![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
Bullying victimization (BV) is a risk factor for negative academic, psychosocial, and physical health outcomes. Approximately 20% of U.S. students report BV, with disabled youth facing higher rates than their nondisabled peers. The risk of BV often starts to increase during the late elementary school years, as students undergo various developmental changes (e.g., social-emotional skills, peer groups). Yet, few longitudinal studies have examined BV trajectories for disabled and nondisabled students during this critical period. School-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) has been proposed as a promising anti-bullying framework, promoting positive student behavior and school climate through multi-tiered services and practices. However, empirical evidence on its effectiveness in reducing BV remains limited. To address these gaps, this study examined three research questions (RQs): (1) What are the trajectories of BV during late elementary school? (2) Does the likelihood of following different BV trajectories vary for disabled and nondisabled students and by schools’ SWPBIS implementation? and (3) Does the effect of SWPBIS on BV trajectories differ by students’ disability status?
Methods
Data came from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11, which followed a nationally representative cohort of kindergartners for six years. We primarily used data from the final three waves (Spring 2014–2016), when most students were in Grades 3 to 5. Analytic sample included 9080 students across 1877 schools. BV was measured using students’ self-reported frequency (0 = never to 4 = very often) of four BV types, averaged into a composite score per wave. Disability status was determined by the presence of an Individualized Education Program. SWPBIS implementation was based on school administrators’ response to a single item (yes/no). Covariates included student-level factors (gender, race/ethnicity, household poverty) and school-level factors (location, size, poverty, disorder). Repeated-measures latent profile analysis was used to identify BV trajectories (RQ1). Vermunt’s three-step method was used to examine predictors of profile membership (RQ2) and test for interaction effects (RQ3).
Results
Four profiles of BV trajectory were identified: (1) Stable High BV (8% of the sample), (2) Increasing BV (9%), (3) Decreasing BV (9%), and (4) Stable Low BV (74%). Compared to nondisabled peers, disabled students had significantly higher adjusted odds of being in Profiles 1, 2, and 3, with Profile 4 as the reference group. Overall, SWPBIS implementation did not significantly predict students’ trajectory membership. However, analyses of interaction effects revealed that its effect on membership in Profile 1 differed by students’ disability status. Specifically, SWPBIS implementation was not significantly associated with Profile 1 membership among nondisabled students, but it significantly reduced the likelihood of disabled students being in this high-risk group.
Conclusions and Implications
Our findings suggest that SWPBIS implementation may help reduce chronic BV among disabled students; however, its overall impact on school-wide BV may be limited. To enhance its effectiveness as an anti-bullying strategy, more explicit integration of content related to BV and disability may be needed. Future research should also examine more detailed aspects of SWPBIS implementation (e.g., content, fidelity).