Bullying Trends in the United States: A Meta-Regression

Background/Purpose: Bullying is a growing area of concern among parents, schools, and the news media, yet is bullying actually growing? Some research suggests that traditional face-to-face (FTF) bullying perpetration and victimization has actually declined over the past few decades, while cyberbullying has increased. However, there is considerable variation in rates of bullying from trend study to trend study, with some studies reporting a decline, while others report no change or even an increase. Complicating the understanding of bullying trends even further, different studies report different rates, even for the same year.

The current study aims to address the variation in bullying trends by conducting a meta-regression that combines the trends from the existing literature to assess the status of bullying from the late 1990’s to the present. This study will focus on trends of global FTF bullying, cyberbullying, relational bullying, verbal bullying, and physical bullying, as well as characteristics of the youth involved, including grade and gender. It will also explore methodological and survey differences to help determine which factors contribute to variation from study to study.

Methods: This study conducted a systematic search of the online databases, reference lists, and   Google Scholar using key words. Articles were selected using pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Ninety-one studies were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria, this included both peer-reviewed articles and grey literature reports. Data was extracted from the articles using a standardized data extraction form. To increase reliability, an intra-rater reliability check was conducted (99.15% agreement).

Multiple meta-regressions were conducted using fully random effects models, restricted maximum likelihood and Knapp Hartung estimates.  Meta-regressions were used to determine the significant covariates on each type of bullying involvement, to determine the trends of each bullying type over time, and to examine trends over time by grade and gender.

Results:The findings illustrate no clear time trend when looking at FTF bullying victimization, yet an increasing time trend for cyberbullying. Additional trends begin to emerge when breaking down the findings by age and gender, with FTF bullying among males declining, while FTF bullying among females is increasing. Across both FTF bullying and cyberbullying younger adolescents report significantly more bullying than older adolescents, and this is consistent over time.  Verbal and physical bullying victimization, as well as FTF bullying perpetration have significantly declined over time. This study also identified key variables that contribute to the variation from trend study to trend study, such as question wording, definition features, sample type, and time frame.  

Implications:The implications of these findings inform both policy and practice, as well as provide insight into the overall scope of bullying within the United States. Additionally, these findings illustrate that more research needs to be done to explore why bullying is decreasing among males and increasing among females. The consistent trends regarding grade/age can guide implementation of prevention programs, while the influence of methodological and survey features need to be taken into consideration when designing studies and when making comparisons across studies.