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BACKGROUND This study integrated criminological and public health perspectives to examine the influence of bullying victimization and the school environment on physical activity (PA). METHODS We used a weighted sample of 7786 US middle school students surveyed as part of the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study to conduct a multilevel analysis of bullying victimization as a predictor of self-reported PA and number of days attending physical education ( PE) classes. Hierarchical models assessed the contribution of school climate and anti-crime programs. RESULTS Results indicated that bullying victimization was associated with fewer days in PE and lower odds of reporting at least 60 minutes of PA more than once a week. Although one of the school crime prevention policies examined was associated with more days in PE, the school-level factors did not account for a large portion of the variance in the 2-level models for either days in PE or PA. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that reduced levels of PA can be added to the growing list of health issues associated with bullying victimization and provide support for the importance of bullying prevention efforts in conjunction with health promotion programs targeted to middle school students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Federal Probation Office and the Board of Judges for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania initiated a pilot reentry court program, called the Supervision to Aid Reentry (STAR) program in 2007. The impact evaluation used a quasi-experimental research design to compare the reentry success of the first 60 STAR participants to a matched comparison group of 60 probationers in the 18 months postrelease. While logistic regression results indicated that STAR participants were no less likely to be arrested than the comparison group, STAR participation was associated with a significant reduction in the likelihood of supervision revocation. With insight from a previous process evaluation of the STAR program, implications of these findings for the STAR program and other reentry programs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]