Concurrent and prospective associations between bullying victimization and substance use among Australian adolescents

Background: Adolescence is a vulnerable time for both substance use and bullying involvement; however, there is limited research on substance use among adolescent victims of bullying. This study aimed to examine concurrent and prospective associations between bullying and substance use, differentiating between passive-victims, bully-victims and 'pure' bullies. Method: Associations between bullying involvement and substance use at baseline and 24 months post-baseline were examined in a cohort of adolescents in Australia. Bullying victims were divided into passive-victims (those who get bullied and do not bully others) and bully-victims (those who both get bullied and bully others). Perpetrators of bullying were divided into 'pure' bullies (those who bully others but do not get bullied), and bully-victims (as above). Outcomes examined were past six month use of alcohol (any drinking; risky drinking), tobacco, and cannabis. Results: While there was no evidence of an association between bullying victimization and/or perpetration and substance use at baseline, there was evidence of an association between bullying and substance use 24 months post-baseline. Specifically, there was evidence of increased odds of risky drinking and cannabis use for the bully-victim group. Conclusions: Bully-victim status at age 13 was associated with substance use at age 15, controlling for concurrent bullying involvement at age 15. Bully-victims are a particularly high-risk group that could benefit from targeted substance use preventive interventions. Reducing bullying is of great importance in reducing substance use and other harms among adolescents. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.