Racial and ethnic differences in bullying: Review and implications for intervention

Abstract

Despite increased research on bullying over the past few decades, researchers still have little understanding of how bullying differentially affects racial and ethnic minority and immigrant youth. To facilitate efforts to better evaluate the impact of bullying among racial and ethnic minority youth and improve interventions, we integrated research from multiple disciplines and conducted a systematic search to review relevant cross-cultural research on the prevalence of bullying, risk and protective factors, and differences in behaviors and outcomes associated with bullying in these populations. Studies measuring differences in bullying prevalence by racial and ethnic groups are inconclusive, and discrepancies in findings may be explained by differences in how bullying is measured and the impact of school and social environments. Racial and ethnic minorities and immigrants are disproportionately affected by contextual-level risk factors associated with bullying (e.g., adverse community, home, and school environments), which may moderate the effects of individual-level predictors of bullying victimization or perpetration (e.g., depressive symptoms, empathy, hostility, etc.) on involvement and outcomes. Minority youth may be more likely to perpetrate bullying, and are at much higher risk for poor health and behavioral outcomes as a result of bias-based bullying. At the same time, racial and ethnic minorities and immigrants may be protected against bullying involvement and its negative consequences as a result of strong ethnic identity, positive cultural and family values, and other resilience factors. Considering these findings, we evaluate existing bullying interventions and prevention programs and propose directions for future research.

Cyberbullying and Mental Health in Adults: The Moderating Role of Social Media Use and Gender

“…Future research with more diverse adult samples is clearly needed to extend the present findings and because adults from marginalized populations may face an elevated risk of psychological disorders [e.g., (52)] and barriers to mental health treatment (53). For example, given recent research indicating that racial and ethnic minorities [e.g., (54)] are more likely to experience traditional bullying, it stands to reason that they may also be more susceptible to CBV. Although Kowalski et al (55) found no significant differences in CBV between Black and White participants, they did, however, find that cyberbullying was more strongly linked to loneliness among Black compared to White participants.…”

Bystander responses to bias‐based bullying and retaliation: Is retaliation perceived as more acceptable than bias‐based bullying?

“…In the current study, we examined bias‐based bullying in the context of immigration. Immigrant‐origin youth are likely to experience bias‐based bullying (Stevens, Boer, Titzmann, Cosma, & Walsh, 2020; Xu, Macrynikola, Waseem, & Miranda, 2020). Although there is a growing body of research that examines the frequency and consequences of youth bullying targeting immigrants, our knowledge is limited regarding how bystanders respond when they observe an immigrant youth being bullied.…”

Unraveling the Bidirectional Relationship Between Bullying Victimization and Perpetration: A Test of Mechanisms From Opportunity and General Strain Theories

“…In addition, Black, White, and mixed-race children in the United States and other countries tend to report higher levels of bullying than children from other racial/ethnic groups (U.S. Department of Education, 2019), although the effect has been found to vary depending on the racial/ethnic composition of the school and other contextual factors (Xu et al, 2020). Guardianship is important not only because it assumes a central role in opportunity theory, but also because bullying expands as guardianship declines (Peguero, 2009).…”