Association between parental separation and addictions in adolescents: results of a National Lebanese Study

Lifestyle Habits Related to Internet Use in Adolescents: Relationships between Wellness, Happiness, and Mental Health

BACKGROUND

Studies in recent years have shown a significant increase in problematic internet use. Prolonged internet usage negatively impacts various aspects of adolescents' lifestyles.

METHODS

The survey was conducted in three Lithuanian cities-Vilnius, Klaipėda, and Molėtai-between October and December of 2023. The survey involved students between the ages of 12 and 16. The participants completed a questionnaire that included questions about wellness and happiness, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Our study aimed to investigate problematic internet use among Lithuanian adolescents and its relationships with wellness, happiness, and mental health.

RESULTS

This study included 1412 adolescents, with a mean age of 14.41 ± 1.20, with the sample composed of 52.3% boys. Boys indicated that they felt healthier and happier than girls (69.4% vs. 47.4%; 51.4% vs. 29.6%), p < 0.001. A total of 20.8% of students had IAT scores that reflect a normal level of internet usage. For IAT, the average score of girls was statistically significantly higher than that of boys (41.87 ± 12.24 vs. 39.96 ± 12.37), p < 0.001. The IAT score was higher in the group of students who felt less happy and healthy, had more frequent headaches or abdominal pain, and had problems with sleep, p < 0.001. A statistically significant, positive weak correlation was found between students' IAT scores and SDQ internalizing and SDQ externalizing scores (r = 0.366; r = 0.385, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Prolonged internet use is arising as a serious problem among adolescents. Negative feelings, unhappiness, and poor emotion regulation have an association with internet addiction. Also, the female gender may be more associated with possible internet addiction. The results of this study can serve as initial steps toward developing preventive interventions.

Parents' experiences of their child's participation in divorce groups in Norway: A phenomenological study

BACKGROUND

Children and youth who experience divorce are found to have increased risk of emotional and behavioural adjustment problems. Different prevention programmes have been developed to help and support children. Previous studies have focused on the child or the group leader's experience with divorce groups, but studies describing parent's experience are missing. The aim of this study was to explore parents' experiences of their child's participation in divorce groups.

METHODS

An inductive, qualitative and descriptive design was applied with philosophical orientation in naturalistic inquiry based on the outlines of a phenomenological perspective. Two fathers and three mothers from two different counties in Norway participated whereof four of them were interviewed twice. Systematic text condensation was used for the analysis.

RESULTS

Three themes emerged from the analysis: encouraging the child, missing communication and challenging situations. Parents described how they encouraged the child to attend divorce groups and hoped they would gain a deeper understanding of their parents' divorce and their own feelings. Missing communication relates to lack of information about the groups from the school, the group leader and from the child. Missing information was found to be a challenge for the parents and made them think that the divorce group was beneficial for the child but maybe not always for the family. Parents described challenging situations due to the divorce, and they struggled to understand their child and their own behaviour.

CONCLUSIONS

The opportunity for the child to talk to other children in the same situation in divorce groups was positive for the parents. To be beneficial for both children and their parents, structured information and cooperation among the school, the child and both parents are important. The knowledge from this study can support the development and use of intervention programmes in the future.

The association between online learning, parents' marital status, and internet addiction among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic period: A cross-lagged panel network approach

INTRODUCTION

Previous research has identified the association between online learning and Internet addiction (IA) and the role of family factors in it. However, few studies have treated IA as a multidimensional mechanism and explored the underlying linkage of online learning, IA, and parental marital status with a cross-lagged network approach. The study aimed to examine the relationship between online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, Internet addiction (IA), and parental marital status among Chinese adolescents.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 2356 adolescents who completed the Internet Addiction Test twice over a four-month period. Four symptom networks and two cross-lagged panel networks were performed.

RESULTS

The results showed that adolescents from divorced families had a higher prevalence of IA (27 %) compared to those from non-divorced families (17 %). The strongest cross-lagged association was found between "spending more time online" and "preferring the excitement online". In the divorced group, "school grades suffering" had the highest influence, while in the non-divorced group, "anticipation" had the highest influence.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the relationship between online learning, IA, and parental divorce and suggests that long-term online learning may contribute to IA, and parental divorce may exacerbate problematic Internet use and increase IA levels.

Parental divorce and smoking dependence in Lebanese adolescents: the mediating effect of mental health problems

BACKGROUND

Lebanon has the highest prevalence estimates among Middle Eastern countries and Arab women regarding cigarette smoking, with 43% of men and 28% of women involved in such trends. Marital disruption is a tremendous source of irritability and discomfort that may hinder a child's healthy development, creating perturbing distress and increasing disobedience that may exacerbate smoking addiction. Additionally, Lebanese adolescents are inflicted by high emotional and economic instability levels, rendering increased susceptibility to distress and propensity to engage in addictive behavior. This study aims to investigate the association between parental divorce and smoking dependence among Lebanese adolescents, along with exploring the potential mediating effect of mental health disorders of such correlation.

METHODS

A total of 1810 adolescents (14 and 17 years) enrolled in this cross-sectional survey-based study (January-May 2019). Linear regressions were conducted to check for variables associated with cigarette and waterpipe dependence. PROCESS v3.4 model 4 was used to check for the mediating effect of mental health disorders between parental divorce and smoking dependence.

RESULTS

Higher suicidal ideation and having divorced parents vs living together were significantly associated with more cigarette and waterpipe dependence. Higher anxiety was significantly associated with more waterpipe dependence. Insomnia and suicidal ideation played a mediating role between parental divorce and cigarette/waterpipe dependence.

CONCLUSION

Our results consolidate the results found in the literature about the association between parental divorce and smoking addiction and the mediating effect of mental health issues. We do not know still in the divorce itself or factors related to it are incriminated in the higher amount of smoking in those adolescents. Those results should be used to inspire parents about the deleterious effect of divorce on their children to lower their risk of smoking addiction. Further longitudinal studies are needed to better understand the complexity of such associations and to see whether the divorce experience by itself or the factors that accompany it are involved in the increased smoking addiction among adolescents.

Childhood adversities and mental health problems: A systematic review

The number of mental health problems in children and adolescents has been increasing. One of the causes of mental health problems is trauma in the family, such as childhood adversities. The aim of this study was to review the relationship between childhood adversities and mental health problems. The method in this study was a systematic review using three databases: CINAHL, PubMed, and SCOPUS. The results of the review were reported according to the PRISMA guidelines. The keywords used in this study were mental health or mental illness or mental disorder or psychiatric illness AND adolescents or teenagers or teenagers or youth AND parental divorce or parental separation OR parental death or parental loss or parentally bereaved. The inclusion criteria for the articles were English language and published from 2017 to 2021. This study recorded 477 articles, screened according to the topic, and then the final articles were 35. The results of the systematic review showed evidence that childhood adversities were related to mental health problems according to the ICD-10 diagnosis, ADHD and personality disorders, depression, post-traumatic, smoking behavior, and alcohol abuse, and distress. Interventions for children with childhood adversities were needed to prevent mental health disorders.

Attachment styles and their association with aggression, hostility, and anger in Lebanese adolescents: a national study

Background

The idea that attachment styles can affect the level of anger in an individual educes a reason why people develop anger issues and behavioral problems in adolescence that escalate into adulthood. Lebanon suffers from a shortage of data pertaining to insecure attachment styles and the affective and cognitive aspects of anger and behavioral anger expression among the Lebanese youth population. This study aimed to investigate the association between attachment dimensions and anger expression (trait anger, hostility, physical aggression, and verbal aggression) among a sample of Lebanese adolescent participants.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was performed between January and May 2019 among 1810 Lebanese high-school students aged 12–18 and used two validated measures, the Adolescent-Relationship Questionnaire (A-RQ) and The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ). The A-RQ assessed attachment behaviors, while the BPAQ evaluated aggression.

Results

Higher fearful and dismissing attachment styles, and higher physical activity index were significantly associated with higher physical and verbal aggression. A higher fearful attachment style was significantly associated with more anger. A higher secure attachment style was significantly associated with less anger. Higher preoccupied and dismissing attachment styles were significantly associated with higher hostility.

Conclusion

Our findings revealed a significant relationship between both insecure attachment dimensions and the tripartite model of anger expression. This study adds to the anger literature by providing a more informed understanding of how variations in anger expression are linked to the processing of interpersonal interactions, which are the hidden facets of attachment systems.

Parental divorce and nicotine addiction in Lebanese adolescents: the mediating role of child abuse and bullying victimization

BACKGROUND

Lebanon ranks first amongst Middle-Eastern countries in terms of cigarette and waterpipe smoking. Understanding the mediating factors for nicotine addiction in adolescents who have experienced parental divorce is vital to take effective measures that will help in lowering its prevalence in our community. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between the increasingly concerning parental divorce and nicotine addiction in Lebanese adolescents while taking into consideration the plausible mediating effect of abuse and bullying victimization.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional survey-based study that was conducted between January and May 2019. A total of 1810 adolescents aged between 14 and 17 years was enrolled from 16 Lebanese schools. Linear regressions taking the cigarette and waterpipe dependence scores as dependent variables were conducted respectively, using the SPSS software. PROCESS v3.4 model 4 was used for mediation analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 11.9% of the enrolled participants had divorced parents. Higher cigarette and waterpipe dependence were found in adolescents whose parents were divorced compared to those living together. More child psychological abuse, having divorced parents vs living together, and more child physical abuse were significantly associated with higher cigarette dependence. More child psychological and physical, and having divorced parents vs living together were significantly associated with more waterpipe dependence. In addition, all forms of abuse (except neglect) and bullying victimization had a partially mediating effect in the associations between parental divorce and nicotine dependence (cigarette and waterpipe) in adolescents.

CONCLUSION

This study results may serve as a first step towards enrolling separated parents and their children in special prevention programs to help them create a protective and supportive environment.

Factors associated with the onset of smoking and alcohol consumption: A cross-sectional study among Lebanese adolescents in schools

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to evaluate factors and profiles associated with the earlier onset of cigarette/waterpipe smoking and alcohol consumption among Lebanese adolescents in schools.

METHODS

A total of 4000 adolescents (mean age = 15.31 ± 2.01 years) participated in this cross-sectional study. The standardized questionnaire was taken from the Health Behavior in School Children (HBSC) study in different countries (France, Belgium, and the USA) and adjusted to the Lebanese population. K-means clustering analysis was conducted to classify participants into three clusters according to their patterns (surrounded by smokers, surrounded by drinkers, and ease of talking to family members and friends) and Cox regression analyzes were conducted.

RESULTS

Participants were divided into three clusters. Cluster 1 (16.75% of participants) included adolescents with the lowest ease of talking to a family member or friend, with the latter smoking and drinking a lot (worst cluster). Cluster 2 (54.95%) included adolescents with moderate ease of talking to a family member and more to friends, surrounded by low-to-moderate smoking and alcohol consumption, particularly for a best friend (positive influence cluster). Finally, cluster 3 (28.30%) included adolescents with low ease of talking to friends, moderate ease of talking to a family member, and low-to-moderate smoking and alcohol consumption (low influence cluster). The results of the Cox regressions (taking the age at onset of smoking cigarettes and waterpipes as the dependent variables) showed that older age at onset of cigarette and waterpipe smoking was significantly associated with female participants and those belonging to clusters 2 and 3 compared to cluster 1. Moreover, a younger age at first alcohol use and getting drunk was significantly associated with living outside Beirut, whereas female gender and belonging to clusters 2 or 3 compared to cluster 1 were significantly associated with older age at first alcohol use and getting drunk.

CONCLUSION

This study identified risk factors (ease of talking as well as smoking and alcohol-drinking status of parents, siblings, and friends) and profiles related to early alcohol and cigarette/waterpipe use. These risk factors and profiles could help implement prevention campaigns to reduce substance use and improve adolescent health.

Is the presence of a psychiatric patient at home associated with higher addictions (alcohol, cigarette, and waterpipe dependence) in caregivers? The role of work fatigue, mental illness, spirituality, and religiosity

PURPOSE

To assess if living with a psychiatric patient, depression, anxiety, stress, fatigue, insomnia, spirituality, and religiosity would be associated with more problematic alcohol use, cigarette, and waterpipe dependence in Lebanese caregivers.

METHODS

A case-control study was performed in Lebanon that recruited 587 caregivers (July-September 2019).

RESULTS

Higher religiosity was associated with lower problematic alcohol use. Having low versus no income was significantly associated with more cigarette dependence. Being Christian and high anxiety were significantly associated with more waterpipe dependence, whereas higher insomnia was significantly associated with lower waterpipe dependence. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Family caregivers go through a lot of stress and burden and need help coping with it in a healthy way for better outcomes for them and the care recipient.

Association between parental divorce and mental health outcomes among Lebanese adolescents: results of a national study

Background

In Lebanon, divorce rates have jumped from nearly 7000 in recent years to 8580 in 2017, an increase of 22.5%, with North Lebanon recording the highest number, followed by Beirut, likely resulting in increased behavioral problems in the offspring of divorced parents. Furthermore, one out of two Lebanese adolescents whose biological parents were divorced, separated, or deceased has a psychiatric disorder. More information regarding the impact of divorce on the mental health of Lebanese adolescents is still missing. The objective of this study was to explore the association between divorce and mental health outcomes, particularly depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation among Lebanese adolescents.

Methods

A cross-sectional study conducted between January and May 2019 enrolled 1810 adolescents aged 14 to 17 years, using a simple randomization method to choose schools. A proportionate number of schools was selected from each of the five Lebanese Mohafazat (Beirut, Mount Lebanon, North, South, and Beqaa), based on the list of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. A total of 18 private schools were approached; two declined, and 16 accepted to participate.

Results

The mean age of participants was 15.42 ± 1.14 years, with 53.3% females. After adjustment for the covariates (age, sex, and house crowding index), the results showed that adolescents whose parents are separated compared to living together had more social fear (Standardized Beta (SB = 0.270) and avoidance (SB = 0.188), higher depression (SB = 0.045), and higher suicidal ideation (SB = 0.370).

Conclusion

Our findings reveal that teens with divorced parents had higher social fear and avoidance, depression, and suicidal ideation, highlighting the need for adequate prevention programs to support both children and parents during this emotionally difficult period.

Anxiety among Lebanese adolescents: scale validation and correlates

BACKGROUND

The Lebanese population has undergone several conflicts and were the most afflicted by shelling and chaos during the civil war from 1975 to 1990, or even by displacement, bereavement, emigration, family separations, not to mention the economic crises that have hit the country since 2019 under which young adults are still succumbing. Our study aims to validate the Lebanese Anxiety Scale and assess correlates of anxiety among Lebanese adolescents.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried between January and May 2019, using a proportionate random sampling of schools from all five Lebanese governorates, among which 1810 adolescents aged 14 to 17 years.

RESULTS

All LAS items remained in the model and formed one factor solution that explained 61.38% of the total variance (KMO = 0.873; p_{Bartlett test} < 0.001), with an excellent Cronbach's alpha of 0.93. Higher neglect (B = 0.38), insomnia (B = 0.21) and child psychological abuse (B = 0.08) were significantly associated with more anxiety. Those results were considered adjusted overall sociodemographic variables since the latter had no statistically significant association with anxiety.

CONCLUSION

The study confirmed the association between anxiety and some variables such as psychological child abuse, neglect, and insomnia and emphasized the correlation between anxiety and these factors. Further, the LAS appears to be a short, valid and efficient tool for assessing anxiety among Lebanese adolescents. Further studies need to be carried to evaluate whether the LAS-10 gives a similar diagnosis to psychiatrists.

Adaptation of the Young Adults' Cigarette Dependence (YACD) Scale for the development and validation of the Adolescent Cigarette Dependence Scale (ACDS)

Vulnerable adolescents may lose control over cigarette use within a day or two after smoking their first cigarette, as nicotine dependence (ND) symptoms may appear before actual daily smoking and usually occur at low levels of daily smoking. Moreover, smoking can cause illnesses and promote other types of substance abuse. Therefore, it was deemed essential to adapt the Young Adults' Cigarette Dependence (YACD) Scale to develop and validate the Adolescent Cigarette Dependence Scale (ACDS) in Lebanese adolescents and evaluate whether cumulative cigarette smoking is associated with nicotine dependence and symptoms of dependence. A cross-sectional study was carried out between August and September 2020, during the partial sanitary lockdown imposed by the government to limit COVID-19, coinciding with the summer holidays for most Lebanese. The total sample consisted of 564 community-dwelling adolescents aged 13 to 18. A factor analysis was performed using a varimax rotation. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measurement of sampling adequacy and Bartlett's sphericity test were appropriate. The factors retained corresponded to Eigenvalues > 1. Cronbach's alpha value represented the internal consistency of the scale. The Hooked on Nicotine Checklist (HONC) was used to screen for dependence symptoms. All items of the YACD were extracted, except for items 4 (smoking to concentrate at work) and 18 (smoking as a habit), which yielded a three-factor solution (factor 1 = smoking patterns; factor 2 = positive and negative reinforcements; factor 3 = smoking cessation) with Eigenvalues > 1 (variance explained = 56.18%; KMO = 0.784; Bartlett's sphericity test p < 0.001; α_Cronbach = 0.875). The newly generated scale was termed Adolescent Cigarette Dependence Scale (ACDS) and consisted of 19 items. Higher ACDS scores (higher cigarette dependence) were significantly associated with higher HONC scores (higher symptoms of dependence) (rho = 0.647; p < 0.001). Having deceased (B = 8.54) or divorced (B = 4.26) parents and higher cumulative cigarette smoking (B = 0.29) were significantly associated with higher ACDS scores. Higher cumulative cigarette smoking (B = 0.05) was significantly associated with higher HONC scores due to cigarettes. This study could validate a new tool to evaluate nicotine dependence among Lebanese adolescents, the Adolescent Cigarette Dependence Scale (ACDS). This version adapted from the Young Adults' Cigarette Dependence (YACD) Scale is reliable and valuable and correlates well with other scales, such as the HONC. However, further studies are necessary to improve this instrument, adding new questions useful for the diagnosis and evaluation of cigarette dependence.

Correlates of bullying perpetration among Lebanese adolescents: a national study

Background

Presently, 1 in 4 Lebanese adolescents is involved in bullying, with 12% being perpetrators. In Lebanon, around 90% of bullying incidents occur in schools. Given the lack of studies tackling bullying perpetration in Lebanon, this study aims to identify and target risk factors of bullying perpetration among Lebanese adolescents, which would serve future prevention and intervention programs.

Methods

This cross-sectional study took place between January and May 2019 in a proportionate random sample of schools from all Lebanese districts. A total of 1810 (90.5%) out of 2000 students accepted to participate.

Results

Results showed that 831 (49.1%, CI: 0.46–0.51) participants had bullied other people. A stepwise linear regression, using as the dependent variable the bullying perpetration score, showed that higher psychological (β = 0.12; 95% CI 0.083–0.176), sexual (β = 0.26; 95% CI 0.128–0.411), neglect (β = 0.08; 95% CI 0.051–0.120), physical abuse (β = 0.13; 95% CI 0.036–0.235), higher internet addiction (β = 0.07; 95% CI 0.057–0.097), higher social fear (β = 0.10; 95% CI 0.075–0.140), and having separated parents (β = 1.60; 95% CI 0.561–2.650) were significantly associated with more bullying perpetration. Higher social avoidance (β = − 0.03; 95% CI -0.062- -0.003) was significantly associated with less bullying perpetration.

Conclusion

The results revealed that bullying perpetration is significantly associated with parental status, child abuse, internet addiction, and social fear. Educational and relevant governmental institutions could use our findings to develop and implement efficient bullying prevention and intervention programs for all involved parties.

Factors associated with problematic internet use among a large sample of Lebanese adolescents

BACKGROUND

International literature clearly describes factors associated with problematic internet use, including substance dependence, online gambling, social impairment, and functional difficulties. Therefore, it was imperative to assess the extent to which young adolescents in Lebanese schools are affected by problematic internet use (PIU) and the factors associated with it. This large-scale Lebanese survey aims to evaluate the relationship between PIU, depression, and substance use, including alcohol consumption and nicotine use (cigarettes and waterpipe) among adolescents in Lebanese schools.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study conducted between January and May 2019 assessed internet use through the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), with 'severe internet use' being the threshold for problematic internet use. It enrolled a total of 1810 adolescents aged 14 to 17 from 16 schools from all Lebanese Mohafazat.

RESULTS

The majority of the participants had an average internet use 74.8% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.72-0.76), 20.7% (95% CI: 0.18-0.22) had a frequent internet use, and 4.5% (95% CI: 0.03-0.05) had a severe internet use. Higher alcohol dependence (ß = 0.456, p < 0.001), higher depression (ß = 0.079, p = 0.001), and having separated parents vs. living together (ß = 0.136, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with higher IAT scores. Higher waterpipe dependence (ß = -0.218, p < 0.001) was significantly associated with lower IAT scores.

CONCLUSION

This study, the first and largest of its kind in the Middle East, showed that some psychiatric disorders, such as depression and substance use (smoking and alcohol), are associated with more problematic internet use among Lebanese adolescents. These results could serve as the first step for policymakers towards implementing early awareness campaigns to look at this problem more in-depth and come up with efficient actions to avoid it.

Relationships between inappropriate eating habits and problematic alcohol use, cigarette and waterpipe dependence among male adolescents in Lebanon

BACKGROUND

it is important to investigate the relationship between disordered eating in male adolescents and smoking and alcohol consumption as they are risk factors to other diseases as well. For example, high levels of alcohol accompanied by the acidic damage and nutritional deficit exhibited in people with disordered eating habits - due to induced vomiting - has been shown to increase risk of esophageal cancer. Considering the very few studies done on disordered eating prevailing in males and the prevalence of smoking and drinking habits, our study aims to investigate the correlation between inappropriate eating habits and one's dependence on cigarettes, waterpipes, and alcohol all the while focusing on male adolescents.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional observational study that enrolled 389 male students (13-17 years of age) drawn from five Lebanese schools between October and December 2019.

RESULTS

The MANCOVA analysis was performed taking the addiction scales as the dependent variables and the EAT-26 score as an independent variable, adjusting for the covariates (age, BMI and household crowding index). Higher EAT-26 scores (more inappropriate eating attitudes) were significantly associated with higher waterpipe dependence (B = 0.11; CI 0.06-0.17) and more problematic alcohol use (B = 0.08; CI 0.04-0.12), but not cigarette dependence.

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed an association between inappropriate eating and increased drinking and smoking the waterpipe, but not cigarettes. The manifestation of inappropriate eating habits was found to be significant among male adolescents; in the literature, this is also true for female adolescents. In Lebanon, the engagement of adolescents in alcohol drinking and waterpipe smoking is frequent as they are accessible due to the lack of law enforcement and supervision in the country. In addition, while this study found an association between inappropriate eating habits and dependency on smoking and drinking, further investigation should be done on the role of one's psychology in their exhibition of disordered eating as means to prevent the manifestation of these habits.

Bullying victimization among Lebanese adolescents: The role of child abuse, Internet addiction, social phobia and depression and validation of the Illinois Bully Scale

Background

Both bullying victimization and perpetration were associated with depression, social phobia, physical and psychological child abuse and Internet addiction in Lebanon. The prevalence of bullying in Lebanon is alarming, with 50% of school-aged children and adolescents reporting being bullied at some point. The high rate of both bullying victimization can be reflective of the inefficacy of current prevention and intervention policies in targeting associated problematic individual and contextual factors. The objective of the present study was to analyze factors associated with bullying victimization and validate the Illinois Bully Scale among Lebanese adolescents.

Methods

This is cross-sectional study that took place between January and May 2019. We enrolled 1810 adolescents between 14 and 17 years of age. The Illinois Bully scale was used to measure bullying victimization. In order to ensure the adequacy of the sample with values greater than 0.8 - an indicator that component or factor analysis was useful for these variables - we used Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measurement. Statistical significance considered if the p-value < 0.05.

Results

The results showed that 841 (46.5%, CI: 44.1% – 48.7%) participants were classified as having been previously bullied. None of the bullying scale items was removed. Items on the bullying scale converged on a two-factor solution with Eigenvalues greater than 1, accounting for a total of 73.63% of the variance (Factor 1: bullying victimization; Factor 2: bullying perpetration; KMO = 0.899, Bartlett’s sphericity test p < 0.001; αCronbach = 0.955). Having a separate parents (ORa = 3.08), Mild (ORa-4.71) to moderate (ORa = 3.84) internet addiction test, higher social fear (ORa = 1.50), higher psychological abuse (ORa = 3.59), higher child neglect (ORa = 2.21) and physical (ORa = 4.55) abuse were significantly associated with higher odds of being bullied. However, higher social avoidance (ORa = 0.49), poor (ORa = 0.20), fair (ORa = 0.94) and very good (ORa = 0.04) physical activity as compared to sedentary were significantly associated with lower odds of being bullied.

Conclusions

Our findings attest that bullying victimization is likely to be associated with certain factors such as child abuse of all forms, Internet addiction, social fear and avoidance. In addition, the Illinois Bully Scale was validated in Lebanon. More attention should be paid to students vulnerable to bullying victimization, such as those with environmental or domestic problems, and adolescents with psychological disorders such as behavioral addictions.