Transgender Identity Is Associated With Bullying Involvement Among Finnish Adolescents

Abstract

BackgroundDuring adolescence, bullying often has a sexual content. Involvement in bullying as a bully, victim or both has been associated with a range of negative health outcomes. Transgender youth appear to face elevated rates of bullying in comparison to their mainstream peers. However, the involvement of transgender youth as perpetrators of bullying remains unclear in the recent literature.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare involvement in bullying between transgender and mainstream youth and among middle and late adolescents in a general population sample.MethodsOur study included 139,829 students in total, divided between a comprehensive school and an upper secondary education sample. Associations between gender identity and involvement in bullying were first studied using cross-tabulations with chi-square statistics. Logistic regression was used to study multivariate associations. Gender identity was used as the independent variable, with cisgender as the reference category. Subjection to and perpetration of bullying were entered each in turn as the dependent variable. Demographic factors, family characteristics, internalizing symptoms, externalizing behaviors, and involvement in bullying in the other role were added as confounding factors. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) are given. The limit for statistical significance was set at p < 0.001.ResultsBoth experiences of being bullied and perpetrating bullying were more commonly reported by transgender youth than by cisgender youth. Among transgender youth, all involvement in bullying was more commonly reported by non-binary youth than those identifying with the opposite sex. Logistic regression revealed that non-binary identity was most strongly associated with involvement in bullying, followed by opposite sex identity and cisgender identity. Transgender identities were also more strongly associated with perpetration of bullying than subjection to bullying.ConclusionTransgender identity, especially non-binary identity, is associated with both being bullied and perpetrating bullying even when a range of variables including internal stress and involvement in bullying in the opposite role are taken into account. This suggests that bullying during adolescence may serve as a mechanism of maintaining heteronormativity.

Attitudes toward Transsexuality, Empathy, and Bullying in Young Population

“…Regarding bullying, several studies [ 1 , 2 , 5 ] showed that gender identity is a risk that influences bullying and/or violence at school. This bullying is characterized by teasing, insults, and physical aggression.…”

“…Regarding the pedagogy of containment, it is important to reflect on the protection of identified students since such students will always be likely to be questioned and have to suffer the consequences of existing in today’s society. Other studies [ 1 , 2 ] have discussed the consequences affecting the well-being of victims, such as decreased confidence, decreased ability to trust the people around them, and suicidal thoughts. Regarding the prevention of gender-based violence and harassment, there are still only a few existing programs (even less in terms of prevention in the case of transgender people), with empathy being a key variable as considered in this study.…”

“…These conflicts translate into discrimination, social exclusion, school bullying, work harassment, and even irrational hatred. Primarily, we focus on people who do not identify with the gender that they were assigned at birth: transsexual or transgender (trans) people [ 1 , 2 ]; a substantial gap is evident between theory and reality.…”

“…Several studies [ 1 , 2 ] discuss how the mere fact of belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, specifically being a transgender, is an additional risk when it comes to becoming a victim of bullying or school violence. However, Ref.…”

Multidimensional and Intersectional Gender Identity and Sexual Attraction Patterns of Adolescents for Quantitative Research

“…Furthermore, for children and adolescents formulating their senses of self and others, it is especially vital to identify and connect with their own gender identity. Because of the societal power relations connected to GISA, persistent discomfort with socially expected gender typicality creates impediments for adolescents' emotional and social development (Hepp et al, 2005;Rieber, 2006;Diamond, 2013), and transgender adolescents have been shown to be bullied and to perpetrate bullying at elevated rates (Heino et al, 2021). As well, gender diverse adolescents' self-concept (e.g., self-esteem), emotional stability (e.g., emotional styles, dissociation, anxiety, and depression), and positive social relations to their peers (e.g., social competence and social desirability), which are crucial for their development, are identified as under pressure and subjected to special health care treatments (Baams, 2018) while the societal power relations leading to exactly these symptoms (Hoshiai et al, 2010) are mostly not addressed (Eisenberg et al, 2017).…”