Bullying and subjective health among adolescents at schools in Latvia and Lithuania

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of bullying among adolescents in Latvia and Lithuania and to study its association with self-rated health, health complaints, and life satisfaction. METHODS: A total of 3417 students in Latvia and 5626 in Lithuania were surveyed using the Health Behaviour Study among School-aged Children 2001/2002 (HBSC) questionnaire and research protocol. RESULTS: Being a victim, bully, or bully/victim was reported by 30.1% adolescents in Latvia and 52.3% in Lithuania with the highest proportion reporting being a victim. Bullying was associated with poor subjective health and low life satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The factors explaining the difference of bullying prevalence between both countries should be studied to develop effective anti-bullying interventions relevant to local conditions.