Abstract
The goal of the current study was to investigate the association of experiences of bullying with 17 individual risk behaviors in a large, non-clinical sample of middle and high school students. Data were analyzed from the 2013 Georgia Student Health Survey II, administered to 6th–12th grade students in all public schools in Georgia (n = 513,909). Bullied students reported higher levels of engagement in every risk behavior investigated, with the largest connections related to safety-related absenteeism (OR 25.4, p < 0.001 and OR 17.0, p < 0.001 for high/middle school students, respectively) and bringing a weapon to school (OR 10.9, p < 0.001 and OR 6.81, p < 0.001 for high/middle school students, respectively). Overall, the current findings reveal alarming relationships between bullying and risk-taking behaviors that suggest bullying is associated with a large portion of substance use, self-harm, and weapons seen in middle and high school students. These behaviors place bullied children at risk of long-term physical and psychological consequences, as well as potential legal complications.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to express our gratitude to the hundreds of teachers throughout the state of Georgia who facilitated collection of the GSHS II data and to the administrators and state personnel who worked to construct the dataset. Data from the Georgia Student Health Survey II (GSHS II) were received by the Georgia Department of Education. Please note that all student survey data are anonymous and self-reported. Student race and gender have been redacted to safeguard the confidentiality of student data as required by the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and other applicable state and federal laws and regulations.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study (i.e., retrospective) formal consent is not required.
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Smalley, K.B., Warren, J.C. & Barefoot, K.N. Connection Between Experiences of Bullying and Risky Behaviors in Middle and High School Students. School Mental Health 9, 87–96 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-016-9194-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-016-9194-z