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Child Development

A Large-Scale Evaluation of the KiVa Antibullying Program: Grades 4–6

Antti Kärnä,

University of Turku

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Marinus Voeten,

University of Turku

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Todd D. Little,

Radboud University Nijmegen

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Elisa Poskiparta,

University of Kansas

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Anne Kaljonen,

University of Kansas

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Christina Salmivalli,

University of Kansas

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First published: 03 February 2011
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01557.x
Citations: 309
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Antti Kärnä, Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Assistentinkatu 7, 20014 Turun yliopisto, Finland. Electronic mail may be sent to ankarna@utu.fi.

This research is part of the KiVa project for developing an antibullying intervention program for the Finnish comprehensive schools. The KiVa project is financed by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. In addition, the present study was supported by the Academy of Finland Grants 134843 and 135577 to Christina Salmivalli. We thank the whole KiVa project team, and especially Marita Kantola and Jonni Nakari, for their contribution in the data-gathering process.

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Abstract

This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the KiVa antibullying program using a large sample of 8,237 youth from Grades 4–6 (10–12 years). Altogether, 78 schools were randomly assigned to intervention (39 schools, 4,207 students) and control conditions (39 schools, 4,030 students). Multilevel regression analyses revealed that after 9 months of implementation, the intervention had consistent beneficial effects on 7 of the 11 dependent variables, including self- and peer-reported victimization and self-reported bullying. The results indicate that the KiVa program is effective in reducing school bullying and victimization in Grades 4–6. Despite some evidence against school-based interventions, the results suggest that well-conceived school-based programs can reduce victimization.