School Bullying and Dating Violence in Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Involvement in bullying perpetration or victimization could be risk factors for perpetration or victimization in early romantic relationships that emerge within an evolving peer group. Nevertheless, research on this topic is still in its early stages. This study was conducted to fill these gaps in knowledge through a comprehensive research synthesis. After systematic searches and application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, 23 projects that reported relations between bullying (perpetration and victimization) and dating violence (perpetration and victimization) were included in this meta-analysis. Bullying perpetration was related to dating violence perpetration (odds ratio [ OR] = 1.98), and this relation held after adjusting for covariates ( OR = 1.29). Moderator analyses showed that this effect was significant for males and females and stronger in cross-sectional studies. There was also a significant relation between bullying perpetration and dating violence victimization ( OR = 2.59), but this was much weaker after controlling for covariates ( OR = 1.09) and stronger for males and in longitudinal studies. Bullying victimization was related to dating violence victimization ( OR = 2.51), also after adjusting for covariates ( OR = 1.96), stronger for females and longitudinal projects. The relation between bullying victimization and dating violence perpetration was not statistically significant (unadjusted OR = 1.43, adjusted OR = 1.01). More research is needed to confirm these results, but this meta-analysis suggests that bullying and dating violence could be different behavioral manifestations, in different evolutionary moments and in different contexts, of the same underlying antisocial or violent dispositions, although longitudinal studies are needed to confirm this. Tailored and comprehensive interventions could be useful to tackle both problem behaviors.