The KiVa antibullying curriculum and outcome: Does fidelity matter?

Abstract

<p> Research on school-based prevention suggests that the success of prevention programs depends<br /> on whether they are implemented as intended. In antibullying program evaluations, however,<br /> limited attention has been paid to implementation fidelity. The present study fills in this gap by<br /> examining the link between the implementation of the KiVa antibullying program and outcome.<br /> With a large sample of 7413 students (7&ndash;12 years) from 417 classrooms within 76 elementary<br /> schools, we tested whether the degree of implementation of the student lessons in the KiVa<br /> curriculum was related to the effectiveness of the program in reducing bullying problems in<br /> classrooms. Results of multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that after nine months<br /> of implementation, lesson adherence as well as lesson preparation time (but not duration of<br /> lessons) were associated with reductions in victimization at the classroom level. No statistically<br /> significant effects, however, were found for classroom-level bullying. The different outcomes for<br /> victimization and bullying as well as the importance of documenting program fidelity are<br /> discussed.</p>