Presented at:

Building Capacity to Reduce Bullying and Its Impact on Youth

Across the Lifecourse: A Workshop

Institute of Medicine and National Research Council

April 9, 2014

Overview of Bullying and

Victimization

Susan P. Limber, PhD

Clemson University

What is Bullying?

What Does it Look Like?

How Common is Bullying?

What Roles Do Children and Youth Play in Bullying?

What are the Consequences of Bullying?

Overview of Bullying and

Victimization

Bullying is any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths…that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated. Bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targeted youth including physical, psychological, social, or educational harm.”

www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying-definitions-final-a.pdf

Uniform Definition of Bullying

Reference: Gladden, Vivolo-Kantor, Hamburger, & Lumpkin, 2014

1. Unwanted Aggressive Behavior

Unwanted = the targeted youth wants the aggressive behaviors to stop.

Does NOT include playful taunting enjoyed by both.

Aggression = intentional use of harmful behavior(s), threatened or actual, against another.

Focus is on whether aggressor intended to USE harmful behavior, not whether the aggressor intended the target to EXPERIENCE AN INJURY.

Key Elements of the Uniform Definition

Reference: Gladden et al., 2014

2. Involves an observed or perceived power imbalance

• Power Imbalance = an attempt by the aggressor(s) to use observed or perceived personal or situational characteristics to exert control over the target or limit his/her ability to respond or stop the aggression.

• Not intended to be used to label children as “powerless” or “powerful” but to capture power differences at a certain point in time.

• Power differences may be characterized by:

+ Physical characteristics + Background/demographic chars.

+ Popularity + Access to money, resources, info.

+ Abilities or skills + Numbers, etc.

Key Elements of the Uniform Definition

Reference: Gladden et al., 2014

3. Repetition

• Has occurred multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated =

• Bullied youth experience aggression by one or more youth over time, OR

• There is a strong concern that a single aggressive behavior has a high likelihood of being followed by more incidents of aggression.

Key Elements of the Uniform Definition

Reference: Gladden et al., 2014

4. Bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targeted youth.

• “May”: Not all bullied youth may be able to identify or express harm or distress that they have experienced from bullying.

• Includes a wide range of negative experiences or injuries:

• Physical cuts, bruises or pain

• Psychological consequences

• Social damage to reputation or relationship

• Limits to educational opportunities

Key Elements of the Uniform Definition

Reference: Gladden et al., 2014

Modes of Bullying 1. Direct bullying:

• Aggressive behaviors occur in the presence of the targeted youth

• Examples: face-to-face interactions (pushing, hitting), directing harmful written or verbal communications (taunting, mean notes)

2. Indirect bullying • Aggressive behavior(s) are not directly communicated to the youth.

• Examples: spreading rumors, telling others to exclude

Types of Bullying 1. Physical

Examples: hitting, kicking, punching, spitting, tripping, pushing

2. Verbal Taunting, name-calling, threatening words, notes or gestures, sexual

comments

3. Relational: designed to harm reputation and relationships Social isolation, spreading rumors, posting embarrassing images.

Modes and Types of Bullying

Reference: Gladden et al., 2014

Interpersonal Violence: “The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against another person or against a group or community… "

Aggression, Violence, and Bullying

Reference: Dahlberg and Krug (2002)

Some bullying may constitute discriminatory harassment under federal law.

Dear Colleague Letter (2010) issued:

to clarify the relationship between bullying and discriminatory harassment.

to remind schools of their obligations under anti-discrimination statutes.

Bullying of an individual based on race, color, national origin, sex, or disability can be a civil rights violation if it is “sufficiently serious that it creates a hostile environment and such harassment is encouraged, tolerated, not adequately address, or ignored by school employees.”

Bullying and Harassment

References: Alley & Limber, 2009; Cornell & Limber, 2014; U.S. Department of Education,

Office for Civil Rights, 2010.

Estimates of bullying vary according to:

Time frame examined The past school year?

The past 6 months?

The past week?

Measurement approach used Is bullying defined? If so, how?

Informant Self-report? Peer report? Teacher report?

Geographic location of the study US vs. Europe vs. other countries

How Prevalent is Bullying?

Reference: Cook, Williams, Guerra, & Kim, 2010.

School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

28% (12-18-year-olds) had been bullied at school in 2011.

Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)

20% of students (grades 9-12) had been bullied on school property during the previous year.

Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC)

27% of children and youth (grades 5-10) had been bullied at school at least once in the prior couple of months; 7% had been bullied 2-3 times/month or more.

National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV)

13% (2-9, 10-17) had been physically bullied and 20% had been teased or emotionally bullied in the prior year.

National Estimates of Being Bullied

References: Eaton et al., 2012; Finkelhor, Turner, Ormrod, & Hamby, 2009; Health Behavior in School-

Aged Children (HBSC), 2014; Robers, Kemp, Truman, & Snyder, 2013;

3rd-12th graders involved 2-3 times/month or more (Limber et al., 2013)

Four statuses of children and youth directly involved: Youth who bully (but aren’t bullied by others)

Sometimes referred to as “bullies,” “aggressors,” “perpetrators”

Youth who are bullied (but don’t bully others)

Sometimes referred to as “victims,” “targets”

Youth who are bullied and also bully others

Sometimes referred to as “bully-victims”

Prevalence According to Bullying

“Status”

4%13%

3%

80%

Girls and Boys

References: Cook et al., 2010; Limber, Olweus, &

Luxenberg, 2013.

Prevalence of Different Types of

Bullying

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

verbal lies spread sexual jokes left out race physical computer cell phone

HBSC: Students in grades 5-10 bullied 2-3

times/month or more at school

Reference: HBSC, 2014

Prevalence of Different Types of

Bullying

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

rumors verbal physical excluded threatened force property

destroyed

cyber

NCVS: Students ages 12-18 bullied in school

year

Reference: Robers et al., 2013

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

% bullied

NCVS: 12-18 year-olds

being bullied

Boys Girls

Boys and girls experience relatively similar rates of bullying.

Boys are more likely to bully others (x1.7).

Boys are more like to bully and also to be bullied (x 2.5).

Boys’ and Girls’ Experiences of Being

Bullied and Bullying Others

References: Cook et al., 2010; Robers et al., 2013

Prevalence of Different Types of

Bullying

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

rumors verbal physical excluded threatened force property

destroyed

cyber

NCVS: Students ages 12-18 bullied in school year

Total Male Female

Reference: Robers et al., 2013

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

age 2-5 age 6-9 age 10-13 age 14-17

NatSCEV: % bullied in prior

year

physical bullying

teasing or emotional bullying

Research suggests that likelihood of being bullied is greatest in elementary grades.

The likelihood decreases through middle and high school

Age Trends for Being Bullied

Reference: Finkelhor et al., 2009

NCVS: % bullied in the 2011 school year

Limber et al. (2013): % bullied 2-3 times/month or more

Age Trends for Being Bullied

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th

References: Limber et al., 2013; Robers et al., 2013

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th

NCVS: % 12-18 year-olds bullied in 2011 school year

Verbal Rumors Exclusion Physical Cyber

Age Trends for Specific Types of

Bullying

Reference: Robers et al., 2013

Age Trends for Bullying Others Percent of 3rd-12th graders who have bullied another student(s) 2-3 times/month or more

Reference: Limber et al. (2013)

Percentage of Children and Youth

Bullied Over Time

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

2001 2005 2009

TRENDS FOR HBSC: BEING BULLIED HBSC Girls-frequent V HBSC Boys--frequent V

HBSC Girls--occasional V HBSC Boys-occasional V

HBSC Data: Occasional Bullying

HBSC Data: Frequent bullying

Percentage of Children and Youth

Bullied Over Time

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

2007 2009 2011

TRENDS FOR NCVS & YRBS NCVS Girls NCVS Boys YBBS Girls YRBS Boys

NCVS Data

YRBS Data

Effects on bullied children and youth

Concern for children who bully

Possible effects on bystanders

Possible effects on school climate

Costs to society

Consequences of Bullying

Being bullied is associated with later:

Internalizing problems (Reijintjes et al., 2010)

Depression, anxiety, agoraphobia, panic disorder, low self-esteem (Copeland et al., 2013; Faris & Felmlee, 2014; Ttofi et al., 2011a)

Psychosomatic problems

Headaches, stomach pain, sleeping problems, poor appetite (Gini & Pozzoli,2013)

Externalizing behavior (Reijintjes et al., 2010)

Effects on Bullied Children and Youth

References: Copeland et al., 2013; Faris & Felmlee, 2014; Gini & Pozzoli, 2013; Reijintjes et al., 2010;

Ttofi et al., 2011a)

Few longitudinal studies

Being bullied in childhood predicted later suicide attempts and deaths by suicide for girls but not boys (Klomek et al., 2009)

Boys identified as bully-victims were at increased risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts in young adulthood (Copeland et al., 2013)

National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS; Karch et al., 2013)

Assesses precipitating circumstances for suicide, ages 10-17

School problems—precipitating circumstance in 26% of deaths, 12% of these related to bullying

Intimate partner relationship problems—precipitating circumstance in 51% of deaths

Experiencing a crisis in the past 2 weeks—precipitating circumstance in 42%.

Being Bullied and Later Suicidal

Thoughts and Behavior

References: Copeland et al., 2013; Karch et al., 2013; Klomek et al., 2009.

Boys who bullied peers in middle school were 4x as likely as peers to have 3 or more criminal convictions. (Olweus, 1993)

Boys who frequently bullied others were at high risk for later criminality, when accompanied by a high level of psychiatric symptoms (Sourander et al., 2007)

A meta-analysis of 18 studies confirmed that bullying others was related to later criminal and antisocial behavior (Ttofi et al., 2011a)

Bullying others is related to later sexual harassment perpetration among middle school students (Espelage et al., 2012)

Concern for Children Who Bully:

Longitudinal Research

References: Espelage et al., 2012; Olweus, 1993; Sourander et al., 2007; Ttofi et al., 2011b

Bullying often occurs in the presence of witnesses

80% of bullying is witnessed by others (O’Connell et al, 1999)

Bystanders report feeling anxiety and insecurity (Polanin et al., 2012)

Feelings stem, in part, from fears of retaliation (Musher-Eizenman et al., 2004)

Often prevent bystanders from seeking help (Unnever & Cornell, 2003)

Compared to peers, those who have observed bullying report more symptoms of interpersonal sensitivity, helplessness, potential suicidal ideation (Rivers & Noret, 2013).

Possible Effects on Bystanders

References: Musher-Eizenman et al., 2004; O'Connell et al., 1999; Rigby & Slee, 1993; Rivers & Noret, 2013;

Unnever & Cornell, 2003.

School climate = The quality and character of school life, including collective beliefs, values and attitudes.

Safety (including attitudes about bullying and violence) is one of four essential dimensions of school climate (Cohen et al., 2009)

Students who perceive that staff are supportive are more likely to indicate they would seek help for bullying and threats of violence (Elliott et al., 2010).

Bullying prevention at school has been associated ith reductions in bullying and improvements in the social climate of the class (Olweus, 1991, 1997).

Relationship Between Bullying and

School Climate

References: Cohen, 2009; Cohen et al., 2009; Elliott et al., 2010; Espelage & Swearer, 2010; Olweus, 1991,

1997.

Bullying may result in substantial costs to society.

Those who have been involved in bullying are “overconsumers” of society’s health and social services.

Efforts to quantify costs for troubled youth estimate that saving a high-risk youth from a career in crime ranges from $2.6-$5.3 million.

Costs to Society

References: Cohen & Piquero, 2009; Cohen, Piquero, & Jennings, 2010; Olweus, 2012; Sourander et al.,

2007

Alley, R. & Limber, S. P. (2009). Legal issues for school personnel. In S. M. Swearer, D. L. Espelage, & S. A. Napolitano (Eds.), Bullying prevention and intervention: Realistic strategies for schools (pp. 53-73). New York: Guilford.

Cook, C. R., Williams, K. R., Guerra, N. G., & Kim, T. E. (2010). Variability in the prevalence of bullying and victimization: A cross-national and methodological analysis. In S. R. Jimerson, S. M. Swearer, & D. L. Espelage (Eds.), Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective (pp. 347-362). New York: Routledge.

Copeland, W. E., Wolke, D., Angold, A., & Costello, E. J. (2013). Adult psychiatric outcomes of bullying and being bullied by peers in childhood and adolescence. JAMA Psychiatry, 70, 419-426.

Cohen, M.A., & Piquero, A.R. (2009). New evidence on the monetary value of saving a high risk youth. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 25(1), 25 – 49.

Cohen, M. A., Piquero, A. R., & Jennings, W. G. (2010). Estimating the costs of bad outcomes for at-risk youth and the benefits of early childhood interventions to reduce them. Criminal justice policy Review, 21(4), 391-434.

Cohen, J. (2009). Transforming school climate: Educational and psychoanalytic perspectives. Schools: Studies in Education, 6(1), 99-103.

Cohen, J., McCabe, L., Michelli, N. M., Pickeral, T. (2009). School climate: Research, policy, practice, and teacher education. The Teachers College Record, 111, 180-213.

Cornell, D. & Limber, S. P. (2014). Legal and Policy Considerations in Bullying Intervention. Unpublished manuscript.

Dahlberg, L., & Krug, E. (2002). Violence: A global health problem. In E. Krug, L. Dahlberg, J. Mercy, A. Zwi, & R. Lozano (Eds.), World report on violence and health (pp. 3-21). Geneva: World Health Organization.

Eaton, D. K., Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Shanklin, S., Flint, K. H., Hawkins, J., … Wechsler, H. (2012). Youth risk behavior surveillance: United States, 2011. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 61(4) 1-162.

Eliot, M., Cornell, D., Gregory, A., & Fan, X. (2010). Supportive school climate and student willingness to seek help for bullying and threats of violence. Journal of School Psychology, 48(6), 533-553.

Espelage, D. L., Basile, K. C., & Hamburger, M. E. (2012). Bullying perpetration and subsequent sexual violence perpetration among middle school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 50, 60-65.

Faris, R., & Felmlee, D. (2011). Status struggles network centrality and gender segregation in same-and cross-gender aggression. American Sociological Review, 76(1), 48-73.

Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., Ormrod, R., & Hamby, S. L. (2009). Violence, abuse, and crime exposure in a national sample of children and youth. Pediatrics, 124, 1411-1423.

References

Gini, G. & Pozzoli, T. (2013). Bullied children and psychosomatic problems: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 132, 720-729.

Gladden, R. M., Vivolo-Kantor, A. M., Hamburger, M. E., & Lumpkin, C. D. (2014). Bullying surveillance among youth: Uniform definitions for public health and recommended data elements, version 1.0. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Department of Education.

Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC), 2009-2010, Student survey. Analysis ran on 2014-03-11 using SDA 3.5: Tables.

Karch, D. L., Logan, J., McDaniel, D. D., Floyd, C. F., & Vagi, K. J. (2013). Journal of Adolescent Health, 53, S51-S53.

Limber, S. P., Olweus, D., & Luxenberg, H. (2013). Bullying in U.S. schools: Status report. Available from: http://www.violencepreventionworks.org/public/index.page

Olweus, D. (1993a). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. New York: Blackwell.

Olweus, D. (1991). Bully⁄victim problems among schoolchildren: Basic facts and effects of a school based intervention program. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 411–448). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Olweus, D. (1997). Bully ⁄ victim problems in school: Facts and intervention. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 12, 495–510.

Olweus, D. (2012). School bullying: development and some important challenges. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 9, 751-780.

Reijntjes, A., Kamphuis, J. H., Prinzie, P., & Telch, M. (2010). Peer victimization and internalizing problems in children: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Child Abuse & Neglect, 34, 244-252.

Sourander, A., Rönning, J. A., Eloheimo, H., Nimelä, S., Helenius, H., Kumpulainen, K., Piha, J., Tamminen, T., Moilanen, I., & Almqvist, F. (2007). Childhood bullies and victims and their risk of criminality in late adolescence: The Finnish From a Boy to a Man Study. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 161, 546-552.

Ttofi, M. M., Farrington, D. P., Lösel, F., & Loeber, R. (2011a). Do the victims of school bullies tend to become depressed later in life? A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, 3, 63-73.

Ttofi, M. M., Farrington, D. P., Lösel, F., & Loeber, R. (2011b). The predictive efficiency of school bullying versus later offending: A systematic/meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 21, 80-89.

U. S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (2010). Dear colleague letter: Harassment and bullying. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201010.pdf

References