title: Teacher characteristics and peer victimization in elementary schools: a classroom-level perspective.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is an association between teacher characteristics and peer victimization in elementary schools. We used data of 3,385 elementary school students (M age = 9.8) and 139 of their teachers (M age = 43.9) and employed Poisson regression analyses to explain the classroom victimization rate. Results showed a higher victimization rate in the classrooms of teachers who attributed bullying to external factors-factors outside of their control. In addition, the results suggest that both teachers' perceived ability to handle bullying among students and teachers' own bullying history were positively associated with the classroom victimization rate. We also took into account classroom composition characteristics and found lower victimization rates in multi-grade classrooms and in classrooms with older students. The results support the notion of an association between teacher characteristics and peer victimization. Findings are discussed with regards to current literature and suggestions for future research are made.
authors.affiliation: Interuniversity Centre for Social Science Theory and Methodology, Department of Sociology, University of Groningen, Grote Rozenstraat 31, 9712 TG, Groningen, The Netherlands, b.oldenburg@rug.nl.
authors.forename: Beau
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Oldenburg
authors.forename: Marijtje
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Duijn
authors.forename: Miranda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sentse
authors.forename: Gijs
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huitsing
authors.forename: Rozemarijn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van der Ploeg
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Salmivalli
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Veenstra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005178:Faculty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012574:Schools; D012931:Social Environment; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires