Bullying Perpetration Among Adolescent Girls Involved in Child Welfare: Frequency and Risk Factors

Background and Purpose:Little research identifies risk factors to bullying perpetration among girls involved in child welfare. The literature focuses on the influence of abuse histories, with less attention to mental health and trauma exposure. Social learning theory suggests that exposure to family violence (e.g., childhood maltreatment, domestic violence) increases the risk of aggressive behaviors towards others due to learned roles and traumatic reactions. Thus, it was hypothesized that adolescents with more severe abuse histories, greater exposure to traumatic events, and more mental health problems would engage in a greater frequency of bullying behaviors than their counterparts. The present study examined the following research questions: 1) What is the frequency of bullying among girls involved in child welfare? 2) Are there differences in the frequency of bullying according to demographic variables? 3) What are the mental health and abuse-related predictors of bullying controlling for demographics and service use in this population?

Methods:The study utilized baseline data from a trauma-focused CBT study that included 207 adolescent girls involved in child welfare, ages 12-19 (M=14.96, SD=1.65). The sample was youths of color, who were primarily African American (74 %) and White (26 %); 11% lived in congregate care and 89% in non-congregate care. Structured face-to-face interviews assessed: 1) frequency of bullying behaviors (18 items) measuring physical, verbal, and relational bullying in the last 3 months; 2) PTSD and depressive symptoms; 3) physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, 4) number of trauma types, 5) service use, and 6) demographics: ethnicity (0=youths of color, 1-white), age, living situation.  Data analyses included descriptive statistics, simple correlations, and multiple regression analyses.

Results: Eighty-nine percent of girls engaged in one or more bullying behaviors, and 50% reported pushing and hitting a peer in the last 3 months. Correlational analyses indicated that girls with the following characteristics had higher frequencies of bullying perpetration: youths of color (r = -.15, p < .05), living in congregate care (r = .21, p < .01), and higher use of services (r = .24, p < .001).  Additionally, PTSD (r = .40, p < .001) and depression (r = .47, p < .001) were associated with higher frequencies of bullying perpetration.  Likewise, more emotional abuse (r = .26, p < .001) and exposure to traumatic events (r = .31, p < .001) were associated with more bullying. Age, physical abuse, and sexual abuse were unrelated to bullying perpetration. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the strongest risk factors of bullying perpetration were depression (β =. 38, p < .001) and trauma events (β =.17, p< .05) controlling for demographics and service use.

Conclusions and Implications: Adolescent girls with complex trauma histories are at risk for bullying perpetration, particularly when suffering from depression and PTSD. Although the literature indicates physical abuse is a risk for bullying perpetration, this study demonstrates that the adverse effects of emotional abuse should not be ignored. Findings suggest that trauma treatment may be needed to support bullying prevention efforts in this population.