A cross-national profile of bullying and victimization among adolescents in 40 countries

Abstract

Objectives-(1) To compare the prevalence of bullying and victimization among boys and girls and by age in 40 countries. (2) In 6 countries, to compare rates of direct physical, direct verbal, and indirect bullying by gender, age, and country.Methods-Cross-sectional self-report surveys including items on bullying and being bullied were obtained from nationally representative samples of 11, 13 and 15 year old school children in 40 countries, N = 202,056. Six countries (N = 29,127 students) included questions about specific types of bullying (e. g., direct physical, direct verbal, indirect).Results-Exposure to bullying varied across countries, with estimates ranging from 8.6 % to 45.2 % among boys, and from 4.8 % to 35.8 % among girls. Adolescents in Baltic countries reported higher rates of bullying and victimization, whereas northern European countries reported the lowest prevalence. Boys reported higher rates of bullying in all countries. Rates of victimization were higher for girls in 29 of 40 countries. Rates of victimization decreased by age in 30 of 40 (boys) and 25 of 39 (girls) countries.Conclusion-There are lessons to be learned from the current research conducted in countries where the prevalence is low that could be adapted for use in countries with higher prevalence.

School climate and exposure to bullying: a multilevel study

“…In an international comparison, Sweden has low rates of bullying (Chester et al, 2015;Craig et al, 2009), and the large-scale data made the analyses possible. However, the study also has some limitations.…”

“…Many studies report that boys bully more than girls do (e.g., Craig et al, 2009;Nansel et al, 2001;Olweus, 1991;Stassen Berger, 2007;Wolke, Woods, Stanford, & Schulz, 2001), whereas the gender pattern in victimization is less definite (e.g., Craig et al, 2009;Due et al, 2005;Nansel et al, 2001). According to Olweus (1991), boys are more likely to be victims of direct bullying than girls, while the proportions of boys and girls who are exposed to indirect bullying are rather similar.…”

“…Although surveys with students indicate that the occurrence of bullying has decreased over time in several countries (Chester et al, 2015;Molcho et al, 2009), it continues to be a grave problem, typically having severe consequences for the individual. In an international perspective, Sweden has very low rates of bullying among students (Chester et al, 2015;Craig et al, 2009). Even so, bullying is a significant problem in Sweden, just as in other countries.…”

The Impact of Cyberbullying and Cyber Harassment on Academic Achievement

“…In Norway girls outperform boys in all subject, except from physical education (Bakken et al, 2008). In the case of bullying, there is a general tendency for boys to be more involved both as bullies and victims at all ages (Wendelborg et al, 2014, Seals and Young, 2003, Erdur-Baker, 2010, Salmivalli and Nieminen, 2002However, some researchers have found that girls are more involved in indirect or social bullying (Lagerspetz et al, 1988, Björkqvist et al, 1992, but this findings is not consistent (Craig et al, 2009). In the case of cyberbullying, no clear effect of either gender og age is found, although some findings suggest that that girls are more at risk of being targeted (Tokunaga, 2010).…”

Bullying e uso de substâncias psicoativas na adolescência: uma revisão sistemática

“…Bullying e uso de substâncias psicoativas são temas recorrentes na literatura científica nacional e internacional, apontados como importantes problemas de saúde, que podem comprometer o desenvolvimento de todos os envolvidos [1][2][3][4][5] . A sua alta prevalência entre adolescentes, somada aos prejuízos associados à sua ocorrência, leva-os a serem considerados como sérios problemas de saúde pública 6 .…”