engleski

Bullying - psychological consequences of being victims and bullies

Introduction: Olweus defines school bullying in a general way as "repeated negative, ill-intentioned behavior by one or more students directed against a student who has difficulty defending himself or herself. Most bullying occurs without any apparent provocation on the part of the student who is exposed." In recent years bullying became a huge problem in schools. Researches in Croatia showed that 33% of students in primary schools are involved in bullying every day. The aim of this study was to show long-term and short-term psychological consequences of both sides involved in bullying – victims and bullies. Methods: Meta-analysis is the statistical synthesis of the data from a set of comparable studies of a problem, and it yields a quantitative summary of the pooled results. It is the process of aggregating the data and results of a set of studies, preferably as many as possible that have used the same or similar methods and procedures ; reanalyzing the data from all these combined studies ; and thereby generating larger numbers and more stable rates and proportions for statistical analysis and significance testing than can be achieved by any single study. In our research we used 30 articles about this subject, from period 2001 – 2009 and from PsycINFO database. Results and discussion: Studies investigating the consequences of involvement in bully–victim problems have focused upon possible negative mental and (or) physical health outcomes. Four categories of negative health conditions can be identified for both victims and bullies: 1. low psychological well-being (general unhappiness, low self-esteem, and feelings of anger and sadness) ; 2. poor social adjustment (feelings of aversion toward one’s social environment – usually school, manifest loneliness, isolation and absenteeism) ; 3. psychological distress (includes high levels of anxiety, depression and suicidal thinking) ; 4. physical unwellness (clear signs of physical disorder, evident in medically diagnosed illness and also psychosomatic symptoms can be included). Conclusion: Knowing these negative mental and physical health outcomes we can make efficient prevention programs for all children included in bullying. Awareness of these huge consequences should make people think and do something about this problem before it is too late.

bullying ; psychological consequences

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