Victimization and perpetration of bullying/cyberbullying: Connections with emotional and behavioral problems and childhood stress

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to analyze the connections between victimization and perpetration of face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying with self-perceived childhood stress and diverse emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) evaluated by parents. Participants were 1,993 students, aged 9-13 years, from the Basque Country (Spain) (49.8% females). The results of the analyses of variance (MANOVA-ANOVA) and correlational analyses showed that: (1) students who had higher scores in victimization and perpetration of bullying/cyberbullying had significantly high levels of stress and many EBPs; (2) participants who had higher scores in victimization/cybervictimization and perpetration of bullying obtained higher scores in all the dimensions of stress, while those who had higher scores in cyberaggression only showed higher school stress; (3) students who had higher scores in victimization/cybervictimization manifested internalizing and externalizing EBPs, whereas those who had higher scores in perpetration of bullying/cyberbullying had fewer internalizing problems; and (4) children who obtained higher scores in victimization and perpetration of bullying/cyberbullying had received psychological counseling significantly more frequently in the past year than those who had lower scores in indicators of bullying/cyberbullying. The importance of preventing/intervening in bullying situations to reduce psychopathological problems is emphasized in the discussion.