of the most up-to-date research fi ndings to help practitioners and researchers understand the etiology of bullying and how best to eff ectively reduce these behaviors.