Abstract
Bullying is a major problem in schools and a large number of studies have demonstrated that victims have a high excess risk of poor mental health. It may however also affect those who are not directly victimized by peers. The present study investigates whether peer victimization among classmates is linked to internalizing problems, self-esteem, and life satisfaction at the individual level, when the student’s own victimization has been taken into account. The data were derived from the first wave of the Swedish part of Youth in Europe Study (YES!), including information on 4319 students in grade 8 (14–15 years of age) distributed across 242 classes. Results from multilevel analyses show a significant association between classes with a high proportion of students being victimized and higher levels of internalizing problems, lower self-esteem, and lower life satisfaction at the student level. This association holds when the student’s own victimization has been taken into account. This suggests that peer victimization negatively affects those who are directly exposed, as well as their classmates. We conclude that efficient methods and interventions to reduce bullying in school are likely to benefit not only those who are victimized, but all students.
Highlights
Bullying and peer victimization in the school setting is a problem that often has severe consequences for the exposed student’s mental health [1,2,3,4] and wellbeing [5,6]
Using Swedish survey data collected from students in grade 8, the present study shows that the class-level concentration of peer victimization was linked to higher levels of internalizing problems as well as to lower self-esteem and lower life satisfaction, even when peer victimization at the individual level was adjusted for
By analyzing three important aspects of well-being—internalizing problems, self-esteem, and life satisfaction—we conclude that the class-level concentration of peer victimization, over and above individual victimization, is negatively linked with emotional [13] and psychosomatic symptoms [11,12] as has been shown in earlier studies, and with mental well-being in a broader sense
Summary
Bullying and peer victimization in the school setting is a problem that often has severe consequences for the exposed student’s mental health [1,2,3,4] and wellbeing [5,6]. In Sweden, the proportion of students who are subjected to bullying at least 2–3 times a month has been estimated to be around 3–6%, with a further 10% experiencing peer victimization less frequently [7,8]. Holds special criteria when it comes to operationalization and measurement compared to the broader and less distinct term of ‘peer victimization’. It is arguably important to make a conceptual distinction between persistent and systematic exposure to bullying and more temporary and transient episodes of victimization—not least out of concern for the individual students in question. We use the term ‘peer victimization’ to underscore the fact that our measure does not make a strict distinction between those who are systematically bullied and those who are occasionally victimized by peers. Since our main question concerns ‘concentrations’ of peer victimization at the class level rather than individual victimization, a measure that captures as many manifestations of peer victimization as possible is preferable to a more restricted one [10]
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