Physical Bullying Victimization Research Articles

Online chat-support for bullying prevention and follow-up: an analysis of the characteristics of chat-users and their experiences

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to examine data registered at an online bullying support chat-service over a three-year period to determine the characteristics of users and their experiences. The service was contacted 12,687 times during this period, leading to 7,641 chat-dialogues with counsellors, 57% of which (n = 4,388) were directly related to bullying. Findings indicate that 76% of chat-users were female and 89% were victims of bullying (ages 12–17). The extent of bullying experienced was extensive, typically occurring on a daily basis at school. More than 30% had not sought help prior to contacting the service. Verbal, relational, and physical bullying were all common, although verbal bullying was by far the most prevalent, occurring in 65% of cases. Consistent with survey research on bullying, boys were significantly more likely than girls to have been the victims of physical bullying, while the opposite was true for relational bullying.

Demographic predictors of disciplinary sanctions among middle school victims of bullying: a quantitative correlation study

ABSTRACTBullying victimization is a very common, complex, and potentially damaging form of violence among children and adolescents. Bullying is defined as unwanted, aggressive behavior, which involves a real or perceived social power imbalance. One in 10 public schools reports at least one case of serious violent crime, such as aggressive bullying, cyberbullying, rape, robbery, fights involving weapons, and suicide each year. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects bullying victimization has on students’ school disciplinary sanctions (suspensions, office referrals, and expulsions) by examining a national data set that consisted of 13,965 students. This study used a correlation design. The independent predictor variables used to examine bullying victimization among middle school students in this national data set were age, race, gender socioeconomic status (SES), and physical and emotional bullying victimization. The dependent criterion variable was disciplinary sanctions. The study results indicated that race, gender, age, and socioeconomic status collectively predict middle school students’ disciplinary sanctions (suspensions, office referrals, and expulsions) among those who have experienced emotional and physical bullying victimization on a national level. Policymakers may use the study results to implement strategies that may be used to reduce physical bullying in learning institutions.

A Survey of Bullying Experiences in a Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinic Population

AbstractObjectivesThe study hypothesis is that regardless of "zero-tolerance policies," bullying is still occurring in schools. The study objective is to assess the prevalence of bullying in a child and adolescent psychiatric clinic patient population and gather information from students about their experiences with bullying, the response of school staff, and results of corrective actions taken.MethodsA proposal was approved by the University of Missouri Internal Review Board to conduct this study. 101 randomly selected patients who are students in the mid-Missouri area were interviewed at the University of Missouri Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic. All school districts in the surveyed area currently endorse a zero-tolerance bullying policy. After obtaining a guardian’s consent, each participant was asked a standard series of questions inquiring whether they had been bullied ever or in the past 12 months, bullied someone else, or witnessed bullying. Details including category, location, and action taken were also collected.ResultsOf the 101 study participants, 80% reported having been bullied at some point in their lifetime and 49% in the past year. The most common form of bullying was emotional/verbal, which was reported by 77 participants. 43 participants reported they had been victims of physical bullying. 25 participants reported cyber bullying and 11 reported sexual bullying. Of the 81 patients who reported experiencing bullying, 52% were male and 48% were female. The study population was 75% Caucasian, 11% African American, 7% biracial, and 7% other. The bullied population was 80% Caucasian, 11% African American, 4% biracial, and 5% other. When asked where at school bullying occurs the most, responses were as follows: 23% playground, 21% classroom, 20% hallway, 13% lunchroom, 11% restroom, and 13% somewhere else. 66.3% of participants reported never having bullied someone and 74% of participants responded that they would intervene if they saw someone getting bullied. 67 participants reported that they had previously acted against bullying, and 37% of these stated nothing happened as a result of their action. 22% of participants got the bully to stop and 13% got them to stop temporarily. 16% reported that their bully got in trouble, but 9% reported they themselves got in trouble after taking action.ConclusionsDespite zero-tolerance policies in place, a significant portion of bullied students reported that no action was taken even after reporting their bully. The threat of suspension or expulsion for the child accused may prevent school staff from taking these reports more seriously. Evidence-based methods, such as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, are recommended to prevent bullying victimization. Many of these methods focus on creating a safe, inclusive environment by positively reinforcing expected behavior. There is also substantial evidence that educational programs can be successful in bullying reduction. As demonstrated by the results of this study, zero-tolerance policies alone are not sufficient bullying prevention. Revision to current policy is necessary to protect students in schools.FundingNo Funding

Causal determinants of complex PTSD in Syrian refugee children living in informal settlements in Lebanon

IntroductionDisplaced refugee children with a history of war exposure are at risk of developing complex and severe forms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).ObjectivesSearch for the most relevant causal predictors of complex PTSD in a prospective cohort of Syrian refugee children living in informal settlements in Lebanon (N=1007).Methods A latent class unsupervised analysis was carried out to determine clusters with complex PTSD presentation at the follow-up assessment. A new exploratory causal discovering modelling approach was applied using 97 multilevel psychosocial variables as predictors (Biazoli et al., 2021). Associations between discovered candidate causal factors assessed at baseline with a presumed diagnosis of complex PTSD one year later were calculated using a multiple logistic regression model.Results Several putative causal factors emerged: perceived social coherence of the neighbourhood (Positive Predictive Value increase: 1.22); impulsivity (1.25), self-efficacy (1.23) and depressive symptoms (1.15) at the parental level; positive home experiences (1.16) at the family level; and child-level factors such as being forced to work (1.22), being a victim of verbal or physical bullying (1.19), loneliness (1.17) and well-being (1.18). In further confirmatory multiple logistic regression analysis and after correction for multiple comparisons, verbal or physical bullying victimization (p=.005) and caregiver depressive symptoms (p=.0004) at baseline were associated with complex PTSD presentations one year later.Conclusions Our results support the need for a multi-level psychosocial care model to prevent psychological distress and promote mental health in refugee children. Specifically, our results suggest that programs tackling caregiver’s mental health and children’s exposure to violence might effectively prevent complex PTSD.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Which Children are Frequently Victimized in U.S. Elementary Schools? Population-based Estimates.

We analyzed a population-based cohort of 11,780 U.S. kindergarten children to identify risk and protective factors predictive of frequent verbal, social, reputational, and/or physical bullying victimization during the upper elementary grades. We also stratified the analyses by biological sex. Both girls and boys displaying kindergarten externalizing problem behaviors were at consistently higher risk of frequent victimization during 3rd-5th grade (for the combined sample of boys and girls, verbal odds ratio [OR] = 1.82, social OR = 1.60, reputational OR = 1.85, physical OR = 1.67, total OR = 1.93). Hispanic children relative to non-Hispanic White children and those from higher income families were the most strongly and consistently protected from victimization. Boys were more likely to be physically bullied but less likely to be verbally, socially or reputationally bullied than girls. Other variables including disability, cognitively stimulating parenting, academic achievement, and internalizing behavior problems had statistically significant but less consistent and generally weaker relations with frequent victimization.

ANALISIS PERILAKU BULLYING MENURUT PANDANGAN TEORI KEPRIBADIAN SERTA IMPLIKASINYA BAGI BIMBINGAN DAN KONSELING

Most definitions of bullying are categorized as a part of aggressive behavior involving the intention to hurt other people. Bullies have high score on psychoticism, physical strength, attitude towards violence, extroversion. Self-esteem bullies are higher than victims in all of these dimensions. Bullies have aggressive, impulsive behavior, not feeling guilty, and do not feel empathy towards the victims, if seen from Eysenck’s personality dimension, this is a part of extravert neurotic. Intervention strategies to handle bullying at school, and creating more peaceful school environment could be seen as an important moral action. More researches about the effective programs to handle bullying are needed; also the longitudinal effect for bullies and victims of physical bullying, verbal bullying, and cyber bullying also need to be researched

Explaining Physical Bullying in Chinese Middle Schools

ABSTRACT Most studies of school bullying in China are atheoretical. To fill the gap in the literature, we introduce criminological theories in an attempt to test propositions broadly derived from these perspectives in the study of physical bullying. Relying on data collected from 12 middle schools (Grades 7 to 9) in three cities with information on both physical bullying victimization and perpetration, we hypothesize that there is a relationship between victims and offenders, and that models predicting bullying perpetration would also account for bullying victimization, but the variable strengths may vary. Results are mixed. Those who reported being a victim of bullying in the past 6 months and those who were bullies were significantly correlated. However, the variables from the social bond perspective cannot account for the bullying perpetration once the variables from the subcultural perspective are introduced, while two of them are capable of explaining victimization. Two variables from the subcultural perspective seem to account for both bullying victimization and perpetration, but the strength of deviance in the model of perpetration is significantly stronger than its strength in the victimization model.

Self-Harm, Suicidal Ideation, and Suicide Attempts in Chinese Adolescents Involved in Different Sub-types of Bullying: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Bullying tends to peak during adolescence, and it is an important risk factor of self-harm and suicide. However, research on the specific effect of different sub-types of bullying is limited.Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between four common forms of bullying (verbal, physical, relational, and cyber) and self-harm, suicidal ideation (SI), and suicide attempts (SA).Method: This was a cross-sectional study of a sample including 4,241 Chinese students (55.8% boys) aged 11 to 18 years. Bullying involvement, self-harm, SI, and SA were measured via The Juvenile Campus Violence Questionnaire (JCVQ). The association was examined through multinomial logistic regression analysis, adjusted for demographic characteristics and psychological distress.Results: Bullying victimization and perpetration were reported by 18.0 and 10.7% of participants. The prevalence of self-harm, SI, and SA were 11.8, 11.8, and 7.1%, respectively. Relational bullying victimization and perpetration were significantly associated with SI only, SI plus self-harm, and SA. Physical bullying victimization and perpetration were risk factors of self-harm only and SA. Verbal victimization was significantly associated with SI only. Cyber perpetration was a risk factor of SA.Conclusions: The findings highlight the different effects of sub-types of bullying on self-harm and suicidal risk. Anti-bullying intervention and suicide prevention efforts should be prior to adolescents who are involved in physical and relational bullying.

A meta-analysis of the outcomes of bullying prevention programs on subtypes of traditional bullying victimization: Verbal, relational, and physical

Abstract This paper presents the results from a meta-analytical review of the effectiveness of bullying prevention programs on three subtypes of traditional bullying victimization: physical, verbal, and relational. A systematic search of three online databases was conducted for bullying prevention program evaluations published between 1990 and 2018. The search yielded a final sample of 33 articles that met the identified inclusion criteria. The results of the meta-analysis suggest that bullying prevention programs are effective at reducing physical and relational forms of bullying victimization, but not verbal forms, at least in the United States. The results found that youth who participated in a prevention program, both inside and outside of the United States had 32% higher odds of a reduction in relational and physical bullying victimization compared to the control group, and 28% higher odds of a reduction in verbal bullying victimization for programs implemented outside the United States. The US programs were not effective with verbal bullying victimization. Future research could explore this potential gap related to verbal bullying victimization, and the difference in findings between studies conducted in the United States and those conducted internationally.

Are bully-victims homogeneous? Latent class analysis on school bullying

This study aimed to identify subgroups based on student’s verbal, social, and physical bullying and victimization behaviors using latent class analysis (LCA). The dataset used in this research consists of 3581 8th graders as participants from the 2014 5th annual survey of Seoul Education Longitudinal Study (SELS) in Korea. Broadly speaking, our analysis identified six subgroups: 31.9% of uninvolved, 7.1% of victims, 10.1% of bullies, 37.8% of bully-victims who showed high levels of verbal bullying victimization and perpetration (BV-V), 9.0% of bully-victims who showed high levels of verbal and social bullying victimization and perpetration (BV-VS), and, 4.1% of bully-victims who showed high levels of verbal, social, and physical bullying victimization and perpetration (BV-VSP). Our results indicate that the bully-victim group may not be homogeneous, but rather can be further identified and divided into three characteristic subgroups. Using the identified subgroups, more effective intervention could be made by clarifying the targeted group of students.

Association between suffering experiences from precollege peer bullying at different stages and the quality of health-related life among college students

Objective: To explore the effects of precollege peer bullying at different stages, on quality of life (QOL) among college students. Methods: A stratified cluster sampling method was used to select participants in October, 2018. Cluster sampling method was adopted to recruit a sample of 4 034 college students from four universities in Hefei city, Anhui province. Relations between peer bullying at different stages before entering college, and the quality of life, were investigated. t test and analysis of variance were used to compare the differences of QOL in different groups. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess the associations between various types of peer bullying at different stages and the QOL at precollege days. Results: Among all the 4 034 college students under study, mean scores of the 4 dimensions of QOL appeared as physical (12.61±2.02), psychological (14.09±2.62), social relationship (13.72±2.71) and environment (13.77±2.46), respectively. After adjusting the confounding factors, data from multiple linear regression showed that, factors as verbal bullying victimization during primary school (β=-0.21)/secondary school (β=-0.27)/or at both periods (β=-0.56), relational (β=-0.21) and physical (β=-0.38) bullying victimization in secondary school, and physical bullying victimization in both periods (β=-0.67) were negatively correlated with the physical dimension of QOL. Verbal bullying victimization in both periods (β=-0.41) and relational bullying victimization in secondary school (β=-0.42) were negatively correlated with psychological dimension of QOL. Factors as relational (β=-0.32) and physical (β=-0.51) bullying victimization in secondary school, physical/cyber bullying victimization in both periods (β=-0.57) were negatively correlated with the social dimension of QOL. Verbal bullying victimization during primary school (β=-0.20) and both periods (β=-0.46), relational bullying perpetration during primary school (β=-0.35) or at both periods (β=-0.90) were negatively correlated with the environmental dimension of QOL (All P<0.05). Index related to bullying victimization (β=-0.33, -0.36, -0.30, -0.33) and bullying perpetration β=-0.28, -0.31, -0.23, -0.28) were both negatively correlated to all the 4 dimensions (physical, psychological, social relationship and environment) of QOL (P<0.001). Conclusions: Various forms of peer bullying experiences occurring before college, were associated with the decreased scores of QOL in different domains, among the university students. Programs on prevention and control of peer bullying in different stages before college days seemed important thus should be strengthened.

A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Evaluation of a Universal Healthy Relationships Promotion Program for Youth

Bullying and mental health problems are pressing concerns for adolescents. Given their burden, we need to find efficacious ways to prevent these experiences. However, existing prevention programs tend to be single-issue and may not focus on the universal capacities required to reduce these problems among youth. To this end, we evaluated the universal, small groups Healthy Relationships Plus (HRP) program, which focuses on the promotion of positive mental health and the reduction of bullying and substance misuse. A sample of 212 youth from Southwestern Ontario were randomly assigned to the HRP or an attention-control condition over an 8-day period during summer 2014. Primary outcome measures (i.e., most important outcomes for this evaluation) were positive mental health, bullying victimization/perpetration, and substance misuse (alcohol, marijuana). We also examined a mediator (help-seeking) and two moderators (sex, adverse childhood experiences) of main effects. Participation in HRP was associated with reduced odds of physical bullying victimization at 1-year follow-up, compared with adolescents in the attention-control condition. This finding was mediated by increased intention to seek help from a mental health professional following HRP participation. We did not find main effects for positive mental health or substance misuse in this sample; however, there was an interaction effect whereby youth with significant trauma experiences reported less marijuana use at 1-year follow-up compared with control students. Findings reiterate the importance of help-seeking for bullying prevention and demonstrate the preliminary efficacy of the HRP as a universal strategy for preventing bullying victimization among mid-adolescents within school and community settings.

Gender, parental education, and experiences of bullying victimization by Australian adolescents with and without a disability.

This study sought to compare the prevalence of bullying victimization between adolescents with and without a disability and between adolescents with and without borderline intellectual functioning or intellectual disability (BIF/ID). We also sought to assess whether the relationships between either disability or BIF/ID and bullying victimization vary by gender and parental education. The sample included 3,956 12- to 13-year-old adolescents who participated in Wave 5 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Three indicators of bullying were used: physical bullying victimization, social bullying victimization, and "any bullying victimization." We used Poisson regression to obtain the prevalence risk ratios (PRR) of bullying by disability status adjusting for potential confounders. In adjusted models, we found evidence that social bullying victimization was more prevalent among adolescents with a disability than those without a disability (PRR 1.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06-1.42) and between adolescents with BIF/ID than those without (PRR 1.24, 95% CI 1.07-1.44). Adolescents with BIF/ID were also more likely to experience "any bullying victimization"(PRR 1.10, 95% CI 1.00-1.22). Having a disability and living in a family with low parental education were associated with an elevated risk of social bullying victimization BIF/ID. Adolescents with disabilities and BIF/ID are at elevated risk of social bullying victimization. School-based antibullying initiatives should concentrate on enhancing the inclusion of adolescents with disabilities, with an emphasis on adolescents from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Pain, Bullying Involvement, and Mental Health Problems Among Children and Adolescents With ADHD in Taiwan

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relationships of pain and pain-induced functional impairment with bullying involvement, as well as the relationships between pain and mental health problems among 474 children and adolescents with ADHD. Method: The levels of pain, pain-induced functional impairment, involvement in bullying, depression, anxiety, ADHD symptoms, and sleep quality were assessed. Results: Both victims of verbal and relational bullying and victims of physical bullying were more likely to have pain and pain-induced functional impairment than nonvictims. The perpetrators of verbal and relational bullying were more likely to have pain than the nonperpetrators. Participants with pain and pain-induced functional impairment experienced more severe depression and anxiety and worse sleep quality than did those without pain or pain-induced functional impairment. Conclusion: Clinical and educational professionals should consider the possibility of involvement in bullying and comorbid depression, anxiety, and poor sleep quality among ADHD children and adolescents with pain problems.

Maternal depression and bullying victimization among adolescents: Results from the 2004 Pelotas cohort study.

Maternal depression impacts on several detrimental outcomes during a child's life course, and could increase their risk of victimization. This longitudinal study examined the association between antenatal maternal depression, postnatal trajectories, and current maternal depression and offspring bullying victimization at 11 years. We included 3,441 11-year-old adolescents from the 2004 Pelotas Cohort Study. Antenatal maternal depression, postnatal trajectories, and current maternal depression data were assessed during the follow-up waves. Bullying victimization was self-reported by the adolescents. We used ordinal logistic regression to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), for the association between maternal depression and offspring bullying victimization. The most prevalent type of bullying was verbal victimization (37.9%). We observed a positive association between antenatal maternal depression, postnatal trajectories, and current maternal depression and physical bullying victimization. Maternal mood symptoms during pregnancy were associated with physical (OR = 1.30, 95%CI = 1.11-1.53), verbal (OR = 1.29, 95%CI = 1.12-1.49), and any victimization (OR = 1.22, 95%CI = 1.05-1.41). Severe current maternal depression was associated with physical (OR = 1.34, 95%CI = 1.10-1.62), social manipulation (OR = 1.29, 95%CI = 1.08-1.53), attacks on property (OR = 1.30, 95%CI = 1.08-1.57) and any victimization (OR = 1.32, 95%CI = 1.12-1.56). Regarding maternal depression trajectories, the "chronic-high" group was associated with higher risk of social manipulation, attacks on property and any victimization, than the "low" group. Our results strengthen the evidence of association between maternal depression and offspring bullying victimization, and physical victimization appears to be the main component. Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings and to elucidate the theoretical pathways for this longitudinal association.

Adolescents Transitioning to High School: Sex Differences in Bullying Victimization Associated With Depressive Symptoms, Suicide Ideation, and Suicide Attempts.

Adolescents transitioning to high school may be at greater risk of depression and suicide if they are victims of bullying behavior. This study explored sex differences in bullying victimization (physical, verbal/social, and cyberbullying) and the impact on depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviors in ninth-grade students ( N = 233). Females reported significantly more verbal/social and cyberbullying than male students. There were no significant sex differences in physical bullying; male students who reported physical bullying victimization were more likely to experience depressive symptoms. Verbal/social bullying predicted depressive symptoms in males and females. Females who reported being victims of cyberbullying were more likely to report depressive symptoms, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts. Eighteen students reported suicide attempts, and each also experienced verbal/social bullying. School nurses are positioned to reach out to transitioning students, screen for mental health issues, provide a safe place to talk about bullying experiences, and promote positive mental health.

Social Support as a School Victimisation Risk Factor

This study examined three sources of social support, peer groups, school and parents, and their impact on the risk of relational, verbal and physical bullying victimization in a representative sample of secondary school adolescents of Talavera de la Reina (Spain). Correlation analysis was used to establish associations and regression analysis in order to confirm the independent effect of each social support type with victimization. The results showed that low social support perception from peers, school and parents increased the risk of relational, verbal and physical bullying victimization. Additionally, the perception of lower parental social support increased the likelihood of relational and verbal bullying victimization, while the hypothesis that low perception of parental social support entailed a higher risk for physical victimization was not confirmed. These findings are discussed in light of previous studies.

Violent Physical Bullying Victimization at School: Has There Been a Recent Increase in Exposure or Intensity? An Age-Period-Cohort Analysis in the United States, 1991 to 2012

Using data from an annual nationally representative survey of U.S. 8th, 10th, and 12th graders from 1991 to 2012, this paper applies a new two-step method to study trends in self-reports of victimization during the last year from four forms of violent bullying at school (threatened without injury, threatened with a weapon, injury without a weapon, injury with a weapon). First, we develop a statistical algorithm for estimating, for each school year, the exposure probability (likelihood or risk of being victimized) and intensity rate (rate of victimization among those exposed to the risk of being victimized) parameters of zero-inflated Poisson models of truncated and combined self-reported victimization frequency data for the four forms of violent bullying. Estimates of both the exposure to, and intensity of, the self-reported frequencies for each the four forms for each of the grades show increases into the middle part of the 2000–2010 decade with slight declines in the years 2008–2012. Exceptions are found for intensity rates of threats without injury and threats with a weapon among 12th graders. Second, age-period-cohort analysis was applied to the estimated exposure and intensity parameters of violent bullying victimization. This analysis reveals: (1) that both the exposure probabilities and intensity rates decrease from the 8th (typically 13–14 year olds) to the 10th (typically 15–16 year olds) to the 12grades (typically 17–18 years old); (2) that the school years 2006 to 2012 were associated with decreases in time period exposure probabilities and increases in intensity rates - fewer students victimized per school year but those who are victimized are victimized more frequently; and (3) that birth cohorts born since the late-1980s had decreases in intensity rates, but their exposure probabilities increased until the most recent (1995–1996) cohorts for which the exposure probabilities have stabilized or declined.

Teachers' Perceptions of Bullying of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Students in a Southwestern Pennsylvania Sample.

This study was designed to ascertain teachers’ perceptions of bullying of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) youth. In a sample of 200 educators (61.0% female; 96.5% White) from a county in southwestern Pennsylvania, there was a significant positive relationship between the teachers’ perceptions of the supportiveness of school staff towards students regardless of sexual orientation and those teachers’ reports of the frequency of bullying victimization experienced by LGBTQ students. Teachers’ perceptions of a higher level of staff and student support was associated with higher reported frequencies of students’ use of derogatory language about LGBTQ individuals and various types of bullying of LGBTQ students. Teachers with a lesbian, gay, or bisexual orientation were found to rate the school staff and students as significantly less supportive of students regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression in comparison to heterosexual teachers. Finally, teachers who either were unaware of or believed that their school lacked an anti-bullying policy reported significantly higher rates of physical bullying victimization of LGBTQ students when compared to the rates observed by teachers who reported knowledge of their schools’ anti-bullying policies.

Relationships between bullying victimization psychological distress and breakfast skipping among boys and girls

The purpose of this study was to further explore the association between bullying victimization and breakfast skipping in children and adolescents. Compared to the previous study, we have used a larger and representative sample of middle and high school students, examined the effect of gender, different forms (physical, verbal, theft/vandalism and cyber) and severity of bullying on breakfast eating behaviour. Data from students (2286 boys and 2859 girls) aged 11 to 19 years (mean ± SD age: 14.6 ± 1.9 years) from the 2013 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) were analysed using self-reports of being bullied, diet, psychological distress, demographics, socio-economic status, weight status, and substance use. Results revealed greater odds of breakfast skipping in girl victims of physical, verbal, and cyber bullying, and in boy victims of verbal and cyber bullying. There was a dose–response relationship between experience of both school and cyber bullying victimization and breakfast skipping behaviour for both genders. Mediation analysis indicated that psychological distress fully mediated the relationship between both verbal and physical bullying victimization and breakfast skipping in girls, and partially mediated the relationship between verbal bullying victimization and breakfast skipping in boys. Psychological distress also partially mediated the link between cyber bullying victimization and breakfast skipping in both boys and girls. These results corroborate previous findings on the association between bullying victimization and breakfast skipping in children and adolescents. The strong and consistent associations with different forms of bullying victimization, the dose–response relationship, and the mediating role of psychological distress suggest a causal relationship.