Adolescent Bullying and Weapon Carrying: A Longitudinal Investigation

Using four data waves from an ongoing longitudinal study, we examined the longitudinal association between weapon carrying and bullying (i.e., bully, victim, bully-victim). Participants were 1,042 adolescents (55.9% female) recruited from Texas high schools, including Hispanic (31.7%), White (30.3%), African American (26.6%), and other (11.4%) with a mean age of 15.1 years at baseline. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that only baseline bully-victim was linked to weapon carrying and only 1 year later (Adjusted odds ratio = 1.76, 95% confidence interval: 1.08, 2.85), after controlling for baseline weapon carrying, age, gender, race, and parent education. No significant longitudinal association was found with bully or victim. Findings emphasize the importance of interventions targeting both bullying perpetrators and victims, while also highlighting the necessity of longitudinal research.