Search

Introduction: Extensive research has documented negative experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) students at school, including bullying victimization. However, the existing knowledge is limited in the Croatian educational context. Aims: This paper aimed at addressing this gap and exploring contextual risk and protective factors for bullying experiences among adolescent LGBTQI students in Croatia. Methods: Data come from 1, 752 LGBTQI adolescent students from Croatia (Mage=17.51). Participants were asked whether they had bullying victimization experiences and whether those experiences were motivated by students’ LGBTQI identity. Participants also reported on: 1) the extent of LGBTQI-inclusivity of their teachers ; 2) the presence of LGBTQI-inclusive sexuality education at school ; 3) the representation of LGBTQI issues during debates/lessons in class ; 4) the presence of LGBTQI-inclusive anti-bullying policies at school. Results: About 39% of the sample experienced some form of bullying victimization and for 25% of the sample, these experiences were motivated by their LGBTQI identity. Among all students, only 8% received an inclusive sexuality education, 3% had enumerated anti-bullying policies in their schools and 30% reported that LGBTQI issues were never addressed in class. When addressed, the representation of LGBTQI issues in class was negative for about 30% of students and positive for 26%. Logistic regression models showed that students with supportive teachers were less likely to report general bullying victimization (OR=0.79) and victimization motivated by their sexual orientation (OR=0.74). Students who reported a negative representation of LGBTQI issues in class were more likely to report bullying victimization based on gender identity/expression (OR=2.21). Conclusions: Taken together, findings suggest that a multipronged approach that focused on teacher training and inclusive curricula is needed to better support LGBTQI youth.