School Climate, Bullying Victimization, and Adolescent Mental Health: A Multilevel Analysis
Kamilla Bonnesen, Amanda Krygsman, Sarah Hobson, Heather Brittain, Daphne J. Korczak, Tracy VaillancourtOBJECTIVES
To examine if school climate protects population health through lower aggregate bullying prevalence and whether this buffers the distress of bullied students.
METHODS
We used a cross-sectional sample from the spring 2025 cycle of the Ontario Health and Peer Relations Study, including 152 827 students (grades 4–12) across 937 schools in Ontario, Canada. Surveys were administered during class time using a secure, web-based platform. We used Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling with Bayesian estimation to separate the organizational effect of school climate (level 2) from individual perceptions (level 1), strictly controlling for developmental and demographic confounders.
RESULTS
School climate was associated with better student mental health at the structural level (total between-school effect, 0.25; 95% CrI, 0.17–0.33). This association was partly accounted for by an indirect pathway through bullying victimization: positive school climates were associated with lower aggregate bullying (β = −0.35; 95% CrI, −0.41 to −0.29), which in turn was associated with better mental health (β = −0.29; 95% CrI, −0.40 to −0.19); the indirect effect was credible (0.15; 95% CrI, 0.09–0.21). A small direct association remained (0.10; 95% CrI, 0.01–0.20). Sensitivity analyses using emotional problems reproduced this indirect pathway (indirect, −0.12; 95% CrI, −0.15 to −0.09). No cross-level interaction between school climate and bullying victimization was found for either outcome.
CONCLUSIONS
School climate may function as a structural intervention. By lowering the aggregate prevalence of bullying, positive school climates characterized by supportive relationships and mutual respect offer a primary prevention strategy. These structural protections appear to operate through risk reduction rather than risk buffering.