Alcohol use by adolescents engaged in bullying and cyberbullying, as authors, victims and authors-victims: A systematic review of the literature

Abstract

Objective. To synthesize, by a systematic review, the scientific evidence around the associations between alcohol use and adolescents’ engagement in bullying and cyberbullying. Materials and methods. A literature review was made in four databases: PubMed, Medline, Scielo, and Web of Science. 58 papers were selected following the eligibility criteria. The evaluation of the studies' methodological quality was made using an instrument of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Results. The studies that achieved high methodological quality show the following results: victimization and authorship for bullying or cyberbullying were associated with alcohol consumption; psychological distress partially mediated with an association between victimization for cyberbullying and future alcohol using; bullying and violent perpetration mediated the relationship between family violence and alcohol and other drugs uses; depressing symptoms and alcohol using are predictors of more bullying victimization; and the relational victimization was associated with early alcohol use. Conclusions. Most studies show that adolescents engaged in bullying and cyberbullying have more chances of using alcohol than those not engaged. Authors use to consume more alcohol than authors-victims and victims.