Descriptive study about bullying' coping strategies among Mexican teachers

Introduction. One frequent problem that teachers face, and that has become a stressful situation for them is bullying between students: an activity that has turned into a more prevalent and destructive situation in Mexican schools and in the rest of the world. Coping strategies are related to the way in which teachers handle bullying situations. Method. The purpose of this study is to describe the way in which high-school teachers cope during bullying situations. One hundred and thirty high school teachers participated in 10 private schools in Mexico City. Coping strategies were measured using a Mexican version of questionnaire "Ways of Coping Strategies". In order to obtain socio-demographical data, a questionnaire was specifically designed for this study. Results. The data showed that the most frequent strategies used by teachers during bullying situations are planful problem solving, seeking social support, confrontive coping and positive reappraisal. In relation to cohorts important differences were found by gender, age and previous information on bullying. Discussion y Conclusiones. This research highlights the importance of identifying high-school teachers frequent ways of copying during bullying situations, such as planful problem solving, social support confrontive coping and positive reappraisal. Considering such coping strategies within a culture, principles and beliefs of each school can be useful when designing programs for bullying between students.