Espelage, D. L., Rose, C. A., & Polanin, J. R. (2015). Social-Emotional Learning Program to Reduce Bullying, Fighting, and Victimization Among Middle School Students With Disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 36(5), 299-311.

Abstract

Results of a 3-year randomized clinical trial of Second Step: Student Success Through Prevention (SS-SSTP) Middle School Program on reducing bullying, physical aggression, and peer victimization among students with disabilities are presented. Teachers implemented 41 lessons of a sixth- to eighth-grade curriculum that focused on social-emotional learning (SEL) skills, including empathy, bully prevention, communication skills, and emotion regulation. Two school districts in a larger clinical trial provided disability information. All sixth-grade students (N = 123) with a disability were included in these analyses, including intervention (n = 47) and control (n = 76) conditions. Linear growth models indicated a significant intervention effect for bully perpetration; compared with students in the control condition, intervention students’ bullying perpetration scale scores significantly decreased across the 3-year study (δ = −.20, 95% confidence interval = [−.38, −.03]). SEL offers promise in reducing bully perpetration among students with disabilities.

Bullying is regarded as a significant problem in the United States among school-aged youth. Between 15% and 23% of elementary students and 20% and 28% of secondary school students report being bullied within a 6-month to 1-year period (Carlyle & Steinman, 2007; National Center for Education Statistics, 2011; Turner, Finkelhor, Hamby, Shattuck, & Ormrod, 2011). In a recent study of bully victimization among students with disabilities using the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study and the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2 data sets revealed a prevalence rate of 24.5% in elementary school, 34.1% in middle school, and 26.6% in high school (Blake, Lund, Zhou, Kwok, & Benz, 2012). Studies have documented that victims often experience depression, social anxiety, and low self-esteem, which could then contribute to academic challenges, with bullies and bully-victims reporting similar academic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal challenges (Cook, Williams, Guerra, Kim, & Sadek, 2010).