WITS Research and Evaluation

WITS Programs Evaluations

Evaluation #1: 2000-2003

Examined data from 11 program and six control schools on children’s ratings of relational and physical victimization and found that:

• Relational victimization decreased in all program schools and low-poverty control schools but increased in high-poverty control schools
• Physical victimization decreased in all program schools and low-poverty control schools but increased in high-poverty control schools

Evaluation #2: 2006-2008

Examined data from six program and five control schools on children’s ratings of physical and relational victimization and teacher’s ratings of social responsibility among students. It found that:

• The rate of decline in both physical and relational victimization was greater in program than control schools
• Teachers of program school children reported higher average levels of social responsibility at each time point, compared to control schools

Recent Research and Publications on Bullying in Schools

Below is a list of publications authored or co-authored by WITS Programs former Principal Investigator Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater (retired) on both the program and peer victimization. Where available, click on the title to view the article or an abstract.

• Dhami, M. K., Hoglund, W. L., Leadbeater, B. J. & Boone, E. M. (2005). Gender-linked risks for peer physical and relational victimization in the context of school-level poverty in first grade. Social Development, 14, 532-549.
• Geistbrecht, G. F., Leadbeater, B. J., & MacDonald, S. W. S. (in press). Child and context characteristics in trajectories of physical and relational victimization among early elementary school children. Development and Psychopathology.
• Hoglund, W. L., & Leadbeater, B. J. (2004). The effects of family, school and classroom ecologies on changes in children’s social competence and emotional and behavioral problems in first grade. Developmental Psychology, 40, 533-544.
• Hoglund, W. L., & Leadbeater, B. J. (2007). Managing threat: Do social-cognitive processes mediate the link between peer victimization and adjustment problems in early adolescence? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17(3), 525-540.
• Leadbeater, B. J. (2008). Engaging Community Champions in the Prevention of Bullying. In D. Pepler, & W. Craig (Eds.), Understanding and addressing bullying: An international perspective (PREVNet Series, Vol 1., pp 166-183). Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.
• Leadbeater, B. J. (2010). The fickle fates of push and pull in the dissemination of child and youth mental health promotion programs. Canadian Psychology, 51(4), 221-230.
• Leadbeater, B. J. (2010). Can we see it? Can we stop it? Lessons learned from community-university research collaborations about relational aggression. School Psychology Review, 39(4), 588-593.
• Leadbeater, B. J. (in press). Matching the prevention of social aggression to critical developmental and contextual transitions in middle school. In D. Pepler, & B. Ferguson (Eds.), A focus on relationships: Understanding and addressing aggressive behaviour problems.
• Leadbeater, B. J., & Hoglund, W. L. (2006). Changing the Social Contexts of Peer Victimization. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 15(1), 21-26.
• Leadbeater, B. J., & Hoglund, W. L. (2009). The effects of peer victimization and physical aggression on changes in internalizing from first to third grade. Child Development 80(3): 843-859.
• Leadbeater, B. J., Hoglund, W. L. & Woods, T. (2003). Changing contexts? The effects of a primary prevention program on classroom levels of peer relational and physical victimization. Journal of Community Psychology, 31, 397-418.
• Leadbeater, B. J. Ohan, J. & Hoglund, W. L. (2006). How children’s justifications of the “best thing to do” in peer conflicts relate to their emotional and behavioral problems in early elementary school. Merrill Palmer Quarterly. 5, 721-754.36, 973-983.
• Leadbeater, B. J., & Sukhawathanakul, P. (2011). Changing the contexts of early elementary school for the prevention of peer victimization: The WITS program. Journal of Community Psychology, 39(5), 606-620.
• Leadbeater, B. J, Sukhawathanakul, P., & Sklar, N. (2010). Peer victimization in rural and urban communities: Understanding and addressing differences. Manuscript submitted for publication.
• Woods, T., Coyle, K., Hoglund, W. L., & Leadbeater, B. J. (2007). Changing the contexts of peer victimization: The effects of an elementary school prevention program on classroom levels of peer victimization. In J. E. Zins, M. J. Elias, & C. A. Maher (Eds.), Bullying, victimization, and peer harassment: A handbook of prevention and intervention. NY: Hawthorn Press.
• Yeung, R. S., & Leadbeater, B. J. (2007). Does hostile attributional bias for relational provocations mediate the short-term association between relational victimization and aggression in preadolescence? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, 973-983.
• Yeung, R. S., & Leadbeater, B. J. (2010). Adults make a difference: The protective effects of parent and teacher emotional support on emotional and behavioral problems among peer victimized adolescents. Journal of Community Psychology, 38(1), 80-98.
• Leadbeater, B. J. (2012). RCMP National Youth Officer Program & PREVNet Collaboration: WITS Programs Pilot Project Final Report.