Prevalencia y factores asociados al bullying en adolescentes de 9 a 16 años en Chile.

Introduction: School bullying is a prevalent problem in the school context, which has been associated with mental health disorders and educational difficulties. Objectives: i) To determine the prevalence of bullying and its types among adolescents; ii) Determine cut-off points for the Olweus Bully Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ-R) instrument for the detection of victims and perpetrators according to levels of psychological distress; iii) Determine psychological distress (emotional symptoms, behavioral problems, inattention / hyperactivity, and problems with peers) through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in victims and perpetrators; iv) Explore the associations between bullying and mental health. Methods: Cross-sectional study that included 2,772 students between the ages of 9 and 16 in the Metropolitan and Valparaíso regions. The prevalence and level of psychological distress were calculated according to different cut-off points of the OBVQ-R. Finally, simple regression models were performed with the SDQ scales as dependent variables and the different forms of bullying as independent variables. Results: The OBVQ-R cut-off scores (lower = once or twice in the last 2 months; upper = 2 or 3 times in the last month) indicated prevalences for victimization of 25.5% and 11.1%, respectively. The prevalence of perpetration was 20.9% and 5.7%, respectively. Psychological discomfort was significantly higher from the lower cut-off point, and associated with various types of bullying. Conclusions: Future research should consider exploring different forms of bullying because they all appear to be relevant to adolescent mental health.