Bullying victimization among adolescents during the early phase of war in Ukraine - A comparative cross-sectional...

War profoundly impacts adolescent development and may increase the likelihood of aggressive responses when such behavior is perceived as acceptable and accessible. War may, hence, exacerbate a form of interpersonal violence already prevalent among children and adolescents.

We conducted a comparative cross-sectional study 2 years after the Russian invasion of Eastern Ukraine in 2014 by comparing the prevalence of bullying victimization among adolescents aged 11-17 years (N = 2766) in two administrative regions with different levels of wartime traumatic stressor exposure.

Female adolescents in the war-affected region were bullied more often compared to those in the non-affected region [65.3% vs. 56.3%, adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 1.5, 95% CI 1.2-1.9]. For both boys and girls, symptoms of psychopathology were associated with bullying victimization often [girls: depression (aOR = 2.9, 95% CI 2.4-3.4); boys: depression (aOR = 3.3, 95% CI 2.6-4.1) and PTSD (aOR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.4-2.02)]. In the war-affected region, a dose-response relationship between bullying victimization often and war-event exposure was observed in both sexes [girls: 1-3 war-events (aOR = 1.4, 95% CI 0.7-2.6), 4-6 (aOR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.3-4.5) and ≥7 (aOR = 5.5, 95% CI 2.7-11.1); boys: 1-3 (aOR = 1.4, 95% CI 0.7-2.8), 4-6 (aOR = 3.2, 95% CI 1.7-6.3), and ≥7 (aOR = 6.8, 95% CI 3.1-14.8)].

War exposure was associated with bullying victimization, with girls being bullied more often than boys. Bullying victimization was linked to cumulative traumatic stressor exposure in the war-affected region for both sexes.