Predictors of Bullying Behavior, Victimization, and Bully-Victim Risk Among High School Students With Disabilities
Remedial and Special Education
Published online on March 24, 2016
Abstract
The literature on bullying among students with disabilities is burgeoning. The purpose of this study was to examine risk factors for adolescents’ involvement in bullying across the bullying continuum. Drawing from the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2 (NLTS2), 2,870 adolescents with disabilities were sampled. Results from multinomial regression analyses indicated that internalizing symptoms and interpersonal skills were significant predictors of victimization and bully-victimization risk, respectively. Disability status emerged as a significant predictor only for bullying behavior. Ethnic differences were found for victimization roles, but not for bullying, suggesting that Caucasian students were most vulnerable to being the target of bullying or serving dual roles as bully-victims relative to students from other ethnic backgrounds. Implications for these findings are discussed.