How teachers respond to school bullying: An examination of self-reported intervention strategy use, moderator effects, and concurrent use of multiple strategies Christoph Burger a, b, * , Dagmar Strohmeier c , Nina Spr € ober d , Sheri Bauman e , Ken Rigby f a Department of Applied Psychology: Work, Education and Economy, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Universit€ atsstraße 7, A-1010 Vienna, Austria b Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, A-1010 Vienna, Austria c University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Garnisonstraße 21, A-4020 Linz, Austria d Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, Steinhoevelstrasse 5, 89075 Ulm, Germany e Department of Educational Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721e0029, USA f University of South Australia, Underdale Campus, Holbrooks Road, Underdale, S. A. 5032, Australia highlights  Teachers' use of intervention strategies in a hypothetical bullying case is examined.  Strategies are mainly authority-based, followed by non-punitive work with bullies.  Teachers are less likely to work with victims or ignore the incident.  Strategy use is moderated by teachers' gender and teaching experience.  Implications for bullying prevention programs and teacher education are discussed. article info Article history: Received 18 August 2014 Received in revised form 6 July 2015 Accepted 7 July 2015 Available online 26 July 2015 Keywords: Bullying School violence Victimization Teacher response Anti-bullying intervention Intervention strategies Configural frequency analysis Handling bullying questionnaire (HBQ) abstract Teachers' (N ¼ 625; 74% female) use of intervention strategies was examined in a hypothetical bullying episode. Self-reported strategies were best described by a five-factor structure. Teachers preferred authority-based interventions, followed by non-punitive work with bullies and involvement of other adults. They were less likely to work with victims or ignore the incident. About 60% of teachers would apply authority-based interventions toward bullies without working with victims at the same time, while 3% would work with victims without using authority-based interventions toward bullies. Strategy use was moderated by teachers' gender and teaching experience. Implications for bullying prevention and teacher education are discussed. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Bullying is a pervasive problem in schools worldwide and is therefore a research topic of international interest. Previous research has shown that systematic whole-school approachesdin which teachers' intervention strategies play a major roledare crucial for bullying prevention (Ahtola, Haataja, K€ arn€ a, Poskiparta, & Salmivalli, 2012; Strohmeier & Noam, 2012; Veenstra, * Corresponding author. Department of Applied Psychology: Work, Education and Economy, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Universit€ atsstraße 7, A- 1010 Vienna, Austria. E-mail addresses: christoph.burger@univie.ac.at (C. Burger), dagmar. strohmeier@fh-linz.at (D. Strohmeier), nina.sproeber@uniklinik-ulm.de (N. Spr€ ober), sherib@email.arizona.edu (S. Bauman), ken.rigby@unisa.edu.au (K. Rigby). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Teaching and Teacher Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.07.004 0742-051X/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Teaching and Teacher Education 51 (2015) 191e202