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Gender-sensitive school environment and bullying victimization among adolescent girls: A multilevel study in Nepal

BACKGROUND: Bullying is an understudied global social problem. While school-level factors are a recognized influence on bullying victimization, the elements of a ‘girl-friendly’ school that may reduce the risk of bullying victimization among girls and prevent dropout is understudied in lower- and mi...

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Autores principales: Bergenfeld, Irina, Clark, Cari Jo, Khan, Zara, Jackson, Emma C., Yount, Kathryn M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8270204/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34242261
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253128
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author Bergenfeld, Irina
Clark, Cari Jo
Khan, Zara
Jackson, Emma C.
Yount, Kathryn M.
author_facet Bergenfeld, Irina
Clark, Cari Jo
Khan, Zara
Jackson, Emma C.
Yount, Kathryn M.
author_sort Bergenfeld, Irina
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Bullying is an understudied global social problem. While school-level factors are a recognized influence on bullying victimization, the elements of a ‘girl-friendly’ school that may reduce the risk of bullying victimization among girls and prevent dropout is understudied in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study used baseline data from the evaluation of the Room-to-Read (RtR) Girls’ Education Program (GEP) in Nepal to assess the relationship of a conceptually grounded gender-equitable school (GES) index with girls’ risk of direct and relational bullying victimization, adjusted for potential confounders at the individual and school levels. METHODS: The school sample included all 24 RtR GEP schools and 25 community schools attended by girls in a comparison cohort, representing 729 grade six girls with complete outcome data. We employed multilevel negative binomial regression to assess the relationship between the GES score (higher scores indicate greater support for girls), and girls’ risk of peer victimization, controlling for individual- and school-level covariates. RESULTS: On average, girls reported 2.84 direct victimizations and 0.27 relational victimizations in the prior week. The first component of the GES index, a generalized measure of school-level support for girls, showed a significant negative relationship with weekly relational bullying victimization in models with all school- and individual-level covariates. In the full model, a one-point higher score on the generalized GES component accounted for a 26% lower risk of relational bullying victimization in the prior week. CONCLUSION: School-level policies, practices, and pedagogy designed to support girls may reduce their exposure to relational aggression, a form of bullying that girls most often perpetrate. In LMICs, the school may be an ideal place to raise awareness about the types and effects of peer bullying and to promote prosocial bystander behavior. Further research is needed to identify factors related to other forms of bullying.
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spelling pubmed-82702042021-07-21 Gender-sensitive school environment and bullying victimization among adolescent girls: A multilevel study in Nepal Bergenfeld, Irina Clark, Cari Jo Khan, Zara Jackson, Emma C. Yount, Kathryn M. PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Bullying is an understudied global social problem. While school-level factors are a recognized influence on bullying victimization, the elements of a ‘girl-friendly’ school that may reduce the risk of bullying victimization among girls and prevent dropout is understudied in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study used baseline data from the evaluation of the Room-to-Read (RtR) Girls’ Education Program (GEP) in Nepal to assess the relationship of a conceptually grounded gender-equitable school (GES) index with girls’ risk of direct and relational bullying victimization, adjusted for potential confounders at the individual and school levels. METHODS: The school sample included all 24 RtR GEP schools and 25 community schools attended by girls in a comparison cohort, representing 729 grade six girls with complete outcome data. We employed multilevel negative binomial regression to assess the relationship between the GES score (higher scores indicate greater support for girls), and girls’ risk of peer victimization, controlling for individual- and school-level covariates. RESULTS: On average, girls reported 2.84 direct victimizations and 0.27 relational victimizations in the prior week. The first component of the GES index, a generalized measure of school-level support for girls, showed a significant negative relationship with weekly relational bullying victimization in models with all school- and individual-level covariates. In the full model, a one-point higher score on the generalized GES component accounted for a 26% lower risk of relational bullying victimization in the prior week. CONCLUSION: School-level policies, practices, and pedagogy designed to support girls may reduce their exposure to relational aggression, a form of bullying that girls most often perpetrate. In LMICs, the school may be an ideal place to raise awareness about the types and effects of peer bullying and to promote prosocial bystander behavior. Further research is needed to identify factors related to other forms of bullying. Public Library of Science 2021-07-09 /pmc/articles/PMC8270204/ /pubmed/34242261 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253128 Text en © 2021 Bergenfeld et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Bergenfeld, Irina
Clark, Cari Jo
Khan, Zara
Jackson, Emma C.
Yount, Kathryn M.
Gender-sensitive school environment and bullying victimization among adolescent girls: A multilevel study in Nepal
title Gender-sensitive school environment and bullying victimization among adolescent girls: A multilevel study in Nepal
title_full Gender-sensitive school environment and bullying victimization among adolescent girls: A multilevel study in Nepal
title_fullStr Gender-sensitive school environment and bullying victimization among adolescent girls: A multilevel study in Nepal
title_full_unstemmed Gender-sensitive school environment and bullying victimization among adolescent girls: A multilevel study in Nepal
title_short Gender-sensitive school environment and bullying victimization among adolescent girls: A multilevel study in Nepal
title_sort gender-sensitive school environment and bullying victimization among adolescent girls: a multilevel study in nepal
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8270204/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34242261
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253128
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