Bullying is a subtype of aggression involving repeated, intentional attacks toward a victim who cannot readily defend himself or herself (Olweus, 1999 Olweus, D. (1999). Sweden. In P. K. Smith, Y. Morita, J. Junger-Tas, D. Olweus, R. Catalano, & P. Slee (Eds.), The nature of school bullying: A cross-national perspective (pp. 7–27). London, UK: Routledge.). Many bullying prevention programs take a bystander orientation that encourages children to intervene when they are bystanders to bullying incidents. Currently, little is known about whether bystander intervention is either promoted or undermined by caregivers’ advice to their children about how to respond when they witness bullying happen. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to explore relations between caregivers’ advice and bystander children’s behavior during bullying situations. We hypothesized correspondence between the content of caregivers’ advice to children and children’s bystander behaviors. That is, we predicted that children would intervene during bullying episodes more frequently when caregivers encouraged them to do so and that they would intervene less frequently when caregivers advised them to stay out of bullying situations.

Peer Victimization Approximately 10% of children are regularly victimized (Nansel et al., 2001 Nansel, T. R., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R. S., Ruan, W. J., Simons-Morton, B., & Scheidt, P. (2001). Bullying behaviors among US youth: Prevalence and association with psychosocial adjustment. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285, 2094–2100. doi:10.1001/jama.285.16.2094). Victimization predicts negative outcomes in children’s academic performance, psychosocial functioning, and physical health (for a review, see Hawker & Boulton, 2000 Hawker, D. S., & Boulton, M. J. (2000). Twenty years’ research on peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment: A meta-analytic review of cross-sectional studies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 441–455. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00629). Victimized children earn lower grades and perform more poorly on standardized tests than their classmates; they also are more likely to feel lonely and to avoid school (Kochenderfer & Ladd, 1996 Kochenderfer, B. J., & Ladd, G. W. (1996). Peer victimization: Cause or consequence of school maladjustment? Child Development, 67, 1305–1317. doi:10.2307/1131701; Nakamoto & Schwartz, 2010 Nakamoto, J., & Schwartz, D. (2010). Is peer victimization associated with academic achievement? A meta-analytic review. Social Development, 19, 221–242. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2009.00539.x). Psychosocially, victimized children suffer higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation (Borowsky, Taliaferro, & McMorris, 2013 Borowsky, I. W., Taliaferro, L. A., & McMorris, B. J. (2013). Suicidal thinking and behavior among youth involved in verbal and social bullying: Risk and protective factors. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53, S4–12. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.10.280; Card & Hodges, 2008 Card, N. A., & Hodges, E. V. E. (2008). Peer victimization among schoolchildren: Correlations, causes, consequences, and considerations in assessment and intervention. School Psychology Quarterly, 23, 451–461. doi:10.1037/a0012769). Victimized children also experience more frequent somatic and physical health-related concerns including headaches, stomachaches, and sleep difficulties (Biebl, DiLalla, Davis, Lynch, & Shinn, 2011 Biebl, S. J. W., DiLalla, L. F., Davis, E. K., Lynch, K. A., & Shinn, S. O. (2011). Longitudinal associations among peer victimization and physical and mental health problems. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 36, 868–877. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsr025; Knack, Jensen-Campbell, & Baum, 2011 Knack, J. M., Jensen-Campbell, L. A., & Baum, A. (2011). Worse than sticks and stones? Bullying is associated with altered HPA axis functioning and poorer health. Brain and Cognition, 77, 183–190. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2011.06.011; Nixon, Linkie, Coleman, & Fitch, 2011 Nixon, C. L., Linkie, C. A., Coleman, P. K., & Fitch, C. (2011). Peer relational victimization and somatic complaints during adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 49, 294–299. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.12.018). These and other negative outcomes have created an impetus for understanding the context in which peer victimization occurs.

The Role of Bystanders in Bullying A common misconception about bullying is that it occurs covertly. In fact, most bullying incidents (80%–88%; Craig & Pepler, 1997 Craig, W. M., & Pepler, D. J. (1997). Observations of bullying and victimization in the school yard. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 13, 41–60. doi:10.1177/082957359801300205; Hawkins, Pepler, & Craig, 2001 Hawkins, D. L., Pepler, D. J., & Craig, W. M. (2001). Naturalistic observations of peer interventions in bullying. Social Development, 10, 512–527. doi:10.1111/1467-9507.00178; Jones, Mitchell, & Turner, 2015 Jones, L. M., Mitchell, K. J., & Turner, H. A. (2015). Victim reports of bystander reactions to in- person and online peer harassment: A national survey of adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 2308–2320. doi:10.1007/s10964-015-0342-9) occur in the presence of bystanders. For example, more than two thirds of Canadian children reported witnessing bullying occur in the past year at school (Trach, Hymel, Waterhouse, & Neale, 2010 Trach, J., Hymel, S., Waterhouse, T., & Neale, K. (2010). Bystander responses to school bullying: A cross-sectional investigation of grade and sex differences. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 25, 114–130. doi:10.1177/0829573509357553) and in the past 3 weeks at summer camp (Cappadocia, Pepler, Cummings, & Craig, 2012 Cappadocia, M. C., Pepler, D., Cummings, J. G., & Craig, W. (2012). Individual motivations and characteristics associated with bystander intervention during bullying episodes among children and youth. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 27, 201–216. doi:10.1177/0829573512450567). Similarly, in a series of playground observations of elementary-age students, O’Connell, Pepler, and Craig (1999 O’Connell, P., Pepler, D., & Craig, W. (1999). Peer involvement in bullying: Insights and challenges for intervention. Journal of Adolescence, 22, 437–452. doi:10.1006/jado.1999.0238) found that, on average, four peers were present during each bullying episode and the number of bystanders present positively related to the duration of bullying incidents. Bullying is a group phenomenon in which most children have a definable participant role (Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Björkqvist, Österman, & Kaukiainen, 1998 Salmivalli, C., Lagerspetz, K., Björkqvist, K., Österman, K., & Kaukiainen, A. (1998). Bullying as a group process: Participant roles and their relations to social status within the group. Aggressive Behavior, 22, 1–15. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2337(1996)22:1<1::AID-AB1>3.0.CO;2-T). In addition to bullies and victims, bystander children may reinforce or assist bullies by joining in, laughing, cheering, or even just providing an audience. Alternately, bystander children can support victims by confronting bullies, offering help and comfort to victims, or involving adults. Bystander behavior can attenuate or escalate bullying (Saarento & Salmivalli, 2015 Saarento, S., & Salmivalli, C. (2015). The role of classroom peer ecology and bystanders’ responses in bullying. Child Development Perspectives, 9, 201–205. doi:10.1111/cdep.12140). In fact, the frequency of classroom bullying is negatively linked to peers defending victims and positively linked to peers reinforcing bullies (Salmivalli, Voeten, & Poskiparta, 2011 Salmivalli, C., Voeten, M., & Poskiparta, E. (2011). Bystanders matter: Associations between reinforcing, defending, and the frequency of bullying behavior in classrooms. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 40, 668–676. doi:10.1080/15374416.2011.597090). Unfortunately, bystanders often passively watch bullying without intervening (Craig & Pepler, 1997 Craig, W. M., & Pepler, D. J. (1997). Observations of bullying and victimization in the school yard. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 13, 41–60. doi:10.1177/082957359801300205; O’Connell et al., 1999 O’Connell, P., Pepler, D., & Craig, W. (1999). Peer involvement in bullying: Insights and challenges for intervention. Journal of Adolescence, 22, 437–452. doi:10.1006/jado.1999.0238; Trach et al., 2010 Trach, J., Hymel, S., Waterhouse, T., & Neale, K. (2010). Bystander responses to school bullying: A cross-sectional investigation of grade and sex differences. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 25, 114–130. doi:10.1177/0829573509357553). However, when bystander children do intervene, their actions can be effective. Hawkins and colleagues (2001) observed that peer interventions in bullying stopped the bully within 10 seconds for the majority of episodes. Thus, encouraging bystanders to intervene on behalf of victims may be an effective strategy for decreasing bullying. Bystander behavior also impacts victims directly, even when the bullying does not stop. Peer defense is positively linked to victims’ adjustment (Sainio, Veenstra, Huitsing, & Salmivalli, 2010 Sainio, M., Veenstra, R., Huitsing, G., & Salmivalli, C. (2010). Victims and their defenders: A dyadic approach. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35, 144–151. doi:10.1177/0165025410378068), whereas negative bystander reactions are associated with physical and emotional distress on the part of victims (Jones et al., 2015 Jones, L. M., Mitchell, K. J., & Turner, H. A. (2015). Victim reports of bystander reactions to in- person and online peer harassment: A national survey of adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 2308–2320. doi:10.1007/s10964-015-0342-9). Thus, bystander behavior is an important component of the complex social context in which bullying occurs.

Bystander-Oriented School Bullying Prevention The negative outcomes associated with peer victimization have motivated schools to adopt bullying prevention programs. Based on the work just reviewed, recent bullying prevention efforts have taken a bystander approach. This approach aims to create an environment where bullying is not accepted and to empower bystander children to stop bullying by teaching them how to confront the bully, involve adults, and comfort victims. A meta-analysis of school-based bystander-oriented programs suggested that these programs are effective in promoting positive bystander reactions to bullying (Polanin, Espelage, & Pigott, 2012 Polanin, J. R., Espelage, D. L., & Pigott, T. D. (2012). A meta-analysis of school-based bullying prevention programs’ effect on bystander intervention behavior. School Psychology Review, 41, 47–65.).