Prevalence of school bullying among secondary students in Taiwan: Measurements with and without a specific definition of bullying

Abstract

Estimates of bullying and bullying victimization rates vary depending on how these rates are measured. The current study used survey methods of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to investigate the prevalence of school bullying among secondary students in Taiwan. We also examined whether results differed between surveys with and without definitions of bullying. Olweus-type global items and the timeframe, response categories, and cut-off point adopted in the WHO’s Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study were used in this study. Surveys were administered to secondary students in Taiwan (grades 7–12), with 3,554 students receiving surveys with a definition of bullying and 793 receiving surveys without a definition of bullying. The following results were obtained: (1) In the survey with bullying defined, the self-reported prevalence rates of bullying, victimization, witness to bullying, and bully/victims were 10.9%, 10.7%, 29.9%, and 5.5% respectively; (2) male students were more involved in school bullying than females; (3) no significant difference in prevalence rates was found between the two survey versions. International bullying prevalence rates, gender differences, and the effects of a bullying definition are discussed.

Keywords

Adolescents definition of bullying gender difference prevalence rate school bullying Taiwan victimization witness

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bond, L., Wolfe, S., Tollit, M., Butler, H., & Patton, G. (2007). A comparison of the Gatehouse Bullying Scale and the Peer Relations Questionnaire for students in secondary school. Journal of School Health, 77, 75–79. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2007.00170.x.

Carlyle

K. E.

Steinman

K. J.

(2007) Demographic differences in the prevalence, co-occurrence, and correlates of adolescent bullying at school. Journal of School Health 77(9): 623–629. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2007.00242.x.

Cassidy

Brown

Jackson

(2012) Under the radar: Educators and cyberbullying in schools. School Psychology International 33: 520–532. doi: 10.1177/0143034312445245.

Chen

L. M.

Liu

K. S.

Cheng

Y. Y.

(2012) Validation of the Perceived School Bullying Severity Scale. Educational Psychology 32: 169–182. doi: 10.1080/01443410.2011.633495.

Cheng

Y. Y.

Chen

L. M.

H. C.

Cheng

C. L.

(2011) Definitions of school bullying in Taiwan: A comparison of multiple perspectives. School Psychology International 32: 227–243. doi: 10.1177/0143034311404130.

Cheng

Y. Y.

Chen

L. M.

Liu

K. S.

Chen

Y. L.

(2011) Development and psychometric evaluation of the school bullying scales: A Rasch measurement approach. Educational and Psychological Measurement 71: 200–216. doi: 10.1177/0013164410387387.

Cohen

(1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral science, New York, NY: Academic Press.

Cook

C. R.

Williams

K. R.

Guerra

N. G.

Kim

(2010) Variability in the prevalence of bullying and victimization: A cross-national and methodological analysis. In: Jimerson

S. R.

Swearer

S. M.

Espelage

D. L.

(eds) Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective, New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 347–362.

Craig

Harel-Fisch

Fogel-Grinvald

Dostaler

Hetland

Simons-Morton

Molcho

Gaspar de Matos

Overpeck

Due

Pickett

(2009) A cross-national profile of bullying and victimisation among adolescents in 40 countries. International Journal of Public Health 54: 216–224. doi: 10.1007/s00038-009-5413-9.

10.

Currie

Gabhainn

S. N.

Godeau

Roberts

Smith

Currie

(2008) Inequalities in young people’s health: HBSC international report from the 2005/2006 survey, Copenhagen, Denmark: WHO Regional Office for EuropeRetrieved from http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/53852/E91416.pdf.

11.

Delfabbro

Winefield

Trainor

Dollard

Anderson

Metzer

Hammarstrom

(2006) Peer and teacher bullying/victimization of South Australian secondary school students: Prevalence and psychosocial profiles. British Journal of Educational Psychology 76: 71–90. doi: 10.1348/000709904X24645.

12.

DeSouza

E. R.

Ribeiro

(2005) Bullying and sexual harassment among Brazilian high school students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 20: 1018–1038. doi: 10.1177/0886260505277731.

13.

Due

Merlo

Harel-Fisch

Trab Damsgaard

Holstein

Hetland

Currie

Nic Gabhainn

Gaspar de Matos

Lynch

(2009) Socioeconomic inequality in exposure to bullying during adolescence: A comparative, cross-sectional, multilevel study in 35 countries. American Journal of Public Health 99: 907–914. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.139303.

14.

Fitzpatrick, K. M., Dulin, A. D., & Pico, B. F. (2007). Not just pushing and shoving: School bullying among African American adolescents. Journal of School Health, 77, 16–22. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2007.00157.x.

15.

Gini

Pozzoli

Borghi

Franzoni

(2008) The role of bystanders in students’ perception of bullying and sense of safety. Journal of School Psychology 46: 617–638. doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2008.02.001.

16.

Guckin, C. M., Cummins, P. K., & Lewis, C. A. (2008). Bully/Victim problems in northern Ireland’s schools: Data from the 2000 “Young Persons‘ Behavior and Attitude Survey.” Individual Differences Research, 6, 280–288.

17.

Hawkins

D. L.

Pepler

D. J.

Craig

W. M.

(2001) Naturalistic observations of peer interventions in bullying. Social Development 10: 512–527. doi: 10.1111/1467-9507.00178.

18.

Hokoda

H. H. A.

Angeles

(2006) School bullying in Taiwanese adolescents. Journal of Emotional Abuse 6(4): 69–90. doi: 10.1300/J135v06n04_04.

19.

Janson

G. R.

Carney

J. V.

Hazler

R. J.

(2009) Bystanders’ reactions to witnessing repetitive abuse experiences. Journal of Counseling and Development 87: 319–326.

20.

Jolliffe

Farrington

D. P.

(2011) Is low empathy related to bullying after controlling for individual and social background variables? Journal of Adolescence 34: 59–71. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.02.001.

21.

Kowalski

R. M.

Morgan

C. A.

Limber

S. P.

(2012) Traditional bullying as a potential warning sign of cyberbullying. School Psychology International 33: 505–519. doi: 10.1177/0143034312445244.

22.

Larochette

A.-C.

Murphy

A. N.

Craig

W. M.

(2010) Racial bullying and victimization in Canadian school-aged children: Individual and school level effects. School Psychology International 31: 389–408. doi: 10.1177/0143034310377150.

23.

Lee

Cornell

(2010) Concurrent validity of the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire. Journal of School Violence 9: 56–73. doi: 10.1080/15388220903185613.

24.

Liang

Flisher

A. J.

Lombard

C. J.

(2007) Bullying, violence, and risk behavior in South African school students. Child Abuse Neglect 31: 161–171. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.08.007.

25.

Marsh

McGee

Nada-Raja

Williams

(2010) Text bullying and traditional bullying among New Zealand secondary school students. Journal of Adolescence 33: 237–240. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.06.001.

26.

Monks

C. P.

Robinson

Worlidge

(2012) The emergence of cyberbullying: A survey of primary school pupils’ perceptions and experiences. School Psychology International 33: 477–491. doi: 10.1177/0143034312445242.

27.

Morita

Soeda

Taki

(1999) Japan. In: Catalano

Junger-Tas

Morita

Olweus

Slee

(eds) The nature of school bullying, London and New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 309–323.

28.

Nordhagen

Nielsen

Stigum

Kohler

(2005) Parental reported bullying among Nordic children: A population-based study. Child: Care, Health, and Development 31: 693–701. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2005.00559.x.

29.

Olweus

(1993) Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do, Oxford: Blackwell.

30.

Olweus, D. (1996). The Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire. Bergen, Norway.

31.

Paul

Smith

P. K.

Blumberg

H. H.

(2012) Revisiting cyberbullying in schools using the quality circle approach. School Psychology International 33: 492–504. doi: 10.1177/0143034312445243.

32.

Peskin, M. F., Tortolero, S. R., & Markham, C. M. (2006). Bullying and victimization among Black and Hispanic adolescents. Adolescence, 41(163), 467–484.

33.

Popović-Ćitić

Djurić

Cvetković

(2011) The prevalence of cyberbullying among adolescents: A case study of middle schools in Serbia. School Psychology International 32: 412–424. doi: 10.1177/0143034311401700.

34.

Sairanen

Pfeffer

(2011) Self-reported handling of bullying among junior high school teachers in Finland. School Psychology International 32: 330–344. doi: 10.1177/0143034311401795.

35.

Sapouna

(2008) Bullying in Greek primary and secondary schools. School Psychology International 29(2): 199–213. doi: 10.1177/0143034308090060.

36.

Scheithauer

Hayer

Petermann

Jugert

(2006) Physical, verbal, and relational forms of bullying among German students: Age trends, gender differences, and correlates. Aggressive Behavior 32: 261–275. doi: 10.1002/ab.20128.

37.

Skrzypiec

Slee

Murray-Harvey

Pereira

(2011) School bullying by one or more ways: Does it matter and how do students cope. School Psychology International 32: 288–311. doi: 10.1177/0143034311402308.

38.

Smith

G. R.

Gross

A. M.

(2006) Bullying: Prevalence and the effect of age and gender. Child and Family Behavior Therapy 28(4): 13–37. doi: 10.1300/J019v28n04_02.

39.

Solberg

M. E.

Olweus

Endresen

I. M.

(2007) Bullies and victims at school: Are they the same pupils? British Journal of Educational Psychology 77: 441–464. doi: 10.1348/000709906X105689.

40.

Solberg

Olweus

(2003) Prevalence estimation of school bullying with the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire. Aggressive Behavior 29: 239–268. doi: 10.1002/ab.10047.

41.

Swearer

S. M.

Siebecker

Johnsen-Frerichs

Wang

(2010) Assessment of bullying/victimization: The problem of comparability across studies and across methodologies. In: Jimerson

S. R.

Swearer

S. M.

Espelage

D. L.

(eds) Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective, New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 305–327.

42.

Totura

C. M. W.

Green

A. E.

Karver

M. S.

Gesten

E. L.

(2009) Multiple informants in the assessment of psychological, behavioral, and academic correlates of bullying and victimization in middle school. Journal of Adolescence 32: 193–211. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.04.005.

43.

Undheim

A. M.

Sund

A. M.

(2010) Prevalence of bullying and aggressive behavior and their relationship to mental health problems among 12- to 15-year-old Norwegian adolescents. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 19: 803–811. doi: 10.1007/s00787-010-0131-7.

44.

Vaillancourt

McDougall

Krygsman

Hymel

Miller

Stiver

Davis

(2008) Bullying: Are researchers and children/youth talking about the same thing? International Journal of Behavioral Development 32: 486–495. doi: 10.1177/0165025408095553.

45.

Von Marées

Petermann

(2010) Bullying in German primary schools: Gender differences, age trends and influence of parents’ migration and educational backgrounds. School Psychology International 31: 178–198. doi: 10.1177/0143034309352416.

46.

Wang

Iannotti

R. J.

Nansel

T. R.

(2009) School bullying among adolescents in the United States: Physical, verbal, relational, and cyber. Journal of Adolescent Health 45(4): 368–375. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.03.021.

47.

Wei

H. S.

Jonson-Reid

Tsao

H.-L.

(2007) Bullying and victimization among Taiwanese 7th graders: A multi-method assessment. School Psychology International 28(4): 479–500. doi: 10.1177/0143034307084137.

48.

Wei

H. S.

Williams

J. H.

Chen

J. K.

Chang

H. Y.

(2010) The effects of individual characteristics, teacher practice, and school organizational factors on students’ bullying: A multilevel analysis of public middle schools. Children and Youth Services Review 32: 137–143. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2009.08.004.

49.

Yilmaz

(2011) Cyberbullying in Turkish middle schools: An exploratory study. School Psychology International 32: 645–654. doi:10.1177/0143034311410262.

50.

Yoon

Bauman

Choi

Hutchinson

A. S.

(2011) How South Korean teachers handle an incident of school bullying. School Psychology International 32: 312–329. doi: 10.1177/0143034311402311.