Citation

da Silva JL, de Oliveira WA, Braga IF, Farias MS, da Silva Lizzi EA, Gonçalves MF, Pereira BO, Silva MA. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016; 13(11): e13111042.

Affiliation

College of Nursing, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP 14040-902, Brazil. maiossi@eerp.usp.br.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph13111042

PMID

27792206

Abstract

This study's objective was to verify whether improved social and emotional skills would reduce victimization among Brazilian 6th grade student victims of bullying. The targets of this intervention were victimized students; a total of 78 victims participated. A cognitive-behavioral intervention based on social and emotional skills was held in eight weekly sessions. The sessions focused on civility, the ability to make friends, self-control, emotional expressiveness, empathy, assertiveness, and interpersonal problem-solving capacity. Data were analyzed through Poisson regression models with random effects. Pre- and post-analyses reveal that intervention and comparison groups presented significant reduced victimization by bullying. No significant improvement was found in regard to difficulties in practicing social skills. Victimization reduction cannot be attributed to the program. This study contributes to the incipient literature addressing anti-bullying interventions conducted in developing countries and highlights the need for approaches that do not exclusively focus on the students' individual aspects.

Language: en