School-aged adolescents in Sierra Leone were found to have a prevalence of 48.7% of having been bullied on one or more days over the preceding 30 days, with a prevalence of 53.1% among boys and a prevalence of 46.9% among girls. Research on bullying in eight African countries [7] found rates that were higher than those found in this study, ranging from 25% in Tanzania to 63% in Zambia. In comparison, research on bullying in nine developing countries [8] found lower rates, with 42% of males and 39% of females reporting being bullied (at least once in the preceding 30 days). Differences in survey years, sample sizes, and contextual factors such as differences in schools, neighbourhoods, and cultures may all explain these discrepancies [9].
In line with the findings of earlier research [7, 10, 11, 12], this one indicated that boys were more likely to have been bullied than girls.
Bullying was more common among those who used drugs like cannabis and alcohol. According to a growing body of national and international research, adolescents who are bullied are at increased risk for drug usage and misuse [13]. Previous research [14, 15] has shown that teenage drug usage increases the likelihood of being bullied as a victim. Although several researchers have shown that substance addiction increases a teen's risk of being bullied [14, 16], most of these investigations have focused on cigarettes. As a result, this study's discovery that cannabis and alcohol usage raise the risk of being bullied lays the stage for future research aiming to replicate this study.
Researchers have shown a strong correlation between bullying victimization and subsequent suicide attempts [17, 18]. We found that students who had tried suicide were more likely to be bullied at school, confirming these previous results. This result exemplifies the fact that not only can suicidal attempts predict bullying victimization, but victimization by bullies may also increase the risk of suicide attempts. Suicide attempts are more common among bully victims because of the sentiments of isolation and rejection that they experience, as stated in Opperman et al [19]. Suicide thoughts and attempted suicide are further exacerbated by poor self-esteem [20] and impaired self-worth [21]. Our results show that contrary to what has been found in the existing research, the risk of a teenager experiencing bullying at school may be predicted by whether or not they had attempted suicide.
The likelihood of being bullied is higher for those who often feel alone. This conclusion is congruent with the findings from Dembo and Gulledge [22], which showed that teenage victims of bullying were more prone to experience despair and loneliness. Because adolescence is a time of change and growth, it is natural for teenagers to seek community and friendship. When this isn't the case, teenagers instead experience isolation, which make them more vulnerable to many forms of bullying [23].
In addition, this research found no association between being closely supervised by parents and having close friends [12, 24]. The research found that school truancy is associated with a higher risk of being bullied. This can be addressed with Check and Connect as a school-based intervention program that encourages adolescents to attend class on a consistent basis and addresses issues including absenteeism and a lack of parental or guardian connection [25, 26]. In the checking phase, we look for warning signals, such as missing school, that might indicate a problem. The connecting part of the concept uses a personalized mentor/monitor setup to establish a lasting bond with the student, their loved ones, and the school community [26].
Policy and practice implication
In order to reflect the experiences of each demographic subgroup more accurately, anti-bullying initiatives in schools should focus on the unique challenges that students face at each grade level. Other school-based involvement should include the fact that many teenagers, particularly boys, experience physical forms of bullying victimization e.g., physical fights, are assaulted, display signs of loneliness, and may try suicide. School administrators and policymakers should work together to improve school environment by reviving and developing new anti-bullying programs and improving the effectiveness of current ones.
Study Limitations
This study has limitations. To begin with, only teenagers who were school going and physically present on the day the data was conducted were considered so our findings are not a representative of all adolescents in Sierra Leone. Second, we used a cross-sectional research design, which makes it difficult to draw conclusions. Third, since data collected was provided by the participants themselves, our research may be affected by recall bias. Finally, despite the fact that the data were obtained in 2017, we portrayed them as recent since this research paints the most up-to-date picture to date of the prevalence of bullying among school going adolescents in Sierra Leone. However, further GSHS surveys in the future will be required to investigate links between bullying victimization and health behaviors, psychological distress, and protective factors. In spite of these caveats, to the best of our knowledge, this research is the first to use nationally representative data to assess the prevalence of bullying victimization among school-going teenagers aged 11–18 years in Sierra Leone.