The cost incurred by victims of bullying from a societal perspective: estimates based on a German online survey of adolescents

Abstract

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.

Victimization by traditional bullying and cyberbullying and the combination of these among adolescents in 13 European and Asian countries

“…These include anxiety and depression [8][9][10], suicidal behavior [11,12], physical health problems, and socioeconomic disadvantages [10]. Victimization has also been associated with significantly reduced quality of life and financial losses [13].…”

Being a Blue Blood: A Phenomenological Study on the Lived Experiences of Police Officers’ Children

“…Additionally, Adolescence can be a time of struggle for many children and with the pressures of being teased or harassed because of something (parent's occupation) beyond the control of a child can be problematic. Jantzer et al (2019) suggest when adolescents are harassed it contributes to a reduction in their quality of life.…”

Cost-benefit Analysis of the KiVa Anti-bullying Program in the Netherlands

“…In addition to students, there are also costs of bullying incurred for adults. Parents of victimized children often have feelings of anger, frustration, and powerlessness, and are concerned about bullying to protect their child (Harcourt et al 2014;Sawyer et al 2011), which may result in loss of productivity (Jantzer et al 2019). Parents of victimized children are willing to change their children's school in case of bullying problems, and they are willing to pay 11 times more to reduce bullying than parents of non-victimized children (Agee and Crocker 2016).…”

“…These benefits are not only expected in the long term but also in the short term. For example, there are indications that victimization is associated with more annual direct (medical and non-medical) costs (more than €5000 difference for victims vs. non-victims), and productivity losses for parents of victims (Jantzer et al 2019). However, it is difficult to quantify these costs over the larger spectrum of antecedents and consequences of bullying, because these aspects can be related to each other.…”