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Bullying: Causes, Consequences, Interventions, and Prevention

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Behavioral and Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 20458

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Matthew Costello

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Guest Editor

Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29643, USA
Interests: online crime and deviance; political extremism and violence; criminal justice; criminological and sociological theory; social movements/collective action; political economy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bullying—repetitive unwanted aggressive behavior rooted in power differentials between the aggressor and their target—remains a persistent problem facing adolescents. In fact, recent studies show that one in five adolescents will experience bullying at some point. This is a troubling statistic, as being bullied correlates with an increased likelihood of experiencing low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, fear, and even suicidal behavior. Given the severity of the problem, it is imperative that researchers continue to explore all aspects of bullying, including risk factors for bullying and being bullied, how bullying affects targets and those who witness it, the role of the Internet in facilitating bullying, and how peers, parents, teachers, and law enforcement personnel can help prevent adolescent bullying and aid those being bullied.

This Special Issue therefore seeks papers advancing knowledge on adolescent bullying from diverse perspectives. Papers are welcome that bring together international researchers from a range of disciplines, including but not limited to sociology, criminology, criminal justice, communications, public health, education, and psychology, adopting different theoretical and methodological perspectives in order to expand our understanding on the myriad facets of adolescent bullying.

It is our sincere hope that this Special Issue will shed important additional light on adolescent bullying and, in doing so, move us closer to finding solutions to the problem.

Dr. Matthew Costello
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

bullying
bullying prevention
bullying intervention
mental health
physical wellbeing
cyberbullying
causes of bullying
consequences of bullying
students
bystander intervention
school deviance
adolescents
juvenile delinquency
physical abuse
psychological abuse
verbal abuse

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 1133 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of the TEI Peer Tutoring Program on Coexistence, Bullying and Cyberbullying in Spanish Schools

by Vanesa Sainz, O’Hara Soto-García, Juan Calmaestra and Antonio Maldonado

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(19), 6818; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20196818 - 24 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1612

Abstract

The TEI peer tutoring program (in Spanish, Tutoría entre Iguales, hereinafter TEI ) is Spain’s most important coexistence program for the prevention of violence and bullying in secondary schools and one of the first worldwide. So that we may better appreciate the effectiveness and benefits of this program, a comparative study has been developed between four schools that are presently following this preventive strategy (TEI centres) and four other schools that do not carry out the TEI program (non-TEI centres). Controlling the other sociodemographic variables, students’ perception of coexistence, bullying and cyberbullying has been evaluated. In total, 1015 secondary school students belonging to eight schools from four autonomous communities in Spain participated. The results reveal that the students of TEI centres have a more favourable perception of educational coexistence and indicate lower rates of bullying and cyberbullying than those studying at non-TEI centres. These results highlight the benefits of the TEI program and the need to continue promoting and expanding these preventing bullying strategies in schools. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bullying: Causes, Consequences, Interventions, and Prevention)

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14 pages, 372 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Defending Others Online: The Influence of Observing Formal and Informal Social Control on One’s Willingness to Defend Cyberhate Victims

by Matthew Costello, James Hawdon, Ashley V. Reichelmann, Atte Oksanen, Catherine Blaya, Vicente J. Llorent, Pekka Räsänen and Izabela Zych

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(15), 6506; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20156506 - 2 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1605

Abstract

This paper examines factors correlated with online self-help—an informal form of social control vis-à-vis intervention—upon witnessing a cyberhate attack. Using online surveys from 18- to 26-year-old respondents in the United States, we explore the roles of various types of online and offline formal and informal social control mechanisms on the enactment of self-help through the use of descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression. The results of the multivariate analyses indicate that online collective efficacy is positively related to self-help, as is having close ties to individuals and groups offline and online. Formal online social control, however, is not significantly related to engaging in self-help. Other findings demonstrate that personal encounters with cyberhate affect the likelihood that an individual will intervene when witnessing an attack, and that individuals with high levels of empathy are more likely to intervene to assist others. This work indicates that pro-social online behavior is contagious and can potentially foster online spaces in which harmful behaviors, such as propagating cyberhate, are not condoned. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bullying: Causes, Consequences, Interventions, and Prevention)

18 pages, 1658 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of Empathy in Alcohol Use of Bullying Perpetrators and Victims: Lower Personal Empathic Distress Makes Male Perpetrators of Bullying More Vulnerable to Alcohol Use

by Maren Prignitz, Tobias Banaschewski, Arun L. W. Bokde, Sylvane Desrivières, Antoine Grigis, Hugh Garavan, Penny Gowland, Andreas Heinz, Jean-Luc Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillère Martinot, Eric Artiges, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Luise Poustka, Sarah Hohmann, Juliane H. Fröhner, Lauren Robinson, Michael N. Smolka, Henrik Walter, Jeanne M. Winterer, Robert Whelan, Gunter Schumann, Frauke Nees, Herta Flor and on behalf of the IMAGEN Consortium Show full author list Hide full author list

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(13), 6286; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20136286 - 3 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1564

Abstract

Bullying often results in negative coping in victims, including an increased consumption of alcohol. Recently, however, an increase in alcohol use has also been reported among perpetrators of bullying. The factors triggering this pattern are still unclear. We investigated the role of empathy in the interaction between bullying and alcohol use in an adolescent sample (IMAGEN) at age 13.97 (±0.53) years (baseline (BL), N = 2165, 50.9% female) and age 16.51 (±0.61) years (follow-up 1 (FU1), N = 1185, 54.9% female). General empathic distress served as a significant moderator of alcohol use in perpetrators (F_{9, 493} = 17.978, p < 0.01), which was specific for males and FU1. Male perpetrators, who are generally less sensitive to distress, might thus be more vulnerable to alcohol abuse. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bullying: Causes, Consequences, Interventions, and Prevention)

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13 pages, 365 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cyberbullying, Social Media Addiction and Associations with Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Medical Students in Malaysia

by Michelle Hui Lim Lee, Manveen Kaur, Vinorra Shaker, Anne Yee, Rohana Sham and Ching Sin Siau

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(4), 3136; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043136 - 10 Feb 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6837

Abstract

This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors associated with cyberbullying and social media addiction. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 270 medical students from a public university in Kuching, Malaysia. The instruments used in this study included the cyberbullying questionnaire survey, Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21-item (DASS-21). The prevalence of cyberbullying victimization was 24.4%, whilst 13.0% reported cyberbullying perpetration over the past six months. Male gender was positively associated with both cyberbullying perpetration and cybervictimization, whilst social media addiction was positively associated with cybervictimization. Psychological motives such as positive attitudes toward cyberbullying and gaining power were associated with cyberbullying perpetration. Cybervictimization doubled the tendency to depression (aOR 2.50, 95% CI [1.23, 5.08], p = 0.012), anxiety (aOR 2.38, 95% CI [1.29, 4.40], p = 0.006), and stress (aOR 2.85, 95% CI [1.41, 5.77], p = 0.004), whilst social media addiction was associated with a higher tendency to depression (aOR 1.18, 95% CI [1.10, 1.26], p < 0.001), anxiety (aOR 1.15, 95% CI [1.08, 1.22], p < 0.001), and stress (aOR 1.21, 95% CI [1.12, 1.32], p < 0.001). Medical schools in Malaysia need policies and guidelines against cyberbullying. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bullying: Causes, Consequences, Interventions, and Prevention)

11 pages, 593 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coping with Public and Private Face-to-Face and Cyber Victimization among Adolescents in Six Countries: Roles of Severity and Country

by Michelle F. Wright, Sebastian Wachs, Takuya Yanagida, Anna Ševčíková, Lenka Dědková, Fatih Bayraktar, Ikuko Aoyama, Shanmukh V. Kamble, Hana Macháčková, Zheng Li, Shruti Soudi, Li Lei and Chang Shu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 14405; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114405 - 3 Nov 2022

Viewed by 1446

Abstract

This study investigated the role of medium (face-to-face, cyber) and publicity (public, private) in adolescents’ perceptions of severity and coping strategies (i.e., avoidant, ignoring, helplessness, social support seeking, retaliation) for victimization, while accounting for gender and cultural values. There were 3432 adolescents (ages 11–15, 49% girls) in this study; they were from China, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, India, Japan, and the United States. Adolescents completed questionnaires on individualism and collectivism, and ratings of coping strategies and severity for public face-to-face victimization, private face-to-face victimization, public cyber victimization, and private cyber victimization. Findings revealed similarities in adolescents’ coping strategies based on perceptions of severity, publicity, and medium for some coping strategies (i.e., social support seeking, retaliation) but differential associations for other coping strategies (i.e., avoidance, helplessness, ignoring). The results of this study are important for prevention and intervention efforts because they underscore the importance of teaching effective coping strategies to adolescents, and to consider how perceptions of severity, publicity, and medium might influence the implementation of these coping strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bullying: Causes, Consequences, Interventions, and Prevention)

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Review

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13 pages, 727 KiB

Open AccessReview

School-Based Nursing Interventions for Preventing Bullying and Reducing Its Incidence on Students: A Scoping Review

by Iyus Yosep, Rohman Hikmat and Ai Mardhiyah

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(2), 1577; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021577 - 15 Jan 2023

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6605

Abstract

Incidents of bullying have increased on students in schools. This has a negative impact such as mental health problems and risk of suicide. Interventions related to bullying are still focused on being carried out independently. Meanwhile, collaborative interventions between nurses and the school are needed to acquire maximum results in preventing and reducing the incidence of bullying. The purpose of this study is to describe school-based nursing interventions in preventing and reducing the incidence of bullying among students at school. This study used scoping review with a search strategy using the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Review process to find the articles. The PubMed, CINAHL, and Scopus electronic databases were searched. We found 12 articles from 594 articles in 3 databases which discussed nursing interventions based on school to prevent and reduce incidence of bullying in students. The studies included are design randomized control trials and quasi experiments. The samples with the range of 40–7121 respondents. We classified the school-based nursing interventions being three methods, there are Game programs, physical activity programs, training programs, and peer-group programs. The content of interventions are psychoeducation, empathy training, counseling, and self-management. This study shows that school-based nursing interventions can be an option in preventing and reducing the incidence of bullying among students at school. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bullying: Causes, Consequences, Interventions, and Prevention)

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