Bullying Victimization Problems Research Articles

Bullying-victimization problems and aggressive tendencies in Spanish secondary schools students: the role of gender stereotypical traits

This paper presents data concerning culturally prescribed gender traits and their influence on bullying/victimization problems and aggressive tendencies from a wide sample of 1,654 Spanish adolescents. The aims of this study were to clarify the effect of masculine traits on male and female secondary students’ aggression, and also to explore the role of feminine traits in either the inhibition of aggression or the use of more covert forms. Results show that masculine stereotypical traits are related more strongly with bully perpetration, proneness to aggression and experience of anger and hostility in both sexes. In contrast, traditional feminine traits are negatively related with bullying perpetration and proneness to aggression. However, feminine traits are linked to male students’ victimization. Results are discussed in the light of previous findings and are taken into consideration in the design of intervention practices in secondary schools.

Outcomes of a curriculum‐based anti‐bullying intervention program on students' attitudes and behavior

The aim of this paper was to examine the short‐term and long‐term effects of a curriculum‐based anti‐bullying intervention program on students' attitudes towards bullying, intentions to intervene in bully–victim problems, perceived efficacy of intervening and actual intervening behavior. The intervention program was applied in primary schools and was implemented by trained teachers within the classroom context. The sample consisted of 454 pupils drawn from fourth to sixth grade classrooms of 10 primary schools in central Greece. A quasi‐experimental pre‐test/post‐test design was used. The findings indicate positive short‐term program outcomes concerning students' attitudes towards bullies and victims, perceived efficacy of intervening in bully–victim incidents and actual rates of intervening behavior. However, the magnitude of the program effects was quite small, since the positive short‐term outcomes were not sustained in the long‐term (post‐test two measures). The results of the study also indicated clear time effects for attitudes towards bullies and victims, self‐efficacy of intervening and intention, as well as actual intervening behavior. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for anti‐bullying interventions.

Predicting bullying and victimization among early adolescents: Associations with disruptive behavior disorders

AbstractBullying is a common problem faced by children and adolescents in schools. One hypothesis that needs to be examined regarding the causation of this problem is whether being a bully or a victim may stem from disparate underlying patterns of psychopathology. Results are particularly scarce regarding the association between bully‐victim problems and disruptive behavior disorders. The present study sought to investigate the association between DSM‐IV symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Conduct Disorder (CD), and bully‐victim problems in a sample of 202 adolescents, aged 12–15, attending two junior high schools in Cyprus, to determine whether these symptoms differentiate between bullies and victims and provide a new approach to the understanding of bully‐victim problems. Students completed measures of bullying, victimization, disruptive behavior disorder symptoms, and self‐esteem, along with demographic questions. On the basis of their responses, teenagers were classified as bullies, victims, or both bullies and victims. Those who were bully/victims reported greater CD symptomatology. CD and low self‐esteem were predictive of bullying, whereas ODD and low self‐esteem were predictive of victimization. Aggr. Behav. 30:520–533, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Resistance to Violence Prevention Interventions in Schools: Barriers and Solutions

Studies of the prevalence and impact of aggression among school-age children and adolescents document the pervasiveness of bully-victim problems and indicate clear linkages between bully-victim problems, psychological distress, and, in rare instances, lethal attacks on perceived tormentors or towards the self. Evidence is slowly accumulating to show how well-conceived school-based strategies can be effective in addressing bully-victim problems—if implemented and sustained. However, anecdotal evidence suggests many comprehensive school-based initiatives suffer from incomplete implementation, resulting in limited effectiveness. We propose that multiple factors nested within different levels of social ecological complexity (e.g., individual, school, community, and culture) limit the widespread use of schoolwide approaches to reducing bully–victim–bystander problems. Challenges arise at each of these levels and can potentially thwart efforts to produce meaningful changes in the problems of peer victimization in and around school. Drawing from efforts to implement and evaluate bully–victim–bystander programs, we describe a core set of potential barriers at each ecological level and offer possible strategies for action.

Parental Maltreatment and Emotion Dysregulation as Risk Factors for Bullying and Victimization in Middle Childhood

Examined whether children who were maltreated by caregivers were more likely to bully others and to be at risk for victimization by peers. An additional focus was to investigate emotion's role in bullying and victimization among children at risk. Participants were 169 maltreated and 98 nonmaltreated boys and girls attending a summer day camp for inner-city children. As predicted, maltreated children were more likely than nonmaltreated children to bully other children. Bullying was especially prevalent among abused children who experienced maltreating acts of commission (physical or sexual abuse). Maltreatment also placed children at risk for victimization by peers. Gender did not moderate these findings, in that maltreated boys and girls appeared to be at similar risk for bullying and victimization. As expected, both bullies and victims evidenced problems with emotion regulation. Furthermore, logistic regression analyses suggested that emotion dysregulation made a unique contribution toward differentiating bullies and victims from children who did not evidence bully-victim problems. In addition, maltreatment's effects on children's risk for bullying and victimization were mediated by emotion dysregulation.

Suicidal ideation among adolescent school children, involvement in bully-victim problems, and perceived social support.

Relationships among suicidal ideation, involvement in bully-victim problems at school, and perceived social support were investigated with samples of adolescent students (N = 1103 and N = 845) attending secondary school in South Australia. Results obtained from self-reports and peer nomination procedures to identify bullies and victims indicated that involvement in bully-victim problems at school, especially for students with relatively little social support, was significantly related to degree of suicidal ideation.

Suicidal ideation and bullying among Australian secondary school students

AbstractBully-victim problems at school may have negative effects on students' mental health. Adolescents (N = 845) attending schools in South Australia anonymously answered questionnaires that included a measure of suicidal ideation. Student involvement in bully-victim problems at school and the emotional reaction to being viaimised by peers were also examined. Self-report but not peer nomination indicated that high levels of peer victimisation and relatively ineffective coping responses were independently and significantly associated with suicidal ideation. Implications for school policies and practices to address the issue of youth suicide are discussed.

Bully/victim problems and their association with Eysenck's personality dimensions in 8 to 13 year-olds.

Previous research which has investigated the association between bully-victim problems and Eysenck's personality dimensions has shown an association between victimisation and introversion and an association between bullying and psychoticism (Slee & Rigby, 1993). The aim of the present study was to replicate these findings and to extend the investigation of the association between bully/victim problems and personality to children who are classified as both bullies and victims. One hundred and seventy nine children ranging in age from 8 to 13 years (mean age = 11 years) completed the Bullying-Behaviour Scale and the Peer-Victimization Scale (Austin & Joseph, 1996), the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC: Harter, 1985), and the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ Junior: Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975). Forty-nine per cent of children were classified as involved in bullying either as bullies (11 per cent), victims (20 per cent), or bully/victims (18 per cent). Bullies scored lower on the lie scale, victims scored lower on the extraversion scale, and bully/victims scored higher on the neuroticism and psychoticism scales than children who were classified as not involved in bullying. These data provide evidence that bully/victims are a distinct group from either bullies or victims and that they may be the group of children who are most readily distinguished in terms of personality.

Assessment of bully/victim problems in 8 to 11 year‐olds

The aim of the present study was to develop two six-item self-report scales (the Bullying-Behaviour Scale and the Peer-Victimisation Scale) to assess bully-victim problems at school. These scales were designed so that they could be immersed within the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC: Harter, 1985) thus reducing the saliency of the items. Internal reliability of both scales was found to be satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83 and 0.82 respectively). Data are reported on the association between scores on both scales and scores on the SPPC and the Birleson Depression Inventory (Birleson, 1981) with 425 children (204 boys and 221 girls) ranging from 8 to 11 years (mean = 9.2 years). Forty-six per cent of the children were classified as bullies, victims, or both: 22 per cent were classified as victims only, 15 per cent as bully/victims, and 9 per cent as bullies only.

Bully/Victim Problems Among Middle School Children

Following the innovative research by Olweus (1978), there has been a growing concern among educators and researchers with bully-victim problems during childhood. Bullying, as a class of behaviors, can be conceptualized in a number of different ways. In this article, we agree with the way it is viewed by Smith and Thompson (1991). They stated, … can be taken to be a subset of aggressive behavior. As with aggressive behavior generally, bullying intentionally causes hurt to the recipient. This hurt can be both physical or psychological (p. 1). In addition, they stated that three further criteria particularly distinguish bullying—that it is unprovoked, that it occurs repeatedly, and that the bully is stronger than the victim or is perceived to be stronger. Quantitative data on the extent of such problems in various European countries and elsewhere are disturbing. For example, Olweus (1987) developed an anonymous questionnaire, and in an extensive study involving 140,000 Norwegian students aged betw...