Forms of Bullying and Associations Between School Perceptions and Being Bullied Among Finnish Secondary School Students Aged 13 and 15

Abstract

The study aimed to examine the extent to which Finnish secondary school students experience bullying, how they are bullied, and whether being bullied is associated with school perceptions. The analyses were based on data from the Finnish part of the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, and were obtained from 4262 students aged 13 and 15. The sample was nationally representative. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the associations between school perceptions and being bullied. Younger students reported being bullied more often than older students. Among younger students, boys were more often bullied than girls of the same age. There was no significant difference between the genders among the older students. The most common form of being bullied was verbal teasing. Boys tended to be bullied in physical ways, while girls were bullied in more indirect ways. Students with low levels of school engagement, students with poor relations with peers, and students who reported better teacher-student relations were more likely to be bullied. Feelings of loneliness and lower family affluence were also associated with being bullied. Improving the perceptions of school, and of the school experience as a whole, might have an effect on bullying at school.

Resiliency as a Mediator in the Relationship Between Aggressiveness and School Achievement – Differences Related to Gender and Levels of Physical Activity

“…Research by Caprara et al [52] suggests that this dimension of aggression is higher and more stable over time in girls, while in boys it decreases with age. It is surprising that boys scored higher than girls on the indirect aggression scale, which is not in line with other research [7,50]. This discrepancy could be explained by referring to the results of a metaanalysis conducted by Card et al [51], which showed that boys score higher on indirect aggression in self-report studies, while girls score higher in studies using objective assessments (from teachers and parents).…”

“…According to International Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) research, there has been a decrease in aggressive behaviors (operationalized as taking part in bullying classmates [5]), but this remains one of the most urgent problems in schools [6]. Research shows that the most common aggressive behavior at school is verbal teasing and that girls are more indirect, while boys usually use physical bullying [7]. Aggressive behavior is a signi cant risk factor that increases the likelihood of teenagers adopting rule-breaking behaviors [8], which are associated with lower school achievement [9] and even failure to graduate [10].…”

Prevalence of school bullying and its relationship with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder: a cross-sectional study

“…Numerous studies of bullying behaviors recruited male students more than females [ 30 – 32 ], but an equal number of boys and girls was recruited by [ 33 ]. Several studies investigated bullying among children 11–15 years old [ 31 , 33 – 35 ]. Other studies were conducted among higher age groups of 12–18 years [ 30 , 32 , 36 ] .…”

“…This finding is consistent with [ 32 ], who reported that verbal bullying was most common, followed by social and then physical bullying among US adolescents from grade 6 to grade 10 . Similarly, a study on forms of bullying among secondary school students aged 13 and 15 in Finland found that the most common forms of bullying were verbal teasing and social exclusion [ 31 ] .…”

Bullying Among Primary School Students: Parental Involvement and Teachers’ Perceptions

“…Bullying is a form of violence that endangers well-being of children, youth and adults (Markkanen et al, 2019). A person is a victim of bullying when he or she is exposed by one or more individual repeatedly over time to any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) and is unable to defend him or herself, excluding situations in which two individuals with equal physical and psychological bullying are the bully (bullying behavior perpetrator); the victim (bullying behavior recipient); the bully/ victim (victim and perpetrator); and the bystander (bullying behavior witness) include peer victimization in which a student or group of students bullies an individual peer or group of peers; teacher-on-student bullying is when a teacher bullies a student; and studenton-teacher bullying in which a student bullies a teacher (Markkanen et al, 2019). The most serious consequence of school bullying is deterioration in academic performance due to the perception and avoidance of school as an unsafe place, presence of low selfesteem and isolation that is carried to adulthood (Kazarian and Ammar, 2013).…”