BULLYING IN ADOLESCENTS



The Definition of Bullying
•Several aspects…
•Intentional harm
•Repeated over time
•Power imbalance

Depressive Symptoms, Friend Distress, and Self-blame: Risk Factors for Adolescent Peer
Victimization
Hannah L. Schacter, Jaana Juvonen
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology (2017)

  Research Question
•How social cognitions and peer relationships of adolescents with depressive symptoms affect the
risk of future victimization?
•
•  The Aim of the Study
•Depressive symptoms as a risk factor for peer victimization in early adolescence by focusing on
self blaming

  Hypothesis
•Self-blame can help account for increased victimization risk and that friends’ depressive symptoms
further strengthen this association.
•
•  Participants
•The ethnically diverse sample which includes middle school adolescents (N = 5374) from 26 urban
public schools in California

Design and Procedure
•Students completed questionnaires in the Fall of the 6th grade, Spring of the 6th grade, and
Spring of the 7th grade in a classroom setting.
•
•Measures
•1.  Perceived peer victimization
•Two statements separated by the word “but” (e.g., some kids are often picked on but other kids are
not picked on)

•Rating part (if the statement was "really true" or "sort of true" on a 4-point scale).
•
•Other three items were about being called names, being the target of gossip, and being pushed
around by others.

2.  Depressive symptoms
•Adapted version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977)
•(e.g., "I felt depressed," " I felt sad," " My sleep was restless".)
•
•How often they had experienced each item in the past week
•

3.  Friends' depressive symptoms
•They were asked to list the names of their good friends in their grade at school.
•
•4.  Characterological self-blame
•Vignette 1 (in the Fall of 6th grade)
•Vignette 2 (in the Spring of 6th grade)
•Self-blame (e.g., more likely to happen to me than to other kids)

Results
•Students who reported higher levels of depressive symptoms at the beginning of middle school were
more likely to endorse self-blaming attributions at the beginning and end of the 6th grade.
•
•Students who reported higher levels of depressive symptoms at the beginning of middle school were
more likely to experience peer victimization both concurrently and during 7th grade.

•Higher depressive symptoms were related to having friends with depressive symptoms and higher
levels of self-blame and victimization.


Bullying Among Turkish High School Students
Yasemin Karaman Kepenekci, Şakir Çınkır
Child Abuse & Neglect (2006)

  Research Questions
•What types of bullying are taking place in high school in Turkey?
•What is the gender of the victims?
•Where does bullying take place?
•What do the victims do in order to protect themselves from bullying?
•Who are the bullies?
•Why do the children bully each other?
•
• The Aim of the Study
•Investigate school bullying among public high school students in Turkey.
•

Participants
•Students chosen from five state high schools in Ankara (N = 692)
•14-17 years of age
•385 of them were girls and 307 of them were boys
•
•  Questionnaire Design
•
•To determine the students’ perceptions of bullying in schools
•

•Questions were derived from the studies by Olweus (1993) and Elliot (1997)
•
•Four types of bullying : physical, verbal, emotional, and sexual
•
•28 binary or multiple-choice questions
•
•Two open-ended questions (consequences of bullying & prevention methods)

Procedure
•During normal class time
•Anonymous
•
•  Results
•All students reported that they experienced at least one type of bullying.
•
•    35.3% verbally (pushing)
•    35.5% physically (name calling)
•    28% emotionally (humiliating)
•    15.6% sexually
•

•Gender and types of bullying
•    Physical and verbal bullying were the most common type.
•    Boys experienced more physical (kicking) and verbal (name calling, swearing) bullying than
girls.
•
•”Where does bullying usually take place?”
•     Classroom, school corridors, on the way to school, school canteen etc.

•“Who was likely to do the bullying in schools?”
•    33.5% said boys,
•    9.8% said girls,
•    18.7% said chubby students,
•    18.4% said older students,
•    16.7% said less successful student
•    2.9% said other

•
•“Why do you think students bully each other?”
•    “pretending to be strong” (43.1%),
•    “who do not know how to handle their problems” (24.1%),
•     those who “have personal problems” (22.1%),
•     no clue (10.7%)

•Open-ended questions: consequences of bullying and prevention methods
•
Ø“A friend insulted and sweared at me. I never told anyone including my family. I feel like crying.
I feel helpless and sometimes lose concentration. I am losing trust in myself.” (Low psychological
well-being)
a.

a.
Ø“Whenever I am faced with discrimination I feel alone and put a distance between my friends and
myself.” (Poor social adjustment)
Ø
Ø“My friends gave me a nickname. I went into depression. Became antisocial. I feel like punching
them.” (Psychological distress)
I.

•What about prevention?
•
•High school students in Turkey were more likely to protect themselves rather than telling someone
else.
•