Bullying and Its Associated Individual, Peer, Family and School Factors: Evidence from Malaysian National Secondary School Students.

Adolescents involved in bullying can be at risk of developing behavioural problems, physical health problems and suicidal ideation. In view of this, a quantitative research design using a cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of bullying and associated individual, peer, family and school factors. The study involved 4469 Malaysian public-school students who made up the response rate of 89.4%. The students were selected using a randomized multilevel sampling method. The study found that 79.1% of student respondents were involved in bullying as perpetrators (14.4%), victims (16.3%), or bully-victims (48.4%). In a multivariate analysis, the individual domain showed a significant association between students' bullying involvement and age (OR = 1.38; 95% CI 1.12-1.70), gender (OR = 1.73; 95% CI 1.47-0.91), ethnicity (OR = 0.66; 95% CI 0.47-0.91), duration of time spent on social media during the weekends (OR = 1.43; 95% CI 1.09-1.87) and psychological distress level (OR = 2.55; 95% CI 1.94-3.34). In the peer domain, the significantly associated factors were the number of peers (OR = 0.69; 95% CI 0.56-0.86) and frequency of quarrels or fights with peers (OR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.24-3.26). Among the items in the school domain, the significantly associated factors were students being mischievous in classrooms (OR = 1.52; 95% CI 1.06-2.06), student's affection towards their teachers (OR = 1.53; 95% CI 1.06-2.20), frequency of appraisal from teachers (OR = 1.49; 95% CI 1.16-1.94), frequency of friends being helpful in classrooms (OR = 1.92; 95% CI 1.09-3.38) and frequency of deliberately skipping class (OR = 2.91; 95% CI 2.90-1.72). As a conclusion, the study revealed high levels and widespread bullying involvement among students in Malaysia. As such, timely bullying preventions and interventions are essential, especially in terms of enhancing their mental health capacity, which substantially influences the reduction in the prevalence rates of bullying involvement among students in Malaysia.

The relationship between self-harm and bullying behaviour: results from a population based study of adolescents.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to better understand the association between bullying behaviour (the bullied, the bullies and the bully-victims) and self-harm, and which protective factors moderate this association. METHODS: A total of 16,182 adolescents, aged 12 to 19 years, were invited to participate in the cross-sectional Ung-data survey. This survey covered various aspects of young people's lives. The response rate was 87%. To assess the relationship between self-harm and bulling behaviour, and psychological- and environmental covariates, we conducted logistic regression analyses. In addition, we tested for potential interaction effects between protective factors and the three bullying groups on self-harm. RESULTS: Fifteen percent of participating adolescents reported engaging in self-harm during the last year. The risk of self-harm was six times higher for the "bully-victims", five times higher for the bullied, and three times higher for the bullies, compared to the "neither-bullied nor bullies". The risk of self-harm in the face of being bullied was significantly greater for girls than boys. Depression, anxiety and parental conflict accounted for some of the association between being bullied and self-harm, and between bully-victims and self-harm. School behavioural problems accounted for some of the association between the bullies and self-harm and the bully-victims and self-harm. The relationship between the bullied and self-harm was significantly moderated by parental support and school well-being, while the relationship between "bully-victims" and self-harm was moderated by school well-being. CONCLUSION: There is a strong link between bullying and self-harm. Interventions to address bullying may reduce self-harm. Our findings also suggest that high levels of parental support and school well-being may buffer the harmful relationship between bullying behaviour and self-harm. Addressing these factors may be important in reducing the risk of self-harm among those experiencing bullying.

Bullying Behaviour In Operating Theatres.

BACKGROUND: Bullying is a well-recognized negative behaviour, involving a perpetrator and a victim, with negative physical and/or psychological consequences. Bullying, as a multifaceted form of mistreatment, came to the attention of academic and administrative teams in schools and the workplace, more than three decades ago. Workplace bullying is well recognized to lead to anxiety, depression, feeling of helplessness, higher risks of cardiovascular disease and suicidal ideation among its victims. Healthcare teams face high odds and challenging roles in intensive care units and operating theatres. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of bullying behaviour through (Revised), Negative Attitudes Questionnaire (NAQ-R), among healthcare team members in an operating theatre of a Tertiary Care hospital in Lahore. METHODS: A cross-sectional pilot study was conducted, through a validated tool, Negative Attitude Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R). An online survey was posted through Survey Monkey. Data analysed through SPSS Version- 19 by computing descriptive statistics as frequency and percentages with graph construction. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-one complete responses received out of 139 with a response rate of 94.24%. Responses were from both government (53%) and private sector (47%) hospitals. Norway cut off values used for analysis. Overall, 32% were not bullied whereas 68% were bullied, 47.6% were victims of bullying frequently and rest occasionally. Bullying behaviour across gender confirmed higher frequency in women as compared to men (83% vs 58%) with frequent bullying also more common in women when compared with males (51% versus 18%). CONCLUSIONS: Bullying occurs in both genders although, predominantly more among women.

Is Spiritual Well-Being Among Adolescents Associated with a Lower Level of Bullying Behaviour? The Mediating Effect of Perceived Bullying Behaviour of Peers.

The aim of this study was to explore the association between spiritual well-being and bullying among Slovak adolescents, and whether perceived bullying behaviour of peers mediated this relationship. Data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study conducted in 2014 in Slovakia were used. Data were obtained from 9250 adolescents with a mean age of 13.48 years. The final sample consisted of 762 adolescents aged 15 years old (52.2% boys). We used logistic regression models and the Sobel test. Adolescents who reported a higher level of spiritual well-being were at lower risk of reporting that some or more schoolmates bully others or that they themselves bully others. These relationships were partially mediated by perceived norms about the bullying behaviour of schoolmates. Spiritual well-being was found to be negatively associated with bullying; in addition, a mediating role of perceived bullying behaviour of peers in this relationship was confirmed.

History of Family Involvement with Child Protective Services as a Risk Factor for Bullying in Ontario Schools.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between history of family involvement with child protective services (CPS) and bullying was examined. METHOD: Data were obtained from 2,516 pupils aged 12-19 in the 2007 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey. The association between self-reported history of family involvement with CPS and bullying was estimated using negative binomial hurdle regression models. RESULTS: Females who reported family CPS involvement were more likely to have bullied and been bullied compared with females without CPS involvement. Among males, family CPS involvement was only significantly associated with bully victimisation. CONCLUSION: A history of family CPS involvement was a risk factor for bullying victimisation and perpetration.