Bullying and victimization behaviors in boys and girls at South Korean primary schools.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence and correlates of bullying and victimization behaviors in boys and girls at South Korean primary schools.


METHODS
In a cross-sectional survey, 1,344 fourth-grade primary school children completed a questionnaire on self-reported bullying and victimization behaviors, depression, anxiety, body image, coping strategies, and self-esteem as well as the self-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Parents completed a questionnaire on demographic data, the General Health Questionnaire-12, and the Korean version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.


RESULTS
The prevalence of bullies, victims, and bullies/victims was 12.0%, 5.3%, and 7.2%, respectively. Boys were significantly more likely to be bullies and bullies/victims. In the multivariate analyses, bullying and victimization behaviors were associated with gender, greater than average height, higher depression, higher trait anxiety, lower self-esteem, and total difficulties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Differences in the associations were found between boys and girls.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors found that bullying is common among South Korean primary school students and that bullying and victimization behaviors are related to various emotional, behavioral, and social problems; some gender-related differences are also evident.
Yang
Su-Jin
SJ
All of the authors are with the Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Kwangju, Republic of Korea.
Kim
Jae-Min
JM
All of the authors are with the Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Kwangju, Republic of Korea.
Kim
Sung-Wan
SW
All of the authors are with the Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Kwangju, Republic of Korea.
Shin
Il-Seon
IS
All of the authors are with the Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Kwangju, Republic of Korea.
Yoon
Jin-Sang
JS
All of the authors are with the Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Kwangju, Republic of Korea.. Electronic address: jsyoon@chonnam.ac.kr.
D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*