Dataset Information

Exploration of Experiences and Perpetration of Identity-Based Bullying Among Adolescents by Race/Ethnicity and Other Marginalized Identities.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Race-based discrimination represents an ongoing public health crisis in the US, manifested by wide-ranging disparities in youth health, mental health, and violence exposure. However, studies of racial discrimination often neglect experiences of identity-based bullying (IBB) stemming from other marginalized identities, such as gender identity and sexual orientation.

Objective

To examine associations between experiences of IBB based on race/ethnicity/national origin and other social identities and youth health, mental health, and violence outcomes.

Design, setting, and participants

This cross-sectional study analyzed responses from an anonymous survey conducted at 13 public high schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between October 15, 2018, and October 19, 2018. Participants included in the study were in the 9th through 12th grades. Data were analyzed from October 15, 2020, to February 14, 2021.

Exposures

Experiences of bullying and bullying perpetration based on race/ethnicity/national origin and other social identities (ie, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, physical or mental disability, immigration status, other unspecified reason).

Main outcomes and measures

Youth health (delayed well care; forgone medical care; physical, mental, or emotional limitations), mental health (nonsuicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation), and violence involvement (weapon perpetration or survivorship, fighting, sexual assault, adolescent relationship abuse, experiencing homicide of friend or family member) were assessed using self-reported items modeled on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Results

Among 3939 participants, the mean (SD) age was 15.7 (1.3) years; 1380 students (36.3%) identified as Black/African American, 2086 (53.7%) as assigned female at birth, 1021 (32.6%) as belonging to a sexual minority group, and 313 (10.0%) as gender diverse. Among reported social identities, race/ethnicity-based experiences of bullying (375 students [9.5%]) and bullying perpetration (209 students [5.8%]) were the most common. Youth with multiple stigmatized identities experienced even higher rates of experiences of IBB and IBB perpetration. Specifically, the highest rates of IBB were reported by gender diverse Black and Hispanic youth. Experiencing IBB based on multiple stigmatized identities was associated with all outcomes, including delayed well care (aOR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.20-1.65), forgone medical care (aOR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.44-1.87), nonsuicidal self-injury (aOR, 2.86; 95% CI, 2.53-3.24), suicidal ideation (aOR, 2.49; 95% CI, 2.20-2.83), and greater violence involvement (experiencing violence: aOR, 2.90; 95% CI, 2.45-3.43; homicide survivorship: aOR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.06-1.33).

Conclusions and relevance

These results further encourage the development of youth health, mental health, and violence prevention programs that address experiences of bullying based on multiple marginalized identities.

SUBMITTER: Galan CA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8303093 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Bullying perpetration might be an alternative way of hierarchy formation among adolescents. It can potentially compensate for the negative health influences of low socioeconomic status (SES), rewarding this unwanted behavior. This study aimed to investigate the role of bullying perpetration in the relationship between SES and health among Armenian adolescents. A nationally representative sample of 3679 adolescents aged 11-15 years (mean = 13.1, standard deviation = 1.6) participated in the Health Behavior in School-aged Children 2013/14 survey in Armenia. Complex samples multiple logistic regression were used to estimate the associations between two SES measures (family socioeconomic position [SEP] and material well-being) and three health outcomes (perceived health status, psychosocial well-being, and psychosomatic symptoms). Bullying perpetration was not associated with less than good health or low psychosocial well-being (P > 0.05) but increased the odds of reporting high psychosomatic symptoms (P < 0.05). Perpetration did not change the SES-health gradient substantially. However, in stratified analyses, socioeconomic inequalities in health were consistently weaker among perpetrators. The largest observed difference was in the relationship between low family SEP and less than good health (OR = 3.60, 95% CI = 2.77-4.67 vs. OR = 1.80, 95% CI = 1.06-3.04), whereas the smallest difference was in the relationship between low family SEP and high psychosomatic symptoms (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.03-1.56 vs. OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 0.61-1.77). Our findings suggest that bullying perpetration, as an alternative hierarchy, may be looked at as a compensatory but vicious strategy in the face of the negative health influences of low SES in Armenian adolescents. For high-SES adolescents, on the other hand, social, emotional, or psychological problems might contribute to bullying perpetration. Consequently, bullying prevention activities in Armenia should focus on both low and high-SES adolescents, considering SES-specific pathways and mechanisms.