Risk and Protective Factors in the School Adjustment of Socially Bullied Secondary Students

Ahn, Joung Sook; Shin, Seung Woo

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Although verbal and social bullying is more common than physical school violence among secondary students, it's harmful influences have been underestimated. It is essential to investigate the risk factors of clinically referred bullied children with school maladjustment and psychiatric symptoms and the protective factors of the non-referred resilient children despite of being bullied for developing the anti-bullying program.
METHODS
The questionnaire asking frequency and severity of being bullied socially, Kovacs Children's Depression Scale, and Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale were administered to 128 secondary students in Wonju and 65 secondary students referred for their school maladjustment to psychiatric outpatient clinic. Fifty-five students (boys: 19, girls: 36) of bullied non-clinical group and 42 students(boys: 21, girls: 21) of bullied clinical group were compared with their scores of being bullied, depression and self-concept, and the gender difference in those comparisons was studied.
RESULTS
More negative self-concept and poorer relationship with family were noticed in the clinical group, despite of no difference in being-bullied score and depression score between the two. Five subscales of the self-concept, behavior, academic status, appearance, popularity and happiness were more negative in clinical group, but not with anxiety subscale. With coping strategy, there was no difference. Multiple regression analysis showed that depression score was accountable by negative self-concept only in the clinical group, and by appearance and anxiety in non-clinical group. And gender differences were not found in those all variables.
CONCLUSION
It is suggested that the risk factor for school maladjustment occurred after being bullied socially is the negative self-concept, and the protective factor for resilient children is the supportive relationship within family.