The Associated Risk Factors and Psychosocial Adjustments among the Peer Victimized Adolescents in Malaysia: A Population-based Nationwide Study

Abstract

Background Bullying and victimization among secondary school – going adolescents is a severe social issue which demands concerted attention from the policy-makers, health-care providers and community. The victimized children, in the long term might develop the deleterious consequences on mental health. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of victimization among Malaysian school-attending adolescents, the associated risk factors and its psychosocial impacts among victims. Methods Data was derived from the Global School Health Survey Malaysia (GSHS-M). A total of 25,461 students aged 13–18 years from 234 randomly selected schools were recruited utilizing a two-state cluster sampling design. The study tool employed standardized self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed descriptively and multivariable logistic regression using SPSS version 20.0. Results About one fifth (17.9%, 95%CI 16.8–19.0) of the respondents reported being victimized at least once in the past 30-days. Made fun of gender and body image was the most prevalent type of bullying (41.0%, 95%CI 38.3–43.8). Multivariable logistic regression analysis further substantiated that likelihood of victimization was higher among the boys (aOR 1.30, 95%CI 1.17–1.44), students of lower secondary form (aOR 1.87, 95%CI 1.64–2.13), those without close friend (aOR 2.09, 95%CI 1.66–2.64) as well as the obese respondents (aOR 1.29, 95%CI 1.13–1.47). Victims without parental support were more likely to missed school (aOR 0.81, 95%CI 0.59–1.13), considered suicide (aOR 1.60, 95%CI 1.18–2.18), made suicide plan (aOR 1.45, 95%CI 2.01–1.08), as well as attempted suicide at least once in the past 12 months (aOR 0.48, 95%CI 0.33–0.69). Conclusion School bullying among secondary school-going adolescents warranted specially tailored intervention strategies, particularly to minimize the physical as well as psychosocial impact among the victims.