Background

Bullying is an emergent problem that is growing in importance on account of its increasing prevalence and its impact on the children that experience it (health, academic or psychosocial problems).

Objectives

To analyse and determine the different characteristics of victims and bullies, explore their health problems, identify the characteristics of cyberbullying and assess the effectiveness of interventions targeting students for the prevention of bullying.

Materials and methods

The sample included 65 students (59.4% female, 21.9% victims and 17.2% bullies), that completed a validated questionnaire about school bullying. We used a pre-test, post-intervention study and established intervention and control groups.

Results

We found differences between victims and non-victims in academic problems, the location of the computer in the habitual residence of the child and in feelings of sadness. We found that 12.5% of surveyed students reported having witnessed cyberbullying in the past 2 months. We found differences between the pre-test and post-test periods in several variables (ignoring, badmouthing, hitting, hiding belongings). Lastly, we found significant differences between the intervention and the control groups in the stealing of belongings.

Conclusions

In conclusion, our findings corroborated the importance of the early detection of school bullying and the need to implement interventions to decrease its prevalence.

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