BackgroundBeing a victim of bullying in school is clearly linked to various social, emotional, and behavioral problems including self-harm behavior. However, it is not known whether even occasional victimization has similar negative consequences and whether protective factors such as social support may prevent those harmful developments. The present study therefore focuses on the nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal behavior (SB) in victims of bullying and the potentially moderating effect of parental monitoring.MethodsIn all, a cross-sectional sample of 647 adolescents (mean age 12.8 years) were surveyed concerning bullying experiences, NSSI and SB, and parental monitoring.ResultsA total of 14.4 % of respondents reported being a victim of frequent bullying in the past few months (with verbal and social bullying playing the most important role), which increased the risks of both NSSI (OR = 11.75) and SB (OR = 6.08). This relationship could also be shown for occasional victims of bullying (35.6 %), although to a lesser extent. Parental monitoring had a significant protective effect on SB in victims of occasional bullying. However, parental monitoring did not show any protective effect in victims of repetitive bullying.ConclusionsVictims of bullying show a substantial risk for engaging in self-harm behavior. Therefore, the dissemination of anti-bullying programs in schools would probably also prevent such disorders. Parental participation in school-based prevention may increase its effect; this also matches the results of the present study, showing that parental monitoring may be able to buffer the negative effects of bullying victimization, at least to a certain degree.

Results suggest that the somatic illness of the parent is not a developmental risk that is expressed in increased levels of juvenile risk behavior. Adolescents with a parent suffering from cancer adjusted generally quite well to the parental illness, although some individuals did show signs of severe strain.

Bullying is a common and significant risk factor for mental and physical health problems. The aim of the outlined study was to evaluate the German version of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) and to investigate potential moderators of its effectiveness. 23 schools started with the implementation and all students were invited to complete the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire annually. For our analyses, the data from grades 5 to 9 were used (t0: n = 5759; t1: n = 5416; t2: n = 4894). 16 out of the 23 schools completed the 18-months implementation period. The effectiveness of the program statistically depended on its complete implementation (χ2(2) = 7.62, p = 0.022). In the group of non-completers, the prevalence of victimization did not change during the observation period of 2 years (χ2(2) = 4.64, p = 0.099). In the group of the completer schools, a significant decrease in bullying between t0 and t1 was found for victims (t0: 9.14%; t1: 6.87%; OR = 0.74; 95% CI 0.62–0.88; p = 0.001) and perpetrators (t0: 6.16%; t1: 4.42%; OR = 0.70; 95% CI 0.55–0.89; p = 0.004). After 24 months (t2), this decrease could be retained (victims: t2: 6.83%; OR = 0.73; 95%CI = 0.61–0.88; p = 0.001; perpetrators: t2: 4.63%; OR = 0.72; 95% CI 0.57–0.92; p = 0.009). Furthermore, we found the following moderators of program effectiveness in the completer schools: (1) gender (with a stronger decrease among victimized girls; p = 0.004) and (2) school grade (with a stronger decrease of victimization among grades 5–7; p = 0.028). The German version of the OBPP significantly reduced the bullying prevalence in the completer schools. Effective prevention needs time and resources: fulfilling the 18-months implementation period was the basis for positive results.

Being a victim of bullying is linked to various social, emotional and behavioral problems potentially leading to a reduced quality of life. Furthermore, victims of bullying may cause extensive costs for society, for example by an above-average need for healthcare services. The present study was designed to quantify the costs and the loss of quality of life attributable to bullying by comparing victims with a control group of non-bullied students. A cross-sectional sample of 1293 adolescents (mean age 14.07, SD = 1.36) and their parents reported on bullying victimization, quality of life (adolescents' self-report), and annual direct (medical and non-medical) as well as indirect costs (parents' self-report) from a societal perspective (all expressed in €, year 2014 and 2015). For frequent (20.6% of our sample; costs: €8461.80 p.a.) but not occasional (13.3%; costs: €2850.06) bullying, victimization was associated with significantly higher costs compared to non-bullied adolescents (costs: €3138.00; annual difference between frequently bullied students and controls: €5323.01 p.a.; p = 0.008). Cost drivers included increased direct medical costs, but mostly indirect costs caused by productivity losses of the parents. Self-reported quality of life of frequent victims was considerably reduced (T = - 10.96; p < 0.001); also occasional bullying showed significantly reduced values in global quality of life (T = - 5.73; p < 0.001). The present findings demonstrate that frequent bullying is associated with substantial cost to society and reduced quality of life of victims. This observation underscores the need for effective school-based bullying prevention and suggests a high potential of effective programs to be cost effective as well.