A Study to Evaluate the Impact of a TPB Educational Program “Be a H.E.R.O.” to Prevent bullying Among Early adolescents

The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a health education program designed to prevent bullying among elementary school students in Greece. The educational program consisted of eight sessions which were designed based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and included life-skills instruction. The study followed a quasi-experimental design. A cohort of 203 students (with an average age of 11.37 years) were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The students completed a self-report questionnaire (immediately) pre- and post-intervention. The experimental group participated in eight one-hour sessions for eight weeks, delivered by the researcher. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics indexes and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney <i>U</i> and Wilcoxon). Results revealed that the experimental group had significantly greater knowledge about bullying behavior than the control group, following the intervention. No significant differences in TPB variables were observed either before or following the intervention between the two groups. Additionally, the experimental group expressed high levels of satisfaction with the program's implementation, highlighting the preference for educational interventions promoting self-directed knowledge, and skill acquisition, over those that contain purely informational content. Our study underscores the significance of the aforementioned factors for future research endeavors targeting bullying prevention among adolescents.