Collaborative Guidance and Counseling and Bullying Prevention in Southeast Asian Schools: The Mediating Role of Social Support Systems

Abstract

Bullying in schools is a serious issue that can disrupt students’ social, emotional, and academic development. Therefore, comprehensive prevention efforts involving multiple stakeholders within the educational environment are required. This study aims to analyze the role of social support systems in the relationship between collaborative guidance and counseling and bullying prevention in schools. This research employed a quantitative approach using a survey method involving 612 secondary school students from three Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia (214 students), Malaysia (198 students), and Thailand (200 students). The respondents consisted of 52% females and 48% males, aged between 14 and 17 years. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling based on Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM) and multi-group analysis to examine the consistency of the model across countries. The results indicate that collaborative guidance and counseling has a positive and significant effect on bullying prevention. Furthermore, collaborative guidance and counseling also shows a strong influence on the social support system, which in turn has a significant effect on bullying prevention. Mediation analysis reveals that the social support system functions as a partial mediator in the relationship between collaborative guidance and counseling and bullying prevention. Cross-country analysis demonstrates that the proposed model is consistent across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, indicating the stability of the relationships among variables across different cultural contexts. These findings highlight the importance of a collaborative guidance and counseling approach supported by a strong social support system in creating a safe and bullying-free school environment