A prospective study on the relationship between bullying behavior and difficulties in psychological adjustment

A number of studies have shown that involvement in bullying behavior is associated with substantial adverse effects on psychological health, but it is not unclear which come first, involvement in bullying behavior or psychological symptoms. The aim of this study was to investigate whether involvement in bullying behavior (as bullies, victims and bully/victims) precedes psychological symptoms or whether these symptoms precede involvement in bullying behavior. The study uses longitudinal data from 536 children aged 11 to 15 years, who completed School Relationship Questionnaire and Youth Self-Report on both occasions of data collection. The baseline measurements were taken in the fall of 2008 and follow-up measurements in the spring of 2009 in elementary schools in the Siroki Brijeg municipalities. The results show that children involved in bullying behavior had a significantly higher risk for development of psychological difficulties like anxiety and depression (OR=5.93 ; P=0.002), withdrawn (OR=3.67 ; P=0.010), somatic problems (OR=3.59 ; P=0.025), social problems (OR=4.34 ; P=0.008), thoughts problems (OR=3.11 ; P=0.028), attention problems (OR=5.29 ; P=0.009), and delinquent behaviors (OR=5.43 ; P=0.001) compared with children who were not involved in bullying behavior. Difficulties in psychological adjustment at the beginning of the year do not represent a risk factor for involvement in bullying during the year. Obtained results indicate that involvement in bullying behavior causes an increase in difficulties in psychological adjustment. For the psychologist and health practitioners, these findings stress the importance of establishing whether bullying plays a contributing role when a child exhibits such symptoms.