Risk Factors and Psychological Outcomes of School Bullying Among Adolescents in Ghana

Abstract

Building on current knowledge, the primary aim of this study was to examine the association between self reported bullying and victimisation behaviour and risk factors such as sensation seeking, and emotional intelligence after controlling for self esteem, parental attachment, age and gender. The study also examined how bullying and victimisation influence depression and suicidal ideations. Self-report questionnaires were administered to three hundred and fifty five (355) adolescent students who were conveniently and randomly sampled from selected Junior High and Senior High Schools respectively in Accra. Hierarchical regression was used to analyse and test the hypothesis formulated in the study. The results obtained showed that sensation seeking and emotional intelligence significantly predicted bullying perpetration after controlling for age, gender, parental attachment and self-esteem. Sensation seeking contributed significantly, though modestly, to variance explained in victimisation behaviour; however, emotional intelligence did not significantly predict victimisation behaviour after controlling for age, gender, parental attachment and self-esteem. Bullying and victimisation behaviour were not found to predict depression and suicide ideations after controlling for age, gender, parental attachment, sensation seeking, emotional intelligence and self-esteem. These findings can inform school-based intervention with perpetrators and victims of bullying.