The aim of the current study was to examine whether students perceptions of teacher support at an individual-level, teacher support and well-functioning class climate at classroom-level, and teacher support and well-functioning class climate at school-level were associated with peer victimization. Data were obtained from a Student School Survey administered by the selected Swedish municipality. Multilevel analyses were based on 5,646 students in 277 classes and 27 schools. At the individual-level, girls and students who perceived greater teacher support than their classmates were victimized less often by their peers. In addition, students in schools with classes characterized by greater cooperation, cohesion, working atmosphere and respect toward their teachers tended to score lower on peer victimization. Within schools, students belonging to classes with a more well-functioning class climate than what was average in the school, and students belonging to classes that scored their teacher as more caring, fair and respectful compared to other classes in the school, were less likely to be targets of peer victimization.

Teachers have a major impact on students social cognition and behaviors, and previous research has found that students who have positive relationships with their teachers tend to be less bullied by their peers. However, this line of research is limited in that it has been (a) Dominated by cross-sectional studies and (b) Treated bullying victimization as a global construct without differentiating among its different forms (i.e., verbal, physical, and relational). The links might be reciprocal but further studies are needed to investigate the directionality. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the longitudinal associations between student-teacher relationship quality and two forms of bullying victimization, namely verbal and relational victimization. Three waves of data from 1885 Swedish fourth- through sixth-grade students were analyzed with cross-lagged panel models. The findings showed that the student-teacher relationship quality predicted and was predicted by verbal and relational victimization. Our findings thus underscore the importance of striving for caring, warm, supportive, and respectful student-teacher relationships as a component of schools prevention efforts.

The overall objective of this study was to investigate the longitudinal association between diffusion of responsibility and pro-aggressive bystander behavior across three time points in upper elementary education. This three-wave longitudinal study included 1905 Swedish students who completed a questionnaire in at least one of the three waves: the fourth (M-age = 10.56), fifth (M-age = 11.55), and/or sixth grades (M-age = 12.58). Both traditional and random intercept cross-lagged panel models revealed a reciprocal relationship between pro-aggressive bystanding and diffusion of responsibility from the fourth to fifth grades, whereas the only significant cross-lagged path from the fifth to sixth grades was from pro-aggression to diffusion of responsibility in the traditional cross-lagged panel model. Thus, this study provides evidence for bidirectional longitudinal associations between diffusion of responsibility and pro-aggressive bystander behavior but did not support a full cross-lagged bidirectional model.

This study examined whether students bystander behaviours in peer victimisation were associated with individual (IMD) and classroom collective moral disengagement (CMD). Self-report survey data were analysed from 1577 Swedish students in fifth grade. Multilevel analyses revealed that, when witnessing peer victimisation, students more often sided with the victimisers if they belonged to classrooms high in CMD, especially if they simultaneously were high in IMD. Furthermore, staying passive was associated with higher levels of IMD and CMD, whereas defending the victims was associated with lower levels of IMD and CMD. Taken together, our findings suggest that moral disengagement beliefs both at the individual and at the classroom-level contribute to explain variability in students bystander behaviours, which has potential implications for prevention and intervention work.

The aim of this study was to examine how different bystander roles in peer victimisation situations relate to moral disengagement, defender self-efficacy, and student-teacher relationship quality. Self-reported survey data were collected from 333 middle and junior high school students (10-15 years of age) from four schools in Sweden. Random intercept model analyses of factor scores revealed that, when witnessing peer victimisation, students high in moral disengagement and low in defender self-efficacy were more inclined to act as reinforcers or outsiders, and that students high in defender self-efficacy and student-teacher relationship quality were more inclined to act as defenders. Furthermore, examining these relationships within and between classes revealed that reinforcer and outsider behaviours were more common among students who, compared to their classmates, were higher in moral disengagement and lower in defender self-efficacy, whereas defending was more common among students who, compared to their classmates, were higher in defender self-efficacy. The results enrich the knowledge of factors related to different bystander behaviours, which has potential implications for prevention and intervention work.

Introduction: Peer victimization often ends quickly when peers support the victims (Hawkins et al., 2001) and is less frequent in school contexts where bystanders tend to side with victims (Salmivalli et al., 2011). Although some programs aimed at increasing bystander intervention have been proven effective, a meta-analysis has revealed small effect sizes for K–8 children(Polanin et al., 2012). Hence, understanding factors that are associated with bystander behaviors among students in these age groups is of paramount importance. Drawing on social-cognitive theory (Bandura, 1997), we investigated whether defender self-efficacy was longitudinally associated with defending and passive bystanding.

Method: We collected self-report questionnaire data at one-year intervals at five time points, from fourth to eighth grade (M_age1 = 10.56, M_age2 = 11.55, M_age3 = 12.57,  M_age4 = 13.62, M_age5 = 14.56). Data from 709 Swedish students were analyzed via a longitudinal structural equation modeling approach.

Results: The results revealed several significant associations, both in the direction from defender self-efficacy to the bystander behaviors and vice versa. Greater defender self-efficacy in grades 4 and 6 predicted more defending ingrades 5 and 7, respectively, while less defender self-efficacy predicted more passive bystanding at adjacent time points across all grades. Furthermore, more defending in grades 4 and 5 predicted greater defender self-efficacy in grades 5 and 6, respectively, and more passive bystanding in grade 7 predicted less defender self-efficacy in grade 8.

Conclusion: This study adds important insights to the field, going beyond cross-sectional studies and suggesting reciprocal associations between defender self-efficacy and bystanders behaviors. In general, greater defender self-efficacy seems to motivate students to help victims and to inhibit them from passive bystanding. At the same time, defending the victim is likely to strenghten students’ beliefs of being capable of intervening effectively, while passive bystanding seems, in some occasions, to decrease students’ perceived power to change bullying situations.

Background. Early extensive surgery is a cornerstone in treatment of diffuse low-grade gliomas (DLGGs), and an additional survival benefit has been demonstrated from early radiochemotherapy in selected "high-risk" patients. Still, there are a number of controversies related to DLGG management. The objective of this multicenter population-based cohort study was to explore potential variations in diagnostic work-up and treatment between treating centers in 2 Scandinavian countries with similar public health care systems. Methods. Patients screened for inclusion underwent primary surgery of a histopathologically verified diffuse WHO grade II glioma in the time period 2012 through 2017. Clinical and radiological data were collected from medical records and locally conducted research projects, whereupon differences between countries and inter-hospital variations were explored. Results. A total of 642 patients were included (male:female ratio 1:4), and annual age-standardized incidence rates were 0.9 and 0.8 per 100 000 in Norway and Sweden, respectively. Considerable inter-hospital variations were observed in preoperative work-up, tumor diagnostics, surgical strategies, techniques for intraoperative guidance, as well as choice and timing of adjuvant therapy. Conclusions. Despite geographical population-based case selection, similar health care organizations, and existing guidelines, there were considerable variations in DLGG management. While some can be attributed to differences in clinical implementation of current scientific knowledge, some of the observed inter-hospital variations reflect controversies related to diagnostics and treatment. Quantification of these disparities renders possible identification of treatment patterns associated with better or worse outcomes and may thus represent a step toward more uniform evidence-based care.

This study examined whether defending and passive bystanding during peer victimization episodes were associated with individual- and classroom-level efficacy to stop peer victimization. Self-report survey data were analyzed from 1,467 Swedish fourth-grade students (mean age = 10.55) from 100 classrooms in 63 schools. Multilevel analyses revealed that, when witnessing peer victimization, students more often defended victims if they were high in defender self-efficacy and if they belonged to classrooms high in collective efficacy. In contrast, students were more likely to remain passive if they were low in defender self-efficacy and if they belonged to classrooms low in collective efficacy. Taken together, our findings suggest that efficacy beliefs both at the individual and at the classroom level contribute to explaining variability in students bystander behaviors, which has potential implications for prevention and intervention work.

Peer victimization most often occurs in the presence of bystanders, who play different social roles. They may assist or reinforce those who victimize, defend those who are victimized, or remain passive. The aim of this thesis was to investigate how students’ bystander behaviors in peer victimization are associated with moral disengagement, efficacy beliefs, and student-teacher relationship quality. Self-report questionnaire data were collected from students in grades 4 to 8, and were analyzed using different statistical methods, such as multilevel modeling and structural equation modeling. The findings show that the three types of bystander behaviors are associated with both individual- and classroom-level characteristics. Assisting and reinforcing those who victimize were most strongly associated (positively) with moral disengagement. Defending those who are victimized and remaining passive were most strongly associated (positively and negatively, respectively) with self-efficacy to defend victims. The findings also indicate that the positive association between students’ defending bystander behaviors and their self-efficacy to defend is bidirectional: defending predicts self-efficacy and self-efficacy predicts defending. In line with social cognitive theory, this thesis highlights the importance of considering a complex pattern of factors at different levels when addressing students’ bystander behaviors.

A vast body of research shows that children and youth who use moral disengagement strategies tend to engage more in aggressive behavior, including bullying. However only a handful studies have investigated the association between perceptions of moral disengagement processes shared within the group (e.g., the peer group of the classroom) and bullying. In the present study we extended previous research by exploring both unique and interactive effects of individual and collective moral disengagement on bullying behavior among 1535 Swedish fifth grade students (M = 11.6, SD = 0.3). Results of multilevel analyses showed that both individual and collective moral disengagement were positively associated with bullying behavior. Additionally, collective moral disengagement moderated the association between individual moral disengagement and bullying.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a recently developed classroom collective moral disengagement scale (CMD). The 18-item scale was evaluated on a sample of 1626 fourth grade students in Sweden. Through confirmatory factor analysis, the unidimensional structure of the scale was verified, and the internal consistency was good. The scale is related to individual moral disengagement and to bullying behavior both on an individual level, which supports the criteria validity of the scale and on class level, which supports the construct validity of the scale. Multigroup analyses demonstrated measurement invariance across gender. These results indicate that the scale can be used in studies on CMD, and girls’ and boys’ mean scores may be compared.