An Association Between Bullying Behaviors and Alcohol Use Among Middle School Students

Although a high prevalence of bullying behaviors among adolescents has been documented, little is known about the association between bullying behaviors and alcohol use among perpetrators or victims. This study used data from a representative two-stage cluster random sample of 44, 532 middle school...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of early adolescence 2012-12, Vol.32 (6), p.761-775
Main Authors: Peleg-Oren, Neta, Cardenas, Gabriel A., Comerford, Mary, Galea, Sandro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Alcohol use
Bullying
Correlation
Correlation analysis
Drinking
Florida
Incidence
Middle School Students
Prevention
Teenagers
Victims
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Summary:Although a high prevalence of bullying behaviors among adolescents has been documented, little is known about the association between bullying behaviors and alcohol use among perpetrators or victims. This study used data from a representative two-stage cluster random sample of 44, 532 middle school adolescents in Florida. We found a high prevalence of bullying behaviors (30% physical, 52% verbal, 12% cyber). A higher proportion of students (21%) who were involved in any type of bullying behavior used alcohol than students who were not involved (13%). Students involved in bullying behaviors as perpetrators or victims were significantly more likely to have used alcohol in the past-30-days than students who were not involved in bullying. Results suggest that bullying behaviors may be associated with alcohol use and that early evaluation of bullying behavior may be important as part of alcohol-use prevention programs among young adolescents.
ISSN:0272-4316
1552-5449
DOI:10.1177/0272431610387144