Examining Predictors of Bullying Victimisation in Indonesian Children

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify both protective and risk factors that serve as predictors of bullying victimisation among Indonesian children. This study uses data from the Children’s Worlds survey in Indonesia on 10- and 12-year-old children (N = 14,576; 49.35% boys; 47.05% 10-year-olds) who reported whether they had been bullied at home or in school in the past month. Data were analysed using binary logistic regression. Five bullying victimisation indicators (at home and at school) were employed as dependent variables, namely being hit by siblings, being called unkind names by siblings, being hit by other children in school, being called unkind names by other children in school and being left out by other children in the class. There were also five groups of independent variables: sociodemographic variables; three groups of perception variables about family, friends and school, which are measured through an agreement scale; and reported fights among children at school, measured through a frequency scale. Among the factors that increase the probability of the different types of bullying victimisation are not getting along well with friends, fights between children at school and frequent arguments between children in the class. In contrast to the other four bullying victimisation indicators, the likelihood of boys being left out by other children in the class is much lower than for girls. A negative school climate increases the odds of children being victimised at school. These results are of interest to parents, teachers and policymakers who seek to develop actions to decrease the likelihood of bullying incidents and to protect children from being victimised.