Saad Omar Al-Khateeb
Jeddah Psychiatric Hospital, Saudi Arabia
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Clin Exp Psychol
Objectives: To stress the importance of this phenomena & its prevalence and its consequence and possible measure
to prevent it or at least minimize its effect aiming to improve the psychosocial health of our future generation.
Method: I reviewed all published data about this topic in English language in the last ten years both in Saudi Arabia
and other countries both in pub med or other related research site. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and
Department of Education released the first USA federal uniform definition of bullying for research and surveillance.
The core elements of the definition include unwanted aggressive behavior; observed or perceived power imbalance;
and repetition of behaviors or high likelihood of repetition. There are many different modes and types of bullying.
The current definition acknowledges two modes and four types by which youth can be bullied or can bully others.
Electronic bullying or Cyberbullying involve electronic attacks that lead to the modification, dissemination, damage,
or destruction of a youthâ??s privately stored electronic information. Some bullying actions can fall into criminal
categories, such as harassment, hazing, or assault.
Prevalence : There is growing awareness of the problem of bullying, which may lead some to believe that bullying is
increasing. However, studies suggest that rates of bullying may be declining. It still remains a prevalent and serious
problem in today’s schools. Bullying is apparently prevalent in KSA, as is the case in other parts of the world, in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), bullying has only been addressed very recently. Some large-scale epidemiological
studies have been conducted in recent years and have provided national estimates for the prevalence of bullying.
eeluna , a national study addressing the health needs of adolescents in the KSA, found that 25% of students had
reported being exposed to bullying within the past one month preceding the study. Males were more likely to engage
in bullying compared to females (27.1% versus 22.7%). A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted on
a group of 542 clinical years’ medical students in a Saudi medical school to explore students’ perceptions of their
educational environment including exposure to different kinds of bullying.
Results: Revealed that more than one quarter (28.0%) of the surveyed students reported exposure to some sort of
bullying during their clinical. 90% percent of the reported insults were verbal, 6% sexual and 4% physical. Males were
more exposed but difference was not statistically significant. Young people who are perceived as different from their
peers are often at risk for being bullied. Bullying affects all youth, including those who are bullied, those who bully
others, and those who see bullying going on. Youth who bully can be either well connected socially or marginalized,
and may be bullied by others as well. Similarly, those who are bullied sometimes bully others. Youth who both bully
others and are bullied are at greatest risk for subsequent behavioral, mental health, and academic problems.
Conclusion: It was found that 21.5% of adults in KSA reported exposure to peer violence during their childhood, with
males reporting this more often than females (28.2% versus 14.7%). And preventative measure will be highlighted
including, the first anti-bullying campaign In KSA conducted by the National Family Safety Program (NFSP) in
2011.
Saad Omar Al-Khateeb is a senior child & adolescent psychiatric consultant, trained in United Kingdom. Examination board in psychiatry, diploma in child psychiatry for oversees doctor London University, Sept 1989. One of the founder of the Saudi board in psychiatry (post graduate degree). Member of the scientific committee of the Saudi psychiatric international conference.
E-mail: Dr.saadkhateeb@yahoo.com
