Abstract
A commonly suggested strategy for addressing bullying is for victims to seek help from a trusted person. Despite this recommendation, there are a group of adolescent victims who choose not to seek help. This study aimed to identify factors associated with not seeking help among adolescents who experienced bullying victimisation. A sub-sample of youth who self-reported being bullied (N = 652) was drawn from an Australian nationally representative household survey of adolescents aged 11–17 years (N = 2,967). Adolescent participants and their parents completed survey items on demographics, bullying experiences, mental health, school, and family characteristics. Overall, 45.3% of bullied adolescents did not seek help. Neither the type, frequency, nor levels of distress caused by the bullying victimisation were associated with help-seeking. Age was no longer associated with increased odds of not seeking help for bullying victimisation, after controlling for mental health, social, and interpersonal functioning. In a multivariate logistic regression model examining demographic, mental health, social, and interpersonal factors, those with poorer prosocial skills, lower perceived social support, and higher internet use had increased odds of not seeking help for bullying victimisation (OR = 2.81, 95% CI = 1.00, 7.93; OR = 2.70, 95% CI = 1.32, 5.52; and OR = 2.19, 95% CI = 1.11, 4.33, respectively). Identifying and supporting young people who are socially isolated and/or have poorer prosocial skills may improve help-seeking among adolescents who experience bullying victimisation. This approach has the potential to address victimisation earlier in its course thereby reducing consequent harm.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Roy Morgan Research and the team of interviewers who undertook the fieldwork for the survey, as well as the 6310 families who took part in the survey.
Funding
The second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health. Supervision for the current project was provided by academic staff within the University of Queensland. HJT and JGS are affiliated with the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research which receives its core funding from the Queensland Department of Health. JGS is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Practitioner Fellowship Grant APP1105807. SRZ is funded by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (CE140100027).
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Matuschka, L.K., Scott, J.G., Campbell, M.A. et al. Correlates of Help-Seeking Behaviour in Adolescents Who Experience Bullying Victimisation. Int Journal of Bullying Prevention 4, 99–114 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-021-00090-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-021-00090-x