Preventing and reducing bullying victimization in high schools: Which works better? Physical or psychological safety measures

Abstract

Even though the growing field of school safety research is multifaceted and multidisciplinary, discrepancies still exist among researchers and policymakers about how best to achieve the goal of creating a safe school environment. In response to ongoing concerns about bullying as one of the main school safety issues, schools are implementing various strategies to prevent it. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects that two dimensions of school safety (physical and psychological) have on reports of bullying victimization. In this study, data from 1526 (16-18 years old) students from 19 state schools in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia, were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. The findings showed a negative association between psychological safety and bullying victimization. In contrast, the dimension of physical safety showed no association with bullying victimization.