Massachusetts study looks at bullying in middle and high school students.(What's New in Research)

To assess the association between family violence and other risk factors and being involved in or affected by bullying as a bully, victim, or bully-victim, researchers at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and CDC analyzed data from the 2009 Massachusetts Youth Health Survey. This study is the first state-specific data on a broad range of risk factors suspected to be associated with bullying among both middle and high school students.

Results indicate sizable prevalences of middle school (43.9%) and high school (30.5%) students involved in or affected by bullying. Among middle school students, 26.8% reported being victims of bullying, 7.5% acknowledged being bullies, and 9.6% reported being bully-victims. Among high school students, 15.6% reported being victims of bullying, 8.4% acknowledged being bullies, and 6.5% reported being bully-victims.

Study details

The Massachusetts Youth Health Survey is an anonymous, paper and pencil survey conducted every 2 years using a two-stage cluster sample design. In the …