Search Results

METHODS: This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (N = 7335), a population-based longitudinal study of individuals who were age 12 to 16 at the study outset. A typological measure was created where individuals were categorized as: (1) non-victims, (2) childhood victims (victims below the age of 12), (3) adolescent victims (victims between the age of 12 and 18), and (4) chronic victims (victims before age 12 and between age 12 and 18). The repeat bully victimization variable was then associated with several offending and victimization legal outcome measures experienced in late adolescence and adulthood.

RESULTS: Experiencing repeat bully victimizations was associated with an increase in respondent’s likelihood of engaging in substance use, delinquency, arrest, conviction, and incarceration. Experiencing repeat bully victimizations was also associated with an increase in respondent’s perceptions and experiences with violent victimizations. The association between these measures was consistently stronger for females while there were few differences across categories of race.

CONCLUSIONS: Being the victim of a bully during childhood and adolescence serves as a marker for subsequent legal problems and victimization in adolescence and adulthood. Prevention and intervention programs aimed at reducing involvement in delinquency, crime, and victimization would benefit by targeting bully victimizations as a risk factor.