Class teachers' bullying-related self-efficacy and their students' bullying victimization, bullying perpetration, and combined victimization and perpetration

Teachers' responses to incidents of bullying among students can be important for bullying dynamics. Theoretical models of teachers' intervention competence and the theory of planned behavior suggest that teachers' bullying intervention self-efficacy may be associated with teachers' responses to bullying and students' bullying behavior and bullying victimization experiences. Several studies report an association between teachers' self-efficacy and their intervention behavior in incidents of bullying. However, the possible association with student bullying perpetration has rarely been examined so far. The current study explores the association between class teachers' self-efficacy and students' bullying victimization, perpetration, and combined bully-victim behavior in a sample of 2,071 students and their 93 class teachers in Germany. The results suggest an association between class teachers' self-efficacy and students' perpetration behavior. The higher teachers' bullying intervention self-efficacy, the fewer students seem to bully other students. In contrast, teachers' self-efficacy was not associated with students' victimization experiences and students' bully-victim behavior. Possible underlying mechanisms, as well as limitations of the present results, are discussed. Further research is needed to substantiate the findings.