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STAC Parent Module Pilot Study

STAC Parent Module Pilot Study

Klein Buendel collaborator, Dr. Aida Midgett from Boise State University, presented formative research findings from her CTR-IN Pilot Grant at the Mountain West CTR-IN Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 17-18, 2022. Mountain West CTR-IN connects research investigators to mentors, collaborators, and funding opportunities to improve the health and lives of people in mountain west communities, including through research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health. Ms. Mary Buller, President of Klein Buendel, is Dr. Aida’s mentor for the CTR-IN Pilot Grant.

Dr. Midgett presented on the “Development, Acceptability, and Short-Term Outcomes of a Parent Module for Brief, Bullying Bystander Intervention for Middle School Students in Rural, Low-Income Communities.” Her co-author was Dr. Diana Doumas from Boise State University. The project statistician was Ms. Laura Bond from Boise State University. The pilot study used a mixed-methods design to develop a 30-minute pre-recorded Parent Module as a companion training to a brief bullying prevention program for middle schools, called STAC. The study assessed the need, feasibility, acceptability, delivery format preference and immediate outcomes (e.g., knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions) of the Parent Module.

As background, the STAC bystander intervention is a 75-minute training that includes didactic and experiential components. It teaches middle school students to act as “defenders” on behalf of targets of bullying through utilizing four intervention strategies: (1) “Stealing the Show” – using humor or distraction to interrupt a bullying situation and remove the attention away from the target; (2) “Turning it Over” – identifying a trusted adult at school, reporting, and asking for help during a bullying incident; (3) “Accompanying Others” – befriending and/or providing support to a peer who was a target of bullying; and (4) “Coaching Compassion” – gently confronting the perpetrator and increasing empathy for the target.

Dr. Midgett reported that preliminary data with 23 parents in the pilot study demonstrated acceptability, relevance, and need and increases in immediate post-training outcomes including knowledge, confidence, self-efficacy, responsibility, and anti-bullying attitudes, as well as parents’ behavioral intentions to support their adolescents to utilize the STAC strategies.

Another aim of Dr. Midgett’s CTR-IN pilot grant is to provide data to support a STTR Fast Track proposal to develop and evaluate a web-based version of the Parent Module as a STAC companion training. The proposal will be submitted through Klein Buendel and the research plan will include a multi-site randomized trial in rural schools. Klein Buendel’s Creative Team will program the web-based Parent Module.

Evaluation of the STAC
Teacher Module

Evaluation of the STAC
Teacher Module

Bullying is a significant problem for youth and is associated with a wide range of negative consequences. Educating teachers about bullying and training them to support students to intervene as “defenders” may increase the efficacy of bullying bystander programs. This is particularly important in middle school when bullying peaks and rates of reporting bullying to teachers begin to decline.

This study, published in JMIR Formative Research, used a mixed-methods design to inform the development of a Teacher Module as a companion training to a brief bullying prevention program for middle schools, called STAC. The STAC bystander intervention is a 75-minute training that includes didactic and experiential components. It teaches middle school students to act as “defenders” on behalf of targets of bullying through utilizing four intervention strategies:

STAC Bullying Bystander Strategies

(1) “Stealing the Show” – using humor or distraction to interrupt a bullying situation and remove the attention away from the target;

(2) “Turning it Over” – identifying a trusted adult at school, reporting, and asking for help during a bullying incident;

(3) “Accompanying Others” – befriending and/or providing support to a peer who was a target of bullying; and

(4) “Coaching Compassion” – gently confronting the perpetrator and increasing empathy for the target.

Providing students who witness bullying with intervention strategies to act as “defenders” can reduce both bullying and negative associated outcomes for both targets and bystanders.

For the development of the companion STAC Teacher Module, 18 teachers were recruited from one middle school in a rural, low-income community. Before and after the training, teachers completed surveys assessing immediate outcomes (such as knowledge, confidence, comfort, and self-efficacy), intention to use the program strategies, and program acceptability and relevance. After the final survey, a subset of six teachers participated in a qualitative focus group to obtain feedback regarding program appropriateness, feasibility, content, perception of need, and potential desire for an online version of the teacher training.

Study measures, procedures, analyses, and results are detailed in the JMIR Formative Research paper. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data. In summary, the researchers found an increase in teacher knowledge and confidence to support “defenders,” confidence and comfort in managing bullying, and bullying self-efficacy. Most teachers reported they were likely or very likely to use the STAC strategies to support students who intervene in bullying in the future. Both quantitative and qualitative data showed the teacher training was easy to use, useful, relevant, and appropriate. Qualitative data provided feedback on program improvement. Teachers shared positive feedback on program feasibility and implementation, and described strengths of an online version of the module. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the STAC Teacher Module in increasing teacher knowledge and bullying self-efficacy and provides support for the development of an online version of the module for teachers.

This research was supported by a grant to Boise State University from the Mental Research Institute (Dr. Aida Midgett, Principal Investigator). Co-authors include Dr. Diana Doumas from Boise State University and Ms. Mary Buller from Klein Buendel.

STAC-T Phase II Project

STAC-T Phase II Project

A collaborative research team from Boise State University, Plymouth State University, the University of Mississippi, and Klein Buendel is launching a Phase II STTR research project to develop and evaluate the impact of a middle school intervention to reduce bullying and its negative consequences. The project is entitled “Translation of an In-Person Brief, Bystander Bullying Intervention (STAC) into a Technology-Based Program.” STAC uses four strategies in its bullying bystander intervention: “Stealing the show,” “Turning it over,” “Accompanying others,” and “Coaching compassion.”  

The project will use state-of-the-art technology to adapt a novel, evidence-based bullying bystander intervention to a user-centered, technology-based format for an underserved population with significant mental health disparities. STAC-T will extend the scope of the original STAC intervention by providing a delivery mechanism that increases access and reduces implementation barriers for schools in rural, low-income communities, as well as providing interactive, user-centered content. STAC-T will address both bullying and negative mental health outcomes for targets and bystanders through an evidence-based approach adapted for a broader audience and utilize  technology to effectively implement bullying prevention.

Phase II Specific Aims

  • Develop a fully-programmed, media-rich, interactive STAC-T intervention in English and Spanish consisting of (1) core modules providing interactive training on essential topics (such as bullying, bystander roles, STAC strategies), (2) interactive skills practice with avatars moving through bullying scenarios with feedback, and (3) booster sessions in which students report strategy use and feedback and badges for intervening.
  • Conduct usability testing of the fully-programmed STAC-T in three middle schools in two states with students and school personnel to evaluate the user interface, ease of use, and perceived barriers in order to optimize the program prior to a large-scale investigation.
  • Test the fully-programmed, dual language (English and Spanish) STAC-T in six middle schools in four states through a randomized controlled trial to evaluate changes in (1) knowledge, confidence, and use of STAC strategies, (2) bullying and cyberbullying perpetration and victimization, and (3) mental health outcomes.

The investigators hypothesize that STAC-T will (1) improve access by reducing implementation barriers for middle schools, particularly those in rural and low-income communities, (2) train bystanders to effectively intervene, reducing bullying while simultaneously improving the mental health of bystanders, and (3) improve program sustainability at the middle school level when bullying behavior peaks.

The STAC-T project is funded by an STTR Phase II grant to Klein Buendel from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health (MD014943; Dr. Aida Midgett, Principal Investigator). Dr. Midgett is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Counselor Education at Boise State University. Her collaborators on this research project include Dr. Diana Doumas and Dr. Laura Bond from Boise State University; Dr. Robin Hausheer from Plymouth State University; Dr. Amanda Winburn from the University of Mississippi; and Ms. Mary Buller from Klein Buendel. The STAC-T modules will be programmed by Klein Buendel’s Creative Team.