Victims and bully-victims but not bullies are groups associated with anxiety symptomatology among Brazilian children and adolescents

Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2013 Oct;22(10):641-8. doi: 10.1007/s00787-013-0412-z. Epub 2013 Apr 4.

Abstract

School bullying is frequent and is associated with a broad spectrum of psychiatric problems. The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of bullying behaviors in a large sample of Brazilian children and adolescents and to investigate the association between bullying behaviors and DSM-IV anxiety symptomatology. This cross-sectional study involved completion of a questionnaire about bullying behaviors and their frequency and the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) that is a self-report screening tool for childhood anxiety disorders by 2,355 students. A total of 22.9 % of the sample reported frequent involvement in bullying, as a bully (7.6 %), as a victim (5.7 %), or as a bully-victim (9.6 %). In general, our findings showed that students involved in bullying behaviors, as victims or bully-victims, were more likely to have higher scores in SCARED total and its subscales than bullies and than uninvolved students. The prevalence of bullying behaviors among Brazilian youth is about average when compared with previous samples described in the literature. Victims and bully-victims, but no bullies, are groups associated with higher anxiety symptomatology.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Age Distribution
  • Anxiety / epidemiology
  • Anxiety / psychology*
  • Brazil / epidemiology
  • Bullying / psychology*
  • Child
  • Child Behavior Disorders / epidemiology
  • Child Behavior Disorders / psychology*
  • Crime Victims / psychology*
  • Crime Victims / statistics & numerical data
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Prevalence
  • Sex Distribution
  • Students / psychology*
  • Students / statistics & numerical data
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Urban Population