PREVALENCE, AND CORRELATES OF SELF-REPORTED BULLYING, AND ASSOCIATIONS WITH MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS OF OSOGBO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, OSUN STATE

Abstract

Background Globally, the prevalence of bullying among school students is high and studies have established negative mental health consequences associated with bullying. Despite the fact that there are many studies on bullying in Nigeria, few studies have examined the mental health consequences of bullying among school students in Nigeria. This cross-sectional study in Osogbo local government was conducted to determine the prevalence, correlates, and mental health associations of bullying. Methodology This was a cross-sectional study carried out among secondary school students in Osogbo local government of Osun state. Four private and public schools were randomly selected from the list of secondary schools in Osogbo local government. Self-report questionnaires were then completed by 688 students. The questionnaires included a socio-demographic questionnaire, The Bully survey- (BSY) student version and The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 21 using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, mean and standard deviation. Chi-square was used for test of association (P-value 0.05) with values found significant subjected to binary regression at 95% confidence interval. Results There were 688 participants in the study aged 10-18 (mean age 14.1years; SD) among which a total of 331 (48.1%) students reported being bullied by other students. Most places where x bullying occurred was during school (86.7) %. Some 28 (8.5%) of those that were bullied reported they were bullied online while 26 (7.8%) were via telephone. The most-reported ways of getting bullied were verbal bullying (49.5%) and physical bullying (31.4%) with less people reporting relational bullying (27.5%). Early adolescents (10-14 years), those that had lived with others than their parents, students who reported having difficulties with teachers and students who had seen the school counselor were found to be significantly more likely to report being bullied. After adjustment for age and sex, early adolescents were 1.7 times more likely to be bullied (CI: 1.278 to 2.393, p-value=0.001), Those who had lived with others than their parents were also 1.7 times more likely to be bullied (CI 1.251 to 2.375, P-value 0.001) and those having difficulties with teachers were also 1.8 times more likely to bully others (CI 1.130 to 2.732, p-value 0.012). Being bullied was also significantly associated with having peer problems on the strength and difficulties questionnaire. Conclusion It is evident that the prevalence of bullying is high in schools and appears to impact on the mental health of students affected. Interventions should target early adolescents and those having difficulties with teachers. There is a need for urgent interventions to prevent and combat bullying, as well as facilitate prompt referral of victims for appropriate mental health assessment.