Deconstructing Traditional Bullying, Cyberbullying and Psychological Distress among LGBT and Heterosexual Adolescents in South Africa

Abstract

Bullying and psychological distress among adolescents are considered serious social and public health concerns. Several research works concerning psychological distress among adolescents as a result of bullying experiences have been conducted but not many studies explore the differences in the bullying experiences of LGBT adolescents and their heterosexual counterparts. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the comparative analyses of traditional bullying, cyberbullying, and psychological distress among heterosexual and LGBT adolescents in South Africa. The study adopted an ex-post-facto research design. A total of 140 respondents (73.6% self-identified as heterosexual and 26.4% as LGBT adolescents) who are students, were engaged using purposive random sampling. Participants completed the bullying victimisation components (B1 for the traditional bullying scale and B2 for cyberbullying scale) and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10), which measures psychological distress among the study participants. Findings revealed that sexual orientations and gender identities do not significantly influence traditional-bullying victimisation among adolescents (t = 0.065, df = 138, p > .05). However, further analysis revealed that LGBT adolescents (ẋ=53.44; SD=05.03) reported higher experiences of cyberbullying, compared to their heterosexual counterparts (ẋ=45.84; SD=06.57). Consequently, LGBT adolescents (ẋ=30.28; SD=0.75) reported higher experiences of psychological distress because of cyberbullying victimisation, compared to their heterosexual counterparts (ẋ=24.87; SD=03.15). It is recommended that psychological assessments and insightful counselling should be encouraged among LGBT adolescents. The purposeful intervention might enable early identification of psychological problems, and in turn, enables early psychosocial interventions that will address the prevailing psychological distress experienced among LGBT adolescents because of bullying victimisation. Keywords: Bullying; LGBT; Heterosexual; Psychological Distress; Adolescents