Populating the Canadian Best Practises Violence Prevention Portal
PREVNet received funding from Public Health Agency Canada (PHAC) to review programs to populate PHAC’s Canadian Best Practices Violence Prevention portal. This work is central to PREVNet’s mission, as schools and community organizations are increasingly aware of the need to implement violence prevention programming, but do not have a credible source of information upon which to base their selection of programs. PREVNet researchers have found that the majority of educators base their decisions about selecting programs to promote healthy relationships and prevent bullying on endorsements by their colleagues. It is critical to implement programs that have demonstrated having positive effects in reducing violence: 15% of bullying prevention programs have had negative effects- that is they have made the problem worse. Thus far, PREVNet has added 18 evidence-based violence prevention programs to the portal and has created the framework for the Preventing Violence stream for the portal.
The Mediating Role of Shame in Adolescent Peer Victimization
More than a third of Canadian students are involved in bullying, indicating it is a significant social problem. Victimized children experience long-term negative intrapersonal and interpersonal difficulties. This project examines the emotional causal mechanism of shame associated with peer victimization in a longitudinal study. A multi-method measurement approach will be used in a sample of early adolescents to achieve three objectives: (1) To examine the mediating role of self-reported shame in the relationship between peer victimization and adjustment outcomes. (2) To examine the relationship between peer victimization and social rejection stress (self appraisals, physiological reactivity, and observable behaviours) and whether shame is a mediator in this relationship. (3) To examine and compare the mediating role of social rejection stress in the relationship between peer victimization and adjustment outcomes. We postulate that youth who experience peer victimization are at risk for experiencing negative adjustment problems (i.e., continued victimization, depression, anxiety, aggression). Furthermore, for youth who are victimized and experience greater shame and social rejection stress, there will be more deleterious outcomes. By understanding the underlying shame mechanisms of peer victimization, we can have the much needed scientific knowledge to more effectively design bullying prevention and intervention programs and potentially more effectively address the adjustment problems for these victimized youth. This project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Community of Practice for Violence Prevention
The PREVNet partnerships between researchers and organizations fill a gap by mobilizing current scientific knowledge on children’s development and providing the capacity to evaluate and enhance community programs for Canadian children and youth. The primary objective of this project is to enhance the practice of adult professionals and volunteers working with children and youth in each of our three national non-government partner organizations: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Red Cross, and Scouts Canada. Researchers and partner organizations will collaborate in working groups, annual networking conferences, and individual consultations to: review programs, develop training programs, develop assessments tools and evaluation tools, conduct program evaluation, and support evidence-based program modification, thereby improving programs and promoting sustainability.
With enhanced training and support, professionals and volunteers who work with children and youth and their families will engage in evidence-based practice and be more effective at promoting relationships which will, in turn, enhance children and youths’ social-emotional development, social capacity and well-being and contribute to long-term social, health, and economic benefits for Canada. With advances on PREVNet’s four strategy pillars (education and training, assessment and evaluation, prevention and intervention, and policy and advocacy), Canada will be in a better position on the world stage through improved supports for its children’s healthy development through healthy relationships.
This project is funded by the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
PREVNet (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence) is a Network Centre of Excellence—an umbrella network of leading research scientists, community organizations, industry and government. Launched in 2006, PREVNet’s mission is to stop bullying in Canada and to promote safe and healthy relationships for all Canadian children and youth. Led by Scientific Co-directors, Dr. Debra Pepler of York University and Dr. Wendy Craig of Queen’s University, this national network is the first of its kind in Canada and provides an unprecedented opportunity for social innovation and social-cultural change.
PREVNet includes 62 researchers from 27 Canadian universities across Canada, and 51 national community organizations that work with children and youth. Knowledge and strategies to stop bullying and promote healthy relationships are required in every place where Canadian children and youth live, work, and play. The diverse bullying prevention activities implemented at local, provincial, and national levels have operated in isolation without an evidence-based, national platform to coordinate implementation.
As a national network, PREVNet activates researchers and national partners to enhance awareness, build research capacity, assess bullying problems, and promote effective, evidence-based programs across Canada. PREVNet will fulfill its mission through its four strategy pillars: Education and Training, Assessment and Evaluation, Prevention and Intervention, and Policy and Advocacy.