AbstractSchool sexual harassment (SH) is defined

by the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) as unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that interferes with a student’s ability to learn. USDOE has cautioned school authorities that SH is a civil rights violation that should be distinguished from school bullying. In the present study, 85,750 students (grades 9-12) indicated how many times in the past school year they had experienced different types of SH and bullying. Participants were also asked about mental health, suicidality, substance use, grades, educational aspirations, engagement, and feelings of safety. Results indicated that both SH and bullying were highly prevalent and differed across demographic groups. Both were associated with negative student outcomes.

RationaleRecent public attention to widespread

SH in adult settings indicates a need for renewed attention to SH in schools. Efforts to reduce SH in society can begin with adolescents in schools. However, school policies and programming for SH are often overshadowed by those for bullying. It is important for school psychologists to understand the differences between SH and bullying in order to draw attention to SH as an important problem in schools. This study compared student responses to standard questions about both SH and bullying.

Study Questions1. What is the prevalence of SH compared to bullying in a large statewide high school sample, and how does prevalence differ across gender, race, age, and SES? 2. How is SH associated with negative student outcomes, as compared to bullying?

Differential Associations of Sexual Harassment and Bullying with Negative Student OutcomesBrittany Z. Crowley and Dewey Cornell

Curry School of Education, University of Virginia

80%

Virginia YouthViolence Project

80%

Regular Ed 36%

ED 38%

OHI

9%

ED 38%

DiscussionSH and bullying were highly prevalent for both boys

and girls, with SH being more prevalent overall. Girls, younger students, and lower-SES students reported more SH and more bullying. Students in the “Other” race category reported the highest rates of both SH and bullying as compared to other racial / ethnic groups. SH and bullying demonstrated meaningful associations with negative student outcomes, offering support to the conclusion that both should be given attention. Furthermore, the associations of SH and bullying with student outcomes differed slightly depending on the gender of the student. For example, there was a stronger relationship between SH victimization and alcohol consumption for boys than for girls. It is important to recognize that boys also experience SH, and their victimization is associated with negative outcomes even though they experience it at lower rates than girls.

School psychologists should be wary of interventions that conflate SH with bullying, and should advocate for policies and interventions that address both SH and bullying in schools without one overshadowing the other. Limitations include the correlational and cross-sectional nature of these findings. It is possible that a student could be reporting the same incident as both bullying and SH. There is a need for future studies that explicitly differentiate between the two and use a longitudinal design.

NotesA more complete report and references are available from the author: bzc4kc@virginia.edu. This project was supported by grants #NIJ 2014-CK-BX-0004 and #NIJ 2017-CK-BX-007 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice.

http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu

Standardized Regression Coefficients for High SchoolsAlcohol Marijuana Aspirations Engagement Grades Mental Health Safety Suicidality

Male -0.081 *** -0.036 * -0.195 *** -0.084 *** -0.217 *** -0.241 *** -0.068 *** -0.009Grade Level -0.115 *** -0.098 *** -0.025 *** -0.049 *** -0.032 *** -0.049 *** -0.007 * -0.010 *FRPM1 -0.018 *** -0.027 *** -0.135 *** -0.038 *** -0.132 *** -0.013 *** -0.018 *** -0.026 ***Parent Ed -0.026 *** -0.044 *** -0.143 *** -0.057 *** -0.095 *** -0.016 *** -0.032 *** -0.022 ***Hispanic -0.004 -0.017 *** -0.057 *** -0.043 *** -0.096 *** -0.012 *** -0.041 *** -0.037 ***Non-Hisp Black -0.047 *** -0.027 *** -0.004 -0.074 *** -0.120 *** -0.048 *** -0.099 *** -0.022 ***Non-Hisp Asian -0.032 *** -0.019 *** -0.052 *** -0.021 *** -0.043 *** -0.022 *** -0.010 * -0.014 ***Non-Hisp Other -0.010 ** -0.045 *** -0.003 -0.076 *** -0.072 *** -0.021 *** -0.074 *** -0.062 ***Bullying -0.075 *** -0.066 *** -0.086 *** -0.175 *** -0.111 *** -0.216 *** -0.185 *** -0.229 ***Sexual Harassment -0.148 *** -0.130 *** -0.009 -0.101 *** -0.043 *** -0.207 *** -0.126 *** -0.177 ***Bullying x Gender -0.045 ** -0.029 ** -0.016 -0.011 -0.033 ** -0.060 *** -0.027 * -0.050 ***SH x Gender -0.147 *** -0.114 *** -0.019 * -0.000 -0.035 *** -0.005 -0.014 -0.065 ***R2 -0.090 *** -0.069 *** -0.105 *** -0.085 *** -0.109 *** -0.209 *** -0.100 *** -0.137 ***ΔR2 -0.069 *** -0.049 *** -0.006 *** -0.058 *** -0.014 *** -0.143 *** -0.078 *** -0.124 ***

MethodThe sample consisted of 85,750 students (grades 9-12) who anonymously

completed a statewide school climate survey. Students were asked four items about experiencing SH derived from the American Association of University Women (AAUW, 2011) Sexual Harassment Survey (Cronbach’s alpha = .77). Students also were given a standard definition of bullying and responded to four items asking about their experiences of physical, verbal, social, and cyber bullying during the past school year. Finally, students were asked about mental health, suicidality, substance use, grades, educational aspirations, engagement, and feelings of safety.

9%

9%

15%

18%

29%

20%

25%

22%

39%

51%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

During the past 12 months, how often did another studenttouch, brush up, against you, grab, or pull your clothing, or

corner you in a sexual and unwelcome way?

During the past 12 months, how often did another student bother you by repeatedly asking you to go out or do

something with him /her that you did not want to do?

During the past 12 months, how often did another studentspread sexual rumors about you?

During the past 12 months, how often did another studentmake unwelcome sexual comments, jokes, or gestures that

made you feel comfortable?

Students reporting at least one form of sexual harassment inthe past 12 months

Student Reports of Sexual Harassment

Girls (n = 44,733)

Boys (n = 41,017)

9%

18%

29%

11%

29%

16%

27%

36%

9%

44%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

I have been cyberbullied at school this year.

I have been socially bullied at school this year.

I have been verbally bullied at school this year.

I have been physically bullied or threatened with physicalbullying at school this year.

Students reporting at least one form of bullying in the past 12months

Student Reports of Bullying

Girls (n = 44,733)Boys (n = 41,017)

Analysis and ResultsPrevalence of SH and bullying is depicted in the bar charts. Overall, SH and bullying were equally prevalent for boys (29%),

whereas SH was more common for girls (51% vs. 44%). For girls, 20% reported experiencing SH only, 12% reported bullying only,and 31% reported both. For boys, 12% reported SH only, 16% reported bullying only, and 17% reported both. Multi-way ANOVA models for SH and bullying showed differences across gender, race/ethnicity, grade level, and SES (parent education). There were significant differences in prevalence across all demographics for both SH and bullying. Regression results demonstrated that SH contributed to the variance in seven of the eight outcomes and bullying contributed to the variance in all eight. The interaction of SH x Gender contributed the to variance in five outcomes, and Bullying x Gender contributed to the variance in six outcomes.

Note: 1FRPM denotes students who qualified for free-or-reduced-price meals ; ΔR2 represents the difference in variance explained by the interaction model as compared to the initial covariate model (not shown in table). Full regression results available upon request.