摘要：Objectives. We examined trends from 1998 to 2010 in bullying, bullying victimization, physical fighting, and weapon carrying and variations by gender, grade level, and race/ethnicity among US adolescents. Methods. The Health Behavior in School-Aged Children surveys of nationally representative samples of students in grades 6 through 10 were completed in 1998 (n = 15 686), 2002 (n = 14 818), 2006 (n = 9229), and 2010 (n = 10 926). We assessed frequency of bullying behaviors, physical fighting, and weapon carrying as well as weapon type and subtypes of bullying. We conducted logistic regression analyses, accounting for the complex sampling design, to identify trends and variations by demographic factors. Results. Bullying perpetration, bullying victimization, and physical fighting declined from 1998 to 2010. Weapon carrying increased for White students only. Declines in bullying perpetration and victimization were greater for boys than for girls. Declines in bullying perpetration and physical fighting were greater for middle-school students than for high-school students. Conclusions. Declines in most violent behaviors are encouraging; however, lack of decline in weapon carrying merits further attention. Youth violence is a major public health concern. 1,2 Even violence that does not lead directly to morbidity or mortality may have mental health consequences. 3,4 Three prominent indicators of youth violence are bullying at school, physical fighting, and weapon carrying. These violent behaviors are associated with a number of negative behavioral and emotional outcomes that can last into adulthood. 5–10 A recent meta-analysis of longitudinal studies found bullying perpetration and victimization were both related to involvement in violence in the future. 8 Bullying and being a victim of bullying have also been found to predict depression and criminal offenses later in life. 5,7 A prospective longitudinal twin study in England found that frequent bullying victimization in childhood increased risk of self-harm. 11 Finally, a meta-analysis found that both victimized bullies and victims had higher risk for psychosomatic problems (such as aches, sleeping problems, poor appetite, bedwetting, and feeling tense) than noninvolved children. 6 In cross-sectional studies, physical fighting and weapon carrying have been associated with an increased likelihood of injury that required medical attention. 12 Physical fighting has also been concurrently associated with mental health problems, substance use, school adjustment problems, and violent crime. 10 Similarly, correlates of weapon carrying include substance use 13–15 and property offenses. 16 The national Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS) biennially assesses violent behaviors among 9th- through 12th-grade students. Bullying has only been assessed since 2009 and is limited to having been a victim of bullying on school property or having been bullied electronically. There has been no change in bullying victimization from 2009 to 2011. 17 Physical fighting and weapon carrying have been assessed since 1991. Physical fighting declined from 1991 to 2009, with no significant change from 2009 to 2011. 17 Weapon carrying declined from 1991 to 1999 but there has been no significant decrease since 1999. 17 Other than YRBS, there has been only 1 other nationally representative study of trends in violent behavior in the United States. Molcho et al. 18 examined trends in bullying and victimization in 11-, 13-, and 15-year-old adolescents in 27 European countries and the United States from 1994 to 2006 (only from 1998 to 2006 in the United States). They found a significant decrease in all measures of bullying (occasional and chronic victimization and bullying) among boys in the United States but no change among girls. However, they did not examine violent behaviors other than bullying and the sample was not adequate for testing differences in trends by characteristics other than gender. No studies to date have presented trends in bullying, being the victim of a bully (hereafter referred to as victimization ), physical fighting, and weapon carrying among US students before high school. The current study expands on the work by Molcho et al. 18 by examining more indicators of violent behavior in students aged 11 through 16 years with samples adequate for examining racial/ethnic, gender, and school-grade differences through 2010. It also expands on the YRBS data 17 by including students in grades 6 through 8 (as young as 11 years), more waves of data when assessing trends in bullying and bullying perpetration, and testing for differences in trends by gender, race/ethnicity, and grade in school. Little is known about trends in violent behaviors among younger adolescents, where bullying is more prevalent. 19 The 2 objectives of the current study were (1) to examine the trends in prevalence of bullying, physical fighting, and weapon carrying in US children and adolescents from grades 6 through 10 spanning 12 years (1998–2010); and (2) to test for variations by gender, grade, and race/ethnicity.
