These researchers examined the socioeconomic distribution of adolescent exposure to bullying and documented the contribution of the macroeconomic environment, using data from an international survey of 162,305 students aged 11, 13, and 15 years from nationally representative samples of 5998 schools in 35 countries in Europe and North America for the 2001–2002 school year. Adolescents from families of low affluence reported higher prevalence of being victims of bullying (OR 1.13). No associations were seen between international differences in prevalence of exposure to bullying and the economic level of the country (as measured by gross national income) or the school, whereas wide disparities in affluence at a school and large economic inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient) at the national level were linked to an increased prevalence of exposure to bullying.
