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Bullying involvement, family background, school life, and well-being feelings among adolescents

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Abstract

Aim

Our aim is to assess the prevalence of bullying among middle and high school adolescents, describing the type of involvement (as victim-only, as aggressor-only, and as victim-aggressor) and tactics of aggression and victimization used by adolescents, as well as identifying social and behavioural factors and well-being related feelings.

Subject and method

The sample included 2623 adolescents (1186 boys and 1437 girls) enrolled in public schools of Porto, Portugal, from the 7th to 12th grade, during the 2014/2015 school year. Information was collected through self-administered and anonymous questionnaires assessing social and demographic characteristics, school life, emotional well-being, and bullying experiences.

Results

Results show that girls were more frequently victims of bullying compared to boys (15.1% vs 13.5%). However, boys tended to be more frequently involved as aggressor-only (11.3% and 5.9% for boys and girls respectively) and as victim-aggressors (13.3% and 10.2% for boys and girls respectively). Boys reported more frequently the use of direct tactics, while girls reported the use of indirect tactics. Additionally adolescents involved in bullying were more likely to present negative well-being related feelings. Suicidal ideation was strongly associated with being involved in bullying as victim-aggressors, in girls (OR = 8.34; 95% CI: 5.03-–3.82) and in boys (OR = 8.05; 95% CI: 4.24–15.28).

Conclusion

Bullying is a common problem among school-going adolescents and it is related with negative well-being feelings. Efforts to prevent bullying should include schools, families and the community.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization, and received national funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education under the project “BioAdversity: How childhood social adversity shapes health: The biology of social adversity” (POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-016838; Ref. FCT PTDC/DTP-EPI/1687/2014). It is also supported by the Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006862; Ref. UID/DTP/04750/ 2013). PhD Grant SFRH/BD/108742/2015 (to SS) co-funded by FCT and Human Capital Operational Programme (POCH/FSE Program); FCT Investigator contracts DL57/2016/CP1356/CT0001 (to SF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Rua das Taipas 135, 4050-600, Porto, Portugal

    Naïr Silva-Rocha, Sara Soares, Sandra Brochado & Sílvia Fraga

  2. Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Sara Soares & Sílvia Fraga

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  1. Naïr Silva-Rocha
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  2. Sara Soares
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Correspondence to Sílvia Fraga.

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Silva-Rocha, N., Soares, S., Brochado, S. et al. Bullying involvement, family background, school life, and well-being feelings among adolescents. J Public Health (Berl.) 28, 481–489 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-019-01076-2

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