Teachers’ Self-Efficacy, Perceived Effectiveness Beliefs, and Reported Use of Cognitive-Behavioral Approaches to Bullying Among Pupils: Effects of in-Service Training With the I DECIDE Program

•Measured teachers’ beliefs about use of CBT approaches to tackling bullying.•Self-efficacy/perceived effectiveness beliefs improved though in-service training.•Self-efficacy and duration of training predicted use of a CBT intervention.•Wider implementation of CBT approaches facilitated by training and self-efficacy.

Despite the promise of being effective in tacking bullying and conduct disorder, cognitive-behavioral (C-B) interventions are underused by teachers. Little detailed information exists as to why this is the case. The current study with junior school teachers in the U.K. (N = 249) confirmed this low reported usage and showed that while teachers tended to believe that C-B approaches would be effective, most held rather low self-efficacy beliefs. Attending a workshop on a specific C-B approach, the I DECIDE program had positive effects on perceived effectiveness and self-efficacy beliefs, and longer durations of training (3 days) were more beneficial than shorter durations (half/1 day). In line with outcome-expectancy theory and the theory of planned behavior, self-efficacy and duration of training predicted an increase in reported usage of I DECIDE across an 8-month period, and self-efficacy fully mediated the association between duration of training and increase in reported usage. The implications of these findings for overcoming impediments to the more widespread use of C-B approaches by teachers to tackling bullying were discussed, particularly the notion that attending training of sufficient duration coupled with a more explicit attention on fostering self-efficacy will pay dividends.