Effectiveness of the KiVa anti-bullying program in the Czech Republic: A cluster randomized control trial

One of the most widely used evidence-based anti-bullying programs, KiVa, originates from Finland and aims to change students' peer context, activate teachers, and inform parents with two main components (universal preventive actions and indicated actions when bullying occurs), complemented by monitoring. Because research documented somewhat varied KiVa outcomes in different countries and because there is a lack of research focusing solely on the effectiveness of the universal and indicated actions, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of KiVa main components when implemented in a new country. This two-arm parallel cluster randomized control trial (RCT) evaluated the effectiveness of the KiVa anti-bullying program in elementary schools in the Czech Republic. It examined the effects of the universal and indicated actions on self-reported bullying and victimization as primary outcomes and well-being as a secondary outcome, while keeping monitoring constant across the intervention and control schools. The study also examined the role of implementation fidelity on the proposed outcomes.

Schools were allocated via stratified randomization into a KiVa intervention group (12 schools, 35 classes, N = 407 students) or a wait-list control group (12 schools, 32 classes, N = 400 students). The study employed data from baseline and post-measurement waves, which were 10 months apart.

The data were analyzed using linear mixed effects models, which showed no significant intervention or fidelity effects for bullying, victimization, and well-being. However, promising trends (at α < .10) were revealed, such as lower levels of bullying observed in the intervention group and in schools with high implementation fidelity. Additional analysis using Bayes factors supported these promising trends and provided moderate support for lower levels of victimization in the intervention group compared to the control schools.

Evaluation of effectiveness of anti-bullying programs could benefit from a more targeted fidelity assessment at the classroom or individual level and from distinguishing between the effects of the main components of the programs and the effects of monitoring. The promising yet non-significant intervention and fidelity effects suggest that schools may require enhanced support and longer implementation time frames than a single school year, especially when implementation faces structural obstacles, such as the Covid-19 pandemic.