Psychological distress and its relationship to bully/victim problems among children and early adolescents

• Main Author: Arndt, Jacqueline Edith
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8886

Previous research has suggested that bullying may be considered the most prevalent form of violence among schoolchildren (Batsche & Knoff, 1993). Bullying and victimization is being increasingly recognized as a psychologically harmful aspect of childhood for significant percentages of children (Slee, 1995). The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence, age/grade, and gender trends of bullying and bully-victimization among elementary-aged Canadian students. The second aim of the present study was to extend the investigation of the association between bullying and victimization and social-emotional health by examining depression, anxiety, and self-esteem among children involved in bully/victim problems. Self-report measures were administered to 417 children (210 girls, 207 boys) ranging in age from 9 to 12 years. Measures included the Bully-Victim Inventory (BVI: Reynolds & Arndt, 1997), the Reynolds Child Depression Scale (RCDS: Reynolds, 1989), the Revised Manifest Anxiety Scale (RMAS: Reynolds & Richmond, 1985) and the Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI, Coopersmith, 1967). Results revealed that 9.4% of the children acknowledged that they engaged in significant bullying and 18.9% reported being victims of bullying. As predicted, a higher percentage of elementary boys (13 %) as compared to girls (5.7%) were involved in the bullying of other children and a higher percentage of boys (23.7%) than girls (14.3%) were identified as victims. Girls were equally likely to become victims of bullies regardless if they were in lower (grades 4 and 5) or higher(grades 6 and 7) elementary grades. Tboys, on the other hand, were more likely to be victims of bullies when in lower as compared to higher grades. The percentage of boys identified as bullies in lower (grades 4 and 5) as compared to higher grades (grades 6 and 7) was not significantly different. Consequently, it may be implied that, among elementary boys aged 8 to 12 years, bullying involvement may not be necessarily related to age. Findings from multiple regression analyses indicated that anxiety and depression were moderately related to victimization among boys and girls. This finding highlights the importance of assessing social-emotional factors such as level of anxiety and depression among youngsters identified as victims of bullying. The association between self-esteem and victimization for boys and for girls was not found to be significantly related to victimization. The results of this study lend support for the association between social-emotional factors and bullying behaviours among elementary-aged boys and girls. That is, multiple regression analyses revealed a moderate relationship between bullying behaviour and depression for girls but not for boys. However, anxiety and self-esteem were not significantly related to bullying among girls. Among boys, a significant although low relationship was found between self-esteem and bullying involvement. === Education, Faculty of === Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of === Graduate