THE ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS AND PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENTS AMONG THE PEER VICTIMISED ADOLESCENTS IN MALAYSIA: A POPULATION-BASED NATIONWIDE STUDY

Abstract


 
 
 The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of victimisation among Malaysian school-attending adolescents with the associated risk factors; and the psychosocial impacts among victims. All data was obtained from the Global School Health Survey Malaysia (GSHS-M), where 25,461 students aged 13-18 years and from 234 randomly selected schools were recruited using a two-stage cluster sampling design. Data were analysed descriptively and multivariable logistic regression using SPSS version 20.0. About one-fifth of the respondents reported being victimised at least once in the past 30-days. The most prevalent type of bullying is making fun of gender and body image. Multivariable logistic regression analysis substantiated that the likelihood of victimisation was higher among the boys, students of the lower secondary form, those without a close friend, and the obese respondents. In addition, victims without parental support were more likely to miss school (aOR 0.81, 95% CI 0.59-1.13), considered suicide (aOR 1.60, 95% CI 1.18-2.18), make a suicide plan (aOR 1.45, 95% CI 2.01-1.08), as well as attempted suicide at least once in the past 12 months (aOR 0.48, 95% CI 0.33-0.69). Overall, specially tailored intervention strategies are pivotal in addressing school bullying among secondary school-going adolescents, particularly to minimise the physical and psychosocial impact among the victims.