Bullying has been the topic of much debate and empirical investigations over the past decade. Contemporary literature contends that students with disabilities may be overrepresented within the bullying dynamic as both perpetrators and victims. Unfortunately, prevalence rates associated with the representation of students with disabilities is limited due to measurement, disability status identification, and definition issues. The present study attempted to address these issues by assessing the prevalence rates of specific subgroups of students with disabilities in a large-scale cross-sectional study with 13,325 students without disabilities and 1,183 students with disabilities in Grades 6 through 12. Results suggest that overall, students with disabilities reported proportionally higher rates of bullying, fighting, relational aggression, victimization, online victimization, and relational victimization than did their peers without disabilities. These findings suggest that schools must begin to establish targeted interventions to support skill development based on characteristics associated with specific disability identification. C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Students with disabilities are disproportionately involved within the bullying dynamic. However, few studies have investigated the interaction between victimization and proactive or reactive aggression, and psychosocial predictors for bullying involvement among school-aged youth with disabilities. This study used structural equation modeling to examine the predictive nature of depression, hostility, and self-esteem on victimization, bullying, fighting, bully-victimization, and reactive-victimization for a diverse sample of 1,183 adolescents with disabilities. Results suggest that victimization predicted bullying and fighting. In addition, lower levels of depression and higher levels of hostility predicted bullying and fighting; higher levels of depression, hostility, and lower levels of self-esteem predicted higher levels of victimization. Finally, higher levels of depression, hostility, and lower levels of self-esteem predicted bully-victim and reactive-victim status. Therefore, schools should begin to incorporate targeted interventions that address skill development, social and emotional learning, and emotion regulation to address escalated rates of bullying involvement for youth with disabilities.

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The University of Maryland has a strong commitment to diversity and actively seeks applicants from underrepresented groups including individuals with disabilities.

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