Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Sustainability of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) in Increasing School Safety for Urban Low-Income Middle Schools, Virginia, 2011-2018 (ICPSR 37456)
Version Date: Mar 13, 2025 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Terri N. Sullivan, Virginia Commonwealth University
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37456.v1
Version V1
Alternate Title View help for Alternate Title
Summary View help for Summary
This NIJ-funded project extended an evaluation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) conducted as part of a project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The OBPP is a comprehensive school-based program designed to prevent youth violence and bullying by improving school climate. The CDC-funded project used a multiple baseline experimental design that randomized the order and timing of implementing the OBPP in three urban public middle schools in the southeastern United States over a five-year period from 2010-2015. The project collected outcome data from random samples of students at the three participating middle schools on their frequency of aggression and victimization, peer factors related to aggression, and school climate variables every three months, and obtained ratings of student's frequency of aggression and victimization from teachers. The NIJ-funded project extended the CDC-funded project by continuing the implementation of OBPP in schools that were already receiving the program, implementing OBPP in the remaining school that served as the control school for the Virginia Commonwealth University - Violence Prevention Project (VCU-VPP), and collecting an additional 10 waves of data from 2015 to 2018. The dataset included in this study includes data from both the CDC and NIJ-funded projects across 29 waves of data collection from 2011 to 2018.
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Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
School
Restrictions View help for Restrictions
Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reason for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.
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Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
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These data are a Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data producer. Data files have been zipped for release, but not checked or processed. Users should refer to the accompanying ICPSR README file and P.I. documentation for information on the data available with this study. Please consult with the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) in three urban public middle schools in the southeastern United States from 2011-2018.
Study Design View help for Study Design
This study was designed to evaluate the effects of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) in three subject schools, selected due to their locations in communities with high rates of violence based on community surveillance data. The Virginia Commonwealth University - Violence Prevention Project (VCU-VPP) used a multiple baseline experimental design that randomized the order and timing of the implementation of OBPP in three urban public middle schools in the southeastern United States over the 8-year data collection period. Data across the full 8 years of the project were collected from 2,771 students at the three schools across 29 waves of data collection. Data from teachers was collected during 22 of the 29 waves as teachers did not participate in the summer waves. Students were randomly assigned to two waves of data collection per year.
At each assigned wave of data collection, students were asked to self-report on school climate and safety through a computer-assisted interview. These interviews were administered by staff who recorded if students appeared to be not paying attention to the survey. Teachers were also asked to complete computer-assisted surveys documenting each student's behavior for each wave the student was assigned.
Users interested in longitudinal analysis should note that this study was designed to assess the impact of the OBPP on each school and only surveyed students actively enrolled in the three selected schools. Students who left or aged out of each school were not surveyed in subsequent waves and were replaced with a new random sample of students from the departing students' same grade. Consequently, a limited number of students completed surveys across all three grades (sixth, seventh, and eighth).
Sample View help for Sample
A random sample of students was recruited from the class rosters of all three grades during the first year of the project. Each subsequent year a new random sample of sixth graders was recruited along with random samples of seventh and eighth graders to replace those who left the school.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Middle school students attending three schools in a city in the Southeastern U.S.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
The data includes variables about a variety of topics related to school safety and climate including ratings of each student's involvement in aggression and victimization as reported by teachers and by the students themselves. These data also include variables documenting specific behaviors and incidents such as a student's effort in class, conflict resolution skills, friends' reactions to conflict, peer pressure for fighting, verbal bullying, use of physical violence, and threats involving weapons. Administrative variables include anonymized participant ID numbers, the year and wave of each survey, students' eligibility to participate, and which school the students attend. Demographic variables include race and ethnicity, grade, age, and sex.
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
Approximately 80% of eligible students provided consent and participated at one or more waves. Of the 2,771 students who were eligible at the start of the project, 969 (35%) became ineligible at some point. This included 878 students (31.7%) who left the school they were attending when they were first recruited, 39 students (1.4%) who chose to withdraw from the study, and 52 (1.9%) who became ineligible for some other reason. Data were obtained from 95% of all surveys that could have been obtained if students participated at every wave when they were eligible (i.e., still enrolled at the school and had not withdrawn).
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
The Problem Behavior Frequency Scale - Adolescent Report (PBFS-AR)
The Problem Behavior Frequency Scale - Teacher Report (PBFS-TR)
Inventory of School Climate, Middle/Secondary - Student Version (ISCS)
School Safety Problems Scale - Student Version (SfeStu)
Friends' Reaction to Responses in Conflict Situations Scale (PrRe)
Peer Pressure for Fighting Scale (PBFSpp)
HideNotes
These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.