Bullying in Italian schools: the role of perceived teacher unfairness

The principal aim of the study is to examine the role of perceived teacher unfairness in predicting bullying behaviour. Data were taken from the “Health Behaviour in School Aged Children” (HBSC) project, a cross-sectional survey investigating health behaviours among early adolescents in selected European countries. Bullying behaviour (bully, victim, and bully/victim), perceived teacher unfairness and others confounding factors were measured through a self-administered questionnaire filled out by a representative sample of 4,386 (48.4% males) Italian students (11, 13 and 15 years old). Covariates included demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, school performance and other psychological factors. After adjusting for age and gender, teacher unfairness showed a significant association with being a bully (OR=1.59; CI = 1.40-1.80) and a bully or victim (OR = 1.47; CI = 1.21-1.78). This relationship remained significant after additional adjustment for several potential confounding factors. Results show that characteristics of the school setting such as teacher unfairness can be significant predictors of involvement in bullying behaviour among early adolescents.