Prevalence and associated factors of traditional bully among population-based sample of secondary school students in rural community, Thailand

Abstract

Introduction The bullying problem in schools is well-known to students, teachers, educational personnel and parents. School bullying is a serious personal, social and academic problem that affects a substantial proportion of school children. Traditional bullying in school is a new public health concern of adolescents. However, the study of traditional bullying in Thailand is still limited. The objective of the study is to determine the prevalence and associated factors of traditional bullying perpetrator and victimization among secondary school in Chachoengsao province, Thailand. Methods Cross-sectional study was performed during December 2017 to January 2018 among 12 secondary schools in Chachoengsao province, Thailand. Participants completed a standardized questionnaire on their activities and factors related to traditional bullying. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify potential risk factors for traditional bullying. Results A total of 4928 secondary school students were participated into the study. Of those 1592 (32.31%) reported as being traditional victimization, 1506 (30.56%) reported as being traditional perpetrator and 1180 (23.94%) reported as being dual perpetrator and victimization. Victim was significantly associated with male (OR = 1.79), internet addiction (OR = 1.214), cyber-bullied (OR = 2.65), cyber-bullying (OR = 2.062), control using internet (OR = 1.31), private school (OR = 1.41), GPA Conclusion Our study indicated that the traditional bullying is high prevalence, with the result we provide evidence that there were association between traditional bullying with various risk factor behavior included alcohol usage, internet addiction. This event also cause the anxiety in victim and also perpetrator. Therefore, the intervention that aim to reduce traditional bullying must be changed because it can not decrease the prevalence of traditional bullying. Further research is needed to find the mechanism of perpetrator and more specific factor that cause to increase the prevalence of traditional bullying, and to investigate the correlation of internet addiction with traditional bullying.