Cross-national consistency in the relationship between bullying behaviors and psychosocial adjustment

• Autor(a) principal: Nansel, T. R.
• Data de Publicação: 2004
• Outros Autores: Craig, W., Overpeck, M. D., Saluja, G., Ruan, W. J., Carvalhosa, S., Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Bullying Analyses Working Group
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://ciencia.iscte-iul.pt/id/ci-pub-21594; http://hdl.handle.net/10071/17076
• topic: Primary-school children; Bully/victim problems; Peer victimization; Students; Victims; Health; Prevalence; Bullies; Risk; Adolescence

Objective: To determine whether the relationship between bullying and psychosocial adjustment is consistent across countries by standard measures and methods. Design: Cross-sectional self-report surveys were obtained from nationally representative samples of students in 25 countries. Involvement in bullying, as bully, victim, or both bully and victim, was assessed. Settings: Surveys were conducted at public and private schools throughout the participating countries. Participants: Participants included all consenting students in sampled classrooms, for a total of 113200 students at average ages of 11.5, 13.5, and 15.5 years. Main Outcome Measures: Psychosocial adjustment dimensions assessed included health problems, emotional adjustment, school adjustment, relationships with classmates, alcohol use, and weapon carrying. Results: Involvement in bullying varied dramatically across countries, ranging from 9% to 54% of youth. However, across all countries, involvement in bullying was associated with poorer psychosocial adjustment (P<.05). In all or nearly all countries, bullies, victims, and bully-victims reported greater health problems and poorer emotional and social adjustment. Victims and bully-victims consistently reported poorer relationships with classmates, whereas bullies and bully-victims reported greater alcohol use and weapon carrying. Conclusions: The association of bullying with poorer psychosocial adjustment is remarkably similar across countries. Bullying is a critical issue for the health of youth internationally.