Special Topic: Bullying Research From a Social-Ecological Perspective
Advancing Bullying Research From a Social–Ecological Lens: An Introduction to the Special Issue
Chad A. Rose
University of Missouri
Amanda B. Nickerson
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
Melissa Stormont
University of Missouri
Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to Dr. Chad Rose, 311 Townsend Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211; e-mail:
Chad A. Rose PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Missouri. His research focuses on the intersection of disability labels and special education services within the bullying dynamic, unique predictive and protective factors associated with bullying involvement among students with disabilities, and bully prevention efforts within a positive behavioral interventions and supports framework.
Amanda B. Nickerson, PhD, NCSP is a professor of school psychology at The University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, where she directs the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention. Her research focuses on school crisis prevention and intervention, with a particular emphasis on violence and bullying, and the role of parents, peers, and educators in building the social-emotional strengths of children and adolescents.
Melissa Stormont PhD, is a professor in special education at the University of Missouri. Her research interests include investigating contextual factors that support risk and protective factors associated with negative and positive student outcomes. Her recent research has included multiple factors for supporting teacher intervention fidelity in schools and assessing and supporting kindergarten readiness.
Action Editor: Matthew Burns
Bullying has emerged as a distinct, pervasive subset of peer aggression that affects youth worldwide. Although bullying is a complex phenomenon, some subgroups of youth are at escalated risk based on individual characteristics, skill deficits, and peer group or societal norms. Therefore, the field needs reliable measurement systems, precise understanding of social-ecological risk and protective factors, and effective prevention and intervention approaches. This special issue addresses bullying from a social-ecological framework. It examines measurement issues, as well as risk and protective factors, with an emphasis on the disproportionate involvement of specific subpopulations of school-aged youth. It concludes with a series of original articles on expanding intervention targets through evidence-based practices for reducing bullying among students from early childhood through high school. Ultimately, this special issue should serve as a call-to-action for increased research on predictive and protective factors associated with bullying involvement, as well as increased intervention and prevention efforts.
Received: November 11, 2015; Accepted: November 15, 2015;
Copyright 2015 by the National Association of School Psychologists
