International Bullying — A Worldwide Pandemic
By: Susan Rashid
Tags: Childrens Health, Adolescence, Mental Health, Bullying, Victimization

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Being a native of Minneapolis, MN and this being the epicenter where the horrific violent act of police brutality has unfortunately taken place, it has certainly brought to light the complexities of human relationships and morality of society. People from all over the world are enraged with the inequities that are present in the education, health care, and judicial systems, and rightfully so. Transformation and changes in public policy must take place for the world to take a different direction if we are to have a better future. In order for effective public policy to take place, the question is truly delineating the root of the problem. Where did all these problems stem from? What kind of behaviors would propel the results that we see today? What gives someone the right to be so brutal with someone’s life? What gives someone the right to be so arrogant with regards to the various inequities that are seen in the world? Why are various sectors of the nations and world’s populations victimized? Why are various sectors of the nations and world’s populations vulnerable to a bullying environment? Is bullying a behavior that was learned from childhood and this carries onto adulthood? Is this where workplace bullying stems from that many adults face where they faced childhood experiences of either being victimized or displaying bullying behaviors? Is victimization an adapted response that minority children and adolescents are forced to accept and this carries onto adulthood when they are in the workforce? Should we look at the environmental exposures of our children to address where bullying behaviors stems from? Is this due to the social determinants of health that results in these behaviors that are learned in childhood and carried into adulthood?

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With a fervent heart, I set out to read the latest literature on childhood and adolescent social environments that promote bullying and victimization behaviors to take place. An article that had caught my attention was a recent study from JAMA Pediatrics called Association Of Early-Life Exposure To Income Inequality With Bullying In Adolescence In 40 Countries. With the onset of antibullying efforts being placed in various school health policies, this journal article focuses on the link between bullying and the role that income inequality plays with regards to bullying. The role early childhood exposure has with exposure to negative consequences of inequality may reinforce the belief that social interactions are ruled by power and domination. Negative consequences of inequality can include exposure to violence, crime, child maltreatment, limited access to health care services, nutritious food, and household income. These early life stressors also increase the risk of mental health problems which can further increase the risk of bullying or becoming a target of bullying. The journal article’s goal was to determine whether early-life (during infancy and early childhood) income inequality is associated with later (adolescent) involvement or experiences of bullying others, experiences of being bullied, or both and this was conducted by performing an international survey of adolescents in 40 countries within a 35 year time span.

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This research is important in the field of many disciplines of public health. Violence prevention is a core component that is placed into the health education curriculums in most of the schools within the USA as well as one of primary care physician’s responsibilities in educating their patients about. By illuminating national and international views for adolescents effected by bullying due to income inequality, this research data can provide a powerful tool for psychologists, mental health experts, physicians, health care providers, public health officials, school teachers, and policy makers to address the core issues of where bullying and victimization stems from and create policies that promotes learning healthy, respectful social interactions in childhood that remains into adulthood as learned behavior.

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Bullying can be defined as a repetitive behavior that portrays unwanted and aggression acts with the purpose to illicit emotions of discomfort, intention of harm, and intimidation of someone who is less powerful than them. The aggressive behavior can be performed in a direct fashion (e.g., physical assaults, verbal abuse, sexual intimidation) or relational style (e.g., social exclusion, spreading of rumors).

The sample size included 11-year-old, 13-year-old, and 15-year-old students who were surveyed in 6 quadrennial cycles of the Health Behavior In School-Aged Children (HBSC) study performed between February 1994 and March 2014. The number of countries survey involved a cycle that ranged from 19 in 1994 to 34 in 2014. The sample consisted mainly high-income countries within North America and Europe and included 425,938 males and 448,265 females and 29,196 schools. The HBSC study had used a 2-stage sampling to recruit students within a stratified sample of schools that represented the regional, economic, and public-private distribution in each country. Teachers or trained interviewers had distributed standardized questionnaires in classroom settings. Student participation was voluntary. In 1994–1998 survey, the survey questions were: “How often have you been bullied at school this term?” and “How often have you taken part in bullying students at school this term?” Answers were not coded as once a week, twice a week, and so forth. In 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 surveys, the questions were revised to “the past couple of months.” The research study also incorporated a third, combined variable, in order to represent a dual involvement in bullying others and being bullied, in essence being a perpetrator in bullying and experiencing the victimization of bullying. The socioeconomic position of the adolescent’s home was also assessed at the individual level. The survey in 1994 contained 2 items: “Does your family own a car, van, or truck?” and “Do you have your own bedroom for yourself?” These were yes or no answers. In 1998, the survey added, “During the past 12 months, how many times did you travel away on holiday with your family?” for which the answers could be not all, once, or twice or more. In 2002, the survey added “How many computers does your family own?” with answers such as none, one, or two or more. And in 2014, another question was added “At home, do you have a dishwasher?” for which the answers could be no and yes. Country wealth and income inequality variable was also addressed where the research study utilized the standardized world income inequality database in order to provide annual data on post taxation income inequality. The research study utilized estimated Gini indices that have a theoretical range of 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality). The exposure in the study were the National Gini indices of income inequality for every year of life spanning a 35-year period (1979 to 2014). Data analysis occurred from March 2018 to January 2019.

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The results with the tabulated data had shown a positive association of being bullied and lifetime income inequality in both sex-specific groups. The results had shown that inequality from birth to age 4 years was associated with a higher rate of being bullied in boys and girls. Income inequality from ages 5 to 9 years was associated with being bullied in girls only. Income inequality did not show a strong association with bullying others. The study had found that income inequality was not associated with bullying others in boys and was negatively associated with bullying others in girls. The research study had also found that younger adolescents were bullied more and experienced more combined bullying and being bullied whereas older adolescents had bullied others more. Higher national wealth was associated with being bullied and bullying others. The results also indicated that income inequality in the first 4 years of life was uniquely associated with being bullied and the combined outcome of bullying and being bullied in adolescence in both boys and girls.

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Overall, the research findings show a relationship between income inequality and violence and supported the hypothesis that early-life income inequality influences developmental trajectories in ways that are associated with later involvements as bullying targets. This is the first piece of evidence that shows with statistical power with data from 40 countries the association of early-life inequality and adolescent bullying. The research discussion had related that most of the consequential exposures resulting in the bullying behavior was largely mediated by familial factors and not school factors. This is of course speculated on what mechanisms are involved in these behavioral patterns and due to the early childhood involvement with income inequality exposure, it is suggested that parent-child attachment styles, maternal mental health, maternal care, or child neglect and maltreatment play a role. This suggest that adolescents who grew up in environments where there was greater inequality had ended up experience poorer health care and more adversity and stress early in life long before the awareness of social class had taken place. The research results also indicate that the association between income inequality and being bullied is established before the age of 5 years.

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The research study does recommend that schools can participate in a positive fashion in regard to mitigating the bullying behavior through violence prevention and health promotion, however, it is suggested that these health education policies be implemented at a much younger age in school. The research study suggested that children who live in areas of high-income inequality should be a focus of bullying prevention efforts, beginning in preschool and primary school. This data has implications for violence prevention in health education curriculum in school health and further public health research.

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The strengths of this study included that there was a large sample size, 35 years of panel data, and a multilevel analysis of between country and within country effects. The limitations of the study include that it did not include data on social processes at the individual level or school level that might also explain the association between inequality and bullying. Another limitation includes that nationality and age to determine inequality exposures did not take into account for those who migrated within or between countries or regional differences in wealth and inequality. Another limitation includes the self-report assessments of bullying were not differentiated in the types of bullying experience (e.g., physical, sexual, cyber, text message).

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This study finds that being bullied in adolescence is associated with early-life exposure to income inequality, which might be a steppingstone of psychological stress and adversity that can alter important developmental processes in infancy and early childhood resulting in the social determinants of youth violence that is experienced. The study was able to affiliate income inequality as being a risk factor for later violence. The study encourages that larger research studies and surveillance efforts would be needed in order to understand the psychosocial and physiological mechanisms that cause children who grow up in environments with income disparities to develop greater risk for bullying behavior. This study impacts pediatric and adolescent health as well as adult health tremendously in that the root causes of bullying behavior and its multifaceted relationships are illustrated in this study and one of the risk factors of early exposure to income disparities in childhood has been identified.

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The lasting impact of the COVID 19 pandemic is an experience that is changing all aspects of life on a global scale. Prior to COVID 19 pandemic, bullying and victimization has been an international pandemic affecting the social, emotional, and mental health of children and adults from all parts of the world. As the economy and schools start reopening, the question we should all ask ourselves is what lessons have we learned as a collective society with what the world has witnessed from Minneapolis, Minnesota? Will we be inspired to transform our school policies in our young children in addressing bullying and victimization behaviors? Will we be inspired to transform our workplace policies in addressing bullying and victimization behaviors? Will we have more compassion and understanding of one another especially during these uncertain, tense times? Will we be able to eliminate the traumatic elements of bullying and victimization behaviors? Will we be better in identifying the behaviors of bullying and victimization among our young children, adolescents, and adults and quickly curb this behavior? Will we finally be able to hold accountability for bullying behavior? The world is changing and adapting to new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new insight with how our children, our adolescents, our adults, and our elderly can collaborate together in a place of harmony as we strive towards diminishing the various inequalities of life for a brighter future.

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References

Elgar FJ, Gariepy G, Dirks M, et al. Association of Early-Life Exposure to Income Inequality With Bullying in Adolescence in 40 Countries. JAMA Pediatrics. 2019;173(7):e191181. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.1181. https://jamanetwork-com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle. Accessed 26 May 2020.