Citation

Hunt C. Aust. Psychol. 2015; 50(3): 182-185.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Australian Psychological Society, Publisher Wiley-Blackwell)

DOI

10.1111/ap.12093

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Bullying is an ongoing problem in our schools with a significant psychological impact on young people. Despite evidence that school‐based bullying is related to a range of individual, social and environmental factors, the majority of interventions are focused on a "whole of school" approach. Whole‐school interventions have been shown to be successful in reducing rates of bullying, but it is argued that a focus on individual factors, specifically those that are amenable to change, will add to these "whole of school" effects. It is argued that interventions that target factors such as internalising symptoms, externalising behaviours, friendship quality and self‐esteem will help children to build resilience against the bullying behaviours of their peers, and further reduce the incidence of bullying, when applied both at a preventative and treatment intervention level.

Keywords

bullying; externalising behaviours; friendships; internalising problems; review; school interventions; victimisation