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Bullying in elementary school, high school, and college
Mark S. ChapellResearch on bullying began in Europe in the 1970s, led by Dan Olweus (1978), who continues to be the foremost international authority on bullying. To date, almost all research on bullying done internationally and in the United States has focused on bullying in elementary school, middle school, and high school. A review of this research shows that bullying and victimization is most common in elementary school and becomes progressively less common by the end of high school (Nansel et al., 2001; Smith et al., 1999), with rates of bullied students decreasing from 14% of American 6th graders to only 2% of the 12th graders (Devoe et al., 2004).
Chapell et al. (2004) explored bullying in college in a sample of 1,025 undergraduates, and found that bullying is common in college graduates from high school to college, with 18.5% of undergraduates reporting having been bullied by a student once or twice, 5% having been bullied by students occasionally, and 1.1% very frequently. This finding is consistent with the growing empirical literature that has shown that adults bully adults in the workplace in the United States and other countries (Cooper, Einarsen, Hoel, & Zapf, 2003; Glendenning, 2001; Vega & Comer, 2005), including bullying of faculty in the academic workplace (Craft, 2002; Halbur, 2005; Lewis, 2004; Nelson & Lambert, 2001; Simpson & Cohen, 2004; Westhues, 2005, 2006).
One important area of bullying research that has not been well investigated is the stability of being a bully or being bullied from elementary school onward, and the primary purpose of the present study is to investigate the continuity of bullying and victimization from elementary school through high school and college. Sourander, Helstela, Helenius, and Piha (2000) conducted an 8-year longitudinal study tracking bullying and victimization in Finnish students from ages 8 to 16, and found that bullying at age 8 was associated with bullying at age 16, and being bullied at age 8 was associated with being bullied at 16. Schafer, Korn, Brodbeck, Wolke, and Schulz (2005) conducted a 6-year longitudinal study following German 2nd-3rd graders through 7th-8th grade, and found that bullying in elementary school but not victimization was likely to be continued at the later age. Olweus (1993) conducted a followup at age 23 of a longitudinal study with a small number of students who had been bullied between grades 6 and 9, and reported that, "The first important result to report is a lack of relationship between indicators of victimization in school and data on both direct and indirect harassment in young adulthood" (p. 330).
Schafer et al. (2004) conducted a retrospective study of 884 Spanish, British, and German adults, and found that 248 had been bullied at school; and of these, 71 had been victimized in both primary and secondary school. Smith, Singer, Hoel, and Cooper (2003) conducted a retrospective study in which 5,288 British working adults reported whether they had been bullied in school and whether they were being bullied at their jobs, and found a positive relationship between having been bullied in school and being bullied in the adult workplace. Those who had been both bullies and Victims in school were even more likely to be bullied as adults at work.
The second focus of the current study is to compare sex differences in the frequency of being bullies, victims, and bully-victims in elementary school, high school, and college. American male students have been found to bully and be bullied more than female students in elementary school and high school (Nansel et al., 2001; Seals & Young, 2003) and males were found to have consistently been bullied more than females in many national American studies (DeVoe et al., 2003, 2005). Chapell et al. (2004) found that American male college students bullied more than female students, but were equally victimized. Juvonen, Graham, and Schuster (2003) reported that in their sample of 1,985 American 6th graders, boys were over three times more likely to be classified as bully-victims than were girls, and Brockenbrough, Cornell, and Loper (2002) found that in their sample of 8,273 American middle school and high school students, males were six times more likely to be bully-victims than were female students.
This study also investigates sex differences in the types of bullying used by bullies and experienced by victims in elementary school, high school, and college. According to Olweus (1999), there are two main types of bullying: direct bullying, in the form of physical or verbal attacks, and indirect bullying, or relational/social bullying in the form of deliberate social exclusion or isolation. Olweus (1993a) reported that in a sample of over 80,000 Norwegian children, there was more verbal bullying in boys and girls from 2nd grade through 9th grade than physical bullying, and that physical bullying was more common among boys than girls. In their national study, Nansel et al. (2001) found that verbal bullying was common in both American boys and girls, and that American boys did more physical bullying than girls. Girls engage in more indirect or social bullying than boys, a finding that has been replicated in many countries (Smith et al., 1999).
The final focus of this study is on bullying by college teachers and coaches. Chapell et al. (2004) found that 19.2% of 1,025 students had been bullied by teachers in college, 14.5% once or twice, 4.2% occasionally, and .5% very frequently. In addition to reporting the overall level of bullying by college teachers, the current study explores the types of bullying college teachers use: verbal, physical, and social. This study also explores bullying by college coaches and reports the types of bullying they use. There is very little research on bullying by college coaches, but some college coaches such as Bob Knight (Walton, 2000) have been described as bullies.
METHOD
Participants
A total of 119 undergraduates from a large eastern university (62 female, 57 male, including 21 freshmen, 28 sophomores, 20 juniors, and 48 seniors; M = 21.1 yrs., SD = 3.4 yrs.) participated voluntarily in this partially retrospective study. This sample of convenience was composed of 98 European Americans (82.3%), 10 African Americans (8.4%), 5 students of multiple ethnicity (4.2%), 4 Hispanic Americans (3.4%), and 2 Asian Americans (1.7%).
Materials
Participants were first administered a questionnaire including questions about age, sex, year in school, ethnicity, and cumulative college grade point average (M = 3.11, SD = .50), followed by a 32-item bullying self-report questionnaire. This questionnaire followed the model of the most widely used bullying instrument, the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (1996), by first presenting a definition of bullying based on Olweus's (1999) widely accepted definition of bullying by students. Olweus (1999) conceptualizes bullying as being characterized by three criteria: "(1) It is aggressive behavior or intentional harmdoing (2) which is carried out repeatedly and over time (3) in an interpersonal relationship characterized by an imbalance of power" (p. 11), and he defines school bullying as, "A student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more students" (p. 10). Olweus operationalizes bullying using three forms of negative actions by students: direct verbal attacks (using mean and harmful words and names), direct physical attacks (hitting, kicking, shoving), and more indirect methods, such as intentionally isolating or excluding someone from a group.
This definition was adapted to include the contingency of bullying by college teachers and coaches: "As a student you are being bullied when someone who is more powerful than you repeatedly tries to hurt you by: (1) attacking you verbally, using harmful words, names, or threats, (2) attacking you physically, (3) intentionally isolating you or excluding you from a social group."
This definition was followed by questions about bullying or being bullied by students in college, high school, and elementary school, to which participants answered using one of four response alternatives, with scores ranging from 0 to 3: Never = 0; Only once or twice = 1; Occasionally = 2; Very frequently = 3. At each level of school, participants were also asked to identify the type of bullying they had committed or experienced: verbal, physical, and social, using the same four response alternatives. Similar questions were asked about having been bullied by college teachers and college coaches and the types of bullying they used, applying the same four response alternatives.
Procedure
Participants were recruited on campus, and informed consent forms and questionnaires were administered by students trained and supervised by the first author. The exclusive administration of questionnaires by students was done to reduce bias that might arise due to the questions about bullying by college teachers and coaches.
RESULTS
Table 1 presents the percentages of bullies and bullied in college, high school, and elementary school. It was found that there is more bullying in elementary school than high school, and more bullying in high school than college, which is consistent with the literature cited above which shows a reduction in bullying with age.
Table 2 shows that there was a significant positive correlation between having been a bully in elementary school, high school, and college, a positive correlation between having been bullied in college and in high school, and a positive correlation between having been bullied in high school and elementary school. There was a significant positive correlation between having been both a bully and a victim of bullying in elementary school, a significant positive correlation between having been a bully and victim in high school, and a significant positive correlation between having been a bully and a victim in college. Additionally, of 25 who were bullied in college, 18 (72%) were also bullied in high school and elementary school. Of 26 bullies in college, 14 (53.8%) had also been bullies in high school and elementary school. Finally, there were 12 bully-victims in college, and 5 of these (41.6%) had also been bully-victims in high school and elementary school.
There were no significant sex differences in being a bully or bully-victim in college, high school or elementary school. Male students were not bullied more than females students in college, but males were bullied significantly more than females in high school, F(1, 117) = 4.53, p < .05, [[eta].sup.2] = .04, and elementary school, F(1, 117) = 4.57, p < .05, [[eta].sup.2] = .038 (according to Cohen, 1988, [[eta].sup.2] effect sizes of .01 are small, .06 are medium, and .14 are large).
Table 3 shows that overall, bullies used more verbal bullying than social bullying in college, high school, and elementary school, and physical bullying was least common. There were no significant sex differences in verbal, physical, or social bullying by bullies in college, high school or elementary school.
Table 4 shows that overall, those who were bullied in college, high school, and elementary school experienced more verbal bullying than social bullying in college, high school, and elementary school, and physical bullying was least common. Male college students were bullied verbally more than female students, F(1, 117) = 4.29, p < .05, [[eta].sup.2] = .035. Male college students were also bullied physically more than female students, F(1, 117) = 4.06, p < .05, [[eta].sup.2] = .034, but there were no significant sex differences in being socially bullied in college. Male high school students were bullied verbally more than female students, F(1, 117) = 10.70, p < .01, [[eta].sup.2] = .084. Male high school students were also bullied physically more than females, F(1, 117) = 9.57, p < .01, [[eta].sup.2] = .076, but there were no sex differences in being socially bullied in high school. Male elementary school students were bullied verbally more than female students, F(1, 117) = 6.14, p < .05, [[eta].sup.2] = .05. Male elementary school students were bullied physically more than female students, F(1, 117) = 14.97, p < .001, [[eta].sup.2] = .11, but there were no significant sex differences in being socially bullied in elementary school.
As shown in Table 5, verbal bullying of students was the most common form used by both college teachers and coaches, and social bullying was next most common, findings which parallel those of bullying by students. Participants reported no physical bullying by teachers, but two students reported that they had been physically bullied by their coaches.
DISCUSSION
In this sample of 119 participants there was considerable evidence of continuity in the status of being a bully, a victim of bullying, or a bully-victim from elementary school through college, the main research question this study was designed to address. Sourander, Helstela, Helenius, and Piha's (2000) 8-year longitudinal study found an association between being bullied at age 8 and 16 and between being a bully at age 8 and 16, and this study found the same positive correlation between being bullied in elementary school and in high school, and also found a positive correlation between being a bully in elementary school, high school, and college. Other evidence suggesting that the roles of bullies, victims, and bully-victims are fairly stable over time is that almost three quarters of those bullied in college were also bullied in high school and elementary school, over half of those who were bullies in college were also bullies in high school and elementary school, and almost half of the bully-victims in college were also bully-victims in high school and elementary school.
The main limitation of this study is that it was partly retrospective--college undergraduates were recalling their history of bullying and being bullied in high school and elementary school. There have been many retrospective studies of bullying (Hunter, Mora-Merchan, & Ortega, 2004; Schafer et al., 2004; Smith, Singer, Hoel, & Cooper, 2003; van der Meulen et al., 2003) to name a few of the more recent, and there is a Retrospective Bullying Questionnaire (Schafer et al., 2004). In order to evaluate the validity of retrospective reports of childhood experience, Brewin, Andrews, and Gotlib (1993) thoroughly reviewed the literature and concluded that, "Obtaining the retrospective recall of childhood events appears, therefore, to be a flawed process that can be shaped by both internal and external factors," but they further concluded that, "However, provided that individuals are questioned about the occurrence of specific events or facts that they were sufficiently old and well placed to know about, the central features of their accounts are likely to be reasonably accurate" (p. 94). Given that 90% of the participants in this study were 23 years of age or younger, their recollections of being bullied or a bully in high school should be fairly accurate, but the validity of their recollections of being bullied or a bully in elementary school, 10 to 15 years earlier, may be less accurate.
There were no significant sex differences in the frequency of being a bully or a bully-victim in college, high school or elementary school. However, male students were bullied significantly more than female students in elementary school and high school, a finding which is consistent with many national studies of American public and private elementary and high school students (DeVoe et al., 2003, 2005; Nansel et al., 2001).
Male college students bullied verbally and physically more than female college students, but there were no sex differences in social bullying in college, and no other sex differences in types of bullying used by bullies in high school or elementary school. This finding is unlike that of previous research which has usually found that boys bullied physically more than did girls in high school and elementary school, and that girls bullied socially more than did boys in high school and elementary school (Espelage & Swearer, 2003; Smith et al., 1999). However, there were considerable sex differences in types of bullying experienced by those who were bullied in elementary school, high school, and college. Males were bullied verbally and physically more than female students in elementary school, high school, and college, a finding consistent with Nansel et al.'s (2001) national study of American elementary and high school students.
There had been relatively little research on bullying in the United States (Smetana, Campione-Barr, & Metzger, 2006), until a number of studies found that most school shooters, like those at Columbine High in 1999, had been bullied Anderson et al., 2001; Gaughan, Cerio, & Myers, 2001; Leary, Kowalski, Smith, & Phillips, 2003; Meloy, Hemple, Mohandie, Shiva, & Gray, 2001; O'Toole, 2000; Vossekuil, Reddy, Fein, Borum, & Modzelesky, 2002). Robert Bechtel, a full professor in the psychology department at the University of Arizona, told a class of students on Nov. 16, 2004 that he had been the victim of bullying from age 4 through college, and that he had shot and killed an 18-year-old student he described as his tormentor, while a student at Swarthmore College in 1955 (Swedlund, 2004), suggesting that shootings in college related to bullying are also possible. Given that national random sample studies of American 4-year colleges have found that 3.5% (Miller, Hemenway, & Wechsler, 1999), and 4.3% of American college students carried working firearms on campus (Miller, Hemenway, & Wechsler, 2002), more college shootings related to bullying could occur.
Nansel, Overpeck, Haynie, Ruan, and Scheidt (2003) conducted a cross-sectional study with a nationally representative sample of 15,686 American public and private school 6-10th graders, examining the relationship between bullying and carrying a weapon (gun, knife, club) for the last 30 days at school. These researchers found that, "About 50% of boys and 30% of girls who had bullied others in school weekly reported weapon carrying compared with 36% of boys and 15% of girls who had been bullied in school weekly" (p. 350). Devoe and Kaffenberger (2005) analyzed the results of the 2001 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, and reported that 3.7% of 3,494,000 12-18 year old students who had been bullied at school were carrying a gun, knife, or other weapon at school, compared to only 1.4% of 20,680,000 nonbullied students. The relationship between carrying a weapon at school might be stronger if a long history of being bullied is present, such as that found in this study, but there do not appear to have been any studies which explore the relationship between history of being bullied and frequency of carrying a weapon at school, and this relationship remains to be investigated in future studies.
Beyond the relatively rare case of school shootings, being bullied is associated with many negative mental health consequences, including anxiety and depression (Baldry, 2004; Bond, Carlin, Thomas, Rubin, & Patton, 2001; Espelage & Swearer, 2003; Kass, Evans, & Shah, 2003; Olweus, 1993; Seals & Young, 2003; Smokowski & Kopash, 2005; Vossekuil, Reddy, Fein, Borum, & Modzeleski, 2002; Ybarra, 2004), and suicidal ideation (Carney, 2000; Kass, Evans, & Shah, 2003; Kaltiala-Heino, Rimpelae, Martunnen, Rimpelae, & Rantanen, 1999; Kim, Koh, & Leventhal, 2005; Roland, 2002; Schafer et al., 2004; van der Wal, de Wit, & Hirasing, 2003; Vossekuil, Reddy, Fein, Borum, & Modzeleski, 2002). Considering that American college counseling centers report that anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation have been increasing on campuses for the past 10-15 years (Benton, Robertson, Tseng, Newton, & Benton, 2003; Kim, Crittle, & Steptoe, 2003; Young, 2003), it may be time for American colleges and college counseling centers to take bullying into account as a factor in this growing problem.
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Mark S. Chapell, Stefanie L. Hasselman, Theresa Kitchin, Safiya N. Lomon, Kenneth W. MacIver, Patrick L. Sarullo, Department of Psychology, Rowan University.
Send requests for reprints to Mark S. Chapell, Department of Psychology, Robinson Hall, Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey 08028. E-mail: chapell@rowan.edu
Table 1
Percentages of Bullies and Bullied in College,
High School, and Elementary School
Responses
Never Once or Twice
n % n %
College
Bullies Total 93 78.2 23 19.3
Male 43 75.4 13 22.8
Female 50 80.7 10 16.1
Bullied Total 94 79.0 17 14.3
Male 45 79.0 6 10.5
Female 49 79.0 11 17.8
High School
Bullies Total 56 47.1 50 42.0
Male 27 47.4 24 42.1
Female 29 46.8 26 41.9
Bullied Total 40 33.6 58 48.7
Male 15 26.3 29 50.9
Female 25 40.3 29 46.8
Elementary School
Bullies Total 68 57.1 41 34.5
Male 33 57.9 20 35.1
Female 35 56.5 21 33.9
Bullied Total 43 36.1 46 38.7
Male 16 28.1 22 38.6
Female 27 43.5 24 38.7
Responses
Occasionally Very Frequently
n % n %
College
Bullies Total 3 2.5 0 0.0
Male 1 1.8 0 0.0
Female 2 3.2 0 0.0
Bullied Total 6 5.0 2 1.7
Male 5 8.8 1 1.7
Female 1 1.6 1 1.6
High School
Bullies Total 12 10.1 1 0.8
Male 6 10.5 0 0.0
Female 6 9.7 1 1.6
Bullied Total 18 15.1 3 2.5
Male 11 19.3 2 3.5
Female 7 11.3 1 1.6
Elementary School
Bullies Total 9 7.6 1 0.8
Male 4 7.0 0 0.0
Female 5 8.0 1 1.6
Bullied Total 22 18.5 8 6.7
Male 13 22.8 6 10.5
Female 9 14.5 2 3.2
Table 2
Intercorrelations Among Age, GPA, and 8 Bullying Questions
1 2 3 4 5
1. Age -- .15 -.04 -.06 .16
2. GPA -- -.05 -.18 .10
3. Bullied in College -- .28 ** .00
4. Bully in College -- .15
5. Bullied by College
Teacher --
6. Bullied by College
Coach
7. Bullied in High
School
8. Bully in High
School
9. Bullied in
Elementary School
10. Bully in
Elementary School
6 7 8 9 10
1. Age -.07 .07 .02 .01 .07
2. GPA -.23 * .18 .06 .17 .06
3. Bullied in College .03 .34 ** .14 .09 .00
4. Bully in College .19 * .09 .41 *** .04 .20 *
5. Bullied by College
Teacher .17 .12 .24 ** .15 .25 **
6. Bullied by College
Coach -- -.07 .06 .01 .04
7. Bullied in High
School -- .23 * .40 * .14
8. Bully in High
School -- .15 .54 ***
9. Bullied in
Elementary School -- .19 *
10. Bully in
Elementary School --
* p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001
Table 3
Sex Differences in Types of Bullying Used by College,
High School, and Elementary School Bullies
Responses
Never Once or Twice
n % n %
Bully in College
Verbal Male 38 66.6 15 26.3
Female 50 80.7 9 14.5
Social Male 45 79.0 10 17.5
Female 48 77.4 13 21.0
Physical Male 54 94.7 3 5.3
Female 58 93.6 2 3.2
Bully in High School
Verbal Male 22 38.6 25 43.9
Female 36 58.0 17 27.5
Social Male 30 52.6 20 35.1
Female 41 66.1 15 24.2
Physical Male 43 75.4 11 19.3
Female 56 90.3 4 6.5
Bully in Elementary School
Verbal Male 32 56.2 17 29.8
Female 36 58.1 21 33.9
Social Male 37 64.9 15 26.3
Female 35 61.4 22 38.6
Physical Male 46 80.7 8 14.0
Female 54 87.1 7 11.3
Responses
Occasionally Very Frequently
n % n %
Bully in College
Verbal Male 3 5.3 1 1.8
Female 2 3.2 1 1.6
Social Male 2 3.5 0 0.0
Female 1 1.6 0 0.0
Physical Male 0 0.0 0 0.0
Female 2 3.2 0 0.0
Bully in High School
Verbal Male 7 12.2 3 5.3
Female 8 12.9 1 1.6
Social Male 7 12.3 0 0.0
Female 6 9.7 0 0.0
Physical Male 3 5.3 0 0.0
Female 2 3.2 0 0.0
Bully in Elementary School
Verbal Male 8 14.0 0 0.0
Female 4 6.4 1 1.6
Social Male 5 8.8 0 0.0
Female 4 6.4 1 1.6
Physical Male 3 5.3 0 0.0
Female 1 1.6 0 0.0
Table 4
Sex Differences in Types of Bullying by Bullied in College,
High School, and Elementary School
Responses
Never Once or Twice
n % n %
Bullied in College
Verbal Male 37 64.9 14 24.6
Female 50 80.6 12 19.4
Social Male 45 78.9 9 15.8
Female 50 80.7 10 16.1
Physical Male 49 86.0 7 12.3
Female 61 98.4 0 0.0
Bullied in High School
Verbal Male 12 21.1 32 56.1
Female 31 50.0 20 32.3
Social Male 28 49.1 26 45.6
Female 38 61.3 16 25.8
Physical Male 34 59.7 17 29.8
Female 52 83.9 9 14.5
Bullied in Elementary School
Verbal Male 25 43.9 15 26.3
Female 30 48.4 22 35.5
Social Male 25 43.9 19 33.3
Female 33 53.2 21 33.9
Physical Male 25 43.9 19 33.3
Female 46 74.2 13 21.0
Responses
Occasionally Very Frequently
n % n %
Bullied in College
Verbal Male 5 8.8 1 1.7
Female 0 0.0 0 0.0
Social Male 3 5.3 0 0.0
Female 2 3.2 0 0.0
Physical Male 1 1.7 0 0.0
Female 1 1.6 0 0.0
Bullied in High School
Verbal Male 9 15.8 4 7.0
Female 11 17.7 0 0.0
Social Male 3 5.3 0 0.0
Female 8 12.9 0 0.0
Physical Male 6 10.5 0 0.0
Female 1 1.6 0 0.0
Bullied in Elementary School
Verbal Male 11 19.3 6 10.5
Female 7 11.3 3 4.8
Social Male 9 15.8 4 7.0
Female 8 12.9 0 0.0
Physical Male 11 19.3 2 0.4
Female 3 4.8 0 0.0
Table 5
Bullying of Students and Types of Bullying Used
by Teachers and Coaches
Responses
Never Once or Twice
n % n %
Teachers
Bullying Total 98 82.4 19 16.0
Verbal 91 76.5 27 22.7
Social 111 93.3 8 6.7
Physical 119 0.0 0 0.0
Coaches
Bullying Total 111 93.3 6 5.1
Verbal 111 93.3 6 5.1
Social 113 95.0 4 3.4
Physical 117 98.3 2 1.7
Responses
Occasionally Very Frequently
n % n %
Teachers
Bullying Total 1 0.8 1 0.8
Verbal 0 0.0 1 0.8
Social 0 0.0 0 0.0
Physical 0 0.0 0 0.0
Coaches
Bullying Total 1 0.8 1 0.8
Verbal 2 1.7 0 0.0
Social 1 0.8 1 0.8
Physical 0 0.0 0 0.0
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