Influence of anti-bullying intervention on social interaction and self-esteem among adolescent students in secondary schools in Lagos state

Abstract

Bullying remains a pervasive problem in Nigerian secondary schools, yet few intervention studies have experimentally examined strategies to improve victimized adolescents’ social outcomes. This quasi-experimental study investigated the influence of an eight-week school-based anti-bullying intervention on social interaction and self-esteem among 194 adolescent students (aged 12-18) from four secondary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. Participants were assigned to either an experimental group (n=98) receiving the multicomponent intervention comprising bullying awareness, empathy training, assertiveness and bystander skills, cooperative group activities, and self-esteem building or a control group (n=96) continuing regular school activities. The Social Interaction Scale (α=0.85) and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (α=0.87) were administered at pretest and posttest. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that the intervention group scored significantly higher than the control group on posttest social interaction, F(1,191)=152.34, p<0.001, partial η2=0.44, and self-esteem, F(1,191)=86.27, p<0.001, partial η2=0.31. Two-way ANOVA indicated no significant gender × treatment interaction for either outcome, demonstrating equivalent effectiveness for male and female students. These findings provide the first experimental evidence from Lagos State that a structured, culturally adapted anti-bullying intervention can substantially improve both social interaction and self-esteem among bullied adolescents. The large effect sizes support scaling up this evidence-based program across all six education districts in Lagos, integrating it into school counselling curricula and teacher professional development to address the persistent gap between anti-bullying policies and actual student outcomes.