P-60 Bullying Behaviors and Correlates among Elementary and Middle School Girls in Berrien County, Michigan

Bullying, defined repeated harmful acts and an imbalance of power between the bully and his/ her victim (Nansel 2001), is a widespread problem among school-aged girls. Nansel and colleagues (2001) found that 25.6% of girls said they were bullied and 23.2% admitting to bullying others in the past year. This study examined rates of bullying behaviors and responses to bullying for girls who participated in the Girls on the Run (GOTR) program. Data were collected in spring 2013 on 510 elementary and middle school girls across 28 schools in Berrien County, Michigan. The study included five questions related to personal involvement in or witnessing bullying and rumor spreading. Frequencies showed that 39.8% of girls admitted to bullying someone in the previous year. Cross tabulations examined bullying behaviors by ethnicity, self-esteem, and parent and teacher relationships. Pearson’s chi-squared tests found that: 1) Caucasians had the higher rates of bullying (compared to other ethnic groups); 2) higher self-esteem related to lower bullying behaviors; 3) girls with stronger parent and teacher relationships were more likely to tell an adult when they saw bullying behaviors. Data suggest that improving self-concept may reduce bullying behavior and strengthening parental bonds may result in increased reporting