Evaluation of the Impact that Teacher Targeted Bullying has on Individual Safety Perceptions and Stress

This study investigated teacher targeted bullying in primary schools to examine whether students serve as an unsafe work stressor for teachers, because teacher targeted bullying is on the rise. This study looked at teacher targeted bullying as an antecedent of stress and the mechanisms, such as mediators and moderators, which affected this bullying-stress relationship. 113 primary school teachers completed a self-report questionnaire which measured bullying, self-efficacy, safety climate perceptions, social support and stress. The results provided evidence that social support from others outside work moderated the mow level bullying-stress, and severe bullying-stress relationships. Most importantly, unsafe job perceptions mediated the relationship between low level bullying and stress. The results of this research imply that student bullying can influence teachers to perceive their job as unsafe and lead to stress. These findings can be used to develop effective strategies to not only prevent and manage bullying, but create safer schools for teachers and pupils