Short CommunicationIlluminating the relationship between bullying and substance use among middle and high school youth
Highlights
► Bullying and substance use examined among 74,247 middle and high school students. ► Bullying is most prevalent among middle school youth. ► Substance use is most prevalent among high school students. ► Bullies and bully-victims more likely to use cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana. ► Victims and students not involved in bullying less likely to use substances.
Introduction
The media portrayals of violent and aggressive acts committed in schools have gained increasing popularity, forcing school officials to take a closer look at policies in place to address these acts. Researchers studying potential antecedents to acts of violence have identified a link between bullying and school violence (Vossekuil, Reddy, Fein, Borum, & Modzeleski, 2000). As a result of this link, bullying has received increased focus and scrutiny at the state and national level, with several states mandating that schools adopt anti-bullying policies (United States Department of Education, 2008). Researchers have reported that involvement in bullying is a risk factor for social, emotional, and psychological problems (Kumpulainen et al., 2001, Nansel et al., 2001) and aggressive behavior leads to higher risk for peer rejection, dropping out of school, adolescent delinquency, and adult criminality (Grotpeter & Crick, 1996).
Youth who engage in substance use are at risk for similar problem behaviors in adolescence (McGue & Iacono, 2008). Lowry et al. (1999) found that 61 percent of high school students used at least one substance (alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana) and that engagement in school aggression and violence increased with the number of substances used. Substance use not only presents immediate health risks and can have a negative impact on social competence, but it also increases the risk for problems that may be more long-lasting (Fergusson et al., 2002, McGue and Iacono, 2008). The link between substance use and aggressive behavior has been examined for many years, and research has been consistent. In the late 1980s, problem-behavior theory was used to suggest that engagement in aggressive behaviors likely reflected a broad orientation toward antisocial behavior (Jessor, 1987). More recently, Carlyle and Steinman (2007) noted that the co-occurrence of aggressive behavior and substance use likely reflect an adolescent's attempt to cope with victimization and peer rejection.
The limited research examining bullying and substance use has revealed a link between involvement in bullying and substance use (Carlyle and Steinman, 2007, Kaltiala-Heino et al., 2000, Nansel et al., 2004, Nansel et al., 2001, Tharp-Taylor et al., 2009). Across studies bullies and bully-victims, report the highest levels of substance use (Carlyle and Steinman, 2007, Kaltiala-Heino et al., 2000, Nansel et al., 2004, Nansel et al., 2001). The research is somewhat inconsistent with regard to substance use among victims. Some researchers indicate that victims are more likely to engage in substance use compared to their noninvolved peers (Carlyle and Steinman, 2007, Nansel et al., 2001, Tharp-Taylor et al., 2009); while others suggest it depends on the substance (Kaltiala-Heino et al., 2000).
Despite the increased focus on bullying over the last few decades, there is still room to expand our understanding of the relationship between bullying and substance use. It is crucial that we continue to examine bullying and associated factors that might either result from or contribute to negative effects. It is also important that we more fully understand any differences across middle and high school. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to examine the relation between bullying and substance by school level.
Section snippets
Participants
All sixth through twelfth graders attending schools in the Safe and Drug Free Consortium of a large Midwestern (USA) county could take the Primary Prevention Awareness, Attitude, and Use Survey (Educational Council, Safe & Drug Free Schools Consortium of Franklin County [Ohio], 2006; PPAAUS) during the Autumn of 2006. The Consortium consisted of 16 public school districts, 5 private schools, the Catholic Diocese, and a countywide school open to students from any of the public school districts.
Results
Of the 78,333 useable surveys, 49.5% (37,985) of the students were male. Gender was almost evenly divided in middle school (17,768 males and 17,775 females), but the high schools had slightly more females (51%, 20,761) than males (49%, 19,953). The majority of the students in were of European descent (57.7%, 19,526 in middle school and 61.1%, 25,100 in high school). Nineteen percent of the middle school students were African American (6784) and 26.3% (9395) were of other or multiple ancestry.
Discussion
Consistent with previous literature, involvement in bullying was most prevalent in middle school (Nansel et al., 2001), while substance use was most prevalent in high school (Johnston et al., 2009). A larger proportion of bullies and bully-victims used cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana compared to victims and noninvolved students. This is consistent with prior research (Carlyle and Steinman, 2007, Kaltiala-Heino et al., 2000, Nansel et al., 2004, Nansel et al., 2001). Percentages only tell
Conclusion
Youth involved in bullying were more likely to report using substances; bullies and bully-victims reported the highest levels of use. Longitudinal studies on bullying might assess other risky behaviors and their impact on school performance. Future research should assess the effects of engagement in both bullying and substance use. Bullying is still far too frequent and that a significant number of bullies and bully-victims report high levels of substance use. Any efforts that we as
Role of funding sources
The survey used in this study was created by the Educational Council, Safe and Drug Free Schools Consortium of Franklin County to be administered to middle and high school students every three years. The survey was administered as a routine method of assessing substance use and other issues addressed by middle and high school youth. The authors were given permission to use the survey data to develop this study and the Internal Review Board (IRB) of The Ohio State University determined that this
Contributors
Authors Radliff and Wheaton developed the study, discussed data interpretation, and wrote the method and discussion sections. Author Radliff contributed to the introduction, the literature review, and the discussion. Author Wheaton conducted and wrote up the statistical analyses, results, and contributed to the discussion. Authors Robinson and Morris conducted literature searchers, provided summaries of previous research studies, and contributed to the development of the introduction.
Conflict of interest
All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
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The Ohio State University, PAES Bldg, Rm A334, 305 West 17th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1224.
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Present address: Genoa Middle School, Westerville City Schools, 5948 S Old 3c Hwy, Westerville, OH 43082.
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Present address: Riverside Elementary School, Dublin City Schools, 3260 Riverside Green Drive, Dublin, OH 43017.