Examining Students’ Academic and Mental Health Outcomes Related to Bullying Experiences Across Racial and School Demographics

• In Event: Posters II

Abstract

We examined the associations between students’ perceptions of academic expectations from teachers as well as their depressive symptoms as moderated by their experience of bullying. Differences by race, gender and socioeconomic status will be explored in the final analyses. Multilevel hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to assess the associations between students’ perceptions of academic and mental health outcomes in 4198 randomly-selected students in grades 6th – 12th in 45 randomly-selected schools located in one state in the United States. The minority stress model was used to argue that stigma, prejudice and discrimination related to bullying creates a hostile and stressful social environment that causes mental health problems for marginalized groups of students (Meyer, 2003). Results suggest that students who are bullied during the academic school year and the way they perceive the academic expectations placed on them by their teachers are predictors of depressive symptoms. Race was also a predictor of depressive symptoms.

Authors

• Alexandria Sarissa Pech, University of Arizona

• Sheri Bauman, The University of Arizona

• Dominique Wilson, The University of Arizona