Bullies, Victims, and Bully/Victims:

TLDR

Bullying and victimization are widespread problems in adolescent peer relationships. Middle‑school students (N = 4,263) in a Maryland school district completed surveys on a range of problem behaviors and psychosocial variables. Among these students, 30.9 % reported repeated victimization, 7.4 % reported repeated bullying, more than half of bullies also reported victimization, bully/victims scored worse on psychosocial and behavioral measures, and a discriminant function analysis identified predictors that distinctly separate never‑bullied/victimized, victim, bully, and bully/victim groups.

Abstract

Bullying and victimization are prevalent problems in the area of adolescent peer relationships. Middle school students (N = 4,263) in one Maryland school district completed surveys covering a range of problem behaviors and psychosocial variables. Overall,30.9% of the students reported being victimized three or more times in the past year and 7.4% reported bullying three or more times over the past year. More than one half of the bullies also reported being victimized. Those bully/victims were found to score less favorably than either bullies or victims on all the measured psychosocial and behavioral variables. Results of a discriminant function analysis demonstrated that a group of psychosocial and behavioral predictors—including problem behaviors, attitudes toward deviance, peer influences, depressive symptoms, school-related functioning, and parenting—formed a linear separation between the comparison group (never bullied or victimized), the victim group, the bully group, and the bully/victim group.