Board 317 Abstract Type: Research-Based.
 
Gender Differences in the Association Between Bullying Behaviors and Academic Achievement Among a Sample of Diverse Rural and Urban Adolescents.
 
Maria Guevara Galicia; Lydia Lising; Mikaela M. Rojas; Lizbeth Becerra; Eric Shanazari; Kimberly Rogers; Myriam Forster.
 
Background: Academic achievement, conceptualized as grade point average(GPA), is associated with college readiness and positive life course outcomes. While the literature suggests there are gender differences in school bullying outcomes, any involvement in bullying can compromise adolescent health and development. Although studies have found that bullying can compromise academic achievement, to date, few studies have explored gender and ethnic differences in the association between bullying involvement and academic achievement. bullying involvement and academic achievement.

Methods: Data (N=877) are baseline responses from students enrolled in a longitudinal study investigating social and environmental risk and protective factors for school and health outcomes among urban and rural students from three states. GLMs—controlling for sex, age, ethnicity, and state—tested the association between bullying behavior ( victims, and bullies or bully victims) and GPA, and whether there were any gender or ethnic differences in the bullying involvement - GPA relationship.
 
Results: The sample was 52% female, 25% African American, 23% Hispanic, 25% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 27% NH- White, and had an average GPA of 2.58 (SD=0.79). Over one in three students (37%) reported being bullied, and 19% reported being either a bully or a bully victim. Youth bully-victims(being both a victim and bullying others) had significantly lower GPA’s (b=-.17, p<.05), than their peers with no bullying involvement. There were no ethnic differences in this relationship however, female bully-victims had lower GPAs than their male bully-victim counterparts (p<.05).

Conclusion: Consistent with research identifying bully-victims as an especially high-risk group, our findings indicate that bully-victims, and particularly female bully victims ,had poorer academic outcomes than either victims only or students not involved in bullying. Future research should identify gender-specific protective factors so that school-based bullying prevention programs can develop tailored, effective programming.