Framing bullying as a health risk: Null effects on young adults’ support for anti-bullying policies

Abstract

Given extensive research underscoring the deleterious effects of bullying on youth adjustment, anti-bullying policies and programming are critical public health priorities. However, strategies that increase public support for anti-bullying causes are not well understood. This experiment assessed the influence of “bullying messaging” on support for anti-bullying policies. Specifically, I investigated whether learning about the health consequences of bullying, as opposed to its prevalence or educational impact, increased individuals’ support of anti-bullying policies. Participants (n = 329) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions where they read a brief summary about bullying research; conditions varied by whether the research documented the: a) prevalence of bullying b) mental health consequences of bullying c) physical health consequences of bullying or d) academic consequences of bullying. Results indicated that participants endorsed high levels of support for anti-bullying policies, regardless of experimental condition, and that policies aimed at increasing K-12 mental health resources were most supported.

Keywords

• bullying
• health
• policy
• framing effects