Secondary school victimization and association with health behaviors of college students: Psychosocial development consequences for public health

Secondary school victimization (bullying) is a major public health concern. While studies have examined the association between bullying and mental health, the association of bullying with health behaviors remains undetermined. A survey instrument comprised of nationally validated scales was administered to students of Texas A&M University to assess students' bullying experiences in secondary school and their current health behaviors. Two of the survey scales were assessments of an individual's identity and intimacy development as described by the late psychologist Erik Erikson. Based on the data collected and Erikson's theory of how psychosocial scales should relate to each other, a structural equation model was used to assess five hypothesized associations between bullying, development of identity, development of intimacy, and health behaviors. Results provided statistical evidence that bullying could be associated health behaviors of college students. However, these associations were not enough to explain the variance in such health behaviors.