Risk and Protective Factors associated with Bullying among Vermont Students

Background: Recent research has linked depressive episodes and behavior to bullying victimization, adding to a decade of research associating bullying victimization with multiple risk and protective factors. Objective: We aimed to determine how risk and protective factors differ among Vermont high school students who are bullied electronically as compared to in-person. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional analysis and applied descriptive and logistic regression on the 2015 Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n=20,013). Results: We found that students who reported depression, suicide attempts, or physical fighting were more likely to report both in-person and electronic bullying victimization, compared to those who only reported one form of bullying or those who did not report bullying at all. Additionally, students who were bullied and reported feeling disengaged within their community were less likely to report depression, suicide attempts, and physical violence than students who reported community engagement. Conclusions: Students who experienced both in-person and electronic bullying were associated with higher levels of depression, suicide attempts, and physical violence. While students who were disengaged within their community reported higher levels of bullying. Other risk factors that may have contributed to this association should be explored further. The relationship between the risk and protective factors associated with bullying and community engagement have important implications for public health in Vermont