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

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Recent Research and Publications on Bullying in Schools

Below is a list of publications authored or co-authored by WITS Programs Principal Investigator Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater 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.