Armen A Torchyan, Inge Houkes, Satenik L Papikyan, Leena R Baghdadi, Hans Bosma
Between-school socioeconomic segregation is an important contextual factor associated with adolescent bullying. Because the association between segregation and bullying was observed across the socioeconomic spectrum, policy responses should, in addition to targeting disadvantaged groups, be more universal and structural. Reducing socioeconomic segregation between schools may promote more socially cohesive educational environments and help reduce bullying.
BACKGROUND: Bullying is a major public health concern among adolescents. Ecological frameworks suggest that bullying is shaped not only by individual characteristics but also by broader school, institutional, and macro-level contexts. We examined whether country-level between-school socioeconomic segregation helps explain differences in bullying perpetration and victimization.
METHODS: We analyzed nationally representative data from 101,287 adolescents aged 11-15 years in 21 countries and regions across Europe and Canada participating in the 2017-2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. Between-school socioeconomic segregation was measured at the country level using the bias-adjusted Duncan dissimilarity index based on family socioeconomic position. Multilevel logistic regression models examined associations with bullying perpetration and victimization, adjusting for individual characteristics, GDP per capita, and Gini index.
RESULTS: Each one percentage-point increase in between-school socioeconomic segregation was significantly associated with 5-6% higher odds of bullying perpetration (odds ratio [OR] = 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03-1.07) and victimization (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.04-1.09). Segregation accounted for roughly half of the between-country variation in bullying perpetration (49.6%) and victimization (56.3%), although the absolute magnitudes were modest. However, it did not significantly modify socioeconomic differences in these behaviors (P-interaction > 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Between-school socioeconomic segregation is an important contextual factor associated with adolescent bullying. Because the association between segregation and bullying was observed across the socioeconomic spectrum, policy responses should, in addition to targeting disadvantaged groups, be more universal and structural. Reducing socioeconomic segregation between schools may promote more socially cohesive educational environments and help reduce bullying.