Assessing the Climate of the Playground and Lunchroom: Implications for Bullying Prevention Programming

Abstract

A considerable number of bullying prevention and intervention programs are being implemented in elementary schools across the United States and worldwide. However, although the majority of aggressive interchanges between students occur in the playground and lunchroom contexts, many well-known outcome measures of bullying are not particularly sensitive to those unstructured settings. The authors used a participatory action research framework to partner with playground and lunchroom personnel and community members to conduct an extensive scale development study, which resulted in the creation of the Playground and Lunchroom Climate Questionnaire (PLCQ). An initial psychometric study of the PLCQ was conducted to assess school climate variables that may affect children's social and behavioral functioning at school from the perspective of playground and lunchroom personnel. Results from the study suggest that the PLCQ measures two school context variables: (a) structure for activities and monitoring, and (b) staff collaboration. Suggestions for combining the PLCQ with more traditional measures to guide bullying prevention and intervention programming are discussed.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stephen S. Leff

Stephen S. Leff received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1996, and is currently an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology in Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a Psychologist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He also directs the PLAYS (Playground, Lunchroom, and Youth Success) Program, a playground-and lunchroom-based aggression prevention program, and the Friend to Friend Program, an indicated intervention program for relationally aggressive girls. His research interests include aggression prevention, gender and social cognitive differences in aggression, behavioral observations, peer relations, and ADHD.

Thomas J. Power

Thomas J. Power received his Ph.D. in Psychology in Education from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984 and is an Associate Professor of School Psychology in Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. His research interests include assessment and intervention for children with ADHD, family-school collaboration, and prevention/health promotion. He is an Associate Editor for School Psychology Review.

Tracy E. Costigan

Tracy Costigan received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Medical College of Pennsylvania/Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, PA. While there, she was involved in research programs at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in the areas of school violence prevention, social skills training, and childhood behavior disorders. Currently, she is a Senior Research Scientist at the American Institutes for Research in Washington, DC.

Patricia H. Manz

Patricia H. Manz received her doctorate from the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania in 1994. She currently is an Assistant Professor in the School Psychology program at Lehigh University. Her primary research interests are in the areas of urban education and the interface of family, community, and school systems.