Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T20:16:24.114Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How Adolescents Cope With Bullying

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2016

Jodie Martin  and
Robyn M. Gillies
Jodie Martin
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland
Robyn M. Gillies*
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland
*
School of Education, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Bullying is a stressful event for adolescents at school and was the fourth most common reason for calls to Kids Help Line in 2002. This study sought to examine coping styles used by students affected by bullying in Years 8 and 10 attending three Queensland high schools. Eighty-eight students completed the Bully Survey containing questions about bullying experiences and the way they coped in those situations. No year level differences were found in terms of the type of bullying experienced or the way in which students coped with these experiences. A significant interaction was found between duration of bullying and perceived control for the proportional use of disengagement coping (i.e., denial, avoidance and wishful thinking strategies). A significant simple main effect was found between perceived stressfulness and proportional use of involuntary engagement coping (i.e., rumination, intrusive thoughts, emotional arousal, physiological arousal and impulsive actions). Implications of these findings for schools are discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , December 2004 , pp. 195 - 210
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreou, E. (2000). Bully/victim problems and their association with psychological constructs in 8- to 12-year-old Greek school children. Aggressive Behaviour, 26(1), 49–56.3.0.CO;2-M>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bijttebier, P., & Vertommen, H. (1998). Coping with peer arguments in school-age children with bully/victim problems. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 68(3), 387–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bjorkqvist, K., Lagerspetz, K.M.J., & Kaukiainen, A. (1992). Do girls manipulate and boys fight? Aggressive Behaviour, 18, 117–127.3.0.CO;2-3>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bjorkqvist, K., Osterman, K., & Lagerspetz, K.M.J. (1993). Sex differences in covert aggression among adults. Aggressive Behaviour, 19.Google Scholar
Broderick, P., & Korteland, C. (2002). Coping style and depression in early adolescence: Relationships to gender, gender role and implicit beliefs. Sex Roles, 46(7/8), 201–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Compas, B., Connor, J., Saltzman, H., Thomsen, A., & Wadsworth, M. (1999). Getting specific about coping: Effortful and involuntary responses to stress in development. In Ramsey, D. (Ed.), Soothing and stress (pp. 229–256). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Compas, B., Connor-Smith, J., Saltzman, H., Thomsen, A., & Wadsworth, M. (2001). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: Problems, progress, and potential in theory and research. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 87–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Connor-Smith, J., & Compas, B. (2002). Vulnerability to social stress: Coping as a mediator or moderator of sociotropy and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 26(1), 39–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connor-Smith, J., Compas, B., Wadsworth, M., Thomsen, A., & Saltzman, H. (2000). Responses to stress in adolescence: Measurement of coping and involuntary stress responses, journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(6), 976–992.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crick, N., & Bigbee, M. (1998). Relational and overt forms of peer victimisation: A multi-informant approach. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 337–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Espelage, D., & Holt, M. (2001). Bullying and victimisation during early adolescence: Peer influences and psychosocial correlates. In Young, C. (Ed.), Bullying behaviour: Current issues, research, and interventions (pp. 123–142). New York: The Haworth Maltreatment & Trauma Press.Google Scholar
Frydenberg, E., & Lewis, R. (1993). Boys play sport and girls turn to others: Age, gender and ethnicity as determinants of coping. Journal of Adolescence, 16, 253–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hunter, S., & Boyle, J. (2002). Perceptions of control in the victims of school bullying: The importance of early intervention. Educational Research, 44(3), 323–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, S., & Boyle, J. (2004). Appraisal and coping strategy in victims of school bullying. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 7, 83–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labouvie-Vief, G., Hakim-Larson, J., & Hobart, C. (1987). Age, ego level, and the life-span development of coping and defense processes. Psychology of Aging, 2(3), 286–293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lazarus, R., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Lengua, L., & Sandler, I. (1996). Self-regulation as a moderator of the relation between coping and symptomatology in children of divorce. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24, 681–701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nansel, T.R., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R., June Ruan, W., Simons-Morton, B., & Scheidt, P. (2001). Bullying behaviours among US youth: Prevalence and association with psychosocial adjustment. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 285(16), 2094–2100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Naylor, P., Cowie, H., & del Rey, R. (2001). Coping strategies of secondary school children in response to being bullied. Child Psychology and Psychiatry Review, 6(3), 114–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olafsen, R.N., & Viemero, V. (2000). Bully/victim problems and coping with stress in school among 10- to 12-year-old pupils in Aland, Finland. Aggressive Behaviour, 26, 57–65.3.0.CO;2-I>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olweus, D. (1999). Sweden. In Slee, P. (Ed.), The nature of school bullying: A cross-national perspective (pp. 2–27). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Owens, L., Shute, R., & Slee, P. (2000). ‘Guess what I just heard!’: Indirect aggression among teenage girls in Australia. Aggressive Behaviour, 26(1), 67–83.3.0.CO;2-C>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osowiecki, D., & Compas, B. (1999). A prospective study of coping, perceived control, and psychological adaption to breast cancer. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 23, 169–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Recklitis, C., & Noam, G. (1999). Clinical and developmental perspectives on adolescent coping. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 30(2), 87–101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rigby, K. (1996). Bullying in schools and what to do about it. Melbourne, Australia: The Australian Council for Educational Research.Google Scholar
Rigby, K. (1999). Peer victimisation at school and the health of secondary students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 22(2), 28–34.Google Scholar
Rigby, K. (2002). New perspectives on bullying. London: Jessica Kingsley.Google Scholar
Rigby, K., & Slee, P. (1999). Suicidal ideation among adolescent school children, involvement in bully-victim problems, and perceived social support. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour, 29(2), 119–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roecker Phelps, C. (2001). Children's responses to overt and relational aggression. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30(1), 240–252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sandler, I., Tein, J., & West, S. (1994). Coping, stress, and the psychological symptoms of children of divorce: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Child Development, 65, 1744–1763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, P., & Brain, P. (2000). Bullying in schools: Lessons from two decades of research. Aggressive Behaviour, 26, 1–9.3.0.CO;2-7>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, P., & Sharp, S. (1994). School bullying: Insights and perspectives. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Spasojevic, J., & Alloy, L.B. (2001). Rumination as a common mechanism relating depressive risk factors to depression. Emotion, 1, 25–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed