The influence of school climate and achievement on bullying: Comparative evidence from international large-scale assessment data

Figures & data

Figure 1. Theoretical model regarding predictors of students’ perceptions of bullying in school.

Table 1. Descriptives of dependent and independent variables for six countries and the average for the total sample

Variables	USA		FIN		ENG		ROM		KOR		ITA		Average
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Student level
Bullying Resilience (BR)	10.10	1.93	10.52	1.83	10.43	1.92	9.67	1.89	10.29	1.85	10.68	1.77	10.28	1.86
Male student (BOY)	1.49	0.50	1.52	0.50	1.52	0.50	1.52	0.50	1.48	0.50	1.51	0.50	1.51	0.50
Born elsewhere	1.08	0.28	1.03	0.18	1.09	0.29	1.01	0.09	1.01	0.10	1.07	0.25	1.05	0.20
Home educational resources (SES)	10.89	1.78	11.22	1.46	10.79	1.62	9.91	1.73	11.36	1.75	10.30	1.65	10.74	1.66
Mathematics achievement (MATHS)	510.99	76.09	514.39	64.81	507.74	84.82	461.04	99.99	612.93	89.75	498.40	73.20	517.58	81.44
School level
Mean home educational resources	10.77	1.02	11.21	0.47	10.74	0.86	9.93	1.16	11.37	0.68	10.27	0.77	10.71	1.00
Mean safe & orderly school score (SCHOOLSOS)	10.38	1.82	9.42	1.57	10.58	2.17	10.49	1.80	8.46	1.60	8.88	1.55	9.70	1.82
Mean discipline & safety score (SCHOOLDAS)	10.26	1.42	9.89	1.14	10.75	1.55	10.50	2.14	10.52	2.55	9.75	1.86	10.28	1.78

Table 2. Multilevel model 4: + school climate for the six countries in one table

	USA		FIN		ENG		ROM		KOR		ITA
Fixed part	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Constant	10.182**	0.038	10.855**	0.058	10.579**	0.065	9.812**	0.049	10.66**	0.058	10.734**	0.063
Student level
Male student (BOY)	−0.111	0.054	−0.572**	0.08	−0.227**	0.085	−0.23**	0.066	−0.807**	0.069	−0.081	0.075
Born elsewhere	−0.147	0.092	−0.372	0.239	−0.625**	0.135	−0.598	0.33	−0.455	0.255	−0.67**	0.111
Home educational resources (SES)	−0.06**	0.018	−0.065**	0.02	−0.085**	0.031	0.028	0.019	−0.02	0.019	−0.032	0.022
Mathematics achievement	0	0.001	0.003**	0.001	0.002	0.001	0.002	0	−0.001	0	0.001	0.001
School level
Mean home educational resources	−0.022	0.035	0.126	0.102	−0.038	0.065	0.142**	0.032	0.042	0.059	−0.009	0.059
Mean safe & orderly school score	−0.004	0.013	0.054	0.038	0.007	0.033	−0.006	0.023	0.077	0.044	0.021	0.034
Mean discipline & safety score	0.008	0.021	0.032	0.051	0.061	0.033	0.05	0.027	−0.001	0.021	−0.022	0.027
Random part
Level: School	2.611	0.494	0.45	0.115	2.597	0.659	1.041	0.269	1.651	0.286	3.609	0.636
Level: Student	37.697	1.291	11.568	0.387	21.125	0.887	5.113	0.263	27.364	0.908	18.96	0.819
−2*loglikelihood:	32,181		15,550		14,556		21,840		19,963		15,160
Number of schools	368		134		107		144		144		185
Number of students	7490		3847		3496		5288		4941		3709

** significant at 0.01 level (p < 0.01).

Table A1. Four multilevel models for the United States

	Dependent variable BR - USA
	Model 1: null		Model 2: +student characteristics		Model 3: +school controls		Model 4: + school climate
Fixed part	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Constant	10.094**	0.025	10.141**	0.033	10.141**	0.033	10.182**	0.038
Student level
Male student (BOY)			−0.073	0.046	−0.073	0.046	−0.111	0.054
Born elsewhere			−0.13	0.078	−0.13	0.078	−0.147	0.092
Home educational resources (SES)			−0.065**	0.015	−0.065**	0.015	−0.06**	0.018
Mathematics achievement			0	0.001	0	0.001	0	0.001
School level
Mean home educational resources					−0.001	0.028	−0.022	0.035
Mean safe & orderly school score							−0.004	0.013
Mean discipline & safety score							0.008	0.021
Random part
Level: School	2.845	0.457	2.839	0.451	2.839	0.451	2.611	0.494
Level: Student	37.728	1.175	37.506	1.167	37.506	1.167	37.697	1.291
−2*loglikelihood:	44,847		44,414		44,414		32,181
Number of schools	501		501		501		368
Number of students	10,338		10,252		10,252		7490

** significant at 0.01 level (p < 0.01).

Note on Table A1: In the United States, the null model the school level accounts for around 7% of the variance in bullying prevalence. When pupil level predictors are added, only SES, our indicator for socio-economic status, is a significant negative predictor; in other words, the more affluent students are the lower the score on reported BR levels, which indicates more self-reported bullying. After adding school controls and variables on school climate, gender appears significant predictor, with boys reporting lower levels of resilience to bullying, but this was not significant at the .01 level. The remaining predictors are not significant.

Table A2. Four multilevel models for Finland

	Dependent variable BR - FINLAND
	Model 1: null		Model 2: +student characteristics		Model 3: +school controls		Model 4: + school climate
Fixed part	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Constant	10.528**	0.046	10.824**	0.058	10.824**	0.057	10.855**	0.058
Student level
Male student (BOY)			−0.54**	0.076	−0.536**	0.076	−0.572**	0.08
Born elsewhere			−0.345	0.221	−0.341	0.221	−0.372	0.239
Home educational resources (SES)			−0.062**	0.019	−0.061**	0.019	−0.065**	0.02
Mathematics achievement			0.003**	0.001	0.003**	0.001	0.003**	0.001
School level
Mean home educational resources					0.125	0.092	0.126	0.102
Mean safe & orderly school score							0.054	0.038
Mean discipline & safety score							0.032	0.051
Random part
Level: School	0.518	0.128	0.49	0.117	0.488	0.118	0.45	0.115
Level: Student	11.77	0.41	11.386	0.378	11.382	0.378	11.568	0.387
−2*loglikelihood:	17,208		16,997		16,995		15,550
Number of schools	145		145		145		134
Number of students	4223		4206		4206		3847

** significant at 0.01 level (p < 0.01).

Note on Table A2: In Finland, the school level accounts for less unexplained variance than in the United States, at just over 4%. Gender is a significant predictor, with boys reporting lower levels of resilience to bullying. SES and maths achievement are significant negative and positive predictors of BR.

Table A3. Four multilevel models for England

	Dependent variable BR - ENGLAND
	Model 1: null		Model 2: +student characteristics		Model 3: +school controls		Model 4: + school climate
Fixed part	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Constant	10.418**	0.048	10.585**	0.064	10.584**	0.064	10.579**	0.065
Student level
Male student (BOY)			−0.222**	0.079	−0.223**	0.078	−0.227**	0.085
Born elsewhere			−0.584**	0.123	−0.586**	0.123	−0.625**	0.135
Home educational resources (SES)			−0.099**	0.03	−0.099**	0.03	−0.085**	0.031
Mathematics achievement			0.002	0.001	0.002	0.001	0.002	0.001
School level
Mean home educational resources					−0.018	0.055	−0.038	0.065
Mean safe & orderly school score							0.007	0.033
Mean discipline & safety score							0.061	0.033
Random part
Level: School	3.016	0.705	2.91	0.68	2.908	0.68	2.597	0.659
Level: Student	21.445	0.875	21.12	0.834	21.119	0.834	21.125	0.887
−2*loglikelihood:	15,864		15,727		15,726		14,556
Number of schools	118		118		118		107
Number of students	3805		3786		3786		3496

** significant at 0.01 level (p < 0.01).

Note on Table A3: In England, school level variance is 12% of the total unexplained variance. Gender, being foreign-born (born elsewhere) and SES are the main pupil level predictors. Again, boys report lower resilience to bullying, and the same is true of pupils not born in England. These variables only explain around 3% of total bullying prevalence.

Table A4. Four multilevel models for Romania

	Dependent variable BR – ROMANIA
	Model 1: null		Model 2: +student characteristics		Model 3: +school controls		Model 4: + school climate
Fixed part	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Constant	9.654**	0.041	9.786**	0.052	9.811**	0.048	9.812**	0.049
Student level
Male student (BOY)			−0.236**	0.065	−0.229**	0.065	−0.23**	0.066
Born elsewhere			−0.665	0.331	−0.67	0.331	−0.598	0.33
Home educational resources (SES)			0.032	0.019	0.032	0.019	0.028	0.019
Mathematics achievement			0.002	0	0.002	0	0.002	0
School level
Mean home educational resources					0.152**	0.03	0.142**	0.032
Mean safe & orderly school score							−0.006	0.023
Mean discipline & safety score							0.05	0.027
Random part
Level: School	1.901	0.336	1.811	0.327	1.038	0.253	1.041	0.269
Level: Student	5.182	0.261	5.114	0.26	5.118	0.259	5.113	0.263
−2*loglikelihood:	22,498		22,201		22,178		21,840
Number of schools	147		147		147		144
Number of students	5420		5367		5367		5288

** significant at 0.01 level (p < 0.01).

Note on Table A4: In Romania, school attended is more strongly related to bullying prevalence than in the other countries in this sample. Gender is the main predictor, with girls reporting more resilience to bullying. This is one of the few countries where there is a school SES effect, demonstrated by the mean school SES being a significant predictor of self-reported bullying: higher school SES means higher BR, and thus less bullying. The variables explain 13% of total variance in Romania, more than in any of the other countries. This reduces the proportion of unexplained variance at the school level to 17%. All in all, school level factors seem to have differential effects on bullying in Romania.

Table A5. Four multilevel models for Korea

	Dependent variable BR – KOREA
	Model 1: null		Model 2: +student characteristics		Model 3: +school controls		Model 4: + school climate
Fixed part	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Constant	10.269**	0.055	10.666**	0.057	10.668**	0.057	10.66**	0.058
Student level
Male student (BOY)			−0.812**	0.067	−0.816**	0.067	−0.807**	0.069
Born elsewhere			−0.498	0.252	−0.502	0.251	−0.455	0.255
Home educational resources (SES)			−0.022	0.018	−0.022	0.018	−0.02	0.019
Mathematics achievement			−0.001	0	−0.001	0	−0.001	0
School level
Mean home educational resources					0.06	0.057	0.042	0.059
Mean safe & orderly school score							0.077	0.044
Mean discipline & safety score							−0.001	0.021
Random part
Level: School	3.802	0.53	1.715	0.272	1.665	0.269	1.651	0.286
Level: Student	28.147	0.931	27.415	0.877	27.423	0.877	27.364	0.908
−2*loglikelihood:	21,056		20,836		20,835		19,963
Number of schools	150		150		150		144
Number of students	5160		5157		5157		4941

** significant at 0.01 level (p < 0.01).

Note on Table A5: In the null model, the school level accounts for 12% of unexplained variance in Korea, though the significant gender predictor explains 9% of total variance, and most of this is at school level (reducing unexplained variance at the school level to 5.6%). Only gender is a significant predictor of bullying, with boys reporting more bullying, less resilience to bullying.

Table A6. Four multilevel models for Italy

	Dependent variable BR – ITALY
	Model 1: null		Model 2: +student characteristics		Model 3: +school controls		Model 4: + school climate
Fixed part	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Constant	10.655**	0.045	10.743**	0.062	10.742**	0.061	10.734**	0.063
Student level
Male student (BOY)			−0.077	0.073	−0.077	0.073	−0.081	0.075
Born elsewhere			−0.66**	0.108	−0.661**	0.108	−0.67**	0.111
Home educational resources (SES)			−0.022	0.022	−0.022	0.022	−0.032	0.022
Mathematics achievement			0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001
School level
Mean home educational resources					−0.021	0.056	−0.009	0.059
Mean safe & orderly school score							0.021	0.034
Mean discipline & safety score							−0.022	0.027
Random part
Level: School	3.838	0.659	3.571	0.608	3.568	0.605	3.609	0.636
Level: Student	19.166	0.801	18.987	0.787	18.987	0.787	18.96	0.819
−2*loglikelihood:	16,143		16,058		16,057		15,160
Number of schools	197		197		197		185
Number of students	3937		3928		3928		3709

** significant at 0.01 level (p < 0.01).

Note on Table A6: Italy shows the second strongest ‘school effect’ on bullying, which accounts for 16.6% of variance in the null model. In contrast to the other countries in the study, gender is not a significant predictor. Being born outside of the country is a significant predictor though, and it explains less than 2% of total variance.

Figure A1. Estimates of predictors for six countries with 95% confidence interval.