Associations between Involvement in Bullying and Emotional and Behavioral Symptoms: Are There Differences between Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Youth?

We investigated whether the associations between involvement in bullying and emotional and behavioral symptoms among adolescents differ according to sexual orientation. Respondents were 25 147 boys and 25 257 girls in comprehensive school (M[subscript age] 15.4, SD 0.6), and 33 231 males and 36 765 females in upper secondary education (M[subscript age] 17.4, SD 0.8) in Finland. Data were analyzed using cross-tabulations with Chi-square statistics and logistic regression. SMY reported more symptoms and more involvement in bullying than did heterosexual youth. Involvement in bullying as both victim and perpetrator was associated with emotional and behavioral symptoms among all adolescents, regardless of their sexual orientation. These associations were mainly consistent across sexual orientation groups. The few differences found suggested weaker associations among SMY than among heterosexual youth.