| Abstract [eng] |
Bullying is a very relevant problem in Lithuania and worlwide, especially among children and adolescents. About a quarter of adolescents experience both online and traditional bullying. Bullying can start because of a variety of reasons. And bullying at a young age can have consequences for adolescents‘ mental health that can continue into adulthood. Although bullying has been studied for a long time, it still remains common among teenagers. So the purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of bullying among Lithuanian adolescents and determine its impact, along with other factors, on their mental health. Tasks: 1. To assess the prevalence and frequency of bullying experienced by Lithuanian teenagers according to certain demographic indicators and to find out the factors influencing bullying. 2. To assess the mental health of adolescents considering their sense of happiness and general health. 3. To assess which factors have the greatest influence on the mental health of adolescents. Methodology: An anonymous written questionnaire was conducted from Semptember to December 2023, involving students from schools in different cities and districts of Lithuania. Only 7th – 10th grade students participated. The questionnaire consisted of different blocks of questions: about demographic data (city/district, gender, class, age); bullying experienced in the last 6 months at school, outside of school and online; family (parents with whom you lice at home and financial situation); about general well-being (feelings of health and happiness). R (version 4.2.3) and Microsoft Excel programs were used for analysis, statistically significant results were evaluated when p value <0,05. Results: The study included 4124 respondents of which 2014 (49,35%) boys, 1943 (47,61%) girls and 123 (3,04%) participants who identified as another gender. The average age was 14,48 ± 1,15 years. A total of 950 (23,92%) students were in the 7th grade, 984 (24,78%) in the 8th grade, 1050 (26,44%) in the 9th grade (1st year of gymnasium) and 987 (24,86%) in the 10th grade (2nd year of gymnasium). 1778 (48,81%) respondents reported as happy and 2428 (63,11%) as healthy. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between experiences of bullying and feeling of happiness and general health. Also, a statistically significant positive correlation was found between feeling of happiness and general health. The majority of those who have almost never experienced bullying feel happy and healthy. Conclusions: After evaluating the results of this study, we found that bullying is widespread among Lithuanian teenagers and has negative impact on their mental health, as it affects the teenagers’ sense of happiness and can negatively affect their general health. |
