The impact of peer victimisation on mental health of primary school pupils in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The study investigated Peer Victimisation and Mental Health of Primary School Pupils. Respondents comprised 235 primary school pupils selected from nine primary schools across three Local Government Areas in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The participants were between 6 and 11 years and were stratified into lower and upper primary classes. The Multidimensional Peer-Victimisation Scale, Children’s Depression Inventory-Short, and Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children were used to elicit information for the study. The results indicated that respondents reported largely high levels of peer victimisation with verbal victimisation as the most common form of peer victimisation. There were significant differences between male and female respondents on verbal and social forms of peer victimisation. Also, the study established that feeling unhappy and nervousness were forms of depression and anxiety experienced as a result of peer victimisation. The study brings into attention the need to encourage a consistent checking of victimisation rates and identify pupils that are at risk.

KEYWORDS:

• Peer victimisation
• mental health
• depression
• anxiety
• primary school

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).