Youth with disabilities are overrepresented in the bullying dynamic and experience poor mental health and school engagement outcomes associated with this involvement. However, limited existing research has looked at differences in bullying involvement based on disability category, and how youth with disabilities make decisions about bullying…

This dissertation includes three individual articles that explore the relationship between witnessing bullying and defending behavior among students who are bystanders of bullying. Chapter One provides the rationale and purpose of this dissertation and an overview of the three articles that comprise it. Chapter Two employed a cross-sectional…

Although strides have been made in promoting gender equality, there still exists a lingering gap in math achievement, where males tend to outshine females. This has piqued the interest of both scientists and society, who continue to explore the reasons behind the limited representation of women in math-intensive fields such as science, technology,…

From elementary school through to college, bullying is believed to be an ongoing problem in all schools. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study is to explore how elementary school teachers describe gender-specific bullying behaviors of upper elementary students (grades 4 to 6) within a large school district. This study included 67…

Student-to-teacher bullying occurs in higher education, including community colleges. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to determine whether community college instructors' self-reported experiences of student incivility/bullying, aggression, and unwanted sexual attention varied based on their gender and ethnicity while…

This dissertation aims to understand the contribution of schools to reducing bullying behaviors and, in turn, to examine the benefits for students of attending a school that effectively reduces bullying. In doing so, this dissertation contributes to the literature on bullying by (a) locating the school as a key environment in social-ecology of…

Young children's social and emotional skills (SE skills) are highly predictive of the ease with which they transition to kindergarten as well as their success in the K-12 school system and in life after graduation (Belfield et al., 2015; Blair, 2002; Denham, 2006; Denham et al., 2014; Graziano et al., 2007; Jones et al., 2017; Moffitt et al.,…

Bullying and cyberbullying nowadays have become an issue that a substantial number of college students have to deal with. However, most people do not think they occur as frequently in universities as in high schools or middle schools, and few of them are willing to intervene in a bullying situation when they see one. The goal of this dissertation…

Bullying has become a significant problem for children of all national, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds and it is one of the most underreported antisocial behaviors. Its negative impact causes psychological, physical, and social maladies and other long-lasting consequences for victims of bullying including suicide ideation. Recently, more…

Cross-national studies consistently reveal that bullying is a pervasive problem in schools and associated with a multitude of deleterious outcomes. The present dissertation conducted two studies to further provide insight into this complex phenomenon and facilitate the development of effective bullying prevention programs. Youth involved in…

Everyone, at some time in their life, has been a target of or witnessed bullying; Think of the grade school bully on the playground taunting a classmate or the high school bully humiliating a peer through name-calling, isolation, or mobbing. It is difficult to believe incivility continues into adulthood and even into the workplace. With higher…

The purpose of this study was to explore special education graduation rates for students who were involved in sports and/or extracurricular activities. Previous research has established that participation in athletics and extracurricular activities provides important health and social benefits for children. Federal laws help to ensure that…

The purpose of this study was to investigate several factors associated with cyberbullying and its victims; gender, age, and the time spent using various forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC). Because cross-national studies are so important to understanding the similarities and differences found in this global problem, the current study…

The intentional assessment and management of school climate is an essential component of a comprehensive school safety plan. The value of this preventive aspect of school safety is often diminished as schools invest resources in physical security measures as a narrowly focused effort to increase school safety (Addington, 2009). This dissertation…

Most studies in the literature on workplace bullying concentrated on identifying the characteristics of who the bully and the bullied are, bullying behaviors and acts, and the effects of these bullying practices. However, there is not much in the literature about the perception of organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior…