Bullying and Cyberbullying Victimization and Weapon Carrying: A 3-Step Latent Class Analysis with a Covariate and a Distal Outcome

Abstract

The current study identified latent classes of victimization based on the prevalence of different forms of bullying and cyberbullying victimization experienced by 4,933 U.S. adolescents (ages 12-18) who took the 2013 School Crime Supplement of the National Crime Victimization Survey. Latent class analysis (LCA) with school behavior management as a covariate and reports of weapon carrying as a distal outcome differentiated four groups of adolescents who experienced a) mostly face-to-face bullying victimization (C1, N=497), b) mostly cyberbullying victimization (C2, N=114); c) minimal or no bullying or cyberbullying victimization (C3, N=4,257); and d) critical levels of both bullying and cyberbullying victimization (C4, N=67). More effective behavior management at school significantly increased the probability of membership to latent classes with lower levels of victimization. Further, in reference to C3, members of C1 and C4 were approximately 20% more likely to carry weapons to school.