A mixed-methods pilot evaluation of the Sohanjana Antibullying Intervention for educators in Pakistan: knowledge gains, cultural barriers, and module effectiveness

1 Introduction

Bullying is defined as recurrent aggressive behavior intended to inflict physical, emotional, or psychological harm, typically perpetrated by individuals possessing higher social status (Burger et al., 2015). Conventional ‘face-to-face’ bullying is generally classified into physical, verbal, and relational subtypes (Jacobsen and Bauman, 2007). However, the rise of digital technology has facilitated the emergence of cyberbullying, characterized by deliberate harm inflicted via electronic platforms and mobile devices (Siddiqui et al., 2021b). Evidence from child and adolescent research further highlights both school bullying and cyberbullying as major contributors to emotional distress and suicidal behaviors due to their profound psychological consequences (Greydanus et al., 2024).

Bullying is a widespread global concern that severely compromises the physical and psychological well-being of students around the world (Eyuboglu et al., 2021; Pšunder, and Kozmus, 2020). According to the U.S. Department of Education, one in five students aged 12 to 18 experiences bullying each year. Furthermore, data from the National Center for Education Statistics (2019) shows that around 160,000 students skip school each year because they are afraid of being bullied. Like many other countries, bullying has also been identified as a significant issue in Pakistani educational institutions (Shahid et al., 2022). It has been identified as a significant risk factor for suicide attempts among the Pakistani population (Rizwan et al., 2026). Similarly, a study by Eman et al. (2026) found that among adolescents in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, bullying not only directly increased suicidal ideation but also exerted an indirect effect through coping strain and depression. Moreover, the adverse effects of bullying extend beyond childhood and adolescence, with studies in university and workplace settings reporting persistent psychological distress among victims (Kumar et al., 2023; Siddiqui et al., 2025). It is estimated that one out of four Pakistani children face bullying during their academic lives (Academia, 2018) which shows that bullying is prevalent in educational institutions in Pakistan (Saleem et al., 2021; Siddiqui et al., 2025). However, in Pakistan, bullying is not considered a serious issue (Ahmed et al., 2023), and no significant steps have been taken to resolve this issue at the national level (Siddiqui et al., 2023c). Collectively, these findings underscore bullying as a multifaceted public health concern and emphasize the importance of comprehensive prevention initiatives, early mental health screening, and the implementation of effective anti-bullying policies across educational and professional settings.

In order to address this empirical gap, the Sohanjana Antibullying Intervention was developed as the first program in Pakistan designed specifically for educators and peer mentors. The intervention's primary objectives are to empower teachers and peer mentors to recognize bullying and victimization in educational settings, implement swift student-centred interventions, and foster a supportive school environment. Without such an intervention, millions of Pakistani students remain at risk of chronic psychological harm, academic underachievement, and school dropout, highlighting the significance of this study. The intervention focused on teachers because of their central role in identifying and addressing bullying in schools (Siddiqui and Schultze-Krumbholz, 2025). Effective teacher training should combine theoretical and practical knowledge, real school-based situations, professional discussions, and opportunities for reflection and problem-solving (Gradinger and Strohmeier, 2018; Tessaro and Trevisol, 2020). Successful implementation also requires effective staff communication, student involvement, and ongoing organizational support (Wang et al., 2023; Washington-Nortey et al., 2025). In addition, previous teacher-led interventions have demonstrated success in reducing bullying in schools (Fonagy et al., 2009; Kubiszewski and Carrizales, 2024; Low and Van Ryzin, 2014). The program of the current intervention comprises eight specialized training modules for teachers and one for peer mentors. It was developed by the first author as part of degree completion requirements. It has not yet been implemented as a national program; rather, it was developed as an independent initiative by the authors in collaboration with several public and private universities to facilitate partnership and pilot testing of the intervention.

In addition to the content developed specifically by the authors, the current intervention draws upon components and strategies from previously implemented interventions that have demonstrated promising outcomes. For example, Moody and Stahel (2025) highlighted the importance of bystander intervention as a key component of successful bullying prevention. Accordingly, training 4 of the current intervention was developed to address the roles and responsibilities of bystanders. Similarly, García-Sancho et al. (2014), Masoumeh et al. (2014) and Negi and Magre (2019) reported that increasing awareness of antisocial behaviours through sensitization and strengthening emotional management and emotional intelligence can help individuals better cope with and reduce aggressive behaviours. Based on this evidence, Training 6 was developed to focus on sensitization and emotional intelligence. Furthermore, international research suggests that structured physical activity and sports engagement can contribute to reducing bullying by fostering social competencies, cooperation, and peer responsibility (Greif Green et al., 2020; Nery et al., 2020). Therefore, Training 5 was designed to help teachers understand how sports and structured physical activities can be used to prevent and manage aggressive behaviours. As part of the intervention's reactive strategies, Training 8 focuses on counselling and communication training, approaches that have also been incorporated into previous interventions (Elbedour et al., 2020). Overall, the intervention integrates evidence-informed components addressing multiple dimensions of aggressive and bullying behaviours. By combining both proactive and reactive strategies, it aims to provide teachers with comprehensive as well as targeted knowledge and skills to prevent, identify, and effectively respond to such behaviours.

Several studies, including the authors' own research, were conducted to identify gaps in the existing response to bullying in Pakistani schools. These studies consistently highlighted significant shortcomings in Pakistan's school-based antibullying efforts and emphasized the need for culturally and contextually appropriate interventions, including localized teacher training, counselling services, and policy-based strategies (Ahmed et al., 2023; Naveed et al., 2020; Saleem et al., 2021; Siddiqui, 2025). In addition, the authors identified several trials and preliminary attempts to address bullying in Pakistani schools in the existing literature. However, these initiatives were associated with methodological limitations, limited evidence of effectiveness, or a lack of interventions specifically developed for the Pakistani sociocultural and educational context. For example, McFarlane et al. (2017) evaluated the implementation of an internationally developed programme, the Right To Play Intervention. However, the intervention did not produce convincing results, and the authors identified several limitations related to differences between the intervention's original context and the Pakistani setting, including variations in climate, living conditions, and attitudes towards schooling. Similarly, Maryam and Ijaz (2019) incorporated selected activities from Operation Respect, an anti-bullying programme developed in the United States, alongside behavioural and cognitive techniques used in therapeutic work with schoolchildren in Pakistan. However, the programme primarily focused on enhancing victims' prosocial skills, emotional management, and problem-solving abilities. The scope, intensity, and breadth of its activities were therefore substantially different from those of the current intervention. Hakim and Shah (2017) also investigated strategies used by teachers to control bullying in primary schools in Haripur, Pakistan. Their findings indicated that teachers emphasized the provision of a safe physical environment, including communicating rules to students before engaging them in activities, as a strategy for managing bullying and behavioural problems. However, the study did not provide detailed guidance or systematically describe the specific steps required to create and maintain a conducive and safe school environment. Overall, while previous studies demonstrate growing recognition of bullying as a concern in Pakistani schools and document several attempts to address it, the available interventions and strategies appear to have important limitations and do not claim to provide a comprehensive, context-specific approach. These gaps further highlight the need for a systematically developed intervention tailored to the Pakistani school context.

This current study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of the Sohanjana Antibullying Intervention pilot in improving educators' knowledge and identifying cultural and contextual barriers to learning. Additionally, the study aimed to identify barriers and challenges encountered during the online pilot training. For this purpose, the researchers invited educators and teacher educators affiliated with education departments at universities to participate in the pilot training. Their involvement was intended to provide expert feedback on the content, structure, delivery, and feasibility of the intervention, while also helping to identify potential limitations and areas requiring further refinement before its implementation. By analyzing these issues, the researchers sought to develop solutions and refine the training design to prevent similar obstacles in future implementations. Preliminary results from the pilot study demonstrated high levels of participant engagement and positive outcomes. Based on these findings, the authors offer strategic recommendations for the future, large-scale implementation of the program.

2 Literature review

2.1 Status of bullying and cyberbullying in Pakistan

Research consistently demonstrates that both conventional/in-person bullying and cyberbullying are systemic issues across the Pakistani educational landscape, severely impacting students' physical and psychological health (Batool, 2023; McFarlane et al., 2017; Naveed et al., 2019, 2020; Razzaq et al., 2023). While these negative behaviors permeate elementary and secondary levels, studies specifically highlight a high prevalence of cyberbullying within higher education (Musharraf and Anis-ul-Haque, 2018; Saleem et al., 2021). This pervasive nature of digital aggression in universities has been further corroborated by Mirza et al. (2020). Magsi et al. (2017) found that women in universities face ridicule and harassment via electronic media, with half of the victims not reporting it to avoid being labelled immoral. Moreover, women suffer in silence and are forced to leave cyberspace to protect themselves. The inability to deal with cyberbullying and the lack of trust in law enforcement are other factors that encourage bullies to harass women on urban college campuses (Magsi et al., 2017).

Bullying and victimization contribute significantly to poor academic performance and increased high school dropout rates (Asif, 2016; Inamullah et al., 2016). To address this, multiple studies advocate for the establishment of institutional support centers to implement anti-bullying interventions and equip students with essential prevention and coping strategies (Saleem et al., 2021; Siddiqui et al., 2021b; Somani et al., 2021; Ullah et al., 2018). Consequently, developing targeted interventions for Pakistani educational institutions is a critical necessity.

2.2 Policy, training, and intervention gaps in Pakistan

Studies consistently indicate that Pakistan lacks a national anti-bullying policy, with schools often relying on informal or inconsistent practices instead. For example, interviews with college principals revealed that, despite claiming a ‘zero-tolerance stance’, none of the institutions had formal preventive policies or structured procedures in place to address bullying incidents (Ahmed et al., 2023). Similar concerns have been raised in research examining bullying among children with special educational needs and disabilities, which highlights inadequate anti-bullying policy frameworks and weak institutional responses as major contributors to persistent victimization (Ullah and Saeed, 2025). Reviews of legislation also reiterate that Pakistan still lacks comprehensive, nationwide anti-bullying provisions to guide the prevention and response to bullying in schools (Manzoor et al., 2025). Teachers themselves report frequent bullying yet note the absence of policy-driven support or guidelines, which further underscores this gap (Siddiqui and Schultze-Krumbholz, 2023). Studies repeatedly document that Pakistan lacks a standardized, evidence-based teacher training curriculum for bullying prevention. Teachers continue to rely heavily on punitive disciplinary responses rather than proactive pedagogical strategies because they have not been trained in alternative methods (Siddiqui et al., 2023b). A global systematic review supports this, noting that teacher training for bullying is rarely studied and suffers from inconsistent content and delivery (Panosso et al., 2023). Further qualitative research specific to Pakistan reveals institutional resistance, a lack of resources and uniform training programs, despite teachers expressing a need for such support (Siddiqui et al., 2023a). In conclusion, the literature strongly emphasises that Pakistan has almost no locally validated, evidence-based anti-bullying interventions, and imported programs often fail when introduced to the Pakistani socio-cultural context (Siddiqui, 2025). One study explicitly states that ‘there are no evidence-based interventions in educational institutions’ to address bullying, highlighting the scale of this issue (Siddiqui and Schultze-Krumbholz, 2025). At the regional level, a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) scoping review found only three small-scale, culturally modified interventions across India and Pakistan, further reinforcing the near absence of rigorous, Pakistan-specific interventions (Srinivasan et al., 2022).

2.3 Theoretical foundations in the development of Sohanjana Antibullying Intervention

The Sohanjana Antibullying Intervention is theoretically grounded in a multi-dimensional approach that addresses the individual, social, and systemic roots of aggression (Siddiqui, 2025). The intervention is grounded in five theoretical frameworks that guide the design and development of its training modules and components. These frameworks include Social Capital Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior, Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, Lindner's Theory of Humiliation, and the Bystander Intervention Model (Siddiqui, 2025).

Social Capital Theory suggests that individuals invest in interpersonal relationships to gain access to the resources embedded within these relationships (Evans and Smokowski, 2016). Within the school context, social capital can be reflected in friendships and social status. Friendships provide young people with emotional and social support and can serve as a protective buffer against stressors such as peer rejection (Bagwell and Schmidt, 2011), while social status may reflect an individual's popularity, influence, and access to social resources. Victims of bullying often have fewer friendships and, consequently, lower social status, resulting in limited social capital (Bagwell and Schmidt, 2011). Even when victims have friends, these relationships may not necessarily provide sufficient social capital if their friends are themselves rejected or marginalized by the wider peer group (Scholte et al., 2008). This lack of social capital may exacerbate and prolong experiences of victimization, as victims may have limited access to peers who can provide social support or protection against bullying. In the Pakistani context, Social Capital Theory can also provide a useful framework for understanding how the pursuit of dominance, social hierarchies, and patriarchal norms may influence interpersonal relationships and aggressive behaviours (Evans and Smokowski, 2016, Shahzadi et al., 2019). Integrating this theoretical perspective into the intervention may therefore help address broader social dynamics that contribute to bullying while promoting supportive peer relationships and positive social networks.

According to the Theory of Planned Behaviour, an individual's behaviour is primarily influenced by their intention to perform that behaviour and their perceived control over performing it (Ajzen, 1991). In a modified application of this model to bullying, Rigby (1997) identified three interrelated components that may contribute to an individual's intention to engage in bullying: attitudes towards bullying behaviour, subjective norms surrounding bullying, and perceived behavioural control. Attitudes and perceived behavioural control are considered primarily individual-level factors, whereas subjective norms reflect environmental and social influences. Together, these components are expected to influence an individual's intention to engage in bullying behaviour. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the current programme seeks to address social and subjective norms that may support bullying, while also challenging beliefs associated with moral disengagement (Siddiqui, 2025). By targeting these factors, the programme aims to promote more positive attitudes and behavioural intentions and reduce the likelihood of engagement in bullying behaviours.

The Ecological Framework recognizes that behaviour is not solely an individual phenomenon but is shaped by a range of interconnected social and environmental influences (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). These influences encompass individual characteristics, interpersonal relationships, and the broader social contexts in which bullying occurs, as well as policies and practices within educational institutions. They also extend to wider societal factors, including media portrayals of violence, socioeconomic conditions, cultural norms, and the availability of support systems (Swearer and Espelage, 2004). By adopting this framework, bullying is conceptualized as a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that requires an understanding of the interactions among individual, relational, community, institutional, and societal factors. Considering these multiple levels of influence can facilitate the development of comprehensive interventions and prevention strategies that address bullying not only at the individual level but also across the broader environments in which it occurs.

Lindner's Theory of Humiliation is grounded in the fundamental premise that all individuals desire and deserve recognition and respect. When this fundamental right is violated through experiences of humiliation, it can damage interpersonal relationships and disrupt social cohesion (Lindner, 2007). Humiliation involves the belittling, degradation, or oppression of others and can have profound psychological and social consequences, which Lindner (2006) metaphorically described as comparable to an “emotional atomic bomb.” In the context of bullying, perpetrators may use physical, verbal, or relational forms of aggression to humiliate their victims, thereby diminishing their social status and asserting power over them (Jacobsen and Bauman, 2007). Drawing on Lindner's Theory of Humiliation, the intervention emphasizes the importance of restoring and protecting victims' right to dignity and respect. In particular, it incorporates strategies such as assertive communication to empower victims to respond to humiliating experiences and promote more respectful interpersonal interactions (Dake, 2021; Lindner, 2007).

Latané and Darley's (1970) Model of Bystander Intervention outlines five sequential steps that individuals typically need to take before intervening in a situation: (a) noticing the event, (b) interpreting the event as a situation requiring assistance, (c) accepting personal responsibility to intervene, (d) knowing how to provide appropriate help, and (e) implementing the decision to intervene. Although bullying is prevalent in educational settings, students may not always recognize relevant cues, such as derogatory name-calling, or perceive such behaviours as serious incidents requiring intervention (Nickerson et al., 2014; Saleem et al., 2021). Even when an incident is noticed, students must correctly interpret it as a situation in which assistance is needed and subsequently accept responsibility for taking action. A significant barrier to intervention is the presence of other bystanders. Individuals may assume that someone else will intervene, resulting in the diffusion of responsibility across the group (Latané and Darley, 1968). Drawing on the Bystander Intervention Model, the current training therefore aims to address diffusion of responsibility and equip students with the awareness, sense of responsibility, and practical skills needed to intervene safely and effectively. By transforming passive witnesses into active defenders, the intervention seeks to capitalize on evidence suggesting that peer intervention can effectively interrupt bullying incidents and reduce their continuation (Latané and Nida, 1981; Polanin et al., 2012).

2.4 Philosophies behind antibullying policies

Antibullying programs differ across cultures and educators, with some focusing on punishment as a deterrent to demoralizing behavior (Roberge, 2012), while others emphasize understanding perpetrators' motivations and promoting positive behavior in their interactions with others. Both types of interventions have produced positive results in different studies internationally (Rigby and Griffiths, 2018). While early interventions favored punitive measures like suspension or zero-tolerance policies, research indicates these strategies are largely ineffective at reducing bullying (Ayers et al., 2012; Berlowitz et al., 2017; Siddiqui et al., 2023c). Furthermore, such harsh penalties often backfire by discouraging victims and bystanders from reporting incidents (Ayers et al., 2012) However, harsher penalties from parents and schools can deter bullying, although the threat of police involvement is ineffective (Patchin and Hinduja, 2018). Furthermore, removing the perpetrator may hinder the development of the child, as bullying behavior may be indicative of underlying behavioral and developmental problems.

Despite the number of studies showing that bullying is a conventional practice in educational institutions of Pakistan, majority of the teachers have general rules of understanding on how to handle bullying issues, and expertise in this field is still insufficient (Hakim and Shah, 2017). A qualitative study in Pakistan recommends that educators remain vigilant and institutions adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying and victimization (Ahmed et al., 2023). While Islamic societies and Pakistani educational norms often accept punitive discipline (Nazri et al., 2005), the long-term effectiveness of such measures in curbing bullying remains unproven. Adopting a humanistic approach, research suggests that lasting behavioral change stems from personal insight rather than fear-based sanctions (Oxley, 2021). It is important, however, to clearly communicate antibullying policies and to make sure that reports of bullying are dealt with. Due to the importance of policies and the lack of well-developed and structured antibullying policy blueprints for Pakistan educational institutions, training that fosters the development and application of antibullying policies for every educational organization is recommended as an integral part of the intervention design.

2.5 Effects of bystander training in antibullying interventions

Witnesses to bullying who are neither victims nor perpetrators, whether in person or online, are considered bystanders (Rafi, 2019). Bystanders encompass a wide range of individuals—from peers and educators to parents and even digital strangers who hold the power to mitigate the harmful impacts of bullying (Bystanders to Bullying, 2018; Padgett and Notar, 2013). Present in over 80% of incidents, these witnesses often provide the social purpose for aggression by allowing the perpetrator to demonstrate dominance (Polanin et al., 2012; Salmivalli, 2010). Consequently, identifying the psychological levers that encourage or inhibit bystander intervention is essential for developing effective prevention strategies (Moody and Stahel, 2025). Peers often play multiple roles in bullying situations, as bullying is typically a group process, making bystanders essential in these contexts (Lambe et al., 2019; Rafi, 2019). Among other factors, bystanders are the largest group involved in bullying behaviors in schools according to most of the literature (Lambe et al., 2019) and they should be the primary target of any intervention aimed at changing school climate. Anti-bullying programs often target the transformation of peer norms by emphasizing the pivotal role of the bystander (Polanin et al., 2012). However, as students often feel disconnected from or unresponsible for classroom aggression (Craig et al., 2000), it is vital to equip them with the skills to take ownership of their environment and intervene effectively.

2.6 Emotional sensitization and management as a bullying intervention

Sensitization, derived from “sensitize,” aims to raise awareness and responsiveness to specific issues, serving as an effective and non-confrontational way to drive societal change (Barodia, 2015). There is evidence that awareness of antisocial behaviour can be improved through education and sensitization programs (Negi and Magre, 2019; Sulistyawati et al., 2011) and to prevent conventional and cyberbullying sensibility and awareness must be fostered (Cowie and Colliety, 2010). While a specific subgroup of students struggles to manage negative emotions without resorting to aggression (Salmivalli and Nieminen, 2002), research indicates that emotionally intelligent individuals are better equipped to overcome aggressive impulses rooted in anger and anxiety (García-Sancho et al., 2014; Masoumeh et al., 2014). Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined as the social capacity to monitor and distinguish between one's own and others' emotions to guide cognitive and behavioral responses (Salovey and Mayer, 1990). Research confirms that EI effectively mitigates aggressive outbursts, as evidenced by its successful application in international and Pakistani anti-bullying programs focused on pro-social emotional management (Bibi et al., 2020; García-Sancho et al., 2014; Maryam and Ijaz, 2019; Siddiqui et al., 2022). As a protective factor, Emotional Intelligence (EI) enables individuals to effectively regulate emotions and mitigate problem behaviors. Consequently, implementing emotional management training for students is recommended to eradicate bullying within Pakistani educational institutions.

2.7 Sports and physical activities as a tool for controlling bullying

International investigations confirm that structured physical activity and sports engagement effectively control bullying by fostering social competencies and peer responsibility (Danish et al., 2004; Greif Green et al., 2020; Nery et al., 2020). It is recommended that antibullying interventions for teachers' professional development should include some component of organized physical activities to address bullying and antisocial behaviors. A physical activity setting can encourage prosocial behavior by fostering sharing, helping, and mutual support among youth (Rutten et al., 2008). Participation in regular sports reduces antisocial conduct and aggression, particularly when youth interact with positive role models in challenging, supervised environments (Mahoney et al., 2005). However, bullying can persist in unstructured settings if supervisors lack the specific training to detect hidden behaviors (Majed et al., 2021; Siddiqui and Schultze-Krumbholz, 2025). Ultimately, integrating physical activity into antibullying programs strengthens prosocial skills and self-worth, enhancing coping mechanisms for both perpetrators and victims (Battey, 2009).

2.8 Counselling as a reactive strategy to control bullying

Reactive interventions involve addressing bullying after it is reported, aiming to mitigate the negative effects on victims through emotional regulation strategies and counseling for perpetrators (Barlett et al., 2021). Victimization is the experience of being repeatedly targeted, harmed, excluded, or subordinated by others; in school and bullying research it usually refers to being the recipient of bullying behaviors such as verbal abuse, social exclusion, relational aggression, or cyberbullying (Juvonen and Graham, 2014; Raskauskas and Stoltz, 2004). Victimization is linked to mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, emotional distress, and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (Ferraz de Camargo et al., 2022; Wilson et al., 2023). It is also associated with academic harms, including poorer academic performance, lower engagement, school disengagement, and absenteeism (Phalane and Tshabalala, 2026). Socially, victimised children and adolescents may face peer rejection, social withdrawal, reduced social competence, and damaged school belonging (Phalane and Tshabalala, 2026). More severe and longer-term findings include stress-related neurobiological changes and associations with complex trauma symptoms such as CPTSD (Morgado et al., 2025). Therefore, intervention programmes should incorporate specific components that support victims in coping with and overcoming the shame, distress, and psychological trauma associated with experiences of victimization. Additionally, a meeting between perpetrator and victim to facilitate and resolve the issue and counseling of the perpetrator to reflect upon his or her unacceptable behavior are also considered a reactive approach (Rigby and Griffiths, 2018).

Research highlights counseling as a proven method for addressing bullying, yet a gap remains in formal teacher training regarding these skills (Ferris et al., 2021; Waasdorp et al., 2021). Because faculty and staff are on the front lines of student interaction (Butt et al., 2021), it is vital to address the current trend of avoidance and burnout caused by insufficient training and feelings of unpreparedness. Therefore, it is recommended by researchers in Pakistan that teachers undergo counseling and communication training (Ullah et al., 2011) or a qualified counselors' position be created at the school for controlling bullying issues in institutions (Khan, 2019; Maqsood et al., 2020). To effectively support bullied students, anti-bullying programs recommend that teachers master basic counseling strategies and active listening, including knowing when to refer cases to specialists (Lane, 1996). Furthermore, educators must maintain an awareness of their own personal boundaries and values to ensure these factors do not interfere with their professional ability to assist students (Aslam et al., 2026; Zur, 2010).

2.9 Rationale for a research study with a focus on teacher training

The intervention was designed to focus on teachers because they are at the forefront of educational institutions and are often the first to notice bullying incidents, making them key figures in intervention (Siddiqui and Schultze-Krumbholz, 2025). Moreover, teachers' experiences provide valuable insights into reflection, decision-making, and responses to bullying and school violence (Tessaro and Trevisol, 2020) and could thus improve the present intervention through feedback. Research emphasizes that effective teacher training should incorporate theoretical and practical knowledge, real school-based problem situations, professional discussions, and teachers' experiences to encourage reflection, decision-making, and effective problem-solving (Tessaro and Trevisol, 2020). Teachers' meaningful experiences can also inform pedagogical principles that support better decision-making and help create meaningful learning experiences for students. Reflective and democratic approaches enable teachers to prioritize students' needs and continuously adapt their practices (Fletcher and Ní Chróinín, 2022). Training programs designed with feedback from practicing teachers are more effective when they use structured, practice-oriented approaches rather than focusing only on abstract concepts. Interactive elements can further promote shared perspectives among teachers (Gradinger and Strohmeier, 2018). A well-structured pedagogical design can strengthen anti-bullying skills progressively, beginning with basic concepts such as bullying definitions and advancing toward prevention, intervention, feedback, and reflection that connect theory with real-world practice (Zhang et al., 2026). For details about the training content please refer to the study Siddiqui et al. (2023c).

Another core component of teacher training is the structural and instructional design of the intervention, which requires clearly defined roles and effective coordination among key stakeholders, particularly teachers, students, and school administrators. Studies by Wang et al. (2023) and Washington-Nortey et al. (2025) emphasize that successful intervention design depends on effective staff communication, regular professional discussions, active student involvement, and continuous organizational support to facilitate implementation. Furthermore, research has highlighted the pivotal role of school principals in fostering a positive school climate and coordinating whole-school anti-bullying initiatives. Effective collaboration among all stakeholders is consistently identified as a critical factor for the successful implementation and sustainability of bullying prevention programs (Brinia et al., 2026; Haller and Knauf, 2026; Pearce et al., 2024). Accordingly, the present intervention extends beyond equipping teachers with classroom-based bullying prevention strategies. It also incorporates peer mentors as active participants and pro-active bystanders, and includes a dedicated training module (Training 7) focusing on whole-school policies, leadership, and administrative involvement. This component was designed to strengthen institutional support and ensure that both teachers and peer mentors receive the guidance, resources, and organizational backing necessary for effective and sustainable implementation.

3 Research methodology

3.1 Research design

The current study used a mixed methods pilot evaluation using pre-post training research approach. A combination of open and closed questionnaires was used to assess the outcomes of the program and to obtain feedback on the trainings for further improvement. The quantitative part of the study used a pre-post survey design to assess the outcome of the training modules in increasing participants' understanding of bullying concepts and improving anti-bullying strategies in their respective institutions. Pre- and post-training responses were analyzed using the Wilcoxon sum-of-means test. Some closed ended questions were also used to obtain feedback on the various components of the training modules. These responses were summarized descriptively using percentages; for example, the proportion of participants who rated the training as “excellent” was reported. Additionally, open-ended questions were used in the qualitative section to explore the strengths and limitations of the training modules and to gather recommendations for future ones. Responses to these questions were thematically analyzed to identify recurring themes and areas for refinement. Utilizing the Zoom platform, the online trainings engaged participants from diverse educational institutions, all of whom completed both pre- and post-test assessments.

The two strands were integrated at the interpretation stage. Quantitative findings provided an indication of changes in participants' knowledge and their overall perceptions of the training, while the qualitative findings provided contextual information that helped explain participants' experiences, identify limitations, and inform potential improvements to the training. Thus, the qualitative findings were not used to statistically validate the quantitative results; rather, they complemented the quantitative findings by providing additional contextual and explanatory information. Given the pilot nature of the study, this integration was primarily intended to inform refinement of the intervention and the design of subsequent evaluation phases.

3.2 Contents of the training modules

Prior to designing different modules of the training, a detailed analysis of the literature and a baseline needs assessment survey were conducted (Siddiqui, 2025). The review examined the prevalence and consequences of bullying in Pakistani educational institutions, as well as the availability, characteristics, and effectiveness of existing interventions (Siddiqui et al., 2023b, 2023c; Siddiqui and Schultze-Krumbholz, 2023). Although the reviewed literature consistently indicated a high prevalence of bullying in Pakistani schools (Ahmed et al., 2023; Shahid et al., 2022) and its detrimental effects on students’ physical, emotional, and mental well-being (Mirza et al., 2020; Naveed et al., 2019, 2020; Saleem et al., 2021), existing interventions were generally short-term (Maryam and Ijaz, 2019), limited in scope (Hakim and Shah, 2017; Maryam and Ijaz, 2019), or adapted from programs developed in other countries (McFarlane et al., 2017), with limited evidence regarding their long-term sustainability. The review also identified a lack of school policies specifically designed to prevent and address bullying (Naveed et al., 2020). Despite the documented prevalence of bullying, there remained a notable lack of comprehensive programs tailored to the Pakistani school system and responsive to its cultural and religious context (Siddiqui, 2025).

To validate and further explore these findings, an online baseline needs assessment was conducted with Pakistani teachers (Siddiqui and Schultze-Krumbholz, 2023). Participants confirmed the high prevalence of bullying and the limited availability of support programs and provided recommendations regarding the content and design of a culturally tailored intervention. The baseline needs assessment indicated that verbal and social forms of bullying are widespread in Pakistani schools from teachers' perspectives. The findings further suggested that an effective intervention should extend beyond providing strategies for managing and controlling bullying and should also equip teachers with the skills to identify both victimization and perpetration in traditional and online environments. Given the prevalence of both conventional and cyberbullying in educational settings, the intervention should address both forms comprehensively. The assessment also highlighted the important role of peers and bystanders in bullying situations. In Pakistan, bystanders were reported to be among the least likely to intervene or report incidents to teachers, despite their potential to play a crucial role in interrupting bullying. Therefore, training students and bystanders to recognize bullying and intervene safely and appropriately was identified as an important component of the intervention.

A summary of the training modules proposed after a literature review and needs assessment is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Summary of the training modules proposed after literature review and needs assessment and normality analysis.

3.3 Sample and instruments used for the pilot study

In order to pilot the modules, the authors implemented of combination of purposive, convenience, and snowball sampling techniques. Several educational institutions in Pakistan were contacted and invited to a four-hour online training for each module. Invitation emails were sent to the heads of education departments of various educational institutions/universities in Pakistan. The email described the authors' affiliation, the purpose of the study, and the topic of the training. The aim was to involve educators usually teachers or student-teachers working in the field in the training so that their feedback could be collected to further improve the intervention design. Department heads who responded to the emails and agreed to participate in the training were provided with additional information, such as the date of the training, the maximum limit of participants, the content of the training, details about the trainers, etc. Some of the department heads shared this information and invited teachers, researchers, and students enrolled in different programs in the education department from their respective institution. However, two of the department heads (in trainings sessions of Module II and Module VII) also invited educators from institutions other than their own. Participants who showed interest in the training signed up and attended the sessions. Those participants who attended the sessions and completed the pre-post questionnaires (N = 172) received a certificate of attendance from the organizers.

Approximately 15 institutions were contacted and invited to participate in the pilot study. Eight institutions agreed to participate on a first-come, first-served basis and were included in the study. One additional institution participated in the training; however, because of the small number of participants, its pre- and post-training data were not included in the analysis. Four institutions did not respond to the invitation, while two institutions expressed interest after the pilot study had already concluded. Accordingly, data from these institutions were not collected or included in the study.

Based on the contents of each training, researchers developed a variety of both open and closed ended questions for every module (For example questions, refer to Table 1). The training content and assessment questions were shared with two education experts in Pakistan as well, who provided feedback that informed some revisions prior to the pilot phase, thereby supporting the content validity of the materials. Following the pilot training, additional refinements were made based on participants' feedback and implementation experiences before the intervention was finalized for implementation in schools. For data collection for both the pretest and posttest, the researchers developed online questionnaires using Google forms. These pre- and post-training evaluations were conducted on the same day as the training session, with the pre-test administered at the beginning of the training and the post-test at its conclusion. Participants were required to provide their names in order to receive a certificate of completion. This information was stored separately from the questionnaire data so that the answers could not be linked to specific participants and de-anonymization was not possible. This approach increased participation motivation and rendered reminders for the post-training evaluation unnecessary. For each training, the link for the pretest was posted shortly after the training and presenters were introduced during the Zoom sessions. Similarly, at the end of each training, the post questions were shared along with links to feedback questions in which participants provided their responses to the questions related to the content and some feedback.

By using a mix of open-ended (Example: How could the training have been improved?) and closed-ended questions (Example: How would you rate the content of the training module? Responses collected on 5-point Likert scale from “needs improvement” to “excellent”), these questionnaires were primarily intended to evaluate the contents, activities, and delivery of the trainings. The samples varied across training modules, with each group attending only one training module, resulting in different samples for each (see Table 2 for participant numbers).

Table 2. Wilcoxon sum of means test.

Based on negative ranks.

PostTestSum < PretestSum.

PostTestSum > PretestSum.

PostTestSum = PretestSum.

The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles and standards of the American Psychological Association (APA). Before participation, information about the study, including its purpose, procedures, voluntary nature, and informed-consent requirements, was communicated to the heads of the participating departments, who subsequently shared this information with partitcipants who expressed interest in attending the training. At the beginning of each training session, the study purpose and participation requirements were explained verbally to participants. The same information was also provided in detail at the beginning of the pre-training online questionnaire. Participation in the study was entirely voluntary, and participants were informed of their right to withdraw from the study at any time without any negative consequences. The introductory section of the questionnaire explained the purpose of data collection, the intended use of the data, the voluntary nature of participation, and the measures taken to maintain participants' anonymity. Participants were required to provide explicit informed consent by selecting the “I agree” option (opt-in) before proceeding with the online questionnaire. Participants who did not provide consent could not proceed with the survey. The collected information was used solely for the stated research purposes and was handled in accordance with applicable ethical and data-protection requirements.

4 Analysis of results

The online pilot trainings were evaluated based on participants' understanding of bullying concepts, its consequences, and strategies to control bullying intervention through SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics are used to get feedback from participants, and Wilcoxon sum means are calculated for pre-post differences.

4.1 Pre-post comparisons

One of the main objectives of the research analysis was to assess the difference in the knowledge of the participants before and after attending the training about different topics related to bullying and ideas to combat bullying in educational institutions. The Wilcoxon sum-of-means test was used to determine these differences at a fixed p-value of 0.05.

The Wilcoxon test is a non-parametric statistical test used in place of the paired sample t-test when the data is not normally distributed or when the sample size is very small (Dwivedi et al., 2017; Wilcoxon, 1992). Since the data of 4 of the 8 training sessions violated normality (Shapiro–Wilk p < 0.05, refer to Table 1) and the sample sizes were relatively small (n = 8–39), we decided to use the Wilcoxon sum of means test consistently across all sessions to ensure consistency and interpretability.

According to the analyses, there was a significant difference for 7 out of 8 modules showing significant improvement in the participants' knowledge and understanding. However, in module VIII, in spite of an increase in post-test scores and a positive difference among 12 out of 25 participants, the results overall are not significant (Refer to Table 2). Upon closer examination, additional errors were found in one of the open-ended questions, where participants were asked to share their thoughts and level of agreement with counselor self-disclosure. The results further indicated a significant positive improvement among participants who attended the trainings, showing moderate (r > 0.3) to large (r > 0.5) effect sizes across modules, except for Module VIII, where a weak effect size and non-significant results were observed (see Table 2). A possible explanation is the participants' high baseline knowledge, along with the inclusion of some participants with visual impairments, who may not have performed as well on the post-test. The discussion section explores possible explanations for this insignificant result. To minimize the risk of Type I error resulting from multiple comparisons, a stricter significance threshold was applied using the Bonferroni correction, adjusting the alpha level to 0.00625 (0.05/8). After applying this correction, four training modules (Modules II, IV, VI, and VII) continued to show significant improvements in post-test knowledge scores (refer to Table 2).

Significant positive improvements that remained evident after the Bonferroni correction were observed in modules addressing key dimensions of antibullying practice. Module II strengthened participants' understanding of aggression and bullying from different theoretical perspectives, potential motivations underlying perpetrating behaviours, and the diverse forms that bullying may take. Module IV enhanced knowledge related to the role of bystanders, including differentiating cyberbullying from trolling or playful interactions, understanding barriers to intervention, and promoting empathetic and active bystander responses. Similarly, Module VI focused on practical strategies that may help teachers and students respond constructively to bullying-related situations, including problem-solving and conflict de-escalation, cognitive restructuring to support victims, and assertive emotional management. Module VII extended the focus beyond individual responses by addressing school-wide prevention, including the development and implementation of antibullying policies and the involvement of parents, communities, and, where appropriate, external authorities. Collectively, improvements in these domains suggest that the training enhanced participants' understanding of bullying across multiple levels, from individual and interpersonal responses to broader school-wide prevention and intervention. These knowledge gains are particularly relevant for teacher professional development, as they provide educators with a foundation for recognizing and responding to the complex and multifaceted nature of bullying.

4.2 Descriptive statistics of the feedback responses

In addition to the questions analyzing the improvement of participants' knowledge and practices related to bullying and intervention, the closed-ended questions about the different components of the training modules were also explored (see Table 3). The purpose of the descriptive component of the questionnaire was to obtain participants' feedback on the different aspects of the training and assess their level of satisfaction with each component. Negative or unsatisfactory feedback would have indicated areas requiring further consideration and potentially substantial revisions to the relevant training components. Most participants provided positive feedback on the content of the training, the formulation and clarification of the objectives, the activities during the training, and the organization of the content and activities. 81% of participants indicated that their expectations were met while attending the training See Table 3 and Figure 1 for the percentage distribution and graphical presentation of the results, respectively.

Table 3. Feedback of all training modules on different components.

Based on the positive feedback from the participants, the researchers concluded that the design and implementation of the training were adequate and that it can be implemented in this form by the researchers.

4.3 Qualitative analysis of the open-ended questions and recommendations from personal experiences

In addition to the closed-ended questions, a number of open-ended questions were asked after the training to gather feedback and suggestions for improvement. In open ended questions many of the participants appreciated efforts that are not disclosed here, however repeated/recurring suggestions are taken into consideration. Three main questions were presented to participants: However, participants' responses were not always aligned with the specific question to which they were responding. For example, suggestions for improvement were sometimes provided under Questions 2 or 3 rather than Question 1. Therefore, the qualitative responses were considered collectively rather than being interpreted strictly according to individual questions.

• How could the workshop have been improved?
• Are there any comments, ideas, or suggestions you would like to share with us?
• Which component of the workshop did you find most interesting, and why?

Open-ended responses were analyzed using a structured thematic approach. The questions focused specifically on participants' perceived limitations, challenges encountered during the training, and recommendations for improving the intervention. Responses were generally brief and frequently consisted of key words or short statements, such as “time limitation,” “training pace,” and “internet issues.” The first author reviewed the responses, identified recurring concepts, and grouped repeated or conceptually similar responses into themes. The resulting themes were subsequently reviewed and reconfirmed by the second author. The final themes were used to summarize recurring implementation challenges and participant recommendations and to inform subsequent refinement of the intervention. The resulting themes are discussed below. Section 4.3.1 presents observations and recommendations made by the researchers/trainers, whereas Section 4.3.2 reports suggestions provided by the participants based on their experiences during the training. It is acknowledged that some of the participant feedback concerned logistical aspects of the training. As the researchers evaluated the overall implementation and feasibility of the training, these logistical considerations were also taken into account when identifying areas for improvement.

4.3.1 Observations and general recommendations by facilitators of the training

Many observations and limitations were noted by the researchers during the training sessions. Some of these are included in this section and were considered for incorporation into the final version.

• It was observed in some training sessions that the organisers of the institute voluntarily made participants carry out activities that had not been planned by the researchers. Some of these activities were really interesting, however, and were added to the final version of the intervention after receiving positive feedback from participants.
• The intervention was initially planned in English, but trainers often had to switch to Urdu (a regional language of Pakistan) to explain concepts or answer questions in Urdu. Providing bilingual explanations was helpful when participants did not understand what to do in different activities. In future, it is planned that content will be provided in both languages.
• Teachers also reported difficulty understanding questions due to the language sometimes. Providing examples of answers along with a translation will be helpful.
• Occasionally, participants took a long time to complete the pre-tests, resulting in some sessions taking slightly longer than expected. As part of the final version, all module pre-tests will be taken together in the orientation session, saving time.
• Face-to-face training was preferred by many participants over online training. It is planned that the same or similar trainings will be conducted face-to-face in future.
• After the training ended, many participants did not complete the post-training evaluation. As their personal emails were not obtained, it was difficult to send them reminders. It is now planned that, before the end of every training module, a separate time will be allotted for post-tests.
• During discussions, participants often expressed an interest in similar sessions for parents and students. Similar sessions are planned for other groups.
• During some sessions, it was found that participants did not understand the activities. For example, based on Module V training, the post-test and feedback revealed that the main differences between competitive and non-competitive sports were not obvious. Participants were unable to identify sports of a competitive nature, even after explanations and examples were provided. To improve participants’ understanding, more examples and details will be provided in future. A new activity has been added in which participants will be provided with a list of games and asked to decide whether they are competitive or non-competitive.
• There were a large number of participants in Module VII (around 100) this time, so the question-and-answer session was overburdened, and therefore, the training time was extended a bit. Future training sessions will not have more than 25 participants per session. In addition, the organizers arranged it as a Webinar, so break out rooms were not accessible and group activities were not conducted. The training will be conducted with interactive breakout sessions to facilitate group activities in future sessions.
• Many participants shared their concerns during sessions about implementing learning, stating that policy implementation was an issue, and requested future sessions on this topic. During future sessions, administrators will also be kept informed.

4.3.2 Recommendations on the basis of the qualitative analysis of open-ended questions

In this section the recommendations based on verbatim quotes of the participants will be highlighted. Thematic analysis was used to identify the emerging themes.

4.3.2.1 Cyberbullying in the Pakistani context

During Module III training, which focused on addressing cyberbullying, participants shared their feedback about quoting more examples of Pakistani students or children, due to the difference in social and cultural context from international regions. Participant stated:

“The training can be improved further by giving examples of Pakistani students or children because we have different environment than others.”

Since data is limited in terms of Pakistan's context, the module will be continually updated with more research in the field. Furthermore, some participants suggested that cyberbullying should have more elaborate consequences. Participant stated:

“Give excessive information about cyber bullying to people which harm and hurt them. It should be taken seriously as it does have a lot of dangerous effects on the victim”.

Due to the detailed discussion of consequences of bullying and cyberbullying in the first module training, the final group will not have this reservation.

4.3.2.2 Inclusion of real-life scenarios and video examples

Based on feedback from participants in Module IV and Module VI trainings, more pictorial examples, real-life scenarios, and video examples are added to the final version. Participants stated:

“Training can be improved by showing some video as example and by more practical real life-based exercises.”

“Workshop have been improved by suggesting more real-life scenarios (case study).”

“It can be improved by even more practical examples.”

Since case studies have been incorporated in other modules (I, II, VIII), this reservation does not apply to the final group of teachers.

4.3.2.3 Workplace bullying and women harassment

Many of the participants requested that training on workplace bullying control with a focus on women's context should be added. Participants stated:

“Organize the workshop or training on how to avoid cyber bulling among women.”

“Do arrange more workshop for women specially how they overcome bullying”

“At the work place, many times, employees feel uncomfortable due to the inappropriate and unnecessary comments from others, this may be the part of the future session. Highlight how to manage such situations etc.”

Trainings on teacher bullying and workplace bullying are slated for future research. These sessions will also cover some safe practices aimed at reducing harassment of women.

4.3.2.4 Sharing content in advance

There were also requests from participants to share activities, slides and reading materials before the training so that they would be able to participate more effectively. Participants quoted:

“If activities be shared one day before roles can be performed in better way.”

“Trainings can be improved by informing participants about research in advance before training.”

Despite the recommendation, it could not be implemented because judging the learning of participants during sessions would be difficult if materials had been shared before.

4.3.2.5 Technical issues during sessions

Participants from Module VI experienced connectivity issues or technical difficulties while playing videos. Participants expressed:

“There were so many connectivity issues and technical errors while playing videos.”

“It's an excellent workshop, but the videos the host is trying to show us are not audible, so make it better.”

“Technical improvement is needed.”

“The videos played in the workshop were not audible, which was a technical issue, but other than that, everything was great as it should be!”

There was a technical issue with the sound of the videos, which has been resolved and will not occur again in the final version.

4.3.2.6 Facilitation through regional language

Some of the participants also suggested subtitles in Urdu or conducting the session in the Urdu language. Participants expressed their opinion as:

“You should also give subtitles in Urdu.”

“The facilitator should use our traditional language, Urdu so that participants can easily understand.”

“Explanation in Urdu is compulsory.”

“There are also some participants among us who can't understand English much ..so you should also add a few more sentences in Urdu while speaking, so that every student can understand it”.

Since it was a live session, it was not possible to have subtitles but, bilingual sessions will be conducted in the future to facilitate participants with language difficulties.

4.3.2.7 Facilitation for participants with special education needs

In the training for Module VIII, many of the participants were special education teachers, and some of them have special needs. They mentioned that organizers need to consider children and people with disabilities, such as a child with visual impairment who cannot see the video and slides. Participant expressed:

“Workshop should also consider children/ persons with disabilities such as a student with visual impairment, who can't see the video and slides. But if there's any possibility to share the PPT before the session, then it definitely helps the students to gain a full understanding.”

Since it was not informed that some of the participants had visual impairment, it will be considered to introduce strategies to facilitate such participants. These strategies will include increasing font size, or providing materials in braille, etc. Furthermore, organizers will make sure to have information about participants with special needs beforehand.

4.3.2.8 Time extension of the sessions

Some participants also suggested extending the time and presenting recorded lectures and slides. Participants expressed:

“When giving the tasks, you can increase the time.”

“It can be improved by increasing the time and by giving recorded lectures and slides.”

“It was a bit overloaded with lots of activities which could be reduced as per the time constraint.”

The session time duration was increased from 3 h to 4 h in the final version. It was also decided that all future sessions will be recorded and will be shared with participants after the training.

It is important to reiterate that, because different groups attended different trainings, some of the requests raised by participants had already been addressed in other trainings. For example, participants who attended Training 3 requested a discussion of the consequences of bullying for victims; however, this topic had already been covered in detail in Training 1. Therefore, no additional content, revisions, or modifications were required in this regard. Nevertheless, several other suggestions raised by participants were carefully considered and incorporated into the final versions of the trainings.

The modifications included the following: It is also important to note that not all participant requests could be incorporated. For example, requests to provide subtitles or presentation materials in advance were not implemented due to feasibility constraints and concerns regarding the integrity of the evaluation process. Providing materials in advance could potentially influence participants' responses and, consequently, affect the validity of the training evaluation. Therefore, these requests were not incorporated into the final training design.

• Additional activities introduced by the organisers, which were not part of the researchers’ original training plans, were incorporated where appropriate.
• The training content and pre- and post-training questions were translated into Urdu and provided in both English and Urdu.
• To save time during the orientation session, the pre-test questions for all trainings were combined. In the final version, participants were required to complete the pre-training questions for all trainings together.
• Some questions were reformatted, with possible examples or sample responses provided alongside the questions to facilitate participants’ understanding and responses.
• Dedicated time was allocated at the end of each training session to ensure that all participants completed the post-test.
• Additional examples were developed for selected topics to facilitate participants’ understanding of the content.
• Based on teachers’ requests, future training cohorts will include not only teachers but also school administrators. This is intended to support teachers in implementing training-related practices and, where appropriate, modifying relevant school policies.
• Additional examples from local contexts were incorporated into the training materials in response to participants’ requests, thereby making the content more contextually relevant.
• Technical issues related to video sound and playback were addressed.
• Future sessions will be conducted bilingually to improve accessibility and comprehension.
• Information regarding participants’ special educational needs will be collected in advance for future training sessions so that appropriate accommodations can be arranged.
• The duration of the training sessions was extended from three to four hours to allow sufficient time for content delivery, activities, discussion, and assessment.

5 Findings and discussion

This study presents the initial findings of the first contextualised intervention developed for Pakistani educational institutions. The study presents preliminary findings on the outcomes of an online pilot program, which aimed to improve educators' knowledge and professional acceptance through 32 h of intensive training across eight specialised modules. In addition, the strength of the study lies in the fact that this study provides the first empirical evidence that a culturally adapted antibullying training program can significantly improve teacher knowledge in Pakistan. The pilot demonstrated significant improvements in participants’ knowledge of bullying and intervention strategies in seven out of eight training sessions, with most participants expressing satisfaction with the content. Furthermore, the valuable insights provided by participants in their feedback were used to refine and strengthen the training design for future implementation and evaluation.

Bullying and cyberbullying remain widespread in Pakistani educational institutions, posing an urgent need for intervention to protect students from severe, long-term psychological consequences (Ahmed et al., 2023; Shahid et al., 2022; Siddiqui et al., 2025). In response, the Sohanjana Antibullying Intervention was developed as the first program specifically designed for the Pakistani teaching workforce that is also culturally contextualised (Siddiqui et al., 2023c). Cultural adaptation involves modifying an intervention to achieve cultural and contextual fit while preserving its core mechanisms (Castro et al., 2004; Chu and Leino, 2017). Such adaptations can improve engagement, feasibility, and acceptability by aligning intervention content and delivery with participants' sociocultural realities. More recent frameworks also recognize practitioners as active agents in adapting delivery, pacing, activities, and interaction patterns to local educational contexts while maintaining intervention fidelity (Day et al., 2023; Wiltsey Stirman et al., 2019). Consistent with this approach, the current intervention retained its core mechanisms while incorporating culturally relevant content, examples, activities, and delivery strategies to enhance its acceptability and relevance for teachers in the Pakistani school context. Thus, cultural adaptation was integrated into the intervention design not as a modification of its fundamental principles, but as a means of ensuring that these principles could be effectively understood, accepted, and implemented within the local context.

Each module was piloted with a different group of educational staff in Pakistan to gather feedback and suggestions from various perspectives, as well as to assess their knowledge of the training content through pre- and post-tests. This design allowed to examine the effects of each single module independently of individual additive improvements of the participants. The Wilcoxon sum-of-means test showed significant improvement in participants' knowledge and skills related to the bullying intervention in all modules except one. The module eight which focused on counseling strategies, did not yield significant results, although the mean scores did show improvement. International evidence suggests that while teacher-centric anti-bullying interventions consistently augment trainees' pedagogical knowledge (Guarini et al., 2019), their efficacy in reducing actual bullying incidents remains contingent upon diverse contextual factors (Del Rey et al., 2019). Although the present study did not assess the direct longitudinal effects of the intervention on school-wide victimization rates, the pilot phase demonstrated substantial improvements in participants’ knowledge across several key domains. These included recognizing signs of victimization and perpetration; understanding the underlying mechanisms and motivations associated with bullying; identifying the impact of cyberbullying and strategies for addressing it; using non-competitive sports to promote a conducive school environment; and developing policies for school-wide implementation, among other components. In particular, teachers showed significant gains in understanding the typologies, consequences, and motivations underlying bullying, as well as the practical strategies introduced during the training. Thus, consistent with international evidence, the pilot findings suggest that the intervention may have contributed to improvements in teachers' knowledge and perceived preparedness to address bullying. However, these findings should be interpreted cautiously given the pilot design and the absence of a control group.

The participants of the module VIII online training were from one of the leading universities in the field of education in Lahore metropolis and it is possible that their prior knowledge about counseling was much higher, hence no significant results were recorded. During the feedback session, it was also found that a small number of Module VIII teachers had special educational needs backgrounds. These teachers not only taught children with special educational needs, but had special educational needs themselves. During the feedback process, it was noted that some of these participants experienced difficulties with reading, which may have influenced their ability to fully engage with the training materials. This may partly explain why Module VIII did not demonstrate statistically significant improvements in the pre–post evaluation. To minimize the risk of Type I errors, a stricter significance threshold was applied using the Bonferroni correction. Even after this adjustment, four training modules still showed a significant improvement in participants' knowledge.

The findings of the present pilot should also be interpreted in relation to the broader international evidence on antibullying interventions. The significant improvement in participants' knowledge and understanding is consistent with research suggesting that structured training can strengthen educators' capacity to recognize bullying (Chen et al., 2017), understand its underlying mechanisms, and apply appropriate prevention and response strategies (Panosso et al., 2023; Waasdorp et al., 2021). Importantly, the present findings extend this evidence to the Pakistani context, where context-specific antibullying training remains limited (Naveed et al., 2020). Rather than simply replicating approaches developed elsewhere, the intervention retained evidence-informed core components while adapting their content and delivery to the local educational and sociocultural context. The positive knowledge-related outcomes therefore provide preliminary support for the feasibility of combining internationally informed intervention principles with culturally responsive implementation. At the same time, the findings should not be interpreted as evidence of a direct reduction in bullying or victimization. Instead, they indicate that the pilot was successful in strengthening an important prerequisite for effective school-based prevention: teachers' knowledge and preparedness to recognize and respond to bullying (Forber-Pratt et al., 2024; Pas et al., 2019). This distinction is important because international research suggests that improvements in professional knowledge represent an initial step, while sustained changes in school practices and student-level outcomes require longer-term implementation, fidelity-sensitive follow-up on school practice and evaluation (Liu and Phelps, 2020; Schwarzer et al., 2025).

One of the main purposes of the study was to evaluate the test materials used to assess participants' knowledge improvement through pre- and post-test results. On closer inspection of the results of the pre-post test questions, more errors were observed in the open-ended questions, suggesting that the questions need to be rephrased or explained with more examples. Siddiqui et al. (2021a) reported that the majority of people in Pakistan are unable to communicate, understand, or write in English, and therefore, using English-language questionnaires for Pakistanis may not be feasible. Considering that the questions were in English and the answers had to be reported in English, it is possible that the participants either misunderstood the questions, were reluctant to answer them or could not justify their opinions in a foreign language. As a result, for future implementation of the intervention design and for further training, the questions will be reformulated and not only explained in more detail, but also translated into Urdu, the national language of Pakistan. Despite the errors reported in the open-ended questions, the statistical results showed a significant improvement and we conclude that the Sohanjana Anti-Bullying Intervention is ready for final implementation and training of teachers in Pakistan to counter bullying and mitigate this problem in Pakistan's education system.

In addition to evaluating differences in understanding of the content among participants from pre-posttests, their feedback also helped to improve the training before the final implementation of the intervention. The feedback questions indicate that the majority of the participants' expectations were met and that most of the participants were satisfied with the objectives, content, activities, organization and response to the questions in each module. Overall, about three-quarters of participants rated the intervention as excellent, while the rest considered it a good attempt. Feedback from open-ended questions led to the following recommendations and suggestions.

6 Conclusion

This study adds to the growing body of evidence on school-based antibullying prevention programs by demonstrating the potential value of structured, culturally responsive teacher professional development in a Pakistani context. The findings suggest that teachers could benefit from comprehensive training to strengthen their understanding of bullying and victimization, and to equip them with practical prevention and intervention strategies. More broadly, the study emphasizes the need to move beyond isolated awareness initiatives towards sustained professional development, enabling teachers to address bullying as the complex phenomenon it is, requiring proactive, reactive and school-wide responses. A key strength of the study is its integration of internationally informed evidence and theoretical principles with the sociocultural and educational realities of Pakistan. The positive outcomes of the pilot suggest that evidence-based approaches can be adapted to local contexts while maintaining their core principles, thereby enhancing their relevance, acceptability and potential for implementation. The intervention therefore provides a foundation for the development of culturally responsive antibullying initiatives in contexts where locally tailored programs remain limited. Further large-scale and longitudinal evaluation is needed to determine the intervention's effect on actual bullying and victimization. However, the present study provides an important initial step towards strengthening schools' capacity to prevent and respond to bullying in Pakistan. The findings have implications for teacher education, school policy and the development of future interventions, emphasising the need for sustained investment in contextually appropriate professional development, and for comprehensive, culturally adapted approaches to creating safer, more supportive school environments.

7 Recommendations

• Given the multilingual context of Pakistan, future implementation should adapt the intervention and assessment tools by translating them into Urdu and relevant regional languages to improve accessibility and participation.
• Some sessions took longer than expected due to delays in completing pre-tests, while several participants did not complete the post-tests. In future implementation, pre-tests will be administered during orientation and post-tests during the training to improve time efficiency and completion rates.
• Bhatti and Ahmed (2021); Naseer and Chaudhary (2021) have reported that in addition to student bullying within educational institutions, teacher bullying and workplace bullying are also common occurrences. Thus, the content of Sohanjana Antibullying Intervention will be expanded to address these emerging issues in the future.
• It is important to assess teachers’ prior knowledge of bullying and intervention strategies before engaging them in such training programs. This pre-assessment is crucial in order to accurately determine the true effectiveness of the intervention. Therefore, it is recommended that future studies include a demographic question regarding previous training in this area to account for any prior exposure that may influence the effectiveness of the intervention.

8 Limitations of the study

The study also faced several limitations, which are discussed below.

The study used a module-based pre-post design, but did not maintain a consistent group of participants across all modules. Because different groups attended different sessions and the pilot phase did not include a control group, it was not possible to assess cumulative learning or determine the overall effectiveness of the intervention over time. Although using new groups of participants for each session allows to examine the specific effects of each session, it does not allow conclusions about the overall development and effectiveness of the whole program across time. Consequently, module-specific findings should not be interpreted as directly comparable across modules, as differences may reflect variation in participant characteristics as well as modifications to the intervention and its delivery. Although this iterative process is appropriate for pilot intervention development, it limits the extent to which changes observed across individual modules can be attributed solely to the content of those modules. Also, the composition of the samples differed across sessions which does not allow comparisons across the individual sessions of the program. This approach was chosen because no institution was willing to offer up the extensive number of classes need to test the whole program without proof of its effectiveness. We would like to point out that the full training programme was later implemented and evaluated with a single group of teachers. For more information, see the study by Siddiqui and Schultze-Krumbholz (2026).

The small sample sizes in each group may have limited statistical power and increased the risk of both Type I and Type II errors, and it is recommended that in the future sample sizes should be large enough to allow for more robust interpretations.

The timing of the pre- and post-tests also limits the interpretation of the findings. As assessments were administered immediately before and after each training session, the results primarily reflect short-term knowledge acquisition and do not establish whether the learning was retained over time or translated into changes in teachers' practices or behaviour. Future evaluations should incorporate longer-term follow-up assessments to examine knowledge retention and determine whether improvements in teacher knowledge contribute to sustained changes in intervention practices and reductions in bullying and victimization.

Open-ended questions can be difficult to analyze and score, and there is a possibility of bias correction. In the current study, the researchers themselves marked both the pre- and post-surveys, and there is a possibility of bias, especially with open-ended questions. Although it is advisable to have one or more other colleagues review these questions, we did not have the resources to do this. To overcome this limitation, we developed a set of model responses prior to trainings and the pre-posttests, and participants' responses were scored against these.

One of the other limitations is that this study did not collect detailed demographic data on participants, as a result the analysis does not account for potential covariates, which could influence the outcomes. However, it was explicitly communicated to the department heads responsible for registration that participants should be affiliated with the education department. Nevertheless, collecting additional demographic information during registration - such as age, years of experience and teaching level - would have provided a deeper understanding of how these factors influence the effectiveness of the intervention. We recommend collecting detailed demographic information from participants and apply advanced statistical methods, such as ANCOVA or regression analysis, to determine whether the observed improvements are truly attributable to the training rather than participant characteristics.

This research study was part of the development and implementation of a contextualized intervention, a pioneering effort aimed at reducing bullying and victimization in Pakistan. It is hoped that such initiatives will inspire and pave the way for further efforts to support Pakistani students in the future. For detailed results of the implementation evaluations, please refer to (Siddiqui and Schultze-Krumbholz, 2025, 2026).

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Footnotes

Edited by: Enrico Bocciolesi, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, DISTUM, Italy

Reviewed by: Inês Sousa, University of Porto, Portugal

Sandra Perez Hernandez, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico

Abbreviations U.S: United States; e.g., Exempli gratia/example; et al., Et alii/and others; etc., Et cetera/and the rest/and so on; SPSS, statistical package for the social sciences; EI, emotional intelligence; ANCOVA, analysis of covariance; APA, American Psychological Association; No., number; N, number of participants.