Effect of Coping Strategies Education regarding Bullying on Knowledge and Behavioral Change among Secondary School Students

Abstract

Bullying in schools is a widespread problem that, if not managed properly, can lead to a population that is psychologically, emotionally, physically, and socially dysfunctional for an extended length of time. The aim was to evaluate the effect of coping strategies education regarding bullying on knowledge and behavioral change among secondary school students. Subjects and method: Design: A quasi-experimental research design was utilized to fulfill the aim of this study. Setting: the research was conducted at four secondary schools in Port Said city. Subjects: A multi-stages technique of a purposive sample of 300 secondary school students was enrolled. Tools for data collection: The first tool was a structured interview questionnaire which consisted of two parts; part (I) demographic characteristics of the secondary school students; part (II) secondary school students' knowledge regarding bullying (pre/post) and the second tool was a coping behavior checklist for bullying. Results: The study result revealed that 56.0% of the secondary school students aged between 16-18 years with a mean of 16.38+1.23. There were highly significant improvements in secondary school students' knowledge post coping strategies education regarding bullying after two months of intervention (P<0.001). Three-fifths of the studied secondary school students reported suffering from all health effects, followed by absenteeism then depression, and suffering decreased self-esteem. The results also showed a highly statistically significant improvement in the secondary school students' behaviors regarding bullying between pre and post-intervention phases. Conclusion: The present study concluded that coping strategies education had a positive effect on improving knowledge and behavioral change among secondary school students. Recommendations: The study recommended that training programs should be provided among secondary school students to fight against bullying and should be aware of the harms of bullying and focus on its prevention in their organizations. Replication of the current study with a larger sample of secondary school students in different settings is required for generalizing the results.