The severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on bullying victimization, mental health indicators and quality of life

Children and adolescents weathering the storm: Resilience in the presence of bullying victimization, harassment, and pandemic lockdown in northern Norway

Resilience is a concept of growing interest because it can systematically inform prevention measures and psychosocial interventions for children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to explore resilience factors among young people who are victims of bullying and harassment (age 9 to 16 years old). In 2021 the burden of the pandemic lockdown became an additional adversity. The study used a repeated cross-sectional design. Two datasets with a total of 2,211 participants from 2017 (N = 972) and 2021 (N = 1,239) were included. The strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) was applied to define the resilient and non-resilient groups, and the quality-of-life questionnaire (KINDL) was used to map resilience factors. A total of 227 participants reported that they were being bullied, and 604 participants reported harassments from their peers. We used correlation and regression analyses to identify which factors predicted the highest resistance to the negative effects of bullying and harassment. The results were that 77.2% of the participants stayed resilient when facing these maladjustments, but this dropped to 61.7% during the pandemic. The most important resilience factors before the pandemic were the school environment, emotional well-being, and good relations with their friends. The impact of these predictors changed during the pandemic. Emotional well-being increased in strength, school environment was reduced, and friends did not predict resilience anymore. The effect sizes were generally large to medium. As it is common to experience adversity at some stage in life, it is vital for families, schools, social and healthcare workers to be aware of the factors associated with resilience. The results of this study may contribute towards an evidence base for developing plans to increase the capacity of resilience among young people.

Factors Predicting In-School and Electronic Bullying among High School Students in the United States: An Analysis of the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System

BACKGROUND

Bullying is a global public health problem with severe adverse effects on behavioral health. Understanding the predictors of victimization by bullying is essential for public policy initiatives to respond to the problem effectively. In addition to traditional in-person bullying, electronic bullying has become more prevalent due to increasing social interaction and identity formation in virtual communities. This study aims to determine the predictors of in-school and electronic bullying.

METHODS

We employed multivariable logistic regression to analyze a nationally representative sample of 17,232 high school students in the United States, the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System national component. The survey was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, from September through December 2021. The factors examined included sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, race), appearance (obesity), physically active lifestyles (being physically active, spending a long time on digital games), and risk-taking behavior (using marijuana).

RESULTS

Our results indicated that sociodemographic characteristics were strong predictors of being bullied in school and electronically. Being obese is more likely to result in bullying in school (AOR = 1.32, p = 0.003) and electronically (AOR = 1.30, p = 0.004). Adolescent students showing marijuana use had higher odds of being bullied in school (AOR = 2.15, p < 0.001) and electronically (AOR = 1.81, p < 0.001). While spending a long time on digital devices raises the risk of being electronically bullied (AOR = 1.25, p = 0.014), being physically active is not associated with being bullied. Neither of the two lifestyle factors was associated with in-school bullying.

CONCLUSIONS

Interventions addressing violence among adolescents can benefit from empirical evidence of risk factors for bullying victimization in high school.

The Relationship Between Bullying and Risk of Suicide Among Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

Objectives

Although adolescents appear less vulnerable to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the side effects of this pandemic can still be devastating. Bullying and suicidality are significant global issues with detrimental effects on young people, particularly during school closure. This study aimed to identify the relationship between bullying and suicide risk among adolescents in Indonesia during the COVID- 19 pandemic.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted on adolescents aged 14-18 years in May 2020 in Bandung, Indonesia, using a webbased closed survey. The Adolescent Peer Relations Instrument and the Suicide Behavior Questionnaire-Revised were used to measure bullying and risk of suicide. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed.

Results

This study included 268 participants in 2020 and 175 participants in 2019. In 2020, the prevalence of perpetrators and victims of bullying combined was 74.6%. Meanwhile, in 2019, the prevalence of perpetrators and victims of bullying combined was 82.9%. Risk of suicide increased from 26.1% in 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic) to 36.5% in 2020 (during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic). The risk of perpetrators and suicide victims was higher than that of perpetrators and victims alone (odds ratio [OR]=4.0, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.5-6.6 vs. OR=1.3, 95% CI=1.0-2.9 and OR=1.6, 95% CI=1.1-2.8, respectively).

Conclusion

Bullying can enhance the likelihood of suicide among adolescents in Indonesia, and the risk was highest for the combination of victims and perpetrators. It is very important to provide early risk prediction for youths with bullying behavior and improve the knowledge and understanding of families and schools regarding the negative effects of bullying behavior.

Social Anxiety and Bullying Victimization in Children and Early Adolescents: The Role of Developmental Period and Immigrant Status

Research reveals that social anxiety may be predictive of bullying victimization, but it is not clear whether this relation stands for different groups of youth. The present study examines this association by employing a longitudinal design over 1 year and including the moderating role of developmental period (childhood vs. early adolescence) and students' immigrant status (native vs. non-native). T1 sample included 506 children (46.44% girls, mean age M = 8.55 years, SD = 0.55) and 310 early adolescents (50% girls, mean age = 12.54 years, SD = 0.59) recruited in schools in Northern Italy. Due to missing cases and drop-outs from T1 to T2, the final sample comprised 443 and 203 students from primary and middle school, respectively. Social anxiety and peer victimization were assessed through self-reported questionnaires. Results indicated that victimization at T2 was predicted by a 3-way interaction between T1 social anxiety, immigrant status, and developmental period. In particular, socially anxious early adolescents with an immigrant background were the most victimized. The results are discussed in terms of group dynamics and intergroup processes. The findings highlight the importance of personal variables in the cumulation of risks: social anxiety is more predictive of bullying victimization for immigrant early adolescents than for children or native early adolescents.

Bullying before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

The rates of bullying during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time of unprecedented public health and social restrictions, were compared to earlier times when students attended school in person. Several studies indicated a notable decrease in the prevalence of bullying victimization and perpetration during the pandemic, particularly when online learning was implemented. But studies from countries with fewer social restrictions indicated increases in rates of bullying during the pandemic. Mixed results regarding prevalence rates for some bullying forms (e.g., cyberbullying) were also found. Racialized youth and LGBTQ+ youth reliably reported higher rates of bullying victimization during the pandemic, consistent with pre-pandemic patterns. Reasons for the inconsistencies in findings likely relate to diverse methods, timeframes, and sampling techniques, as well as different experiences with pandemic social restrictions. More longitudinal studies are needed to assess whether bullying involvement did in fact "change" during, compared to before, the pandemic. The findings point to the importance of peer relationships and hint at the potential of increased teacher supervision as a bullying prevention strategy.

Did the prevalence of traditional school bullying increase after COVID-19? Evidence from a two-stage cross-sectional study before and during COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 has had a range of adverse effects on the behavior and mental health of adolescents globally, including bullying, anxiety and depression. However, there is a lack of comparative studies on the changes of school bullying before and during COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the changes in traditional bullying before and during COVID-19 pandemic and reveal the related risk factors in Shantou, China.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Two samples of secondary school students were collected in 2018 and 2021 in Shantou, respectively.

METHODS

Bullying history and risk behaviors of students were measured in the past six months. The χ² test was used to analyze differences in baseline information and bullying types. The binary logistic regression with Forward LR method was used to analyze factors that affect the risk of bullying victimization and perpetration before and during COVID-19.

RESULTS

A total of 5782 secondary school students were included, 3071 before COVID-19 pandemic and 2711 during COVID-19. The prevalence of different types of victimization and perpetration all increased during COVID-19 (P < 0.001). Boarding, being a lower secondary school student (as opposed to upper secondary school), being male (as opposed to female), drinking, and playing violent video games were shared risk factors for bullying victimization and perpetration. Living in an urban (as opposed to rural and island) was a risk factor for perpetration. Smoking was a risk factor for perpetration. All differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

We found that the prevalence of bullying victimization as well as perpetration increased during COVID-19. It suggests that we need to pay more attention to traditional school bullying prevention and control in China in the pandemic context.