The cost incurred by victims of bullying from a societal perspective

• Verfasst von: Jantzer, Vanessa [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Parzer, Peter [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Resch, Franz [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Kaess, Michael [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: The cost incurred by victims of bullying from a societal perspective
• Titelzusatz: estimates based on a German online survey of adolescents
• Verf.angabe: Vanessa Jantzer, Michael Schlander, Johann Haffner, Peter Parzer, Sarah Trick, Franz Resch, Michael Kaess
• Jahr: 2019
• Jahr des Originals: 2018
• Umfang: 10 S.
• Fussnoten: First Online: 17 September 2018 ; Gesehen am 30.01.2020
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: European child & adolescent psychiatry
• Ort Quelle: Darmstadt : Steinkopff, 1992
• Jahr Quelle: 2019
• Band/Heft Quelle: 28(2019), 4, Seite 585-594
• ISSN Quelle: 1435-165X
• DOI: doi:10.1007/s00787-018-1224-y
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• Sach-SW: Bullying
• Sach-SW: Cost of illness
• Sach-SW: Economics
• Sach-SW: Healthcare
• Sach-SW: Prevention
• Sach-SW: Victimization
• K10plus-PPN: 1688906606

Abstract

Being a victim of bullying is linked to various social, emotional and behavioral problems potentially leading to a reduced quality of life. Furthermore, victims of bullying may cause extensive costs for society, for example by an above-average need for healthcare services. The present study was designed to quantify the costs and the loss of quality of life attributable to bullying by comparing victims with a control group of non-bullied students. A cross-sectional sample of 1293 adolescents (mean age 14.07, SD = 1.36) and their parents reported on bullying victimization, quality of life (adolescents’ self-report), and annual direct (medical and non-medical) as well as indirect costs (parents’ self-report) from a societal perspective (all expressed in €, year 2014 and 2015). For frequent (20.6% of our sample; costs: €8461.80 p.a.) but not occasional (13.3%; costs: €2850.06) bullying, victimization was associated with significantly higher costs compared to non-bullied adolescents (costs: €3138.00; annual difference between frequently bullied students and controls: €5323.01 p.a.; p = 0.008). Cost drivers included increased direct medical costs, but mostly indirect costs caused by productivity losses of the parents. Self-reported quality of life of frequent victims was considerably reduced (T = − 10.96; p < 0.001); also occasional bullying showed significantly reduced values in global quality of life (T = − 5.73; p < 0.001). The present findings demonstrate that frequent bullying is associated with substantial cost to society and reduced quality of life of victims. This observation underscores the need for effective school-based bullying prevention and suggests a high potential of effective programs to be cost effective as well.