Bullying Victimization, Socioeconomic Status and Behavioral Characteristics of 12th Graders in the United States, 1989 to 2009: Repetitive Trends and Persistent Risk Differentials

Using a nationally representative dataset, this study analyzes: 1) 12th grade trends, patterns, and changes in bullying victimization in the United States from the 1989 to the 2009 school years, and 2) the differential impacts of demographic, social, and economic characteristics on bullying victimization. Four self-reported experiences of bullying behavior that occurred at school or in transit to and from school are studied: threatened without a weapon, threatened with a weapon, injured without a weapon, and injured with a weapon. Zero-inflated Poisson models are used to estimate intensity (or rate) and likelihood of exposure (or probability) parameters of the annual frequency distributions of the four bullying behaviors. For the intensity of bullying victimization, as measured by the average number of times 12th graders were bullied annually, it is found, first, that there indeed was a wave of increased bullying behaviors in the 2002-2009 years that coincides with increased media attention and reporting during these years. Second, it is shown that this recent upsurge is similar to what happened in the early 1990s-but the most recent wave reached higher levels of intensity. Third, the analyses reveal that the intensity and/or exposure parameters covary with several demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors and these differentials persist over time. While 12th graders who were male or African American, city dwellers, and from single-parent or no-parent families show persistently higher intensities of bullying victimization over time, greater probabilities of exposure are found for 12th graders who were male, were from single-parent or no- parent families, did not regularly attend religious services, regarded religion as less important, and showed worse school performance.