J Korean Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.  2012 Mar;23(1):23-30.

Victims of Bullying among Korean Adolescents: Prevalence and Association with Psychopathology Evaluated Using the Adolescent Mental Health and Problem Behavior Screening Questionnaire-II Standardization Study Data

• Bhang SY
• Yoo HK
• Kim JH
• Kim B
• Lee YS
• Ahn D
• Suh DS
• Cho SC
• Hwang JW
• Bahn GH

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of victims of bullying and the demographic characteristics of victims, and their related psychopathology, in a Korean nationwide sample of youths in middle and high school over a one month period.
METHODS
During the autumn of 2009, students in the 7th to 12th grades at 23 secondary schools participated in a nationwide, cross-sectional study. The study subjects completed the Adolescent Mental Health and Problem Behavior Screening Questionnaire- II (AMPQ-II) and Symptom Checklist-90-Revision (SCL-90-R). Based on the data acquired, descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed.
RESULTS
Among the 3364 participants, 2272 (67.54%) completed the questionnaire. The prevalence of victimization was 28.9%. Male gender was positively associated with victimization, and grade level was negatively related to victimization. The AMPQ-II bullying score (Factor 4) was significantly (p<.001) and positively correlated to the AMPQ-II student total score (r= 0.50), Worry and thought (Factor 1 ; r=0.38), Mood and suicide (Factor 2 ; r=0.31), Academic and Internet-related problems (Factor 3 ; r=0.24), Rule violations (Factor 5 ; r=0.23), and AMPQ-II teacher total score (r=0.11). Somatization (r=0.23), Obsessive-compulsive behavior (r=0.24), Interpersonal sensitivity (r=0.30), Depression (r=0.33), Anxiety (r=0.26), Hostility (r=0.30), Phobic anxiety (r=0.22), Paranoid ideation (r=0.36), and Psychoticism (r=0.31) results from the SCL-90-R were also found to be positively related to the AMPQ-II bullying score, and remained significant after adjusting for age and gender. A total of 26% of the victims reported suicidal ideations as compared to 9% of non-victims over the month prior to the evaluation (chi2=119.595, df=1, p<.001). The multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that the AMPQ-II bullying score significantly increased the risk of suicidal ideation [Exp(b)=1.55, df=1, p<.001] after adjusting for age and gender.
CONCLUSION
School bullying was highly prevalent among Korean middle and high school students. This study provided strong evidence that suicidal ideation and psychopathology were serious problems among the victims of bullying.

Keyword

Bullying; Prevalence; Suicide; Adolescent

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Anxiety
Bullying
Crime Victims
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression
Hostility
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Mass Screening
Mental Health
Prevalence
Psychopathology
Suicidal Ideation
Suicide
Surveys and Questionnaires