Prevalence and factors associated with bullying: differences between the roles of bullies and victims of bullying

Silva, Georgia Rodrigues Reis e; Lima, Maria Luiza Carvalho de; Acioli, Raquel Moura Lins; Barreira, Alice Kelly

doi:10.1016/j.jped.2019.09.005

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Original article • J. Pediatr. (Rio J.) 96 (6) • Nov-Dec 2020 • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2019.09.005 copy

Prevalence and factors associated with bullying: differences between the roles of bullies and victims of bullying^✰ ✰ Please cite this article as: Silva GR, Lima ML, Barreira AK, Acioli RM. Prevalence and factors associated with bullying: differences between the roles of bullies and victims of bullying. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2020;96:694–702.

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Objective:

To identify the differences between the prevalence and factors associated with involvement in bullying among schoolchildren from Recife, in the role of victim and perpetrator.

Method:

This is an epidemiological, cross-sectional, analytical study, with a probabilistic cluster sample of 1,402 students enrolled in high schools in Recife. Data analysis consisted of a descriptive analysis, followed by the application of Pearson's chi-squared test with statistical significance of 0.05 and 95% confidence interval. For the association analysis, multilevel modeling was used to control the cluster effect.

Results:

It was observed that adolescents who feel different from other peers were associated with bullying, regardless of the role played. Being a victim was associated with being female, having low self-esteem, and using tranquilizers; being a transgressor was a protective factor. As for the role of perpetrator, being male, excessive alcohol consumption, having poor school performance, being a transgressor, and accepting peer violence were the associated variables; in turn, not defending their ideas when among friends showed to be a protective factor for bullying.

Conclusion:

The differences between the adolescents, whether in the role of victim or perpetrator, indicate that the advocacy and prevention actions should focus on these aspects, mainly in the school environment.

KEYWORDS
Prevalence; Bullying; Aggression; Victimization

Variable	Operationalization	Categorization
Dependent
Bullying	California Bullying Victimization Scale, adapted and validated by Soares in 2015,¹⁴14 Soares AK, Gouveia VV, Gouveia RS, Fonsêca PN, Pimentel CE. California Victimization of Bullying Scale (CVBS): evidence of validity and internal consistency. Temas Psicol. 2015;23:481-91. plus a question developed by the author	1. Victim 2. Perpetrator
Independent
Gender	Self-reported	1.Female 2.Male
Age (in years)	Self-reported	(15-16)
		17-19
Skin color/Ethnicity	Self-reported	1.White 2.Black 3.Yellow/Indigenous
Having a physical disability	Self-reported	1.Yes 2.No
Religious practice	Self-reported	1.Yes 2.No
School performance regarding grades	Self-reported	1 (1.Very good and 2.Good) 2 (3.Bad and 4.Very Bad)
Self-esteem	Rosenberg scale adapted in Brazil by Avanci et al. 2007¹⁶16 Avanci S, Assis S, Santos N, Oliveira R. Cross-cultural adaptation of Self-Esteem Scale for Adolescents. Psicol Reflex Crit. 2007;20:397-405.	1.Low self-esteem 2.High self-esteem
Feeling different	Self-reported	1.Yes 2.No
Self-confidence (defending one's ideals and opinions)	Self-reported	1. Does have 2. Does not have
Excess alcohol consumption	Self-reported	1.Yes 2.No
Use of illicit drugs	Self-reported	1.Yes 2.No
Use of medications to lose weight	Self-reported	1.Yes 2.No
Downers/Tranquilizers	Self-reported	1.Yes 2.No
Anabolic drugs	Self-reported	1.Yes 2.No
Excess weight	Self-reported	1.Yes 2.No
Being a transgressor	ILANUD/UN tool about self-reported violations¹⁷17 Kahn T, Bermergui C, Yamada E, Cardoso FC, Fernandes F, Zacchi JM, Guimarães L, Hasselman ME. [projeto de pesquisa]. O dia a dia nas escolas: violências auto-assumidas. São Paulo: Instituto Latino Americano das Nações Unidas para a Prevenção do Delito e Tratamento do Delinquente (ILANUD). Instituto Sou da Paz; 1999.	1.Yes 2.No
Sexual orientation	Question fromthe Minnesota Adolescent Health Survey,adapted by Berlan in 2010⁸8 Sigurdson JF, Undheim AM, Wallander JL, Lydersen S, Sund AM. The longitudinal Association of Being Bullied and Gender with suicide ideations, self-harm, and suicide attempts from adolescence to young adulthood: a cohort study. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2018;48:169-82.	1.Heterosexual 2.Bisexual and Homosexual
Having siblings	Developed question	1.Yes 2.No
Accepting peer violence	Developed question	1.Yes 2.No

Variables related to the person	Bullying victim (n = 1402)		Perpetrator (n = 1402)
Variables related to the person	OR (95%CI)^a a Adjusted OR considering the sampling design (cluster) and weight by type of school.	p-value	OR (95% CI)^a a Adjusted OR considering the sampling design (cluster) and weight by type of school.	p-value
Gender
Male	Reference		Reference
Female	1.95 (1.34-2.84)	<0.001	0.41 (0.31-0.56)	0.000
Age
From 15 to 16 years old	Reference		Reference
From 17 to 19 years old	0.91 (0.54-1.52)	0.715	1.17 (0.90-1.52)	0.223
Skin color/ethnicity
White	Reference		Reference
Non-white	1.30 (0.77-2.19)	0.320	1.12 (0.84-1.49)	0.428
Having a physical disability
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	1.22 (0.16-9.10)	0.846	2.11 (0.48-9.16)	0.315
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual	Reference		Reference
Bisexual/ Homosexual	2.09 (1.21-3.62)	0.009	1.39 (1.00-1.94)	0.048
Religious practice
Yes	Reference		Reference
No	1.04 (0.78-1.39)	0.803	1.51 (1.14-1.98)	0.003
School performance related to grades
Very good/good	Reference		Reference
Bad/very bad	0.84 (0.56-1.24)	0.375	2.03 (1.56-2.65)	<0.001
Scale of self-esteem
From 28 to 40 points	Reference		Reference
From 10 to 27 points	2.40 (1.59-3.60)	<0.001	1.32 (1.05-1.67)	0.017
Feeling different
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	1.94 (1.29-2.93)	0.002	1.46 (1.13-1.89)	0.003
Self-confidence (defending one's ideas/opinions with friends)
Always/very often	Reference		Reference
Rarely/never	0.90 (0.60-1.34)	0.598	0.73 (0.56-0.94)	0.016
Excess alcohol consumption
Never	Reference	-	Reference
A few times	0.80 (0.46-1.41)	0.439	3.06 (2.22-4.22)	0.000
Many times	0.97 (0.61-1.57)	0.913	1.68 (1.31-2.15)	0.000
Consumption of illicit drugs
No	Reference	-	Reference
Yes	0.63 (0.26-1.53)	0.311	1.58 (1.05-2.37)	0.026
Use of medications
To lose weight	2.17 (1.16-4.09)	0.015	1.39 (0.77-2.49)	0.266
Downers/tranquilizers	2.81 (1.57-5.02)	<0.001	1.45 (1.04-2.04)	0.028
Anabolic steroids	Not calculated	-	1.57 (0.78-3.15)	0.199
Excess weight
No	Reference	-	Reference
Yes	1.34 (0.97-1.84)	0.075	0.89 (0.67-1.18)	0.449
Being a transgressor
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	0.75 (0.52-1.06)	0.103	3.44 (2.72-4.34)	0.000
Having siblings
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	1.48 (0.66-3.31)	0.346	0.65 (0.41-1.01)	0.057
Accepts violence among peers
Boy against boy
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	0.69 (0.33-1.42)	0.310	2.54 (1.73-3.72)	<0.001
Girl against girl
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	0.81 (0.37-1.79)	0.605	2.31 (1.56-3.43)	<0.001

Variables related to the person	Bullying victim		Bullying perpetrator
Variables related to the person	OR (95%CI)	p-value	OR (95%CI)^a a Adjusted OR considering the sampling design (cluster) and weight by type of school.	p-value
Gender
Male	Reference		Reference
Female	1.56 (1.07-2.28)	0.022	0.45 (0.33-0.61)	<0.001
Self-esteem scale
From 28 to 40 points	Reference
From 10 to 27 points	2.04 (1.37-3.04)	<0.001
School performance related to grades
Very good/good			Reference
Bad/very bad			1.30 (1.00-1.68)	0.045
Use of downers/ tranquilizers
No	Reference
Yes	2.44 (1.32-4.48)	0.004
Feeling different
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	2.00 (1.27-3.15)	0.003	1.36 (1.05-1.76)	0.016
Self-confidence (defending one's ideas/opinions with friends)
Always/very often			Reference
Rarely/never			0.64 (0.47-0.86)	0.004
Excess alcohol consumption
Never			Reference
Rarely			1.87 (1.27-2.75)	0.001
Many times			1.49 (1.12-1.97)	0.005
Being a transgressor
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	0.61 (0.40-0.95)	0.031	2.80 (2.14-3.66)	<0.001
Accepting violence among peers
Does not accept			Reference
Accepts for one gender			2.25 (1.25-4.05)	0.007
Accepts for both genders			1.51 (1.04-2.20)	0.030

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[1] ∗ Corresponding author. georodrigues19@yahoo.com.br (G.R. Silva).