Teachers’ Self-efficacy in Preventing and Intervening in School Bullying: a Systematic Review

Self-efficacy, commonly seen as an important competence for teachers when intervening in bullying, is a heterogeneous construct. Differences in the specific kinds of self-efficacy under review, its assessment, theoretical foundations, and the samples used when researching it generate diverse results that can be hard to integrate. This systematic review surveys existing literature on the extent of teachers’ self-efficacy in managing bullying and its connection to the likelihood that teachers will intervene in bullying, to their intervention strategies, and the prevention measures they employ, as well as students’ bullying behavior and their experiences of victimization. Thirty-six relevant publications based on 33 studies were included. The quality of their results was assessed, and their findings were systematized and are discussed here. Many studies are of low quality because of incomplete descriptions of underlying theoretical as well as methodological foundations. Almost all results are based on descriptive study designs. Consistent findings show that teachers generally feel confident in managing bullying and that teachers who are more confident intervene more often. Findings were mixed on the connections between teachers’ self-efficacy and intervention strategies, and the prevention measures they used, as well as students’ bullying behavior and experiences of victimization. It was also discovered that the connections between teachers’ self-efficacy and their prevention measures, their students’ bullying behavior, and collective efficacy in general have rarely been addressed in the literature.