School Bullying Experience and Current Well-Being Among Students

Abstract

The article aims to research the relationships of the actual well-being of students with their experience of participating in bullying at school age.The materials of qualitative and quantitative analysis of empirical data obtained on a sample of 274 students of the Moscow university (average age M=19.2, 20% men) are presented.The methods used were the Scale of Well-being, the Scale of Authenticity, the Scale of Depression, the Scale of Experiences in Close Relationships, as well as several questions about the experience of bullying in school.The results show that the frequency of school bullying and the role, played in these situations in the past, are significantly associated with the current level of depression and anxiety and avoidance in close relationships.It is also shown that, according to self-reports, the experience of bullying in school can be followed by delayed negative consequences, manifested in difficulties in self-attitude and relationships with other people, physical and mental disorders, as well as problems with social achievements.A comparison of the experience of socialization in school and university shows that there are different trajectories of experiencing one’s well-being within an educational organization: a university can become a resource environment after a difficult school experience; it can be perceived as a more formal space after close-knit communication in school; and a school and a university can be perceived as environments similar in friendliness or, conversely, in hostility.

Keywords

• school bullying
• consequences of bullying
• well-being
• depression
• authenticity
• quality of close relationships
• schoolchildren
• students