AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL CHILDRENS SELF APPRAISAL OF INTERPERSONAL-RELATIONS- THE BULLYING EXPERIENCE

The extent and nature of bullying among South Australian primary schoo l children and their self appraisals of peer relations were investigat ed in a survey of 412 primary school children between the ages of 7 to 13 years. It was found that 10% of boys and 6% of girls were subject to peer group bullying and for 8% of such children the bullying episod es lasted 6 months or more. Factor analysis of styles of interpersonal relating amongst children identified three independent factors includ ing a tendency to bully, to be victimised and to act in a pro-social m anner. The tendency to be victimised correlated negatively with self a ppraisals of the number of friends, popularity, happiness at school an d feelings of safety at school. The findings are discussed in relation to research linking negative self appraisals of interpersonal compete nce with isolation and proneness to depression in later years.