Work

Homophobic Bullying Among Adolescents: Prevalence, Associations with Emotional Factors, Psychopathological Symptoms, and Predictors

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Despite progress in recognizing sexual diversity, homophobic bullying persists. This study had four objectives: (1) to identify the prevalence of homo-phobic bullying (victims, perpetrators, and bystanders); (2) to explore whether differ-ences exist between victims and perpetrators as a function of sexual orientation with re-spect to emotional factors and psychopathological symptoms; (3) to analyze whether victims and perpetrators of homophobic bullying have sought psychological assistance significantly more often; and (4) to identify predictive variables of victimization and perpetration of homophobic bullying. Methods: The sample comprised 1,558 Bolivian students aged 13 to 17 years (M = 14.64; SD = 0.96), who completed six standardized as-sessment instruments. Results: (1) A substantial percentage of students reported the oc-currence of homophobic bullying behaviors. Victims: 76.6% reported having experienced homophobic behaviors (with a higher proportion of non-heterosexual victims; no gender differences were observed). Perpetrators: 11.8% admitted engaging in homophobic ag-gressive behaviors (no significant differences by sexual orientation; a higher proportion of male perpetrators was identified). Bystanders: 51.9% reported witnessing homophobic behaviors (with higher prevalence among non-heterosexual and female students); (2) Analyses of variance showed that non-heterosexual victims scored significantly lower on emotional regulation, empathic joy, overall empathy, and happiness, and significantly higher on fear of negative social evaluation, overall social anxiety, all psychopathological symptom dimensions assessed (somatization, obsession–compulsion, interpersonal sen-sitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism), and the global severity index. Non-heterosexual perpetrators also displayed significantly higher scores on several psychopathological symptoms (depression, anxiety, hostility, paranoid ideation, psychoticism) and on the global severity index; (3) Victims and per-petrators of homophobic bullying reported significantly higher rates of seeking psycho-logical assistance in the past year compared to those uninvolved in bullying; and (4) Re-gression analyses identified five predictors of homophobic bullying victimization (high scores in the global severity index, fear of negative social evaluation, paranoid ideation, and low scores in empathy and happiness) and four predictors of perpetration (high scores in the global severity index and emotional perception, together with low scores in empathy and obsession–compulsion). Conclusions: The findings underscore the urgency of implementing school-based psychoeducational anti-bullying prevention programs that include activities designed to foster tolerance toward sexual diversity.

Source: Healthcare

DOI: 10.3390/healthcare13233119

Authors: Maite Garaigordobil, Juan Pablo Mollo-Torrico, Mónica Rodríguez-Enríquez

Institutions: University of the Basque Country, Universidade de Vigo

Language: English

Topic: Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities, Gender equality, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,258