Bullying victimization and illicit drug use among students in Grades 7 to 12 in Manitoba, Canada: a cross-sectional analysis

Sarah Turner, Tamara Taillieu, Janique Fortier, Samantha Salmon, Kristene Cheung, Tracie O. Afifi

There is inconsistent evidence examining the relationship between bullying victimization and illicit drug use, with most studies only examining the association between bullying victimization and marijuana use. The current study aims to (1) determine the relationship between bullying victimization and six types of illicit drug use among boys and girls in grades 7 to 12 and (2) examine gender and grade differences in the relationships between bullying victimization and drug use. Data were drawn from the Manitoba Youth Health Survey (N = 64,174) collected in the 2012-2013 school year among students in grades 7 to 12 from Manitoba, Canada. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationships between nine different types of bullying victimization and marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines, ecstasy, hallucinogens, and prescription/over-the-counter drugs used to get high. All analyses were stratified by gender and grade. Bullying victimization was associated with increased odds of all types of drug use among boys and girls in grades 7 to 12. A dose-response relationship was noted with more frequent bullying victimization corresponding to greater odds of drug use. Grade and gender differences were found for some drug use types. There are strong relationships between bullying victimization and illicit drug use among boys and girls in grades 7 to 12, indicating that reductions in bullying victimization may result in reductions in illicit drug use. Grade and gender differences may signify the need for early and gender-specific bullying prevention and intervention strategies.