title: School bus travel is associated with bullying victimization among Canadian male, but not female, middle and high school students.
abstract: Previous research has found a link between active school transportation and bullying victimization among school-aged children. However, the link with other school travel modes (such as car, school bus, and public transportation) and bullying victimization is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between school travel mode and report of bullying victimization among Canadian middle and high school students. The sample consisted of 5065 students aged 11-20 years (mean age: 15.2±1.9 years; 56% females) who participated in the 2013 Ontario Students Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS). Overall, 24.7% of students reported school bullying victimization in the past year. Females (27.2%) were more likely than males (22.3%) to be victims of school bullying (p<0.01). After adjustment for age, ethnicity, subjective socioeconomic status and parental education, multivariable logistic regression analyses indicated that, compared to active school transportation, school bus travel to (adjusted odd ratio (OR)=1.83; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.25-2.68) and from (OR=1.79; 95% CI=1.70-2.67) school was associated with greater odds of bullying victimization among males, but not females. However, the use of public transportation to get to school was associated with lower odds of bullying victimization compared to active transportation among females only (OR=0.59; 95% CI=0.36-0.97). These findings suggest that school travel mode should be considered when considering risks for bullying victimization. Bullying prevention efforts should target school buses to make children's commute a safe and enjoyable experience.
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Public Health, Ottawa, Ontario K2G 6J8, Canada. Electronic address: hugues.sampasa@ottawa.ca.
authors.forename: Hugues
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sampasa-Kanyinga
authors.affiliation: Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L1, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L1, Canada.
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chaput
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5T 3M7, Canada.
authors.forename: Hayley A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L1, Canada.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Larouche
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D058445:Bullying / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018986:Motor Vehicles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009864:Ontario; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D014186:Transportation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014195:Travel; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Active transportation; Adolescents; Bullying; School bus; Victimization