Employees’ Readiness for an Evidence-Based Bullying Prevention Intervention in Early Childhood Education and Care Centers

Abstract In Norway, 6–20% of children in early childhood education and care (ECEC) experience bullying victimization. Many studies link early experiences of bullying to increased risks of developmental problems and adverse life trajectories. There is therefore a growing interest in evidence-based bullying prevention in this sector. This study examined employees’ readiness to implement Be-Prox, an evidence-based bullying prevention intervention, in Norwegian ECEC centers.= Survey data were collected from 376 employees across 38 ECEC centers. Descriptive analyses were conducted to assess aspects related to readiness, such as perceived innovation fit and perceptions of organizational implementation context. Descriptive findings displayed moderately high levels of perceived innovation fit and positive organizational implementation context, indicating readiness to implement Be-Prox in the sample. Additionally, stagewise mixed-effects analyses were used to examine if demographic characteristics and perceptions of organizational implementation context predicted innovation fit. Results from the final mixed-effects model showed that employees working with younger children reported a lower perceived innovation fit compared to those working with older children. ( B = − 0.29, p = 0.015). In addition, perceived organizational support for evidence-based interventions was positively associated with innovation fit ( B = 0.24, p <0.001). We did not detect any significant associations between innovation fit and education level, tenure, leadership effectiveness, or perceived workload barrier in the final model. The results are discussed in relation to previous findings, tentative implications for preventive work in ECEC practice, design limitations and recommendations for future research. Trial registry The project that this study is connected to as a secondary research aim is registered at Clinical Trials (ID:NCT06040437).