Predictors of bullying reported by perpetrators in a sample of senior school students in Benin City, Nigeria

Background: Bullying behaviour amongst adolescents is becoming a significant public health challenge. Whilst the traditional and electronic bullying as reported by victims has been widely reported, surveys amongst perpetrators, particularly in Africa, are still lacking. Aim: This study is aimed at determining the prevalence of bullying by perpetrators and analysing the relationship between bullying perpetration and psycho-socio-demographic characteristics amongst senior school students in Benin City, Nigeria. Setting: Senior secondary school in Benin City, Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 465 final-year secondary school students aged 16–19 years, who were selected by multistage random sampling, was conducted. The students were made to fill a self-designed questionnaire, in addition to an adapted version of the Wagnild and Young’s resilience scale. Results: The lifetime prevalence of bullying was 16.3%. Binary logistic regression revealed bullying to be significantly associated with students who are male (adjusted odds ratio [AOD] = 2.13, confidence interval [CI] = 1.16–3.93), have poor relations with their teachers (AOR = 2.98, CI = 1.68–5.29), have used alcohol (AOR = 3.51, CI = 1.74–7.09) and are involved in cult and gangsterism (AOR = 9.14, CI = 2.55–32.75). Conclusion: The rate of bullying perpetration by youth in Benin City, Nigeria, is significant and is comparable to global occurrence. The predictors of bullying in this study suggest that perpetrators are individuals who may benefit from rehabilitative measures.