Correlates of Bullying Behavior Among Children and Adolescents in Physical Education: A Systematic Review

Background and Objective

Bullying is notably prevalent among children and adolescents, especially within the context of physical education (PE) environments. Understanding the underlying factors that trigger bullying behavior is essential in designing strategies to prevent bullying and formulating more effective interventions in PE. There is a lack of integrated findings regarding the wide range of correlates of bullying behavior among children and adolescents within the PE context. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to synthesize the correlates of bullying behavior among children and adolescents within the context of PE.

Methods

We conducted a systematic search across four databases (EBSCOhost, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science) for relevant studies published before August 2023. Two reviewers independently examined the articles, assessed their methodological quality, and performed data extraction.

Results

A total of 23 articles met the inclusion criteria. It is found that demographic, physical movement, physical appearance, psycho-cognitive, teacher-related, and contextual factors emerged as six prominent influential factors affecting adolescent bullying behavior. Specifically, demographic factors mainly encompassed age and gender; physical movement factors primarily include physical activity, sedentary behavior, physical exercise, and sports competence; physical appearance factors primarily include being overweight, too thin, too tall, or too short; psycho-cognitive factors chiefly involved cognitive empathy, motivation, enjoyment of physical activity; teacher-related factors primarily comprised activity choices, teachers competence, controlling style, autonomy support; and contextual factors primarily cover desolate climate, perceived caring climate, strong sense of competition and winning setting.

Conclusion

The results indicate that bullying is a complex and multifaced behavior primarily determined by demographic, physical movement, physical appearance, psycho-cognitive, teacher-related, and contextual factors. Future studies need to enhance the diversity of research samples and comparative studies on the factors influencing bullying behavior among children and adolescents in different countries. Additionally, a more extensive range of intervention studies addressing bullying behavior among children and adolescents is warranted.

Bullying and Self-Concept, Factors Affecting the Mental Health of School Adolescents

Bullying is an aggressive and repetitive behavior, where one person or several people physically, socially, or emotionally harm a vulnerable person and provokean imbalance of power in a school setting. Several factors such as age, sex, school performance, psychological factors, and ethnicity have been associated with bullying and more are being sought. Thus, the objectives of this study were as follows: (1) analyze the differences in bullying (victimization and aggression) and self-concept (academic, social, emotional, family, and physical) with respect to sex, school location, and educational level among Spanish adolescents; (2) explore the associations of bullying and self-concept with these sociodemographic dimensions. A cross-sectional study was designed with a total of 1155 participants (between 12 and 18 years old); there were 48.8% boys and 51.2% girls, where 75.9% studied compulsory secondary education (CSE) and 24.1% Baccalaureate, and 31.9% were students from rural schools and 68.1% were from urban schools. Medium and inverse correlations were shown between victimization and self-concept at the general level, for both sexes, both types of school, and both educational stages. For the aggression dimension, the correlations with self-concept were inverse at the general level (low), in girls (low), in rural students (medium), and in compulsory secondary education students (medium). For academic self-concept and family self-concept, the associations were medium and inverse with bullying in all variables. For emotional self-concept the correlation with bullying was direct and medium in all variables; in physical self-concept, the correlations with bullying were inverse in almost all variables except in boys. Self-concept may be a protective factor for bullying and interventions should aim at adolescents building a positive multidimensional self-concept that prevents and protects them from bullying either as aggressor or victim.

Bullying Victimization and Juvenile Delinquency in Ghanaian Schools: The Moderating Effect of Social Support

Researchers from Western countries and Asia have documented that bullying victimization positively predicts juvenile delinquency. Other researchers have reported that social support considerably reduces adolescent offending. However, little is known about the role of social support in the association between bullying victimization and teenage delinquency. This study investigated the moderating effect of social support on the relationship between bullying victimization and juvenile delinquency in Ghanaian schools. Data for this research were drawn from the 2012 Global School-Based Student Health Survey. Negative binomial regression was used to analyze the data. The results revealed that bullying victimization significantly predicted adolescent delinquency. In addition, physical bullying significantly increased teenage offending. Moreover, parental and school support meaningfully reduced antisocial behavior. Finally, social support did not moderate the effect of bullying victimization on delinquency. The limitations and policy implications of this study are discussed.

Socioeconomic inequality in violent behaviors, life dissatisfaction, and self-rated health in pediatric population: the CASPIAN-V study

BACKGROUND

Bullying, being a victim of violent behaviors, life satisfaction (LS) and self-rated health (SRH) in children and adolescents, all have consistently been recognized as vital factors in school performance and future individual life.

METHODS

This cross-sectional data secondary study was a part of the fifth Childhood and Adolescence Surveillance and Prevention of Adult Non-communicable disease (CASPIAN-V) in 2015. A total of 14,400 students 7-18 years and their parents living in 30 provinces in Iran were studied. A validated questionnaire of the World Health Organization on Global School-based Health Survey (WHO-GSHS) was used to measure the outcomes and socioeconomic variables. Family's socioeconomic status (SES) was determined using principal component analysis (PCA). The crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval (CI)) were estimated using multiple logistic regressions for each outcome.

RESULTS

A total of 14,274 students completed the study, of whom 50.6% were boys. Overall, the prevalence of bullying, being a victim, life dissatisfaction (LDS), and poor SRH among students was 35.6, 21.4, 21.1, and 19.0%, respectively. In multiple-logistic regression analysis (Adjusted OR, (95%CI), students with an illiterate father and mother (1.60, (1.25-2.04), 1.28, (1.03-1.61), unemployed father (1.58, (1.29-1.81)), and one-parent family (1.32, (1.05 - 1.64) had a higher odd of Poor-SRH. Besides, a family size larger than four members (1.14, (1.03-1.25), and low-SES (1.35, (1.15-1.56), and illiteracy of the mother (1.64, (1.30-2.08) had a direct association with LDS. Mother illiteracy also increased the odds of bullying (1.77, (1.45-2.16) and being a victim (1.58, (1.26-1.98).

CONCLUSIONS

Some socioeconomic variables can be proposed as the statistically significant attribution of bullying and being a victim, LDS, and Poor-SRH in children and adolescents.

Bullying, Cyberbullying and the Overlap: What Does Age Have to Do with It?

School bullying and cyberbullying represent the most common forms of victimization during childhood and adolescence in many countries across the globe. Although they can be studied as distinct phenomena with their own defining characteristics, there is evidence to suggest that they are related and often co-occur. The present research aimed to estimate the rates of school bullying and cyberbullying, studied their evolution by age, and analyzed any possible overlap between the two. An empirical study was carried out with a large sample of children and adolescents in Galicia, Spain (N = 2083), where 10–17 year olds were presented with The European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire and European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire. School bullying was found to be more prevalent than cyberbullying, with 25.1% involved as victims and 14.3% as bully-victims, while the cyberbullying rates were 9.4% for victims and 5.8% for bully-victims. Perpetration rates were similar for school and cyberbullying (4.4% and 4.3% respectively). The overlap between both phenomena adds to the evidence for a whole-community approach to tackling all types of bullying and victimization experiences, as opposed to each in silo. The clear age differences in bullying behaviours also suggest the appropriateness of tailoring anti-bullying programs to target specific age groups.

Differences in Children's Social Development: How Migration Background Impacts the Effect of Early Institutional Childcare Upon Children's Prosocial Behavior and Peer Problems

This article focuses on the early years of children from immigrant families in Germany. Research has documented disparities in young children's development correlating with their family background (e.g., immigrant or ethnic minority status), making clear the importance of early intervention. Institutional childcare-as an early intervention for children at risk-plays an important role in Germany, as 34.3% of children below the age of three and 93% of children above that age are in external childcare. This paper focuses on the extent to which children from families with a background of migration differ in their social development when considering their age of entry into early external childcare (and thus its duration). Data from the infant cohort study of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS, N = 1,846) is used to analyze the impact of early institutional childcare before the age of 3 years on children's social competence at the age of 5 years, controlling for gender, siblings, temperament, home learning activities, and socioeconomic status. Results show the effects of duration of early external childcare on peer problems for children from families with a background of migration, in such a way that children who attend early external childcare for more than 1 year before the age of three show less problem behavior with peers than those who attend for less than a year. These findings have equity implications for children with a migration background living in Germany, especially as the proportion of these children is trending upwards.

Moral disengagement and verbal bullying in early adolescence: A three-year longitudinal study

This three-year longitudinal study examined both within- and between-person effects of moral disengagement on verbal bullying perpetration in early adolescence. Data came from the first four waves (T1-T4, Grades 4 to 7) of an ongoing longitudinal project examining social and moral correlates of bullying in Swedish schools. Participants included 2432 Swedish early adolescents (52% girls; M_age at T1 = 10.55 years). Students completed self-report measures of verbal bullying perpetration and moral disengagement. Results of a multilevel growth model showed that verbal bullying increased over time (regression coefficient for Grade was b = 0.04, SE = 0.01, p < .001). Additionally, the verbal bullying trajectories of participants with higher average levels of MD were higher (regression coefficient for MD¯ was b = 0.28, SE = 0.02, p < .001) and steeper (regression coefficient for the Grade ×MD¯ interaction was b = 0.02, SE = 0.01, p = .018), indicating that these students scored higher on verbal bullying in general and increased more in verbal bullying over time, compared to students with lower levels of average MD. Variations around one's own mean of MD over time was also significantly associated with concurrent changes in verbal bullying (regression coefficient for time-varying MD was b = 0.21, SE = 0.01, p < .001).

[Bullying experiences in outpatients of a child and adolescent psychotherapy centre - A particularly vulnerable group?]

Bullying experiences in outpatients of a child and adolescent psychotherapy centre - A particularly vulnerable group? Abstract. Objective: Bullying has both short- and long-term effects on physical and mental health. Thus, more victimized children might tend to be found in clinical samples. This is the first study to examine the prevalence of bullying roles and modes in children/adolescents in a psychotherapeutic outpatient setting in Germany. Method: 298 outpatients being treated in a child/adolescent psychotherapy centre (6-20 years, 50.7 % female) completed a questionnaire concerning their bullying experiences over the last 6 months. Results: 24.5 % of the patients reported from a victim's perspective, independent of being perpetrators of bullying. 19.1 % reported solely as victims, 5.4 % as victims who also bullied (bully-victims), and 2.0 % as bullies. More than one-third of those with victim or bully-victim experiences had been polyvictimized, 86.2 % were victims solely of traditional bullying, and 1.4 % solely of cyberbullying. The exploratory comparison to general-population school samples seems to show significantly more patients with victim experiences and significantly less patients who bullied others. There seem to be no significant effects for bully-victims. Compared to an inpatient sample, significantly fewer adolescent patients seem to state being victims or bully-victims. Conclusions: Bullying is a topic of particular importance in the context of psychotherapy. These findings have implications for the psychotherapeutic practice as well as training settings.

Personal peer victimization and ethnic peer victimization: Findings on their co-occurrence, predictors, and outcomes from a latent profile analysis

BACKGROUND

Findings on whether immigrant students suffer from higher levels of peer victimization have been inconsistent, perhaps due to a blend of measures for personal and ethnic peer victimization.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we investigated personal and ethnic peer victimization using latent profile analyses. The profiles were related to various predictor and outcome variables.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The sample consisted of N = 4367 German elementary school students attending grades 3 and 4.

METHODS

The students responded to eight items addressing personal peer victimization and one item addressing ethnic peer victimization.

RESULTS

The findings indicated a three-profile solution. In Profile 1, students experienced a combination of personal and ethnic peer victimization; Profile 2 contained students without any victimization experiences; in Profile 3, students experienced personal peer victimization only. Relative to native German-speaking students, non-native German-speaking students had a higher chance to be classified in Profile 1 compared to Profiles 2 and 3. Both profiles of peer victimization (i.e., Profiles 1 and 3) were associated with negative outcomes including higher levels of different types of anxiety and depression, and lower levels of self-esteem and peer self-concept.

CONCLUSIONS

Student subgroups of different patterns of peer victimization were found, whereby ethnic peer victimization was blended with personal peer victimization in one subgroup, and personal peer victimization was experienced in a pure form in another subgroup. The two victimization subgroups did not differ with regard to outcomes, but were differentially predicted by students' native language.

Differentiated content of verbal aggression: Effect of gender on insults in secondary schools in Poland

A large body of literature shows that boys and girls experience different kinds of peer aggression. This difference is usually explained by the function of bullying depending on gender and age. In the present study, we used a mixed method called concept mapping to analyze the content structure of verbal aggression. We compared this structure between two levels of Polish schools—middle school and high school. Using experimental manipulation we tested whether the content of verbal invectives depends on the gender of the victim. Results showed six different types of verbal invectives. Middle school students listed substantially more in four out of the six categories. There were significant effects of the experimental manipulation of the victim's gender. When the male victim was primed there were significantly more sexual insults and when the female victim was primed there was substantially more ability-related verbal bullying. We interpret these results in the context of the development and norms of masculinity and femininity.

Jugendliche Flüchtlinge

Zusammenfassung. Die psychischen Belastungen von jugendlichen Flüchtlingen sind vielfältig und äußern sich in Stressreaktionen, die sich vor allem in einer Posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung, Ängsten und Depression zeigen. Die Prävalenzen sind bei unbegleiteten minderjährigen Flüchtlingen besonders hoch ausgeprägt. Neben fluchtspezifischen Stressoren kommt akkulturationsbezogenem Stress eine wichtige Rolle zu. Ein ungünstiger Akkulturationsstil besitzt einen hohen Vorhersagewert für die Entwicklung einer Posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung und einer Depression. In den letzten Jahren konnten Belege gesammelt werden, die im Rahmen der Behandlung vor allem verhaltenstherapeutische Ansätze als wirksam ausweisen. Gesellschaftliche Anstrengungen (z. B. im Rahmen der Jugendhilfe) und therapeutische Bemühungen sind Teile einer perspektivenreichen Integration jugendlicher Flüchtlinge.

Children's Social Integration and Low Perception of Negative Relationships as Protectors Against Bullying and Cyberbullying

The aim was to investigate the factors associated with the diverse bullying forms suffered by a victim (relational, aggressive and cyberbullying) by considering the mediating role of the quality of coexistence in school: social integration and perception about relationships among peers. We evaluated data about 42 schools (79.5% public) in a sample of 3,407 students (47.6% boys and 52.4% girls) from the Primary Education. The mediational analyses indicated that, to predict all the bullying forms, a greater sense of social integration and a perception of low negative relationships were mediators, and social integration was the factor that most strongly correlated with bullying, especially relational bullying. We found that the number of good friends and negative relationships together predicted social integration, and the school type predicted negative relationships and number of good friends. The implications for education programs and policy are discussed.

A Systematic Review Summarizing the State of Evidence on Bullying in Childhood Cancer Patients/Survivors [Formula: see text]

BACKGROUND

One in four school-aged children is bullied. However, the risk may be greater for childhood cancer patients/survivors (diagnosed <18 years), because of symptoms of the disease and treatment that may prejudice peers. While the serious consequences of bullying are well documented in the general population, bullying may have even greater impact in children with cancer due to the myriad of challenges associated with treatment and prolonged school absence.

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the state of evidence on bullying in childhood cancer patients/survivors; specifically, the rate and types of bullying experienced and the associated factors.

METHOD

We searched five electronic databases from inception to February 2018 for original research articles reporting on bullying in childhood cancer patients/survivors.

RESULTS

We identified 29 eligible articles, representing 1,078 patients/survivors ( M = 14.35 years). Self-reports from patients/survivors revealed a considerably higher rate of bullying (32.2%) compared with the general population (25%). Our review identified little information on the factors associated with bullying in patients/survivors. However, the bullying described tended to be verbal and was often related to the physical side effects of treatment, indicating that differences in appearance may prejudice peers. It was further suggested that educating the child's classmates about cancer may prevent bullying.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings confirm that bullying is a significant challenge for many childhood cancer patients/survivors. Additional studies are needed to identify factors that may influence the risk of bullying, which will inform the development of evidence-based interventions and guidelines to prevent bullying in childhood cancer patients/survivors.

The effect of parental style on bullying and cyber bullying behaviors and the mediating role of peer attachment relationships: A longitudinal study

The purpose of the present study was the examination of the longitudinal effect of parental style on short-term changes in conventional and cyber forms of bullying/victimization, and the investigation of the mediating role of peer attachment relationships on this effect. The participants were 861 children and adolescents (52% girls, M_age = 11.72 years) attending Cyprus public institutions. Students provided information during three measurement points. There was a six and a 12 week interval among the three measurement points, respectively. The findings of the study indicated that parenting seems to be a significant predictor of all forms of bullying/victimization, conventional and cyber, in early adolescents, even when accounting for bullying/victimization levels eighteen weeks back. More importantly, results showed that the effect of parental style on bullying forms was mediated by peer attachment relationships. Results are discussed in the light of theoretical and practical implications.

Bullying and Victimization: The Effect of Close Companionship

Peer bullying and victimization are a widespread phenomenon among school-age children and can have detrimental effects on the development of children. To examine whether having a close companion during childhood increases or decreases risk of victimization and bullying, this study compared twins to singleton children. A large group of twins (n = 9,909) were included who were compared to their related non-twin siblings (n = 1,534) aged 7-12 from the Netherlands Twin Register, thus creating optimal matching between twins and non-twins. Bullying and victimization were each based on a four-item scale filled out by their teachers. Prevalence rates for either bullying or victimization did not differ between twins and singletons. In total, in the past couple of months, 36% of children bullied peers moderately to severely, and 35% suffered moderately to severely from victimization. Boys were more likely to bully and were more prone to becoming a victim than girls. The most notable finding is that female twin pairs placed together in the same classroom did not bully more often, but were victimized less often, thus pointing to a protective effect of having a close companion in the classroom.

Saúde do escolar: uma revisão integrativa sobre família e bullying

Resumo O “bullying” é um problema de saúde pública e, nesta revisão, objetivou-se avaliar a relação entre o contexto familiar e a ocorrência do fenômeno. Sua contribuição original é a abordagem ampliada sobre esse tipo de violência. Utilizou-se a estratégia SPIDER na construção do estudo que foi guiado pela questão norteadora: qual o papel da família no desenvolvimento, manutenção e prevenção do “bullying”? Foram consultadas as bases PsycInfo e Lilacs, e a biblioteca virtual SciELO, a partir dos cruzamentos 1. “bullying and Family” e 2. “bullying and parents”, e seus correlatos em português e espanhol. A qualidade metodológica dos estudos foi avaliada segundo critérios de nível de evidência. Foram incluídos 27 artigos, publicados entre 2009 e 2013, nos idiomas inglês, espanhol e português, com prevalência de evidências entre forte e moderada. Nos estudos, o delineamento predominante foi o transversal e a maioria não indicou o referencial teórico adotado. Aspectos qualitativos do contexto familiar, características sociodemográficas e experiências de violência em casa foram associados com o envolvimento de escolares em situações de “bullying”. Revelou-se que o “bullying” requer intervenções intersetoriais e são estimuladas investigações com foco não apenas nas características individuais dos estudantes, mas também nos contextos.

Bullying and cyberbullying in Portugal: Validation of a questionnaire and analysis of prevalence

This study aims to validate the Bullying and Cyberbullying Behaviors Questionnaire, to examine the prevalence of bullying and victimization behaviors in Portuguese middle school students, and to analyse the differences in victimization and bullying between genders and across school grades. The questionnaire is composed of 36 items, allowing for the measurement of the prevalence of bullying and cyberbullying, and was completed by 1039 sixth to eighth graders ( M age = 12.02; SD = 1.36) from six public middle schools in the district of Lisbon. The questionnaire presented acceptable psychometrics properties, except for the victims of cyberbullying scale where there is an item that needs to be rewritten. Bullying prevalence (10.1% victims and 6.1% aggressors) is among the lowest internationally. Victimization prevalence was homogeneous between genders, but boys reported aggressive behaviors more frequently. The percentage of victims decreased across school grades. The present questionnaire is adequate for use in the assessment of bullying and cyberbullying with middle school students. Bullying prevention programs should take into account the need to raise teacher awareness of bullying and cyberbullying.

Migrantenkinder

Zusammenfassung. Der Beitrag definiert den Begriff „Migration“ und geht auf die Lebensbedingungen von Familien mit einem Migrationshintergrund ein. Es werden demographische Aspekte und Ursachen für eine Migration erläutert. Am Beispiel der Identitätsentwicklung von Kindern und Jugendlichen werden die besonderen Entwicklungsaufgaben von Migrationskindern beschrieben sowie die muslimische Religionszugehörigkeit als möglicher Belastungsfaktor thematisiert; an einigen Beispielen werden auch Diskriminierungserfahrungen ausgeführt. Fokussiert man die Spezifika von Migrationskindern und den daraus resultierenden Versorgungsbedarf im Kontext psychischer Auffälligkeiten bei Kindern und Jugendlichen, wird der Nachholbedarf in der klinischen Forschung und Praxis deutlich.

Bullying involvement of Korean children in Germany and in Korea

This study compared bullying involvement of Korean or Korean-German children living in Germany with children in Korea, and examined children’s perceptions of school environment associated with bullying involvement of the children. This study included 105 Korean or Korean-German children living in the Bayern State of Germany as the study sample and 95 Korean children in Gyeongnam Province of Korea as the control group. Korean children in Germany were significantly less likely to be exposed to and less likely to be engaged in bullying behaviors than those in Korea, except relational bullying. Overall 21.0% of Korean or Korean-German children were being bullied and 18.1% of children were bullying peers in Germany, whereas 33.7% of children were exposed to being bullied and 35.8% of children were involved in bullying peers in Korea. Children’s perceptions of school environment as being more favorable were significantly associated with decreased bullying involvement of children. Policy implications were suggested based on the findings.

Interfaces entre família e bullying escolar: uma revisão sistemática

Objetivou-se conhecer e mapear a produção científica que evidencia relações entre o contexto familiar e o envolvimento em situações de bullying escolar, por meio de uma revisão sistemática da literatura. Foram consultadas as bases de dados Lilacs, Web of Science e a biblioteca Scielo. A busca resultou em 54 artigos publicados em português, inglês e espanhol, entre 2008 e 2013, e a análise dos dados permitiu a identificação de sete categorias analíticas: 1) características estruturais; 2) práticas parentais; 3) estilos parentais; 4) clima familiar; 5) sentimentos dos pais em relação aos filhos; 6) saúde mental dos pais; e 7) violências. Constatou-se um predomínio de publicações internacionais e de estudos quantitativos e, no conjunto, verificou-se que algumas características e aspectos familiares estavam associados ao envolvimento de estudantes em situações de bullying. O estudo amplia o olhar interpretativo sobre o fenômeno e suas complexidades com uma abordagem contextual, indicando caminhos para novas pesquisas.

Individual and social network predictors of physical bullying: a longitudinal study of Taiwanese early adolescents

This study followed 125 7th-grade students in Taiwan for the entire school year and analyzed the individual and social network factors predicting their involvement in physical bullying over 5 waves of data. Using self-reports of bullying experiences, 20 classroom-level networks of bullying and friendship were constructed for 4 classrooms and 5 temporal points, from which 4 individual-level network measures were calculated. They included bully and victim centrality, popularity, and embeddedness in friendship networks. A series of mixed models for repeated measures were constructed to predict students' bully and victim centrality in bullying network at time t + 1. Compared to girls, boys were more likely to be both the bullies and victims. Lower self-esteem and higher family economic status contributed to victim centrality. Having parents married and living together predicted lower bully centrality. Higher educational level of parents predicted lower victim and bully centrality. Regarding the social network factors, students' bully centrality at t positively predicted their bully centrality at t + 1, whereas victim centrality predicted their subsequent victim centrality. Interaction effects between friendship network and bullying network were observed. Embeddedness in friendship network reduced victim centrality at t + 1 except for those students with low victim centrality at t. For those with high victim centrality at t, popularity increased their risk of physical victimization over time. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Prevalence of school bullying among secondary students in Taiwan: Measurements with and without a specific definition of bullying

Estimates of bullying and bullying victimization rates vary depending on how these rates are measured. The current study used survey methods of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to investigate the prevalence of school bullying among secondary students in Taiwan. We also examined whether results differed between surveys with and without definitions of bullying. Olweus-type global items and the timeframe, response categories, and cut-off point adopted in the WHO’s Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study were used in this study. Surveys were administered to secondary students in Taiwan (grades 7–12), with 3,554 students receiving surveys with a definition of bullying and 793 receiving surveys without a definition of bullying. The following results were obtained: (1) In the survey with bullying defined, the self-reported prevalence rates of bullying, victimization, witness to bullying, and bully/victims were 10.9%, 10.7%, 29.9%, and 5.5% respectively; (2) male students were more involved in school bullying than females; (3) no significant difference in prevalence rates was found between the two survey versions. International bullying prevalence rates, gender differences, and the effects of a bullying definition are discussed.

Bullying and victimization: Predictive role of individual, parental, and academic factors

This study explored the roles of individual factors (age, gender, locus of control, self-esteem, and loneliness), parenting style, and academic achievement in discriminating students involved in bullying (as bullies, victims, and bully/victims) from those not involved. Participants comprised 742 middle school students (393 females, 349 males). The results of multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that a higher locus of control, lower strictness/supervision scores, increased age, and being male increased the likelihood of being a bully; a higher locus of control, higher loneliness score, and a lower acceptance/involvement score increased the likelihood of being a victim; and higher loneliness and psychological autonomy scores and lower acceptance/involvement, strictness/supervision, and academic achievement scores increased the likelihood of being a bully/victim. Although parental style variables play an important role in involvement in bullying, the individual factor loneliness is a more powerful predictor than other predictors in discriminating victims and bully/victims from uninvolved students. Age and gender are stronger predictors than other predictors in discriminating bullies from uninvolved students.

Coping with bullying: What answers does children’s literature provide?

Bibliotherapy is a therapeutic tool for helping children deal with stressful events. Bullying and peer victimization is commonly experienced by children and has been associated with psychosocial maladjustment. However, research suggests that particular coping strategies may be more or less effective. As stories are one avenue through which children learn about and explore possible coping strategies, this study examined 73 storybooks aimed at children ages 4–11 for bullying type (verbal, physical, and relational), settings in which the bullying occurred and coping strategies used by fictional victims. Assessed coping strategies included nine categories and 26 specific strategies. Results indicated that the most commonly used coping strategy categories included both adaptive ( prosocial response, advice seeking, distancing) and maladaptive ( revenge-seeking) categories. The most frequently promoted coping strategies were bystander-intervention (16%), befriend-the-bully (15%), trick-the-bully (11%), scare-the bully-(10%), and verbal-confrontation (10%). Differences in the strategies presented across reading level of the books were also found. Results are discussed in light of current research on coping and bullying, and implications for clinicians and school staff conducting bibliotherapy to address bullying.

Bullying and victimization experiences in elementary school students nominated by their teachers for Specific Learning Disabilities

This study sought to investigate self-reported bullying and victimization experiences among students nominated by their teachers as meeting the criteria for Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). A total of 346 students attending the upper three grade-levels of Greek primary schools participated in the study. Fifty of them were identified by their teachers as meeting the SLD criteria. All participants completed self-report measures of bullying and victimization and also provided their demographic data. Results showed that SLD students were more likely to act as bully/victims in bullying episodes, by using more direct verbal aggression; whereas the frequency of exhibiting aggressive behaviours, either as passive victims or aggressive bullies, did not differ from that of their non-SLD counterparts. These findings contradict existing research indicating that SLD students are subject to victimization more frequently than their regular peers.

Victims and bully-victims but not bullies are groups associated with anxiety symptomatology among Brazilian children and adolescents

School bullying is frequent and is associated with a broad spectrum of psychiatric problems. The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of bullying behaviors in a large sample of Brazilian children and adolescents and to investigate the association between bullying behaviors and DSM-IV anxiety symptomatology. This cross-sectional study involved completion of a questionnaire about bullying behaviors and their frequency and the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) that is a self-report screening tool for childhood anxiety disorders by 2,355 students. A total of 22.9 % of the sample reported frequent involvement in bullying, as a bully (7.6 %), as a victim (5.7 %), or as a bully-victim (9.6 %). In general, our findings showed that students involved in bullying behaviors, as victims or bully-victims, were more likely to have higher scores in SCARED total and its subscales than bullies and than uninvolved students. The prevalence of bullying behaviors among Brazilian youth is about average when compared with previous samples described in the literature. Victims and bully-victims, but no bullies, are groups associated with higher anxiety symptomatology.

Cyber-Mobbing: Eine Bestandsaufnahme

Die Nutzung der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie (IKT) hat der Menschheit nicht nur Vorteile gebracht. Ein Nachteil liegt in der Entstehung und der Zunahme von Cyber-Mobbing. Diese besondere Form des Mobbings hat Auswirkungen auf Kinder und Jugendliche aller Altersstufen, Eltern und Lehrkräfte und stellt eine zunehmende Herausforderung für Schulen dar. Dieser Artikel bietet einen Überblick über den aktuellen Stand der Forschung in Bezug auf die Prävalenz und Formen des Cyber-Mobbings, die psychosozialen Korrelate bei Opfern, Tätern und Täter-Opfern sowie Auswirkungen auf Täter und Opfer. Mögliche Wege für Präventionsmaßnahmen und Implikationen für die zukünftige Forschung werden aufgezeigt.

Correlates of teachers’ ways of handling bullying

Aggressive behaviors in schools and bullying behaviors amongst children are a serious problem in the school context. As a consequence of an aggressive atmosphere in the classroom, learning processes are disturbed and children are less likely to experience pleasure when attending school. Teachers face a big challenge as a result. As we know from previous research, teachers have different possibilities when handling incidents of aggressive behaviors and bullying in their classrooms. The present study sought to examine correlates (e.g. attitudes toward aggression) of ways of handling bullying in German teachers. Factor analysis indicated a two-factor solution with respect to ways of handling bullying (Factor 1: Ignoring vs. Taking Action, Factor 2: Attribution of Responsibility) and it was demonstrated that attitudes toward aggression and beliefs about the changeability of aggressive behaviors are correlates of the different strategies that teachers use. The implications for the school context and for teacher preparation are discussed.

Cyberbullying: An increasing challenge for schools

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) has not only brought advantages to mankind. One downside is the emergence and increase of cyberbullying in schools. Affecting students of all ages, teachers, parents, and other educators, this special form of bullying is an increasing challenge for schools. This article offers an overview of the current state of research regarding prevalence and forms of cyberbullying; its psychosocial correlates in victims, bullies, and bully-victims; possible avenues for prevention and intervention approaches for school practitioners; and implications for future research.

Rates of cyber victimization and bullying among male Australian primary and high school students

The prevalence and nature of electronic forms of bullying (cyberbullying) was investigated among 1,530 primary and secondary school aged male students (Years 6 to 12; 9-18 years, chronologically) in Sydney and Brisbane, Australia. Findings revealed that victimization via the Internet was the most common form of cyberbullying with 11.5 percent of students reporting at least one experience of it during the school year. A significant main effect was found, with junior secondary school students (Years 8 to 10) the most likely to be victimized in this manner. With regard to the cyberbullying of others, the Internet was again the most commonly employed method, with 8.5 percent of students reporting using it. A main effect was evident between year levels for all four forms of cyberbullying investigated. The transmission of electronic images was the least reported form of cyberbullying experienced (4.8 percent) and the least frequently perpetrated form of cyberbullying (3.7 percent), which is less than the only other study conducted reporting such data. These findings are discussed in the light of the relatively limited cyberbullying research undertaken to date.

Influence of psychological and social factors on bystanders’ roles in school bullying among Korean-American students in the United States

This study investigated the associations of psychological and social variables with the likelihood of exhibiting three different behaviors as a bystander in a bullying situation. The sample comprised 238 Korean-American and Korean students, from the 3rd to 12th grades, studying in the USA. Students receiving classmate support showed a lower probability of exhibiting outsider behaviors in a bullying situation as compared to non-involvers, whereas those receiving teacher support showed less likelihood of exhibiting assistant, outsider, and defender behaviors as compared to non-involvers. Furthermore, students showing higher responsibility exhibited a lower probability of being a defender group as compared to the non-involvers, while those showing higher empathy demonstrated a greater probability of being in the defender group over non-involvers. The current study discusses the implications for bullying preventive interventions in school settings.

To Bully or Not to Bully, That Is Not the Question

Twenty-eight early adolescent boys and girls suspended from school for bullying provided accounts of the importance of reputation in their daily lives, specifically how they initiated, promoted, and then maintained their reputation through bullying. Overall, bullying was a deliberate choice perpetrated to attain a nonconforming reputation and was initially promoted through visibility of physical bullying. These actions became more covert, particularly among girls, during the promotion phase. Sex differences were most marked in the maintenance phase. Although both boys and girls used cyber bullying to deliberately induce a sense of apprehension and fear, boys also deliberately damaged their victim’s houses and gardens outside of school hours to induce a greater sense of fear and hence maintain their nonconforming reputation.

Opfer von Bullying in der Schule

Der Leidensdruck durch schulisches Bullying ist enorm, sowohl auf Opfer- als auch auf Täterseite wird das Risiko für emotionale Störungen und Verhaltensauffälligkeiten erhöht sowie die schulische Entwicklung erheblich beeinträchtigt. Es wird der Zusammenhang von Bullying und Depression, Suizidalität und selbstverletzendem Verhalten diskutiert. Hierfür wurden 303 Schüler befragt, von denen 20.8 % angaben, in den letzten Monaten ein Opfer von Bullying geworden zu sein. Das Risiko zur Ausbildung der genannten emotionalen Störungen zeigte sich für viktimisierte Schüler deutlich erhöht (Odds Ratios von 2.4 bis 3.0). Der notwendige Ausbau von schulbezogenen Bullying-Präventionsprogrammen in Deutschland würde demnach mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit auch zur Prävention ernsthafter emotionaler Störungen bei Kindern und Jugendlichen beitragen.

Content analysis of School Psychology International, 1990–2011: An analysis of trends and compatibility with the NASP Practice Model

Formal analysis of research publications serves as one indicator of the current status of a profession or a journal. Content analyses provide both practitioners and academicians with information on the status of research in the profession. These types of analyses can also provide information on the concordance between published research and what professional organizations consider key areas of practice. The current study examined articles published in one journal, School Psychology International, for a 22-year period from 1990 through 2011 ( n = 671 articles). All articles were coded for demographics of the author, including country of origin and level of international content, and the content matching categories found in the NASP Model for Comprehensive and Integrated School Psychological Services. Results indicated that the journal is very much international with authors coming from 57 countries. With regard to gender, a trend was noticed for increased participation by women. Finally, the analysis of content found a pattern that was not highly consistent with the categories identified by NASP. Factors contributing to the lack of consistency between research and areas of practice are discussed.

A mediating model of relational aggression, narcissistic orientations, guilt feelings, and perceived classroom norms

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation between narcissistic orientations (grandiose sense of self-importance, interpersonal exploitation, and narcissistic rage) and relational aggression (self-satisfactory and punishment type) and the mediating effects of guilt feelings toward and perceived classroom norms against relational aggression. The sample consisted of 240 5th-grade and 6th-grade students (10- to 12-years-old) from two public elementary schools and 307 7th-, 8th-, and 9th-grade students (12- to 15-years-old) from two public middle schools in Japan. Results of structural equation modeling demonstrated that narcissistic rage was positively associated with relational aggression (punishment type). Moreover, interpersonal exploitation was related to more relational aggression (self-satisfactory and punishment type); however, guilt feelings toward and perceived classroom norms against relational aggression mediated this association. Age and gender did not largely affect these effects. Social and developmental processes involving relational aggression, narcissistic orientations, and guilt feelings and perceived classroom norms were discussed.

The moderating effect of Machiavellianism on the relationships between bullying, peer acceptance, and school adjustment in adolescents

This study examined the moderating effect of Machiavellianism on the relationships between bullying, peer acceptance, and school adjustment (rule-following behavior and academic performance) among 216 middle school 7th-graders in Taipei, Taiwan. The participants were divided into two groups according to their Machiavellianism. Multi-group path analysis showed that for those who were low in Machiavellianism condition, physical and verbal bullying was negatively linked to peer acceptance and academic performance while no significant association was found for the high-Machiavellianism group. Bullying was negatively, yet non-significantly, associated with rule-following behavior for both groups. The results largely supported the buffering effect of Machiavellianism on the negative outcomes of bullying. Implications for school-violence prevention and for research on adaptive bullies are discussed.

Cyberbullying in Turkish middle schools: An exploratory study

This study explored Turkish students' experience of cyberbullying and their use of social networking tools. A total of 756 7th-grade students participated from eight different middle schools in Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey. A 15-item questionnaire was used in a classroom environment to collect data. Results revealed that male students were more involved in cyberbullying than female students. Students used instant messaging programs in cyberbullying, and bullying victims did not communicate with adults when they were exposed to harassment. The majority of students did not know effective safety strategies for use in cyberspace. Those who were themselves cyberbullied tended to engage in cyberbullying. The prevalence of cyberbullying in Turkish middle schools suggests that schools should adopt appropriate prevention strategies.

Revisiting the whole-school approach to bullying: Really looking at the whole school

The whole-school approach to bullying prevention is predicated on the assumption that bullying is a systemic problem, and, by implication, that intervention must be directed at the entire school context rather than just at individual bullies and victims. Unfortunately, recent meta-analyses that have looked at various bullying programs from many countries have revealed that whole-school interventions designed to combat bullying have had limited success in reducing bullying. The purpose of the present study was to establish more clearly the precise aspects of school climate that are linked specifically to the problem of bullying. We used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to analyse school-level effects in a data set consisting of 18,222 students from across France. For physical and verbal/relational bullying, the final models respectively explain 6% and 16% of the within-school variance, and 48% and 9% of the between-school variance, significant between-school effects, with the climate variables of school security and the quality of student-teacher relationships emerging as the strongest predictors.

Coping strategies and perceived effectiveness in fourth through eighth grade victims of bullying

Victimization resulting from bullying affects millions of school children worldwide each year (e.g. Nansel et al., 2001; Sapouna, 2008; Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005). These children face the fear and humiliation of verbal, physical, and relational aggression and as a result, often suffer psychological ill effects (e.g. Kochenderfer-Ladd, & Skinner, 2002). This study examined the coping strategies of victims of bullying using qualitative research methodology. One-hundred-and-two fourth through eighth grade students participated in group interviews discussing the topics of bullying and coping with victimization. A coping model emerged from this study that included the primary categories of problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping, and eight subcategories, self-defense, stand up to the bully, seeking social support, distancing, internalizing, tension-reduction/externalizing, focus on the positive, and self-blame. Results revealed that problem-focused coping was the type of coping most often used by victims of bullying. Externalizing and seeking social support were the most commonly reported problem-focused coping strategies used by victims. Boys discussed using externalizing strategies with greater frequency than girls, whereas girls reported seeking social support more often than boys. Results also indicated that children generally found their implemented strategies to be ineffective in resolving their problem. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

How South Korean teachers handle an incident of school bullying

With school-level variables receiving increasing attention for their role in the maintenance of bullying behaviors, this study examined teacher responses to a hypothetical bullying situation among a sample of South Korean teachers. Using an online survey method, school-level variables (anti-bullying policy and anti-bullying program) and individual characteristics (anti-bullying training and years of teaching experience) were also collected. Factor analyses indicated a two-factor solution in teacher responses: Ignore and Action. The Action scores differed significantly by gender and by years of teaching experience, but not by school-level variables or anti-bullying training. The implications for teacher training are discussed.

Friends can hurt you: Examining the coexistence of friendship and bullying among early adolescents

Friendship is typically assumed to be a protective factor for victims of school bullying, so the possibility of victimization by friends is rarely explored. This study examines the prevalence of positive affiliation between the victims and aggressors in verbal and physical bullying. Peer nomination inventories were used to assess the friendship and dyadic bullying tendency among 237 Taiwanese middle school 7th graders. A total of 1,084 incidents of dyadic verbal bullying and 1,327 incidents of physical bullying were reported by the respondents. Friendship nominations among aggressors and victims could be unilateral (a peer nominates someone who does not in turn nominate them) or reciprocal (both the aggressor and the victim nominate each other as friends). Reciprocal nominations between victims and aggressors occurred in approximately 8% of cases of verbal bullying incidents and about 12% of physical bullying incidents. About 8% of victims of verbal or physical bullying unilaterally nominated the aggressor as a friend, with 9% and 12% of aggressors nominating victims as friends in the two cases. The self-reported strength of friendships was high among the reciprocal friends. Implications for the existence of bullying within friendship dyads for research and practice are discussed.

Definitions of school bullying in Taiwan: A comparison of multiple perspectives

Investigating teachers’ and students’ different definitions of school bullying is important for necessary prevention and effective intervention. This study compared definitions of bullying from the perspectives of bystanders, bullies, victims, and educators. A total of 1,558 secondary educators and students in Taiwan participated in this research, including 967 students (537 bystanders, 217 bullies, and 213 victims) and 591 educators. Participants wrote their answers to the open-ended question, ‘What is bullying in your opinion?’. The grounded theory method was employed to analyse the collected qualitative data. Results indicated that educators’ and students’ conceptions of bullying in Taiwan included features of intentionality, power imbalance, assaults, and negative results. Educators tended to refer to the characteristic of repetition, which was rarely mentioned by the students. The bullies were likely to regard bullying as unintended acts, while intentionality was more likely to be identified by the educators. This study categorized aggressive behaviour into three patterns: Playful teasing, bullying, and severe bullying. The bullies thought that they were merely joking, when actually their behaviour was considered bullying from the bystanders’ and the victims’ points of view. This study finally discussed characteristics and categories of school bullying and the implications for interventions.

School bullying by one or more ways: Does it matter and how do students cope?

Students (n = 452; ages 12—14 years) attending two South Australian metropolitan high schools completed the ‘Living & learning at school: Bullying at school’ survey in which they reported ways they were bullied and the strategies they would use to deal with bullying. Results showed that a small proportion of students were bullied in three or more ways, and that males and females differed in the coping strategies they would use if bullied. Significant differences were found between bullied and not bullied students in their use of ‘problem-focused’ in contrast to ‘emotion focused’, or ‘approach’ in contrast to ‘avoidance’ coping strategies, with bullied students more likely to use ‘avoidance’ strategies. Findings suggest that in terms of coping, it does matter whether or not a student is bullied in multiple ways.

Aggression

Bei aggressiven Verhalten im Kindes- und Jugendalter handelt es sich um eine besonders häufig auftretende und stabile Problematik. Entwicklungsmodelle aggressiven Verhaltens tragen dazu bei, dass Erscheinungsformen, komorbide Störungen und Verläufe präziser eingeordnet und fundierte Behandlungsprognosen erstellt werden können. Evidenzbasierte Präventions- und Behandlungsprogramme liegen altersspezifisch ausgestaltet vor. Aggressives Verhalten und die in der Regel auftretenden komorbiden Störungen stellen die höchsten Anforderungen an die Behandlung, wobei Therapieansätze langfristig und komplex (unter Einbezug des sozialen Umfeldes des Kindes) angelegt sein müssen.