Staff Communication at School and Student–Student Relationship Quality in the Classroom: Direct and Indirect Effects on Students’ Experiences as Bullies, Bullied, and Bully-Victims

International Journal of Bullying Prevention https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-024-00283-0 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Staff Communication at School and Student–Student Relationship Quality in the Classroom: Direct and Indirect Effects on Students’ Experiences as Bullies, Bullied, and Bully‑Victims Saskia M. Fischer1,2 · Peter J. R. Macaulay3 · Ludwig Bilz1 Accepted: 28 November 2024 © The Author(s) 2025 Abstract Bullying research is often based upon Bronfenbrenner’s socioecological model, focusing on contextual level aspects associated with individual bullying experiences. Thus, various relevant contextual determinants of bullying have been identified, including classroom climate and school climate. However, even if interpersonal relationships are defined broadly in the definitions of classroom and (especially) school climate, its empirical investigation is limited to student–student or student–teacher relationships. In the current study, we included aspects of teacher–teacher relationships in the analyses by investigating staff communication at school. We investigated the associations between staff communication, student–student relationship quality in the classroom, and students’ bullying experiences. In addition, we investigated if staff communication may be indirectly linked to students’ bullying experiences via student–student relationships in the classroom. The sample was drawn from 556 teachers (79% female, Mage = 50.6, SDage = 8.44) and 2,071 students (49% female, Mage = 13.63, SDage = 1.17) in 114 classes across 24 schools in Germany. Two-level- and three-level models were performed. Findings suggest that rivalry as an aspect of student–student relationships in the classroom (a part of the classroom climate) is associated with students’ bullying experiences as bullies, victims, and bully-victims. While staff communication is not directly associated with students’ bullying experiences, it is indirectly associated with it via rivalry in the classroom. The findings also show that staff communication at school is associated with student–student relationships in the classroom. The study has implications for school-wide antibullying measures that should also include teacher–teacher aspects, and that future research should endeavour to include both class-level and school-level contexts. Keywords Bullying · Class climate · School climate · Staff communication · Three-level · Mediation Introduction * Saskia M. Fischer Peter J. R. Macaulay Ludwig Bilz 1 Department of Health Sciences, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Senftenberg, Germany 2 Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, Wiesbaden, Germany 3 School of Psychology, University of Derby, Derby, UK Bullying is defined in different ways, but most often following Olweus’ definition that recognises bullying as a form of aggression that is intentionally and repeatedly carried out with a power imbalance between those involved (Olweus, 1994; Slattery et al., 2019). Despite a decline over several years, bullying is still a common phenomenon in the school environment. Internationally, about 6% of all students bully others and about 10% report that they have been bullied at school. In some countries, up to 34% of students reported being bullied (Cosma et al., 2024). In Germany, approximately 14% of all students have experienced bullying as bullies, bullied, or bully-victims (Fischer & Bilz, 2024). The large number of students affected by bullying is particularly problematic against the background of the possible severe and long-lasting negative consequences. This is Vol.:(0123456789) International Journal of Bullying Prevention especially true for victims of bullying (Heerde & Hemphill, 2019; Moore et al., 2017; Schoeler et al., 2018), but also for the students who perform the bullying (Evans et al., 2018; Heerde & Hemphill, 2019), or for those who witness bullying (Midgett & Doumas, 2019). Involvement in bullying can present an array of negative consequences across educational, social, and psychological domains. For instance, the consequences of bullying can lead to internalising and externalising problems (D’Urso & Symonds, 2022; Schoeler et al., 2018), loneliness (Acquah et al., 2016), depression (Midgett & Doumas, 2019; Ye et al., 2023), anxiety (Acquah et al., 2016; Boulton & Macaulay, 2023), and reduced selfesteem (Choi & Park, 2021; O’Moore & Kirkham, 2001), and in worst cases self-harm and suicidal ideation (Heerde & Hemphill, 2019; Moore et al., 2017). Such consequences can spill into the school environment and have an impact on academic achievement (Samara et al., 2021), classroom concentration (Boulton & Macaulay, 2023), and feelings of safety at school (Zacharia et al., 2022). Facing such negative consequences, it is encouraging that many risk and protective factors have been identified by research in the past years (see Zych et al., 2015, 2019, 2021). For instance, Zych et al. (2021) identified gender, substance use, self-control, and bonding with classmates to name a few as predictors of bullying victimisation and perpetration. Much of that research is guided by Bronfenbrenner’s socioecological model (Azeredo et al., 2015; Dorio et al., 2020; Doumas & Midgett, 2019; Espelage et al., 2019; Forsberg et al., 2024; Swearer & Hymel, 2015), focusing on contextual level aspects associated with individual bullying experiences. In such research, school climate as well as classroom climate (even if much more seldomly assessed) has been repeatedly mentioned as an important contextual aspect of school bullying (Cook et al., 2010; Espelage et al., 2019; Saarento et al., 2015; Thornberg et al., 2017, 2018; Zych et al., 2015, 2019, 2021). School climate is defined differently across different studies (e.g., Azeredo et al., 2015; Dorio et al., 2020; Thapa et al., 2013), but most definitions include, among other aspects, interpersonal relationships at school (Azeredo et al., 2015; Thapa et al., 2013; Wang & Degol, 2016; Wang et al., 2013). Classroom climate is closely related to the concept of school climate but with a focus on relationships at the class level rather than the school level (Košir et al., 2020; Thornberg et al., 2017, 2018). However, even if interpersonal relationships are defined broadly in the definitions of classroom and especially school climate, its empirical investigation is limited to student–student or student–teacher relationships (Kohl et al., 2013; Lenz et al., 2021; Swearer & Hymel, 2015; Thapa et al., 2013). At the same time, the role of teachers in the management of student bullying has been stressed for years in bullying research, with an increasing interest in recent years (Colpin et al., 2021; van Aalst et al., 2024; Wachs et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2013). Teachers act as socialization partners for students and, in that role, can shape students’ norms and values (Bierman, 2011; Farmer et al., 2011; Longobardi et al., 2020; Yoon (...truncated)