A Meta-Analytical Review of Gender-Based School Bullying in Spain

School bullying continues to be one of the main challenges for the education community. Current research indicates that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, and other LGBT+ people suffer the highest rates of bullying, while other studies suggest that this bullying does not occur based on the victim’s actual sexual orientation or gender identity, but because they do not fit into the traditional gender roles. The aim of the present study was to carry out a meta-analytical study on the prevalence of gender-based bullying against LGBT+ schoolchildren and adolescents in Spain. Methods: The review was carried out following the recommendations of the PRISMA group and allowing us to identify a total of 24 studies. All of these studies were published since 2008, and most of them conducted cross-sectional survey-type research. It was also found that the instrument used to assess bullying varied greatly among studies, resulting in an enormous heterogeneity of research on this topic. Different meta-analyses were carried out according to the profile of involvement in bullying: victimisation, perpetration, and observation. In addition, three target populations were detected in the victimisation research: the general population, pre-identified bullying victims reporting the reasons behind the victimisation, and LGBT+ people. Results: The meta-analyses conducted with R have estimated the prevalence of observation of gender-based school bullying in Spain at 77.3%, perpetration at 13.3%, and victimisation at 8.6% among the general population. When the research focuses on previously identified victims, the rate was 3.6%, while if LGBT+ people are approached directly, the percentage increases to 51%. Conclusions: These rates reveal the need to develop specific preventive strategies in schools. Greater awareness of affective-sexual diversity and respect for those who do not conform to traditional gender roles should be promoted.

Social Media and Cyber-Bullying in Autistic Adults

Social media can lead to rejection, cyber-bullying victimisation, and cyber-aggression, and these experiences are not fully understood as experienced by autistic adults. To investigate this, 78 autistic adults completed self-report measures of social media use, cyber-bullying victimisation, cyber-aggression, and self-esteem. High levels of social media use were found to be associated with an increased risk of cyber-victimisation; whereas self-esteem was positively correlated with feelings of belonging to an online community and negatively correlated with feelings of being ignored on social network sites and chat rooms. Future studies are needed to further investigate the experience of cyber-bullying victimisation of autistic adults.

Promoting Junior School Students’ Anti-bullying Beliefs with the CATZ Cross-age Teaching Zone Intervention

In tackling the widespread problem of bullying victimisation, researchers have acknowledged the value of focusing on changing bullying-related beliefs and using peer-based interventions. In three studies (N = 419, 237 intervention and 182 controls), we tested the effectiveness of the CATZ cross-age teaching programme by inviting small groups of 11-year-olds to incorporate information supporting positive beliefs (concerning non-physical forms of bullying, the value of disclosing being bullied to adults, and helping victims) into a lesson they devised for themselves and to deliver that to small groups of 9-year-olds. Specifically, we examined if the intervention would promote that (i) non-physical forms of bullying are unacceptable (study 1), (ii) disclosing bullying to adults and getting the right kind of help have value and importance (study 2), and (iii) victims can be assisted in safe ways (study 3). Self-reports of nine specific aspects of these beliefs were collected from CATZ tutors and age-matched controls prior to and following the intervention, and at five-week follow-up in one study, using both open and closed questions. Results indicated significant positive effects of CATZ on all nine outcome variables, with mostly medium and high effect sizes. These findings support the use of CATZ to foster positive anti-bullying beliefs, and issues related to its wider uptake are discussed.

Behaviours involved in the role of victim and aggressor in bullying: Relationship with physical fitness in adolescents

Physical fitness is related to well-being and health. Adolescence is a key period in the psychological and social development of the person, in which interpersonal relationships gain strength, being bullying a type of violence that can affect the personality of those involved. At present, there is not enough research to determine the relationships between bullying and physical condition. The purpose of this study is to find out if there are any relationships among physical fitness, victimisation, and aggression in bullying, and to identify these behaviours. This is a descriptive study done in 1035 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years (M = 14.67, SD = 1.49). The European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (EBIPQ) scale was used, and anthropometric characteristics of weight and height were measured. In addition, physical fitness tests from the Eurofit battery, sit-and-reach, 30-second sit-ups, horizontal jump, manual dynamometry, and 20-meter Multistage Shuttle Run Test (SRT) were included. The relationships between variables were analysed using Spearman correlations, linear regressions, and ordinal regressions. The most relevant findings indicate an inverse relationship between being a victim of bullying and having a better cardiorespiratory cardiovascular endurance. These also show a direct relationship between being a bully and skeletal muscle strength measured through the horizontal jump, 30-second sit-ups, and manual dynamometry tests. Theoretically, we can conclude that physical condition can be considered a predictor to consider in bullying. Specifically, cardiorespiratory fitness, in addition to its multiple physical and mental benefits, may be a protective element against bullying victimisation. In contrast, muscular strength, especially in boys, may be an important predictor, especially in the physical component, of aggression in bullying.

Bullying in Five European Countries: Evidence for Bringing Gendered Phenomena Under the Umbrella of ‘Sexual Bullying’ in Research and Practice

Sexual bullying refers to bullying or harassment that is sexualised, related to sexuality, and/or related to gender expression (Duncan, 1999). Research on sexual bullying is disparate and still developing as a field. This study extends on this research through a mixed-methods analysis of the different forms of sexual bullying and the relationships between them across five European nations. Participants were 253 young people (aged 13–18) from Bulgaria, England, Italy, Latvia and Slovenia. As part of focus groups on sexual bullying, participants individually and anonymously completed a Sexual Bullying Questionnaire (SBQ), comprising closed- and open-ended questions about their experiences of victimisation and bullying their peers. Factor analysis identified five forms of sexual bullying victimisation and two forms of sexual bullying towards peers. The quantitative and qualitative findings indicated that bullying or harassment that is sexualised, related to sexuality, and/or related to gender expression are associated with each other. Further, sexual bullying was found to be common to all five European countries indicating that it is a cross-national issue. The associations between sexualised, sexuality and gender expression bullying or harassment support the use of the term sexual bullying to unite these forms of peer victimisation in research and practice. Further, all countries studied require initiatives to address sexual bullying, and the gender and sexual norms that may contribute to it, with tailoring to the country context.

Cyberbullying Victimization: Hope for Life among Victimized University Graduates

This research study is focused on cyber-bullying victimisation, as well as the hope of the victimized graduates to live their lives fearlessly. For this purpose, university victimised graduates were interviewed using the snowball sampling technique. The results of the study are alarming in terms of their nature and intensity –the victimized graduates were blackmailed and thinking of suicide, they were socially stigmatized, they sacrificed their lives and some surrendered or compromised with what the bully said to do. They isolated themselves and alike. The study suggested that students should avoid sharing their personal information via social networking sites with those people who are not known to them. The study also suggested that parents should keep an eye on social media accounts as well as ICTs’ devices of their children. Also, educational intuitions should organize awareness seminars to make students aware of cyber-bullying and how to escape from being victimized.