Prevalence and quantifying the effects of bullying victimization in school-aged children in internalizing and externalizing mental health problems and academic failure

Addressing bullying has been declared as a main target by the World Health Organization to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) motivated for the high prevalence and adverse effects for victims. A non-probabilistic convenience sampling survey was designed in order to estimate the prevalence of bullying victimization in aged-school adolescents as well as the effects (and quantification) of the victimization in Mental Health Problems (MHPs) and academic achievement. 561 Spanish adolescents, 55.3% females and 44.7% males, aged between 14 and 16 years old (M = 14.97, DT = 0.75), responded to a diagnostic measure of bullying victimization and an inventory of internalising and externalising Mental Health Problems (MHPs) measure. In addition, information on academic failure was collected. The results showed a significant prevalence of the diagnosis of bullying victimization, 29.4%, 95% CI[.256, .332] with adverse effects on internalising and externalising PSMs, and on academic failure. As for the internalizing MHPs, results exhibited severe and the most adverse effects in posttraumatic stress, extended to severe adverse effects to depression and anxiety (generalized), moderate adverse effect in somatic complaints and obsessive-compulsive and mild in social anxiety. With respect to externalizing MHPs, the results revealed moderate adverse effects in attention problems, hyperactivity-impulsivity, anger control; mild adverse effects in aggression, defiant behavior, and antisocial behavior. The bullying victimization increased two times (OR = 2.04) the probability of academic failure. The implications for prevention programs and intervention with bullying victims are discussed.