Ph.D. Research Assistant Louisiana State University, United States
Overview: The current study examined the longitudinal association between early exposure of experiencing an increasing number of multiple types of bullying victimization and behavioral and health risk behaviors in adolescence. Implications for school social workers and educators, prevention and intervention strategies, policy, and research are discussed.Proposal text:
Background/Purpose: Bullying is a significant public health problem that manifests in several ways, including cyber, physical, relational (e.g., social exclusion), and verbal (e.g., threats) bullying. Studies conclude (1) bullying victimization (BV) increases in late childhood and early adolescence and declines with age, (2) younger children report experiencing an average of three types of BV within a month, and (3) exposure to multiple types than one type of BV contributes to greater risks of behavioral and health consequential outcomes. Yet, extant research is largely limited to examinations of only two types of BV, typically cyber and physical forms, older samples of youth, cross-sectional analysis, and few risk behaviors in one single model. Drawing from General Strain Theory, which posits cumulative impact of experiencing multiple strains increase harmful and delinquent responses, this exploratory study focuses on the critical developmental period of late childhood on mid-adolescence by examining the association between cumulative BV at nine years of age and several risk behaviors at 15 years of age. To examine the longitudinal effects of cumulative BV, we consider several behavioral and health risk behaviors, including fighting, marijuana use, sexual activity, physical inactivity, and sleep problems, as these are prevalent behaviors among youth that have been associated with preventing morbidity, criminality, and early mortality.
Methods: Data and sample: An analytic sample of 2,678 focal children were drawn from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing longitudinal birth cohort study. Data were derived from waves 1 (childbirth), 5 (child nine years of age), and 6 (child 15 years of age).
Measures: Children self-reported how often in the past month peers in their school/neighborhood (1)taken their things, (2)hit, (3)teased, and (4)excluded them from activities using a 5-point Likert response scale ranging from 0 “never” to 4 “every day.” Each item(n=4) was collapsed into a binary measure of 0 “no” and 1 “yes,” and following a composite score was created, with 0 representing no incidences, 1 “one type,” 2 “two types,” and 3 “three or more types” of BV(α=67). Risk behaviors used a dichotomous response of 0 “no” and 1 “yes” with primary caregivers (PCGs) reporting physical inactivity and sleep problems, and children self-reported all other risk behaviors. PCGs educational attainment, child’s biological sex, family poverty level, and child’s self-report of their race/ethnicity were entered into the model as covariates.
Results: Path analysis concluded for one additional form of BV experienced, there was a .075 unit increase in marijuana use(p=.006), .100 unit increase in physically inactive(p .05). Regarding covariates, boys, children living with PCGs with high school education or less, and those in/near poverty had a greater threat of risk behaviors.
Conclusion and Implications: The current study concludes that greater stress exposure in childhood predicts adolescents' behavioral and health risks behaviors. School social workers, and anti-bullying prevention policies, practices, and strategies must pay more attention to and include invisible types of BV, such as relational and verbal bullying, along with physical bullying.
