Bullying in Swiss Youth Born with a Unilateral Cleft lip and Palate by Self- and Parent-Report.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to gain a better understanding of bullying as victims and aggressors in youths born with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP).

Design: This is an observational study comparing youths with UCLP (ages 8-16) and their parents with a control group (CG) of children in state schools and their parents.

Participants: Forty-one youths (43% female; mean age 12.4 ± 2.3 years) and their parents (n = 40) composed the UCLP group and 56 youths (47% female; mean age 12.4 ± 1.2 years) and their parents (n = 33) were in the CG.

Main outcome measure: The Olweus Bully/Victim questionnaire self- and parent-report was used to assess victims and aggressors involved in bullying behaviors.

Results: About 30% of all youths reported being a frequent victim of bullying at least 2-3 times a month and an additional 32.3% were bullied 1-2 times in the last 2-3 months. For the total sample, parents significantly (P < .05) underestimated any bullying, both as a victim (youths 62.5% vs parents 45.7%) and as an aggressor (youths 53.1% vs parents 37.1%). There were no significant group differences in experiencing any bullying between the youths with UCLP (52.5%) and the CG youths (69.6%) or in its perception by their parents (43.2% and 48.5%, respectively). There were no group differences between the combinations of victim and aggressor.

Conclusions: While there were no differences in bullying prevalence in our sample between youths with UCLP and their peers, this study highlights differences in bullying perceptions between parents and their children.