Physical education and school bullying: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To evaluate the associations of physical education (PE) with school violence and bullying. Design: Systematic review.

Method: Using a systematic search in Medline, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, and Scopus, relevant studies with a quantitative and qualitative design were identified that met previously established eligibility criteria. Quality was assessed (bias risk analysis) and data were extracted from a previously elaborated template.

Results: The systematic review finally included 16 studies, of which 10 had a quantitative design (n = 12795), 5 a qualitative design (n = 79) and 1 a mixed design (n = 86). The high heterogeneity presented by the measures used in the included studies hindered the comparison of the outcomes and prevented meta-analysis of the data. Although there is insufficient evidence about the positive impact of PE on bullying prevention, the results of this review indicate that some aspects of PE programs could improve students’ skills to cope with these situations.

Conclusions: The results of this review suggest the importance of PE in the prevention of bullying. Secondly, it is emphasized that bullying situations have a negative impact on students’ enjoyment of PE, leading to detrimental consequences for their physical and psychological health. Thirdly, the figure of the PE teacher as a key element to prevent and/or encourage bullying was obvious.

KEYWORDS:

• Physical education
• bullying
• school violence
• student profile
• teacher status

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

JoséAntonio Jiménez-Barbero http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4003-3491

Alejandro Jiménez-Loaisa http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0033-2374

David González-Cutre http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8584-3992

Vicente J. Beltrán-Carrillo http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8794-5901

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Alejandro Jiménez-Loaisa was supported by the Valencian Council of Education, Research, Culture and Sports with reference ACIF/2017/155.