Bullying among Adolescents: Levels of Victimization and Impact Assessment

Abstract

Introduction: Peer bullying is the prevailing problem among school going students leading to physical, mental and social impact. The study aimed to assess the level of bullying and victimization and its associated factors among adolescents.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 242 adolescent students of grade 8 and 9 in two randomly selected schools of Madhyapur Municipality of Bhaktapur district, Nepal. Data was collected using self-administered structured questionnaire through complete enumeration method. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage and mean) and inferential statistics (chi-square test and Pearson’s correlation test).
Results: The findings of the study revealed that 82.2% of the adolescents were involved in mild bullying and 1.7% was involved in moderate bullying. Also, 85.1% of the respondents were victim of mild bullying, 4.5% were victim of moderate and 2.1% were victim of severe bullying. There was significant association of level of bullying with school grade and bullying victimization was significantly associated with academic performance of the respondents. Moreover, there was weak positive correlation between bullying and victimization (r = 0.189, p = 0.003).
Conclusions: The findings revealed that victimization increases when bullying increases among adolescents. Hence, bullying should be reduced so as to reduce victimization. School authorities should focus on no bullying counseling classes to students. Further concerned authorities should also formulate rules regarding bullying for better school environment and peer relationship.