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Background: Bullying victimisation is of global importance due to its long-term negative consequences. We examined the prevalence of victimisation and its inequalities in 15-year-olds across 71 countries. Methods: Data were from the Programme for International Student Assessment (March-August 2018). Students reported frequencies of relational, physical, and verbal victimisation during the last 12 months, which were analysed separately and combined into a total score. Prevalence of frequent victimisation (> a few times a month) was estimated, followed by mean differences in total score by gender, wealth and academic performance quintiles in each country. Meta-analyses were used to examine country differences. Findings: Of 421,437 students included, 113,602 (304%) experienced frequent victimisation, yet this varied by country-from 93% (Korea) to 648% (Philippines). Verbal and relational victimisation were more frequent (214%, 20.9%, respectively) than physical victimisation (152%). On average, boys (vs girls +023SD, 95%CI: 022024), students from the lowest wealth (vs highest +009SD, 008010) and with lowest academic performance (vs highest +049SD, 048050) had higher scores. However, there was substantial between-country heterogeneity in these associations (I 2 =85%98%). Similar results were observed for subtypes of victimisation-except relational victimisation, where gender inequalities were smaller. Interpretation: Globally, bullying victimisation was high, although the size, predominant subtype and strength of associations with risk factors varied by country. The large cross-country differences observed require further replication and empirical explanation, and suggest the need to and the large scope for reducing bullying victimisation and its inequity in the future.
Hosozawa et al. (Tue,) studied this question.