This study aimed to examine whether early adolescent bully-victims (those who both bully others and are bullied) perceive school environment (school climate, school discipline practices) more negatively and demonstrate poorer social-emotional functions(SEFs) (social withdrawal and isolation, peer support, depression, social anxiety, loneliness, well-being) compared to uninvolved, pure bully and pure victim groups. A self-report survey was administered to 715 fifth and sixth-grade students. Following Sekol and Farrington(2010)’s framework, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and binary logistic regression were conducted to assess quantitative and qualitative differences between bully-victims and other groups. Results indicated that bully-victims reported significantly more negative outcomes than the uninvolved group across all school environment perception variables and most SEFs indicators, while their levels were generally similar to pure victims. Quantitative differences were found in social isolation, loneliness, social anxiety, and emotional well-being, where bully-victims showed more maladaptive outcomes than pure bullies. A qualitative difference was observed in peer support, in which bully-victims demonstrated less maladaptive outcomes than victims but more maladaptive outcomes than bullies. Additionally, logistic regression revealed qualitative differences indicating that social isolation and punitive school discipline practices uniquely predicted bully-victim group. These findings demonstrate that early adolescent bully-victims constitute a distinct group with unique characteristics compared to pure bullies and victims. Implications for early intervention and prevention strategies along with limitations and future research were discussed.

Authors:
Donghyung Lee, Pusan National University, South Korea
InHye Beak, Pusan National University, South Korea

About the Presenter(s)
InHye Beak is a Ph.D. student in Educational and Counseling Psychology at Pusan National University. Her research focuses on school violence and bullying, examining the unique characteristics of bully–victim groups in early adolescence.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Sunday Schedule

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