Most third-grade high-school students in Western Herzegovina Canton were exposed to multi-type maltreatment in childhood, regardless of the war experience. Emotional and physical abuse were most frequently combined forms of maltreatment. Sociodemographic and family characteristics and exposure to some forms of abuse were significant predictors of exposure to other forms of abuse. Exposure to maltreatment in childhood predicted difficulties in psychological adjustment in adolescence.

Objective -To examine the relationship between bullying and difficulties in psychological adjustment among elementary school students due to their role in bullying behavior, arousal level and strategies of coping with bullying behavior. Methods -The study was conducted on a convenience sample of 478 primary school children (232 girls and 246 boys), 11 to 15 years of age. A School Relationship Questionnaire (SRQ) was used to assess direct, verbal and relational forms of bullying. To determine the coping strategies we used the Self -Report Coping Measure (SRCM). The arousal level was assessed by The Arousal Predisposition Scale (APS), while Youth Self-Report (YSR) was used for assessing current psychological adjustment. Results -The present study identified 29% of children involved in bullying; 14% of children were categorized as victims, 7% as bullies and 8% as bully/victims. There was statistically significant combined effect of the role of victims and bully/victims, levels of arousal and coping strategies with bullying (internalizing, externalizing, and distancing) on difficulties in psychological adjustment. Conclusion -Based on the results of this study, we can conclude that bullying as psychosocial stress is an important risk factor for psychological problems in childhood. At the same time, coping strategies are important determinants of successful adaptation.

SAŽETAKIako je zanemarivanje djece mnogo češće negoli zlostavljanje, a njihove posljedice barem jednako ozbiljne kao i posljedice zlostavljanja, još uvijek nije dovoljno prepoznato te mu posvećuje manje pažnje nego fizičkom ili spolnom zlostavljanju. Pažnju javnosti i stručnjaka obično privlače slučajevi fizičkog zanemarivanja u kojem su vidljive izravne posljedice zanemarivanja, bilo da je riječ o pothranjenosti ili o nesposobnosti i nebrizi roditelja da zaštite dijete od ozljeda. Međutim, mnogi oblici zanemarivanja, na primjer emocionalno zanemarivanje, ne ostavljaju vidljive tragove. Ovi manje očiti oblici zanemarivanja nerijetko imaju razoran utjecaj na djetetov razvoj (Briere i sur., 1996.).Istraživanja zanemarivanja počela su tek sredinom 80-ih godina prošlog stoljeća (Briere i sur., 1996.). Ipak, u novije vrijeme, sve je više stručnjaka i istraživača koji naglašavaju važnost prepoznavanja zanemarivanja jer se ono obično javlja kao prethodnik raznim oblicima

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