School Bullying in African American Adolescents: an Examination of Contributing Factors

Background: Black adolescents are primarily identified as perpetrators of bullying incidents in literature. However, research has shown that bullying occurs more frequently in this group than shown in the literature. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the interrelationship between intrapersonal (grade level, gender, family income, and family structure), interpersonal (peer relationships), institutional (school climate), and community factors (exposure to violence) and the occurrence of bullying victimization among Black adolescents in the US. using the Social Ecological Model and the Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory as a framework. Methods: The aims of this study were accomplished via statistical analysis of the 2017 School Crime Supplement of the National Crime and Victimization Survey. Variables for this study were analyzed using Chi-square analysis and binary logistic regression. Results: Results from these analyses provided significant evidence of multi-level factors contributing to bullying in Black adolescents. Gender, grade level, school climate, family structure, parent marital status, peer relationships, school activities, crime, income, and exposure to violence were found to have meaningful impacts on the occurrence of bullying victimization in this population. Conclusion: Future work should examine bullying victimization from a longitudinal perspective to find links between bullying and health outcomes across the lifespan.