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Pernille Due, MD, Juan Merlo, MD, PhD, Yossi Harel-Fisch, PhD, Mogens Trab Damsgaard, Mag scient soc, Bjørn E. Holstein, Mag scient soc, Jørn Hetland, PhD, Candace Currie, PhD, Saoirse Nic Gabhainn, PhD, Margarida Gaspar de Matos, PhD and John Lynch, PhD

At the time of the study, Pernille Due was with the Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen. Juan Merlo is with the Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden. Yossi Harel-Fisch is with the Department of Criminology and the School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. Mogens Trab Damsgaard and Bjørn E. Holstein are with the Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen. Jørn Hetland is with the Research Center for Health Promotion, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. Candace Currie is with the Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit, Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. Saoirse Nic Gabhainn is with the Department of Health Promotion, National University of Ireland, Galway. Margarida Gaspar de Matos is with the Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal. At the time of the study, John Lynch was with the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Pernille Due, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark Øster Farimagsgade 5 A, 2nd Floor, DK-1399 Copenhagen, Denmark (e-mail: pdu{at}niph.dk).

Objectives. We examined the socioeconomic distribution of adolescent exposure to bullying internationally and documented the contribution of the macroeconomic environment.

Methods. We used an international survey of 162 305 students aged 11, 13, and 15 years from nationally representative samples of 5998 schools in 35 countries in Europe and North America for the 2001–2002 school year. The survey used standardized measures of exposure to bullying and socioeconomic affluence.

Results. Adolescents from families of low affluence reported higher prevalence of being victims of bullying (odds ratio [OR] = 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.10, 1.16). International differences in prevalence of exposure to bullying were not associated with the economic level of the country (as measured by gross national income) or the school, but wide disparities in affluence at a school and large economic inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient) at the national level were associated with an increased prevalence of exposure to bullying.

Conclusions. There is socioeconomic inequality in exposure to bullying among adolescents, leaving children of greater socioeconomic disadvantage at higher risk of victimization. Adolescents who attend schools and live in countries where socioeconomic differences are larger are at higher risk of being bullied.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Due, M. T. Damsgaard, R. Lund, and B. E. Holstein Is bullying equally harmful for rich and poor children?: a study of bullying and depression from age 15 to 27 Eur J Public Health, October 1, 2009; 19(5): 464 - 469. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]