Premium
Extracurricular Activities and Bullying Perpetration: Results From a Nationally Representative Sample
Author(s) -
Riese Alison,
Gjelsvik Annie,
Ranney Megan L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12282
Subject(s) - ethnic group , psychological intervention , injury prevention , odds ratio , psychology , suicide prevention , poison control , confidence interval , logistic regression , occupational safety and health , odds , human factors and ergonomics , clinical psychology , demography , medicine , environmental health , psychiatry , pathology , sociology , anthropology
BACKGROUND Bullying is a widespread problem for school‐aged children and adolescents. Interventions to reduce bullying are not well disseminated. Extracurricular involvement is, however, common. This study aims to examine the relationship between parent‐reported participation in extracurricular activities and bullying perpetration. METHODS Using the 2011 National Survey of Children's Health, 62,215 interviews with parents of children 6 to 17 were analyzed. Extracurricular categories of sports only, sports + nonsport, nonsport only, and no activities were based on parental response to questions regarding sport teams/lessons, clubs, and organizations. Bullying was derived from report of the child “bullying or being cruel/mean to others.” Weighted bivariate analyses, logistic regression, and sex/race/ethnicity/age stratified analyses were conducted. RESULTS Eighty percent of children participated in extracurricular activities: 8% sports, 48% sports + nonsports, and 24% nonsports. Bullying perpetration was reported in 15% of the sample. Compared with those not participating in extracurricular activities, the odds of bullying were significantly lower for children who participated in sports + nonsports (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 0.67, 95% confidence interval [ CI ] 0.57‐0.79) and nonsport only ( AOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.70‐0.97). Stratified analyses showed attenuated effects of extracurricular activities for boys and for Hispanics. CONCLUSIONS Children who participate in a variety of extracurricular activities exhibit the least frequent bullying perpetration.