Cross-national time trends in bullying victimization in 33 countries among children aged 11, 13 and 15 from 2002 to 2010

Bullying among children and adolescents is a public health concern; victimization is associated with psychological and physical health problems. The purpose of this study is to examine temporal trends in bullying victimization among school-aged children in Europe and North America. Data were obtained from cross-sectional self-report surveys collected as part of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study from nationally representative samples of 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds, from 33 countries and regions which participated in the 2001-02, 2005-06 and 2009-10 surveys. Responses from 581 838 children were included in the analyses. Binary logistic regression was used for the data analyses. The binary logistic regression models showed significant decreasing trends in occasional and chronic victimization between 2001-02 and 2009-10 across both genders in a third of participating countries. One country reported significant increasing trends for both occasional and chronic victimization. Gender differences in trends were evident across many countries. Overall, while still common in many countries, bullying victimization is decreasing. The differences between countries highlight the need to further investigate measures undertaken in countries demonstrating a downward trend.