Abstract:
Introduction: Bullying in school is prevalent in many countries around the world.
The impact of bullying gives out negative consequences such as depressive
symptoms towards psychological health and development of adolescents. More
research in bullying victimization and depressive symptoms among adolescents
needed in Malaysia.
Objective: To determine the relationship between bullying victimization and
depressive symptoms among secondary school students.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 355 students from
two secondary schools in Simpang Ampat, Penang. The study was conducted for two
weeks in March 2015. Stratified simple random sampling was used to select the
respondents. Self-administered questionnaire that contains socio-demographic
variables, perceived academic performance, Adolescent Peer Relation Instrument
scale and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for children were
used to detect the prevalence and variables that were associated.
Results: Significant association was found between bullying victimization and
depressive symptoms. Physical, verbal and social bullying victimization were
significantly associated. Variables that were significantly associated with bullying victimization were age, father’s education level and perceived academic
performance. Gender, perceived academic performance and social bullying
victimization were statistically significant with depressive symptoms.
Conclusion: The prevalence of bullying victimization was 82.8% and out of this
proportion, 54.5% of secondary school students were found to have depressive
symptoms. Being a female student, those who perceived below average for their
academic performance and socially bullied were the statistically significant variables
of depressive symptoms among secondary school students under the multivariate
analysis. These significant variables are important for the development of
intervention programs to prohibit negative effects towards adolescents. Awareness
campaign about the nature of bullying and its effects among secondary school
students needed.
Keywords : Bullying victimization, depressive symptoms, secondary school students
