Abstract
Future orientation can be defined as an individual’s thoughts, beliefs, plans, and hopes for the future. Earlier research has shown adolescents’ future orientation to predict outcomes later in life, which makes it relevant to analyze differences in future orientation among youth. The aim of the present study was to analyze if bullying victimization was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting a pessimistic future orientation among school youth. To be able to distinguish between victims and bully-victims (i.e., students who are both bullies and victims), we also took perpetration into account. The data were derived from the Stockholm School Survey performed in 2016 among ninth grade students (ages 15–16 years) (n = 5144). Future orientation and involvement in school bullying and in cyberbullying were based on self-reports. The statistical method used was binary logistic regression. The results demonstrated that victims and bully-victims of school bullying and of cyberbullying were more likely to report a pessimistic future orientation compared with students not involved in bullying. These associations were shown also when involvement in school bullying and cyberbullying were mutually adjusted. The findings underline the importance of anti-bullying measures that target both school bullying and cyberbullying.
Highlights
Future orientation can be defined as an individual’s thoughts, beliefs, plans, and hopes for the future [1]
Using recent survey data collected among students in Stockholm, we showed that both victims and bully-victims of school bullying and of cyberbullying were more likely to report a pessimistic future orientation than those who were not involved in bullying
In support of earlier studies of the associations between different forms of bullying and psychological health [23,26,29,30,31], we found that being a victim or a bully-victim of school bullying or of cyberbullying demonstrated independent associations with the likelihood of reporting a pessimistic future orientation
Summary
Future orientation can be defined as an individual’s thoughts, beliefs, plans, and hopes for the future [1]. While people formulate beliefs and hopes for the future across the entire life course, thoughts and plans about one’s future are of special relevance during adolescence and young adulthood, as this is a period of life when people tend to choose a direction for their education, occupation, and other central aspects of life [2,3]. Future orientation can be separated into three components: a cognitive, a motivational, and an affective one. The affective component, referring to the degree of optimism or pessimism towards one’s future, is the most commonly studied aspect of future orientation [4]. The affective component of future orientation is the one focused upon in the present study. Adjusting for household socioeconomic status in childhood, adolescents’
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