Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between victimization from mental and physical bullying and use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and inhalants among middle school students. Self-report data were analyzed from 926 ethnically diverse sixth through eighth grade students (43% white, 26% Latino, 7% Asian American/Pacific Islander, 3% African American, 14% mixed ethnic origin, and 5% "other") ages 11 -14 years from southern California. Substance use was collected at two time points (fall 2004 and spring 2005) during an academic year. Models were run for each substance separately. Results supported an association between victimization from bullying and substance use. Youths who experienced each type of bullying (mental or physical) separately or in combination were more likely to report use of each substance in spring 2005. This finding held after controlling for gender, grade level, ethnicity and substance use in fall 2004.
Keywordsbullying; substance use; adolescents; victimization During the middle school years (grades 6 -8), an increasing number of youths become the victims of bullying (e.g., Espelage, Bosworth & Simon, 2001), or repeated "intentional physical and psychological harm" (Smith & Thompson, 1991, p. 1). Bullying can include verbal or written name-calling, teasing, and threats, social exclusion, and hitting, kicking, or other violent bodily contact (Espelage et al., 2001). Bullying can negatively affect concentration, self-esteem and social relationships in school, and promote feelings of isolation and hopelessness, often with long-term consequences that lead into adulthood (Batsche & Knoff, 1994;Kaltiala-Heino, Rimpela, Marttunen, Rimpela, & Rantanen, 1999;Olweus, 1993). National statistics on the incidence of victimization from bullying indicate that bullying is a significant problem. Finkelhor, Ormrod, Turner, and Hamby (2005) sampled a nationally * Corresponding Author. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. representative group of children between the ages of 2 -17 and found that 50% of their sample had experienced bullying, which they termed emotional bullying or teasing. In earlier work that focused directly on school aged children, Nansel et al. (2001) found that 10.6% of students in grades 6 through 10 in the United States reported being victims of bullying and another 6.3% reported being both victims and perpetrators. They defined bullying as when someone "[says or does] nasty and unpleasant things to him or her" or "when a student is teased repeatedly in a way he or she doesn't like."
NIH Public Acce...
