Bullying Victimization and Substance Use Behaviors Among U.S. Middle School Students – 13 States, 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey

• In Event: Roundtable: Bullying Victimization and Substance Use Among U.S. Middle School Students – 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey

Abstract

Childhood bullying victimization is most frequently reported among middle school youth and has been associated with a wide range of other youth risk behaviors, including substance use. This study provides an important pre-pandemic assessment of bullying victimization and substance use among U.S. middle school students. Secondary, cross-sectional logistic regression analyses of 2019 Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data from 13 states assessing bullying victimization (N=73,742 students) examined associations between reporting any experience of being bullied (at school, electronically, and both) and the initiation of alcohol use, marijuana use, vaping, and prescription medication misuse. Across the sample, the three measures of bullying victimization were all significantly associated (p<.05) with initiation of each of the four types of substances examined (adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) were 1.25-2.13 for alcohol, 1.62-2.59 for marijuana, 1.15-2.26 for vaping, and 1.50-2.63 for prescription drugs). These associations generally held across sex and race/ethnicity subgroups. An increased focus on bullying and substance use prevention programs, tailored to online settings and younger adolescents, could help to stop the early initiation of these frequently associated risk behaviors, potentially interrupting youth’s trajectories towards even more harmful forms of violence and other adverse outcomes.

Authors

• Colleen Barbero, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Kevin Vagi, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Heather Clayton, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Kristin Holland, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Marci Hertz, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Kathleen Krause, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Melissa Mercado-Crespo, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention