Additionally, treatment materials (e.g., workbooks) focused on coping “skills” rather than using pathologizing terminology. Within the group we communicated an atmosphere where any bullying was unacceptable. For example, in one session, two of the members were talking about a third youth they did not like who was not in the group. When they began to mock the child, the group leader reminded them that rules about teasing and bullying extended to everyone. We felt this type of communication

conveyed a zero-tolerance culture, even for youth who have been bullied themselves. Using BA and exposure as the basis for this adaptation seemed appropriate. The proactive nature of http://www.selleckchem.com/products/dinaciclib-sch727965.html the skills focused on approach solutions within a strength-based framework. The focus was not to eliminate symptoms so much as to help students identify goals and work toward them. The BA framework promoted attending to the reinforcing events and experiences that occurred from “putting oneself out there.” Role plays and in vivo exposures reinforced the lessons that challenging tasks and situations become easier over time. These principles were consonant with the bullying

BEZ235 concentration modules that emphasized mobilizing one’s internal and social resources in proactive ways. Implementing any anti-bullying programs requires familiarity with state and district laws and regulations. For example, in New Jersey, where this program was implemented, bullying is defined legally as violence perpetrated on a “protected class” whereby a victim is targeted because of race, gender, sexuality, or disability (New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act, 2011). Further, it is required that the perpetrator be of a dissimilar class as the bullying victim. For the purpose of this study, we had to negotiate with the school administration and counseling staff to include a broader set of victims beyond Sclareol those who met the legally specific criteria. The school was similarly interested in expanding services, but we needed to keep

in mind that youth who fit the state’s legal definition of bullying victims required additional services, such as participating in formal mediation and monitoring. Such idiosyncrasies across states and school districts may impact attempts to identify and intervene broadly. Program developers and implementers will want to be aware of such differences. A second goal was to develop a multidimensional bullying impairment scale. The MBIS was designed to assess functional outcomes related to friends, family, academic performance, school attendance, and participation in extracurricular activities. Youth reported a range of scores on the MBIS with two youth reporting pretreatment MBIS scores under 12 and three youth reporting scores over 23 (out of a total possible score of 60).