KiVa Anti-bullying Program in Chile: Evaluation of Effectiveness With and Without the Digital Game Component

Summary

Bullying is a major problem worldwide and, with no exception, in Chile. Bullying is defined as a systematic aggressive behavior against a victim who cannot defend himself or herself. Victims suffer many consequences such as social isolation, psychological maladjustment, and self-injury behavior. Additionally, bullies have a higher risk for conduct problems and substance use disorders. These problems appear to last in time, affecting mental health even years later since the experience of bullying.

There are few studies in Chile aiming to determine the prevalence of bullying. In one of such studies, 47% of the students reported having been bullied during the last month before the application of the questionnaire. Even though there are many initiatives and guidelines in Chile supported by the government to help schools in order to deal with bullying, there is no any cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) aiming to assess the effectiveness of an anti-bullying program.

KiVa anti-bullying prevention program contains universal and indicated actions. Main universal actions for 5 to 6 graders consist of 10 two-hours lessons given during a year and an online game, which have the aim to raise awareness of the role of the group in bullying, increase empathy and promote strategies to support victims. Indicated actions consist of a set of discussion groups with the victims and with the bullies with proper follow-up.

The aims of this study are: 1) To develop a culturally appropriate version of the Kiva material, and 2) to test its effectiveness of KiVa program with and without the online game, to reduce bullying behavior among low-income primary schools in Santiago using a cluster RCT design with three arms: i) KiVa full program group, ii) KiVa without online game program group, and iii) Control group.

Conditions

• Bullying

Interventions

OTHER

KiVa program

KiVa program is an anti-bullying intervention developed in University of Turku, Finland. It is based on the participant role model, where bullying is seen as a group process focused on the bystanders' reactions to the bullying. This program includes universal and indicated actions. Universal actions include ten students lessons given by teachers where pupils learn the role of bystanders in the bullying process, how to increase empathy towards the victim, and safe strategies to supports victims. Indicated actions are delivered by a school team of three staff members, who handle acute cases of bullying.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Turku

  collaborator OTHER

• Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

  collaborator OTHER

• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

  collaborator OTHER

• Universidad de los Andes, Chile

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jorge Gaete, MD, MSc, PhD · Universidad de Los Andes

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

9 Years

Max Age

14 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-05-31

Primary Completion

2017-12-31

Completion

2019-04-30