AUTHOR=Sun Xiaohan , Zhao Hang 

TITLE=The impact of anti-bullying laws on children’s social-behavioral skills

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1550736

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1550736

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Bullying and violence, both on and off campuses, significantly impact children’s well-being. To address school bullying, every U.S. state gradually developed and implemented school anti-bullying laws (ABLs) and regulations between 2000 and 2015. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of ABLs using a difference-in-differences model and nationally representative samples of U.S. elementary school children. While state ABLs show limited overall effects on children’s social-behavioral skills, significant improvements are observed in self-control and interpersonal skills among low-income children, along with reduced externalizing behaviors among Hispanic children. States with strong or moderate ABLs show greater improvements in children’s interpersonal skills compared to states with weaker policies. These findings indicate social disparities in school bullying outcomes and highlight the importance of stronger policy enforcement.