Bullying: Definition, Types, Causes, Consequences and Intervention

Parental control and bullying: Variable-centered and person-centered approaches

Previous research has established a connection between parental control and bullying. However, the nuanced relationships involving different combinations of psychological control (PPC) and behavioral control (PBC), along with traditional and cyberbullying, remain ambiguous. Thus, this study investigated the associations of specific parental control dimensions and profiles with traditional and cyberbullying, focusing on the potential mediating mechanism of moral disengagement. A sample of 831 students (48.4% were female; Mage = 18.98 years; SDage = 1.08) was analyzed. Through latent profile analysis, three control profiles emerged: low PPC and PBC (40.31%), low PPC and high PBC (29.00%), and high PPC and PBC (30.69%). The findings indicated a positive correlation between PPC and traditional/cyberbullying. Moral disengagement mediated the relationship between PPC/PBC and traditional/cyberbullying. Particularly, high PPC and PBC were linked to cyberbullying. Moral disengagement mediated the relationship between high PPC and PBC and traditional/cyberbullying. These insights provide valuable empirical data for developing bullying interventions that consider parental control and moral disengagement.

Sexual Diversity Bullying and Cyberbullying Questionnaires: An Inclusive Approach to Measure Sexuality-Based Bullying

LGBTQ+ bullying is a specific type of stigma-based bullying with a high prevalence among LGBTQ+ people. However, instruments to assess this phenomenon are scarce and focus on homophobic aggressions, and the motivations therefor, mainly in relation to gay and lesbian youths. In this study, we introduce and validate an instrument to assess LGBTQ+ bullying. The instrument covers general and specific aggressions, as well as dimensions of sexuality besides sexual orientation such as gender identity and expression, as a more comprehensive approach to understand the phenomenon. The study included 2,552 adolescents (MAge = 14.54, SD = 1.76) from 13 Andalusian public secondary schools. Regarding gender identity, 43.9% of participants were cisgender boys, 53.5% were cisgender girls, and 2.6% were trans-binary and non-binary gender youths. In terms of sexual orientation, 81.1% of participants were heterosexual students, 2.4% lesbian/gay, 11.2% bisexual/pansexual, 4.4% questioning, and 0.9% asexual. Second-order models for bullying and cyberbullying had a good fit. Moreover, invariance was seen for bullying [ΔCFI = -.003] and cyberbullying [ΔCFI = .003] victimization measures. Furthermore, there was a sexual diversity bias: cisgender heterosexual students were more likely to perpetrate LGBTQ+ aggressions, and LGBTQ+ students were more likely to be targets of general and specific aggressions.

Physical exercise, social relationships, and bullying perpetration among school adolescents in China

Despite contradictory empirical evidence, some suggest that physical exercise is directly related to bullying perpetration. Moreover, the quality of social relationships between adolescents and their parents, peers, and teachers has been proposed as a crucial mediator in the relationship between physical exercise and bullying perpetration. However, few empirical studies have examined such hypotheses. This study used data obtained from the 2014-2015 China Education Panel Survey to examine the direct association between physical exercise and bullying behaviors, as well as the indirect pathways from physical exercise to bullying that are mediated by teenagers' social relationship quality. The results showed no significant direct relationship between physical exercise and bullying behaviors. However, physical exercise has indirect associations with bullying behaviors mediated through social relationship quality, with peer relationships having the strongest mediating effect. The findings indicate that social relationships could mediate the association between physical exercise and bullying behaviors. The study suggests that future prevention and intervention programs should promote adolescents' participation in physical exercise and their social interactions with parents, peers, and teachers to reduce bullying perpetration.

Building Resilience: A Qualitative Analysis of Bullying Among Children with Disabilities on Parental and Teacher's Perspective

Background

Bullying can happen to every human in the community, including children with disability and their families. Children with disabilities, as a vulnerable group in a community, may experience different types of bullying and have different responses to it.

Purpose

This study aimed to identify bullying experiences in children with disabilities based on teachers' and parents' perspectives.

Methods

This study used a qualitative descriptive research design. Participants in this study consisted of two groups, namely parents and teachers in Special Schools, with 18 people (eight parents and ten teachers) in the Pangandaran Regency area, Indonesia, from May to June 2023. The sampling technique chosen was purposive sampling. The data collection process used Focused Group Discussion (FGD) throughout the semi-structured interview. The data was analyzed by thematic analysis. This study applied NVIVO 12 software to assist with data categorization and framework based on participant statements and observations (QSR International).

Results

The data from the discussion were analyzed using thematic analysis methods to find relevant themes were found in the statements expressed by the participants. The results of the data analysis obtained three main themes related to bullying in children with disabilities, namely the type of bullying, the impact of bullying, and the responses to bullying.

Conclusion

A support group is necessary to establish a source of parental coping and increase resilience in caring for children with special needs.

Sibling and School Bullying Victimization and Its Relation With Children's Subjective Well-Being in Indonesia: The Protective Role of Family and School Climate

Studies on the influence of family and school climates on the relationships between sibling and school bullying victimization and children's subjective well-being (SWB) in Indonesia are still scarce. The aims of this study are to investigate family and school climates as protective factors for children from the negative consequences of bullying by siblings or other children in school on SWB. The study used the third-wave data of the Children's Worlds survey that was collected in Indonesia in October 2017. Participants of the study were children aged 10 and 12 years old (N = 15,604; 49.8% girls, 50.2% boys, Mean age = 10.55; SD = 1.17). There are four questionnaires used in the study: five items measure bullying at home and at school, the Children's Worlds Subjective Well-Being Scale, six items measure family climate, and four items measure school climate. Data were analyzed using R and the lavaan library for multilevel structural equation modeling, using full information maximum likelihood (FIML) for missing data and robust maximum likelihood (ML) estimation. Results showed that children who experienced bullying incidents, both at home by siblings and at school, predicted lower levels of SWB. School climate and family climate predicted higher levels of SWB. Results also showed that school bullying interacted significantly with school climate, while sibling bullying interacted significantly with family climate. Schools with students that reported more positive levels of family climate also reported higher levels of SWB. Students from public schools reported higher levels of SWB, which is unexpected.

The effect of bullying and cyberbullying on predicting suicide risk in adolescent females: The mediating role of depression

This paper analyzed the role of depression as a mediator in the association between bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide risk in adolescent females. A total of 751 Colombian adolescent females (M= 13.71, SD=1.897), who were administered the Plutchik Suicide Risk Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire and Cyberbullying. Bullying victimization and aggression and cyberbullying victimization were found to contribute statistically significant effects that explaining 22 % of the variance in depression. The variables of victimization in bullying and cyberbullying and depression explained 64 % of the variance in suicidal risk, and depression mediated the association between victim and aggressor roles in bullying and cyberbullying in predicting suicidal risk, whose total direct and indirect effects are statistically significant. The findings support the role of depression as a mediating variable between bullying and cyberbullying and suicidal risk in female adolescents and highlight the importance of focusing prevention and intervention efforts on risk factors for depression and suicidal behavior in cases of bullying and cyberbullying.

Exploring Aggressive Behaviors in Greek Secondary Schools: Prevalence, Sociodemographic Factors, and Comparative Analysis with Elementary School Students

The main objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence of bullying in Greek secondary schools and detect the possible characteristics of bullies' profiles in Greek school settings. A structured questionnaire was given to one hundred ninety-two (n = 192) educators at Greek junior high schools in urban and rural areas. The educators were asked to report the frequencies and forms of aggressive behavior observed during the 2022-2023 school year, the bullies' sociodemographic characteristics, and ways of dealing with bullying episodes. The data are presented, after conducting statistical analyses, in comparison with data for elementary school students. The results revealed that higher rates of bullying were reported compared with elementary school children. Moreover, according to teachers' observations, aggressive behavior is independent of a pupil's diagnosis, but specific types are correlated significantly with a pupil's gender, nationality, low academic performance, and popularity. Factor analysis showed two main factors of aggression types, where common points and differences with elementary school students are mentioned. Implementations for the prevention of school bullying are discussed.

A serial cascade effect of cybervictimization and hostile rumination on the within-person change of moral disengagement

OBJECTIVE

There is a lack of clarity regarding the developmental mechanisms underlying moral disengagement (a typical moral personality) at the within-person level. To address this issue, we explore the serial cascade effect of cybervictimization and hostile rumination.

METHOD

The longitudinal relationships between cybervictimization, hostile rumination, and moral disengagement were explored among 1146 undergraduates, assessed four times (T1-T4) across 2 years.

RESULTS

The random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) analysis revealed that the random intercepts of all variables were positively associated with each other. At the within-person level, cybervictimization at T2 indirectly predicted subsequent changes in moral disengagement at T4 through changes in hostile rumination at T3 (the indirect effect was 0.02); furthermore, moral disengagement at T3 predicted changes in hostile rumination at T4 (β = 0.091).

CONCLUSIONS

The within-person dynamics of moral disengagement should be partly due to the serial effect of cybervictimization and hostile rumination, whereas hostile rumination and moral disengagement may form a developmental cascade to some degree. These findings and the proposed serial cascade model of moral disengagement could expand our understanding of the developmental mechanism of moral personality. Additionally, caution must be exercised as this study exhibits seemingly small effect sizes and inconsistent results.

Do Hormone Levels Influence Bullying during Childhood and Adolescence? A Systematic Review of the Literature

(1) Background: Bullying is one of the most common forms of aggressive behavior during childhood and adolescence. Some decades ago, researchers began exploring the basis of peer victimization from a biological perspective. Specifically, the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal (HPG) axes have been studied in relation to status-relevant behaviors, such as bullying. (2) Methods: We conducted a systematic review following the PRISMA guide and registered the review protocol at PROSPERO (CRD42023494738). We searched for relevant studies in PubMed, Psycinfo, Scopus, and Web of Science, and assessed them using the Robins E-tool. (3) Results: Our search yielded 152 studies, of which 33 were included in the review. These studies explored the association between testosterone and cortisol levels with bullying behavior, finding diverse results. Most of the studies were rated as having a low risk of bias. (4) Conclusions: This study not only enhances our understanding of bullying, but also provides guidance for the development of prevention and management programs for it. In the future, researchers should continue exploring the joint effects of different hormones on the HPA and HPG axis, using a broader set of biomarkers.

Childhood bullying victimization, emotion regulation, rumination, distress tolerance, and depressive symptoms: A cross-national examination among young adults in seven countries

Existing research suggests a robust association between childhood bullying victimization and depressive symptoms in adulthood, but less is known about potential mediators of this link. Furthermore, there is limited cross-national research evaluating similarities and differences in bullying victimization and its associations with mental health. The current study addressed gaps in the literature by evaluating cognitive and affective responses to stress (i.e., emotion regulation, rumination, and distress tolerance) as potential mediators of the link between recalled bullying victimization and current depressive symptoms among 5909 (70.6% female) college students from seven countries. Results revealed specific indirect associations of bullying victimization through distress tolerance and three out of four facets of rumination, as well as a persistent direct association of childhood bullying on adulthood depression. Emotion regulation strategies were not significantly associated with bullying victimization and did not mediate its association with depressive symptoms. Constrained multigroup models indicated that results were invariant across country and gender. Findings provide evidence of statistical mediation in a cross-sectional sample and await replication in prospective studies. Rumination and distress tolerance may be promising targets for resilience-promoting interventions among children experiencing peer victimization. Ongoing research is needed to clarify cross-national patterns in childhood bullying, identify additional mediators accounting for the remaining direct association, and evaluate emotion regulation as a potential moderator of associations between bullying victimization and adult mental health.

Trajectories of defending behaviors: Longitudinal association with normative and social adjustment and self-perceived popularity

Defending the victim in bullying situations is a moral behavior that has received increasing attention in the literature. However, important questions about the development and maintenance of defending behaviors remain unanswered. The present study adopted a longitudinal design with two main goals: (a) identifying trajectories of change in individuals' defending behavior over time and (b) describing and comparing the initial levels and dynamics of change in normative and social adjustment and self-perceived popularity between the different defending trajectories. A total of 3303 students (49.8% girls; Wave 1 Mage = 12.61 years; SD = 1.47) participated in the study. Data were collected in four waves with self-report questionnaires. Using growth mixture modeling, we found four defending trajectories (84% stable-high, 5% decrease, 4% increase, and 7% stable-low). Growth mixture model multigroup and comparative analyses found that adolescents in the stable-high defending group exhibited the highest initial levels of normative adjustment (Mintercept = 5.47), social adjustment (Mintercept = 5.48), and self-perceived popularity (Mintercept = 5). Adolescents in the decrease defending group tended to reduce their normative adjustment over time (Mslope = -0.09), whereas the increase defending group increased their social adjustment (Mslope = 0.18) and self-perceived popularity (Mslope = -0.04). The stable-low defending group showed low and stable levels of normative adjustment (Mintercept = 5.01), social adjustment (Mintercept = 5.03), and self-perceived popularity (Mintercept = 4.4). These results indicate a strong association between normative and social adjustment and self-perceived popularity and involvement in defending behaviors. Bullying prevention programs could improve by adding a stronger focus on the development of classroom dynamics that promote adjusted behaviors and class-group cohesion.

Bullying and School Violence

Rates of traditional bullying have remained stable (30%) but rates of cyberbullying are increasing rapidly (46% of youth). There are significant long-term physical and mental health consequences of bullying especially for vulnerable youth. Multi-component school-based prevention programs that include caring adults, positive school climate, and supportive services for involved youth can effectively reduce bullying. While bullying has emerged as a legitimate concern, studies of surviving perpetrators to date suggest bullying is not the most significant risk factor of mass school shootings. Pediatricians play a critical role in identification, intervention, awareness, and advocacy.

A person-centered approach to resilience against bullying victimization in adolescence: Predictions from teacher support and peer support

BACKGROUND

There is ample evidence that bullying victimization typically has deleterious effects on the developmental outcomes of adolescents, while little research attention has been paid to those who show "resilient" despite the stress associated with being bullied. This study aimed to identify such a group according to the severity of exposure to bullying victimization and psychological adaptation in terms of negative (i.e., depressive symptoms) as well as positive (i.e., subjective well-being) aspects, and to examine their associations with interpersonal sources in school ecology (i.e., teacher support and peer support) using a short-term longitudinal design.

METHODS

Latent profile analysis was performed on a sample of 2339 adolescents in junior high schools (Mage = 12.97 ± 0.58 years, 51.1 % boys).

RESULTS

The presence of a resilient (8.0 %) profile was identified, along with three other distinct profiles: normative (59.2 %), vulnerable (29.0 %), and adverse (3.8 %). Despite experiencing bullying victimization of comparable severity, adolescents who reported more teacher support and peer support were more likely to classify to the "Resilient" profile.

LIMITATIONS

A broader range of malleable resource factors should be considered to enhance a nuanced understanding of what resource factors contribute to resilience. Multiple reporting sources should be applied to overcome information bias. And the results need to be verified across different cultural contexts, age groups, and regions.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings add a new contribution to the literature by highlighting the utility of a person-centered approach in the field of victimization resilience studies and the important roles of teacher and peer support against bullying victimization. Future prevention and early intervention could consider support from teachers and peers as potentially robust and malleable targets.

Effects of Bullying on Anxiety, Depression, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Sexual Minority Youths: Network Analysis

BACKGROUND

Bullying victimization is highly prevalent among sexual minority youths, particularly in educational settings, negatively affecting their mental health. However, previous studies have scarcely explored the symptomatic relationships among anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among sexual minority youths who experienced bullying on college campuses.

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of our study were to (1) characterize the anxiety-depression-PTSD network structures of gay or lesbian, bisexuals, and other sexual minority youths previously bullied on college campuses; and (2) compare symptomatic associations in the anxiety-depression-PTSD networks among bullied sexual minority youths and heterosexual youths' groups.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study recruited college participants from Jilin Province, China. Data were analyzed using a subset of the data extracted after screening for sexual orientation and history of bullying victimization. Sexual minority youths were then divided into 3 subgroups: gay or lesbian (homosexual), bisexual, and other. Mental health symptom severity was assessed using scales: the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale measuring anxiety, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire measuring depression, and the 10-item Trauma Screening Questionnaire measuring PTSD symptoms. Combining the undirected and Bayesian network analyses, the anxiety-depression-PTSD networks were compared among sexual minority youths subgroups, and the difference between heterosexual youths and sexual minority youths was investigated. Chi-square tests were used to compare the difference in categorical variables, while independent-sample t tests were run on continuous variables.

RESULTS

In this large-scale sample of 89,342 participants, 12,249 identified as sexual minority youths, of which 1603 (13.1%, 95% CI 12.5%-13.7%) reported being bullied on college campuses in the past year. According to the expected influence (EI) and bridge expected influence (bEI) index, in the global network structure of anxiety, depression, and PTSD, sad mood (EI=1.078, bEI=0.635) and irritability (EI=1.077, bEI=0.954) were identified as central and bridge symptoms; emotional cue reactivity (EI=1.015) was a central symptom of PTSD in this global network. In the anxiety-depression-PTSD Bayesian network, anhedonia had the highest prediction priority for activating other symptoms; and feeling afraid linked symptoms from anxiety to the PTSD community. Compared to their heterosexual counterparts, sexual minority youths exhibited a stronger association between difficulty concentrating and appetite. The "sad mood-appetite" edge was strongest in the gay or lesbian network; the "irritability-exaggerated startle response" edge was strongest in the bisexual network.

CONCLUSIONS

For the first time, this study identified the most central and bridge symptoms (sad mood and irritability) within the depression-anxiety-PTSD network of sexual minority youths with past bullying-victim experiences on college campuses. Emotional cue reactivity, anhedonia, and feeling afraid were other vital symptoms in the comorbid network. Symptomatic relationships existed showing heterogeneity in bullied heterosexual youths and sexual minority youth networks, which also was present within the sexual minority youth subgroups. Consequently, refined targeted interventions are required to relieve anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms.

Bias-Based Bullying in California Schools: The Impact of the 2016 Election Cycle

The purpose of this study is to examine the trends in bias-based bullying between 2013 and 2019 among California youth overall and by type of bias-based bullying and explore the extent to which Trump's announcement of his candidacy for U.S. President in June 2015 impacted these bullying outcomes. We pooled the student-level survey data from multiple waves of the California Healthy Kids Survey. The final study sample included 2,817,487 middle- and high-school students (48.3% female, 47.9% male, and 3.7% not reported). We examined five specific types of bias-based bullying and any bias-based bullying overall. We employed logistic regression and calculated odds ratios to compare differences in the odds of bias-based bullying before and after Trump announced his candidacy for U.S. President. Between 2013 and 2019, approximately one in four students reported experiencing at least one type of bias-based bullying, based on race, ethnicity, or national origin being the most commonly reported. Trump's announcement for candidacy was inconsistently associated with differences in the odds of bias-based bullying. Counties in which a higher proportion of the electorate voted for Trump had slightly higher odds of bullying for any bias-based bullying and for all specific types of bias-based bullying. Findings highlight the need for a commitment to protecting students from bullying regardless of their identity. Public health and education researchers and practitioners should draw on our growing understanding of the different dimensions of bullying in designing, implementing, and evaluating intervention approaches that address bias-based bullying, a particularly important cause given the growing polarization in the United States and the increasing salience of identity in the lead-up to and since the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Sibling Bullying, School Bullying, and Children's Subjective Well-Being Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

The aims of this study are threefold. The first aim is to examine the prevalence of sibling and school bullying before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. The second aim is to investigate the subjective well-being (SWB) of children who were bullied or never bullied before and during COVID-19. The third aim is to investigate factors associated with sibling and school bullying before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses two separate cross-sectional datasets from the Children's Worlds survey in Indonesia. Data in Study 1 were collected in October 2017 (N = 12,794; 48.2% boys; 51.8% girls, mean age = 10.56), while data in Study 2 were collected from July to September 2021 (N = 2,222; 46.1% boys; 53.9% girls; mean age = 10.77). Five items were used to measure sibling and school bullying. The five-item version of the Children's Worlds Subjective Well-Being Scale (CW-SWBS5) was used as the SWB indicator. Three groups of independent variables (family, friends and school climate) were analysed using linear regression to investigate the contribution of each variable to sibling and school bullying. Results show that the prevalence of sibling bullying during the COVID-19 pandemic is higher than before the pandemic, while the frequency of school bullying incidents during COVID-19 is lower than before COVID-19. SWB scores of children during COVID-19 are lower than SWB scores of children before the COVID-19 pandemic, both for bullied or never-bullied children. The fact that children report that parents listen to them and take what they say into account is positively associated with a lower frequency of being bullied at home before and during COVID-19 and being bullied at school only during the pandemic. Although samples are not strictly comparable, the SWB indicators used in both studies showed sensitivity to the changes in children's lives in previous studies. Therefore, the SWB indicators are supposed to be sensitive to changes associated with children's new everyday life COVID-19 has implied.

Canadian Adolescents' Experiences of Dating Violence: Associations with Social Power Imbalances

A substantial minority of adolescents experience and use dating violence in their sexual and/or romantic relationships. Limited attention has been paid to exploring theory-driven questions about use and experience of adolescent dating violence (ADV), restricting knowledge about promising prevention targets for diverse groups of youth. To address this gap, this paper investigates whether factors tied to power imbalances (bullying, risk of social marginalization) are associated with patterns of ADV victimization and perpetration in a large sample of Canadian mid-adolescents. We used data from the 2017/2018 Health-Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study, a nationally representative sample of Canadian youth. Our study was comprised of adolescents who were in grades 9 or 10, and who had dated in the past 12 months (N = 3779). We assessed multiple forms of ADV and bullying victimization and perpetration. We also included six variables assessing adolescents' risk of social marginalization: gender, race/ethnicity, immigration status, family structure, food insecurity, and family affluence. We used latent class analysis to explore the ways adolescents experience and use different forms of ADV, and then examined whether factors tied to power imbalances (bullying, social marginalization) were associated with classes of ADV. Three ADV classes emerged in our sample: uninvolved (65.7%), psychological and cyber victimization only (28.9%), and mutual violence (5.4%). Bullying was most strongly associated with the mutual violence class, suggesting a transformation of power from peer to romantic contexts. Social marginalization variables were associated with ADV patterns in different ways, highlighting the need to use a critical and anti-oppressive lens in ADV research and prevention initiatives.

Exploring the psychometric properties of the Cyberbullying Attitude Scale (CBAS) and its relation with teasing and gratitude in Indian collegiates

Purpose

This study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the Cyberbullying Attitude Scale (CBAS) in Indian college students with the help of two independent studies.

Design/methodology/approach

The first study investigated the factorial validity of the scale using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), resulting in a seven-item, two-component model of CBAS. Two statements were excluded owing to inadequate factor loading. The second study evaluated the reliability and criterion validity of the model extracted after CFA using the Weight-Based Teasing Scale (WBTS), PhQ9 as convergent indices and Gratitude Questionnaire 6 (GQ6) as divergent indices.

Findings

It was observed that the Indian version of the scale differs from the original version in two ways. First, the Indian CBAS comprised seven items, while the original CBAS consisted of nine items. Second, in the original CBAS, two factors of cyberbullying, i.e. hostile cyberbullying attitudes (HCA) and general cyberbullying characteristics (GCC), contained five and four statements, respectively. However, the Indian CBAS comprised five and two statements, respectively. Further, the Indian CBAS showed convergence with WBTS and PhQ9 and divergence with GQ6.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first to explore the psychometric properties of Indian CBAS and its relations with teasing and gratitude.

Does authentic self-esteem buffer the negative effects of bullying victimization on social anxiety and classroom concentration? Evidence from a short-term longitudinal study with early adolescents

BACKGROUND

Bullying victimization is a risk factor for social anxiety and disrupted classroom concentration among young people. Self-esteem has been implicated as a protective factor, but extant literature is sparse.

AIMS

Aim of present study was to test if a new measure of authentic self-esteem can buffer the negative effects of bullying victimization on social anxiety and disrupted classroom concentration concurrently and across time.

SAMPLE

A short-term longitudinal questionnaire design was employed with 836 12- and 13-year-olds.

METHODS

Peer nominations of bullying victimization and self-reports of authentic self-esteem were collected during winter term, and self-reports of social anxiety and disrupted classroom concentration were solicited then and also 5 months later.

RESULTS

Hierarchical multiple regression models indicated that authentic self-esteem moderated the association between bullying victimization and (i) social anxiety both concurrently and longitudinally and (ii) disrupted classroom concentration longitudinally. The Johnson-Neyman technique identified where on its scale authentic self-esteem had its buffering effects, and these were found to be at relatively low or moderate levels.

CONCLUSIONS

Even moderate levels of authentic self-esteem can mitigate the association between being bullied and (i) social anxiety and (ii) disrupted classroom concentration. Efforts to monitor and where necessary enhance the authentic self-esteem of young people are warranted.

Editorial: Antibullying Initiatives and Suicide Prevention

In this issue of JAACAP, Kreski et al.¹ report concerningly high rates of bullying and suicidal behavior among high school students across the United States and highlight that rates among racially and gender diverse students are especially high. Involvement in bullying, whether as perpetrator, victim, or both, are known risk factors for suicidality.² Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)³ obtained from high school students across the United States biannually, the authors examined bullying, including cyberbullying, and suicidal behavior, specifically past-year suicide attempts, as reported in 2015, 2017, and 2019 (N = 44,066). Among specific demographic groups, rates of self-reported bullying ranged from a low of 17.6% for Black students, less frequent than White students at 28.5%, to a high of 42.2% among bisexual students, or 2.5 times the rate for heterosexual youth at 23%. As is well known, adolescent girls reported higher rates of bullying than boys, 30.4% and 19.3%, respectively. As for suicide attempts in the past 12 months, gender diverse youths reported disproportionately high rates, highest among bisexual students at 26.5%, 5.6 times more likely than heterosexual students, followed by gay/lesbian students at 19.7%. Among racialized groups, American Indian/Alaskan Native and Non-Hispanic Multiracial youth reported high rates of past-year suicide attempts, 16.2% and 12.9% respectively. Girls were twice as likely as boys to report a past-year suicide attempt, at 10.6%. Over time, rates of bullying remained relatively stable except for increased bullying for gay and lesbian students, of whom almost half (44.5%) reported bullying in 2019. No significant shifts in rates occurred for report of suicide attempts.

Are Perceived Executive Functions Beneficial for Adolescents Who Experience Peer Victimization?

Peer victimization can lead to dysfunctional cognitions and numerous internalizing psychological problems. Thus, it is essential to identify factors that can moderate the impact of victimization. This study aimed to analyze the potential moderating role of perceived executive functions (PEF) in the impact of peer victimization (traditional and online) on internalizing symptoms (depression and social anxiety), early maladaptive schemas (disconnection/rejection domain), and PEF in adolescents. A two-wave longitudinal study was carried out with 680 Spanish adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age (M = 14.58, SD = 1.36; 41.18% girls). Participants completed measures of self-reported executive functions, traditional and online victimization, early maladaptive schemas of the disconnection/rejection domain, depressive symptoms, and social anxiety symptoms in waves 1 and 2. Traditional and online perpetration was completed only in wave 1. The results indicated that when PEF were high (i.e., adolescents perceive that they have good executive functions), traditional and online victimization predicted more schemas of the disconnection/rejection domain and internalizing symptoms of depression and social anxiety. In non-victims, high PEF showed a protective role in the development of depressive symptoms and schemas of the disconnection/rejection domain. The findings highlight that PEF have a protective role that disappears when victimization (traditional and online) occurs.

Violence among adolescents: A study of overlapping of bullying, cyberbullying, sexual harassment, dating violence and cyberdating violence

BACKGROUND

Face-to-face and virtual violence among adolescents could lead to polyvictimisation and polyaggression. More studies are needed to simultaneously analyse various types of violence to understand the extent of involvement in violence during adolescence.

OBJECTIVE

This study explores the overlap of bullying, cyberbullying, sexual harassment, dating violence, and cyber dating violence, considering dating experience, gender, and stage of adolescence.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

This study involved 2514 Spanish middle school students (49.8 % girls) aged 11-19 years (M = 13.97, SD = 1.40).

METHODS

The design of this study was cross-sectional. Data were collected through a survey.

RESULTS

Among adolescents with no dating experience, 39.7 % were not victims, and 55.9 % were not aggressors. By contrast, among adolescents with dating experience, 7.1 % were not victims, and 10.5 % were not aggressors. Gender differences in poly-involvement were found between adolescents with and without dating experience. Girls were significantly less involved than boys as polyvictims and polyaggressors when they had no dating experience. They were significantly more involved than boys as polyvictims (9.7 %) and polyaggressors (23.9 %) in dating violence and cyber dating violence when they had dating experience. Age differences in poly-involvement were found only in adolescents with dating experience. Adolescents were more polyinvolved late than early adolescence, especially in dating violence, sexual harassment, and cyber dating violence as polyvictims (22.8 %) and polyaggressors (26.7 %).

CONCLUSIONS

Experiences of poly-involvement are diverse according to dating experience, gender, and stage of adolescence. More comprehensive peer and dating violence prevention strategies need to be designed.

Factors influencing sexual harassment behavior in sports environment: Evidence from Pakistan

Sexual harassment (SH) in sporting environments has developed as an important field of research. However, a more comprehensive understanding of factors affecting SH behavior is needed. We hypothesized how these effects appear and the scenarios in which they exist. Based on the perspectives of SH, this study aims to reveal the athletes' perceptions of SH and organizational climate (OC) impacts on SH, as well as the mediating mechanisms of low self-esteem (LSE) and the moderating role of hostile sexism (HS). Data collected from 422 female athletes in Pakistan, using random sampling and using SEM techniques analyze that these factors are responsible of increased likelihood of female athlete SH. Our results suggest that athletes' perceptions of OC positively predict SH, and OC is positively related to LSE. In addition, LSE partially mediates the positive effects of athletes' perceptions of OC on SH, where HS strengthens the perceived relationship between OC and LSE, which stimulates the SH of athletes. The overall model predictive ability was carried out by moderated mediation model. This study had deep implications for the literature. It clarified the ways that are crucial for predicting OC. Whether there are written laws on the subject, organizations are reluctant to acknowledge them, which entails developing methods of quantifying SH and creating data accessible to the public. A future study is recommended to evaluate the abuse of power concerning benevolent sexism to identify athlete perception of SH.

Bullying in Adolescents Practising Sport: A Structural Model Approach

This article aims to analyse the relationship between the bullying aggressor and bullying victim profile related to practising or not practising sport in adolescents living in southern Spain. The research includes male and female participants aged between 12 and 16 years in different secondary schools in the provinces of Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla in the period between February 2022 and June 2022. The study aims to extend the existing scientific, theoretical and empirical knowledge on the influence of playing sport or not on disruptive bullying attitudes in adolescents. To this end, two initial hypotheses were designed; the first hypothesises that bullying victim behaviours are associated with future bullying aggressor behaviours when practising sport; and the second states that victim behaviours are associated with future bullying aggressor behaviours when not practising sport. To verify them, SPSS software was used for the preliminary analysis of the scale and sociodemographic profile. Additionally, the study is based on structural equation modelling methodology and variance-based methods employing SmartPLS v3.3 software. The results show the importance of sport or physical activity to reduce the chances of carrying out bullying actions on other peers and/or classmates. Therefore, it is considered necessary to prevent bullying in the classroom by implementing sports intervention programmes in educational centres.

Australian Early Childhood Teachers' Understanding of Bullying

School bullying is a global phenomenon with teachers often at the forefront of responding to this behavior. It is, therefore, important that teachers are able both to understand and articulate what bullying is and to recognize bullying behavior. Ninety-five Australian early childhood teachers participated in an online survey to define bullying, fighting and identify the differences between the two behaviors. They were also asked to identify from 20 scenarios whether the behaviors depicted traditional bullying behaviors, cyberbullying behaviors, non-bullying face-to-face behaviors or non-cyberbullying behaviors. Results found that teachers described some of the three characteristics of bullying, that is, the intention to harm, power difference, and repetition; however, many teachers had difficulty clearly explaining the distinguishing differences between bullying and fighting. The majority of teachers identified the bullying behaviors in the scenarios; however, some teachers misinterpreted some non-bullying behaviors as bullying. The need to increase teacher's knowledge of bullying to support the prevention and intervention of bullying are discussed.

Toeing the party line: Politically driven responses to the coronavirus pandemic in the USA

Polling data indicate that in the USA, Republicans, compared to Democrats, have been less inclined to take preventive measures against coronavirus. In three studies (Ns = 380, 430, and 393), we sought to find evidence for partisan motivations and to illuminate how they translate into attitudes, behavioral intentions and actual behaviors. Results revealed a consensus that the Democratic party wants people take coronavirus seriously. Thus, while Democrats thought it was aligned with their political interests, Republicans thought it was in their opponents’ interests. Further analyses suggest that perceived party interests mediated the effect of party allegiance on attitudes about the seriousness of coronavirus, and both attitudes and intentions to preventive behaviors (Studies 1 and 2) and specifically attitudes and intentions to wear masks (Study 3). This relationship also held for mask-wearing behavior. Results suggest that people’s responses to coronavirus may reflect a conformity to the perceived wishes and interests of their political party.

Stay Safe and Strong: Characteristics, Roles and Emotions of Student-Produced Comics Related to Cyberbullying

The present study aimed at giving voice to students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds using a co-participatory approach. Participants were 59 adolescents (52.5% males) aged between 14 and 16 from five European countries who created ten comics to illustrate cyberbullying for a broader audience of peers. We analyzed texts and images according to four primary themes: cyberbullying episodes (types, platforms, co-occurrence with bullying), coping strategies, characters (roles, gender, and group membership), and emotions. The content analysis showed that online denigration on social media platforms was widely represented and that cyberbullying co-existed with bullying. Social strategies were frequently combined with passive and confrontational coping, up to suicide. All roles (cyberbully, cybervictim, bystander, reinforcer, defender) were portrayed among the 154 characters identified, even if victims and defenders appeared in the vignettes more often. Males, females, peers, and adults were represented in all roles. Among the 87 emotions detected, sadness was the most frequently expressed, followed by joy, surprise, anger, and fear. Emotions, mainly represented by drawings or drawings with text, were most often represented in association with cybervictims. The results are discussed in terms of their methodological and practical implications, as they emphasize the importance of valorizing young peoples’ voices in research and interventions against cyberbullying.

Routine Activities and Stalking Victimization in Sexual Minority College Students

Sexual minority individuals, due to additional chronic stress they experience from living with a marginalized identity, may be perceived as vulnerable targets by motivated perpetrators of stalking. Using campus climate data collected over 11 years, researchers explore stalking victimization with a particular focus on the experiences of sexual minority college students. To get a better understanding of stalking as experienced by this population, this study investigated descriptive qualities and prevalence of stalking victimization among college students to compare experiences of sexual minority and heterosexual individuals. Additionally, using a routine activities theory framework, this study explored multiple sexual minority identities as unique predictors of stalking victimization. Results showed that bisexual and pansexual women were significantly more likely to experience stalking than heterosexual women, and gay men were significantly more likely to experience stalking than heterosexual men. In samples that included heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and pansexual students, having a sexual minority identity predicted stalking victimization for men, and having a non-monosexual (bisexual or pansexual) identity predicted stalking victimization for women. When looking across all sexual orientations, sexual minority identity significantly predicted stalking victimization for both men and women. Results are discussed in the context of routine activities theory and future directions for exploring stalking in sexual minority populations are identified.

Risk factors of school bullying and its relationship with psychiatric comorbidities: a literature review

Background

School bullying is described as violence to other people. It is perpetrated at schools or other activities when the power of a student or a group of students is used to injure others or other groups.

Main body

The prevalence of school bullying is varied from one country to another. There are many types of bullying, such as physical, verbal, social relations, psychological, sexual, and cyber-bullying. Many risk factors could affect school bullying, especially individual, peer and parent factors. Researches found that adults who had school bullying are more vulnerable to develop future psychiatric disorders.

Conclusions

School bullying is one of the crucial problems among pupils. The wide range of the prevalence of school bullying may be due to different methodologies and the presence of many risk factors. It is recommended to have long-term researches about the student with bullying behavior. Also, prevention programs are required to increase knowledge and early detection of affected students to prevent future psychiatric disorders.

Fighting Bullying and Cyberbullying

The Internet's design and raison d'être are complete freedom, but complete freedom might lead to anarchy and to harmful and anti-social activities. In this paper I address the concepts of moral and social responsibility, applying them to the Internet realm in considering the most troubling phenomenon of cyberbullying that results in loss of life. Specifically, I probe the moral and social responsibilities of Internet users (agents), of parents and of the education system in fighting cyberbullying. Balance needs to be struck between two most important principles: freedom of expression and social responsibility. Illustrative examples in which this disturbing and harmful phenomenon of cyberbullying had cost young life are mentioned. It is argued that all relevant stakeholders need to think of the consequences of their conduct, that Internet abusers should be accountable for their wrongdoing and be penalized, and that people who have the ability to stop or at least reduce the risk of cyberbullying should take proactive steps, exhibiting zero tolerance to cyberbullying.

The tween years: A systematic literature review for services for children aged 10-13 years

AIM

To explore the literature about services and interventions provided to tween children as the basis for informing future practice and policy.

BACKGROUND

The tween years (10-13 years) is a period in human development where children experience rapid physical and mental development; their thinking and actions are influenced by peer pressure, risk taking, concerns about their body image, size, and gender, and may become victims to bullying and increasing levels of mental ill-health. It may also be a time of transition between schooling institutions. Despite the multiplicity of these factors, pre-adolescents appear to be receiving little attention from both service providers and policy makers.

METHODS

Following the PRISMA reporting guidelines, a systematic search of peer-reviewed papers was conducted between June 2020 and April 2021. Studies were selected by screening their abstracts and titles. In total, 44 articles were included for in-depth analysis. Of these, 17 were randomised studies and 10 were non-randomised, and all were subjected to the assessment of risk of bias using the Review Manager Tool and ROBINS-I Tool respectively.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Data was extracted by type of service/intervention/program, country, and type of study/methodology, aim, sample size, age range, and findings. Data synthesis was performed using thematic analysis and content analysis. The results are presented in an outcome summary table highlighting the study's outcomes including the provided programs, their acceptability, and their impacts on factors such as anxiety and depression levels, change of attitude, behavioural control, weight loss, resilience and coping, emotional regulation, self-esteem, and improved well-being.

CONCLUSION

The majority of programs described in this review reported positive results, and as a result have the potential to make a valuable contribution to future practice, policy, and research involving the tweens.

Testing the Efficacy of ‘Unlearning’, a Mindfulness and Compassion-Based Programme for Cultivating Nonviolence in Teenagers: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Background: Most programmes developed to reduce aggressive attitudes among teenagers are based on cultivating nonviolence, a construct that has been related to compassion and, more indirectly, mindfulness. This study aims at testing the efficacy of ‘Unlearning’, a mindfulness and compassion-based programme, for reducing aggressive attitudes in adolescents.

Method: A sample of 164 students from three high schools in Zaragoza (Spain) participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to (1) ‘Unlearning’, or (2) relaxation programme. Three assessment points were established: baseline, post-treatment and a 4-month follow-up. The outcome variables were the subscales of the ‘Attitudes Toward Social Aggression Scale’. Mindfulness and compassion were assessed as secondary outcomes.

Results: ‘Unlearning’ did not produce changes in the primary outcomes, but significant effects were observed post-treatment in self-compassion; and in the follow-up, in self-compassion and mindfulness. The control group did not experience any change post-treatment, but a significant effect in mindfulness was observed in the follow-up. The intergroup analyses indicated that ‘Unlearning’ improved self-compassion, both post-treatment (t = −2.48, p = 0.014) and after 4-months (t = −2.03, p = 0.044), although these results were not statistically significant after correcting for multiple comparisons.

Conclusion: ‘Unlearning’ did not produce significant reductions in aggressive attitudes compared to the control group. The low baseline levels may have hindered the efficacy of the interventions. ‘Unlearning’ showed potential to improve self-compassion, which is related to nonviolence, and this may have positive implications for the adolescents. Future interventions should include teachers and families to enhance the effectiveness of the programmes.

Bullying types and roles in early adolescence: Latent classes of perpetrators and victims

Although research has suggested that youth involved in bullying as victims, perpetrators, or both are at risk for negative outcomes, less work has investigated different patterns in how youth are involved in bullying with consideration for both the role (i.e., victimization and perpetration) as well as type of behaviors experienced (i.e., cyber, verbal, relational, and physical). Using Latent Class Analysis (LCA), the current study investigated patterns of bullying involvement with a sample of 799 middle school students. Results indicated that five classes of bully-involved youth emerged, including a (a) not involved class, (b) traditional bully victim class, (c) verbal bully-victim class, (d) traditional victim-only class, and (e) cyber bully-victim class. Notably, the bully-involved groups demonstrated significantly more internalizing, externalizing, and school related problems than youth not involved in bullying. Implications regarding identification of youth at risk for social and emotional challenges and intervention planning for bully involved youth are discussed.

Pathways From Witnessing Parental Intimate Partner Violence to Involvement in Bullying: Empirically Testing a Proposed Conceptual Framework

We tested a proposed conceptual framework in which we hypothesized that witnessing parental intimate partner violence (witnessing parental IPV) is linked to children's bullying and peer victimization. We also hypothesized that the relationship between witnessing parental IPV and bullying and peer victimization in childhood would be mediated by increased psychological problem behavior, school absences, and problematic peer interactions. We utilized data from the National Survey of Children's Health. We found that witnessing parental IPV was positively related to children's bullying and peer victimization not only directly, but also indirectly through the mediating role of psychological problem behavior, school absences, and problematic peer interactions. Our findings highlight the importance of exploring the mechanisms by which bullying and peer victimization increase in those who have witnessed parental IPV.

Looking Beyond Assumptions to Understand Relationship Dynamics in Bullying

To account for the complex relationships and processes that constitute the phenomenon of bullying, it is critical to understand how students and their parents and teachers conceptualize traditional and cyberbullying. Qualitative data were drawn from a mixed methods longitudinal study on cyberbullying. Semi-structured interviews were held with Canadian students in grades 4, 7, and 10 in a large urban school board, and their parents and teachers. To account for the complexity and interactions of different systems of relationships, the purpose of the current article is to examine how students and their matched parents and teachers understand traditional and cyberbullying. Central to participants' understanding of traditional and cyberbullying was whether they considered bullying to represent harmful relationship dynamics. Three main assumptions emerged as shaping participants' understanding of bullying and appeared to obscure the deep relationship processes in bullying: (a) assumptions of gender in bullying, (b) type of bullying—comparing traditional and cyberbullying, and (c) physical bullying as disconnected from relationship dynamics. It is essential that assessment, education, and prevention and intervention strategies in traditional and cyberbullying be informed by the inherent relationships in bullying and be implemented at multiple levels of relationships and broader social systems.

Was that (cyber)bullying? Investigating the operational definitions of bullying and cyberbullying from adolescents' perspective

Background/Objective: Despite the great interest that bullying and cyberbullying have received during the last decades, the problem of defining these phenomena is still debated. Recently, this discussion has also been articulated in terms of how young people who are directly involved in bullying and cyberbullying understand these notions. This study aimed at investigating the operational definitions of both bullying and cyberbullying provided by adolescent victims and perpetrators, by inquiring the weight of traditional criteria (i.e., frequency, deliberateness, imbalance of power, and harm) as well as dominance in the perception of these phenomena. Method: A total of 899 students aged between 11 and 16 years filled out the Student Aggression and Victimisation Questionnaire. Results: Common traits and differences between the operational definition of bullying and cyberbullying and between the perspectives of victims and perpetrators of aggression were found. The most relevant criterion for the perception of both these phenomena was clearly the presence of dominance. By contrast, the imbalance of power showed no significant relationship with the perception of being bullied or bullying others both offline and online. Conclusions: Findings emphasise that young people conceptualise bullying with a clear reference to relational and group processes, rather than to individual differences.

Middle School Students’ Perception on a Health Promoting School to Prevent Bullying: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: Bullying at school is an old phenomenon in the adolescent group. Despite massive prevention programs, it has not yet resolved by teachers and schools, and this also can affect school climate aspects. The aim of this study was to explore students’ perceptions who are being bullying victims about health promoting schools to prevent bullying at school.Methods: This study used a qualitative case study design. The research sample was 18 middle school students in grades 8 and 9 in East and West Surabaya. A sample was recruited through snowball sampling. Interview guidelines were used to collect the data through in-depth interviews. The data were subjected to thematic analysis.Results: Middle school students identified three   main requirements related to prevent bullying were health education, health services, and healthy school environment. These themes were found among the participants with a bullying victim’s history.Conclusion: Health education, health services, and healthy school environment are the theme for preventing bullying cases at school. To prevent bullying requires collaboration from various parties, such as students, teachers and school policy makers to be able to apply the rules while in school.

Bullying Trends Inside Sport: When Organized Sport Does Not Attract but Intimidates

Bullying is acknowledged by scientists as a considerable and still unresolved problem in sport. By triggering stress-related emotions, they determine the behavior of those experiencing bullying and cause various negative effects on their physical and mental health. However, in the presence of the tenacious trend in sports "to put one's own house in order," athletes, coaches, teams, and sports organizations themselves often do not emphasize bullying or state that they do not encounter the problem at all, and adheres to the belief that athletes may use negative emotions instrumentally in order to perform tasks given to them more effectively. The aim of this research was to reveal the determinants of the internal environment of sports organizations, causing trends of bullying in organized sport. To achieve the research aim, a qualitative research paradigm was chosen. The empirical study involved eight coaches working in organized sport in Lithuania. The survey was conducted using the semi-structured interview method. Data were analyzed employing inductive content analysis. The presented research results encompass the transcriptions of interviews, which are conceptually divided into three main categories revealing coaches' opinion on trends of bullying in organized sport, related to the sports organization's internal environment. Categories identified during the study can be equated to interrelated levels of model of Organizational behavior. The micro level-interrelationships; the mezzo level-sports professionals' (coaches') behavior; and the macro level-management of interrelationships. These results revealed which determinants of the sports organization's internal environment can be favorable for emergence of bullying and its dynamics in both interrelationships among athletes and interrelationships between athletes and coaches. And these trends of bullying, revealed on the basis of the responses of coaches involved in the study, allow us to see harmful principles of coaching, bullying-promoting traditions of team/group leadership, existing in sport, and to predict how this may effect both the athlete himself, his environment and attractiveness of the sporting activity itself.

Relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Cybervictimization, and Academic Performance in Secondary School Students

The benefits attributed to emotional intelligence (EI) in a school environment can be observed in areas such as interpersonal relationships, psychological well-being, academic performance, and avoidance of disruptive behaviors. The objective of this study was to analyze a sample of 3451 adolescents from a secondary school to test whether EI is a protector against cybervictimization and the repercussions of cybervictimization, and whether EI has an influence on academic performance. The instruments used in the study included a questionnaire of risk factors for cybervictimization-the Trait Meta Mood Scale 24 (Spanish version)-and the global marks or academic performance of the students. The relationships between the variables were analyzed and a structural equation model was developed. The correlations revealed that there was a positive relationship between EI and student academic performance, but there was also a negative relationship regarding cybervictimization. In other words, students with lower EI were more likely to suffer from cybervictimization and could experience negative repercussions on school success. Through EI training and addressing disruptive behaviors by focusing on school climate, classroom management, and discipline, we can create emotional regulation guidelines among students to eradicate disruptive behaviors.

Exploring gender differences in the longitudinal association between bullying and risk behaviours with Body Mass Index among COMPASS youth in Canada

The purpose of this study was to identify gender differences in the association between bullying and Body Mass Index (BMI) longitudinally. Longitudinal data (2013-2015) from 4510 youth (Ontario, Canada) were used to model BMI with consecutive bullying status prospectively, adjusting for previously identified gender-specific health risk behaviour latent classes. To assess for gender differences, these mixed-effects models were stratified by gender. Youth who were victims of bullying (VoB) were more active, engaged in more substance use and reported higher BMI than their non-victim of bullying (NVoB) peers. The gender-specific mixed-models showed that there are gender differences in the association between bullying and BMI. Among females, repeated bullying was associated with higher odds of having overweight/obesity [by 51% (95% C.I. = 1.03, 2.23)] at follow-up. Among male youth, being a VoB at the previous wave only, was associated with higher odds of having overweight/obesity [by 60% (95% C.I. = 1.11, 2.29)] at follow-up. In contrast with previous literature that measured BMI during adulthood (i.e., years after school victimization), our study adds a unique contribution to the literature that across one year (while youth are still in secondary school), bullying is associated with higher odds of weight status and BMI among female and male youth. Since this increase occurs during secondary school, school-based programs aimed at decreasing youth bullying behaviours and addressing increases in BMI before youth leave school are of paramount importance.

Social status and friendship in peer victimization trajectories

Background/Objective: Most studies have evaluated victimization at a single time point, making it difficult to determine the impact of the time during which an individual is victimized. This longitudinal study aims to examine the differences in the levels of social status (social preference and perceived popularity) and friendship in peer victimization trajectories, and to analyse if there were changes over time in the levels of social status and friendship in each trajectory. Method: The final sample was composed of 1,239 students (49% girls) with ages between 9 and 18 (M = 12.23, SD = 1.73), from 22 schools in southern Spain. Peer nominations were collected. Results: The General Linear Model results associated the highest levels of social preference, perceived popularity and friendship with the sporadic victimization profile and the lowest levels of these dimensions with the stable profile. Conclusions:The results are discussed based on important personal aspects of stable victimization that confirms social rejection, unpopularity, and the low social support that victimization causes. This contribution is discussed in terms of health and social welfare in adolescence.

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.