EMPIRICAL STUDIES doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2010.00777.

School children’s experience of being bullied – and how they

envisage their dream day

Lisbeth Gravdal Kvarme RN, MSc (Assistant Professor and PhD Student)1,2, Sølvi Helseth RN, PhD (Professor)3,
Berit Sæteren RN, PhD (Associate Professor)1 and Gerd Karin Natvig RN, PhD (Associate Professor)2
1
Diakonova University College, Oslo, 2Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen and 3Oslo
University College, Oslo, Norway

Scand J Caring Sci; 2010; 24; 791–798 collected through focus group interviews. Data collection
was conducted throughout 2007 and during the spring of
School children’s experience of being bullied – and how
2008. The sample consisted of 17 school children, aged
they envisage their dream day
12–13 years, in four different groups. An interview guide
Bullying may have a number of negative health impacts on was used, and the group responses were audio-taped,
children. Previous studies have mainly explored negative transcribed and coded into themes. The data were analysed
health consequences related to being bullied. A different according to Kvale’s three contexts of interpretation within
approach is to explore how these phenomena are related to a phenomenological and hermeneutic framework. Four
the school child’s quality of life (QOL). The role of the main themes were identified: teasing and fighting, emo-
school nurse is to promote health and prevent sickness, tional reactions to being left alone or excluded, the need
and school nurses therefore need knowledge of what for friends to achieve the dream day and stopping the
promotes or threatens QOL in children. No previous bullying immediately. The participants said that being
research has explored how bullied children envisage their bullied made them feel helpless, lonely and excluded. They
dream day or a day with good QOL. There is a need for wanted the bullying to be recognized, assistance from the
more qualitative research on how school children experi- school staff to stop the bullying, and to be included by their
ence being bullied and the kind of help they need from peers.
their school, and school nurse, to realize their dream day.
The aim of this study was to explore how school children Keywords: bullying, dream day, focus group, friends,
experience bullying in their everyday lives, what consti- school children, school nurse, quality of life.
tutes their dream day and what kind of help they need. An
explorative qualitative design was chosen, and data were Submitted 31 August 2009, Accepted 30 December 2009

bullied when another student or several other students say mean

Background
and hurtful things or make fun of him or her or call him or her
Results from previous studies indicate that bullying may mean and hurtful names; completely ignore or exclude him or her
have various negative health effects on bullied children (1, from their group of friends or leave him or her out of things on
2). The inclusion of such social determinants of health purpose, hit, kick, push, shove around or lock him or her inside a
gives a broader perspective to school nurses’ work than the room; tell lies or spread false rumours about him or her or send
focus of illness and disease. Through their health promo- mean notes and try to make other students dislike him or her and
tion perspective, school nurses should be involved in other hurtful things like that. These things happen repeatedly.
preventing bullying and helping children who have been But it is not bullying when two students of about equal strength
bullied. Bullying is understood to be a systematic and or power argue or fight’ (4). Bullying behaviour can be
repeated set of hostile behaviours towards an individual manifested in three ways: physical aggression, verbal
who cannot properly defend herself or himself (3). Dan aggression and indirect or relational aggression, by which
Olweus defines bullying as follows: ‘We say a student is being means children are excluded from the social group (5). A
physical or psychological imbalance of strength, either real
or perceived, is also part of this definition (6). The preva-
lence of being bullied is in the range of 10–30% in different
Correspondence to:
Lisbeth Gravdal Kvarme, Diakonova University College,
European countries and in the USA (7, 8). In Norway,
Linstowsgate 5, N-0166 Oslo, Norway. about 10–15% of school children between 8 and 13 years
E-mail: lisbeth.kvarme@diakonova.no are exposed to bullying (9).

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Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences Ó 2010 Nordic College of Caring Science 791
792 L.G. Kvarme et al.

A literature search found most studies of being bullied at promote health and prevent sickness, and he or she need
school were quantitative, with relatively few qualitative knowledge of what promotes or threatens QOL among
studies reflecting the pupil’s own perspective. Among the children.
quantitative studies was a study that found that children QOL is a positive phenomenon with the health promo-
who had been bullied showed more internalizing of tional perspective of focusing on resources rather than
problems and unhappiness at school than those who had problems. This is similar to the Solutions Focus Approach
not been bullied (10). Children who had been bullied had (SFA). SFA is based around talks, where the focus is on
lower self-esteem and greater social isolation than those solutions, resources and emphasizing the children’s
who had not been bullied (11). Other studies found that developing strategies to solve their problems (31). The SFA
victims of bullying had more difficulty making friends, had is an approach to help people create change by discussing
poorer relationships with classmates and often had greater which problematic aspects of their lives they wish to be
feelings of loneliness (8, 12). Children who had been different, and connecting these wishes with descriptions of
bullied were more frequently rejected by their peers and solutions to those problems, as it would be on their dream
were less popular than prosocial children (13–15). Low day. The SFA emphasizes people’s personal strengths and
degrees of friendship and high levels of emotional loneli- successes as valuable learning experiences (31). A focus on
ness were significantly related to being bullied (16–18). solutions by emphasizing their dream day could be useful
Having a friend was an important protective factor against for children who have been bullied. It might help them to
being bullied (5). School children who had been bullied describe what the day is like when they experience hap-
had significantly higher odds of psychosomatic symptoms piness and well-being.
than those who were not bullied. The highest odds ratio There is a need for more qualitative research to explore
was observed in feeling depressed, and being bullied was and understand how school children experience being
associated with poor health and psychosomatic symptoms bullied (23). We did not find any previous qualitative
(19–21). The qualitative studies found that children who research of school children’s experience of bullying that
had been bullied seldom told adults about being bullied by included how they envisage their dream day at school.
peers (22), and those who bullied others justified their
own behaviour (23).
Aim
Previous studies have mainly explored negative health
consequences related to being bullied. A different The aim of this study was to explore how school children
approach is to explore how these phenomena are related to experience being bullied, and how they envisage their
the school child’s quality of life (QOL). QOL is a term that dream day, and what kind of help they want.
seems to cover a variety of concepts, such as health status,
and satisfaction with life or happiness (24). It has been
Design
assessed as a multidimensional concept that consists of
physiological, psychological and functional aspects (25), as This qualitative study has an explorative design. The
well as in terms of subjective well-being and happiness collection and analysis of data followed Kvale’s (2007)
(26). This conceptualization is in line with the World guidelines for qualitative research, which imply a phe-
Health Organization definition of health as the state of nomenological hermeneutic mode of understanding. Kvale
complete physical, mental and social well-being and not stated that the research interview attempts to understand
merely the absence of disease (27). One previous study the world from the subjects’ point of view, to unfold the
found that school-related stress was negatively related to meaning of the pupil’s experiences, and to uncover their
happiness (26), and the stress of being bullied is therefore world. Thus, an understanding was sought through the
assumed to have a negative impact on the child’s QOL. experiences of school children who have been bullied. The
Studies that have explored the relationship between QOL children’s experiences were interpreted from a QOL and
and school bullying have found that peer bullying has a SFA perspective.
negative impact on QOL and psychosocial well-being
(7, 19, 28).
Methods
The aim of preventive and health promotion work with
children is to promote QOL. QOL serves as a framework Focus group interviews were used to explore children’s
for identifying and developing strategies to promote experiences. The focus group interview is an appropriate
health (29). When school children are 12–13 years old, method for exploring experiences, opinions, wishes and
they are in a vulnerable period of developing from chil- concerns, as it allows participants to put forward their own
dren into adults. It is a period characterized by significant experience in their own words (32). Focus group inter-
change, growth and physiological development combined views were also selected because they were considered to
with many individual, cognitive, social and contextual be best suited for the analysis and discussion of complex
transitions (30). The role of the school nurse is to themes. Using this method, it is possible to grasp the

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Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences Ó 2010 Nordic College of Caring Science
 School children’s experience of being bullied 793

relationships between participants. It is a way to obtain a

Interview guide
deeper understanding of how people feel and think about a
specific issue. The participants share their experiences and The interview guide contained open-ended questions
views with each other in the discussion (33). covering aspects of being bullied and elements of the SFA
that emphasized the dream day (Table 1). An example of
an SFA question is ‘What does your dream day look like?’
Participants
or, ‘What happens?’ The type of answer was not implied
The sample consisted of 17 school children: 14 girls and and no specific responses were suggested. As recom-
three boys. They were 12–13 years old, from seven mended by Kreuger and Casey (2000), the focus group
different classes in two different schools in Eastern Nor- began with neutral and nonthreatening questions and
way. The participants recruited themselves after the first ended with giving the participants an opportunity to add
author provided information to the entire class. All the comments before the session was closed.
classes in the seventh grade got the same information from
the first author and the school nurse. The participants
Ethical approval and considerations
decided, based on their own perception, whether they
were bullied, and those who wanted to participate con- The Regional Committee for Medical Research Ethics in
tacted the school nurse after the information had been Western Norway approved the study. Ethical issues are
given. Selection criteria were that children were in the important in all research. Written informed consent to
seventh grade of primary school, had been exposed to participate was obtained from the participants and their
bullying and were competent in the Norwegian language. parents, and the principals of the schools, before starting
the focus groups. The moderator followed professional
practice and ensured no information from the findings of
Data collection
the study would identify any individual study participant.
Data were collected during 2007 and the spring of 2008. Participants were informed that their participation in the
Four focus groups were conducted by the first author. study was voluntary. The information provided to the
Three groups for girls and one group for boys were con- parents and children included the aims of the study, data
ducted. Each group met once. Small groups for separate collection procedures and the fact that participation was
genders were used because bullying is a sensitive topic. The voluntary. The letter also assured participants that they
focus groups were conducted during the school day. The
school nurse observed the group process and recorded
Table 1 The interview guide
participants’ comments. The first author, who is experi-
enced in leading discussion groups with children of these
ages, acted as moderator. Interview with questions asked

Opening Presentation of moderator and observer

Information about the purpose and rules of
Procedure
discussion
The focus group session opened with a brief orientation Introduction What is a good day at school for you? Give
and an explanation of how the anonymity of the partici- examples.
pants would be respected. Each group member was What does your dream day look like? What
assigned a number, which they used instead of their name happens?
Who are you with?
to identify themselves in the session. The interview was
Main questions What happens when it is not your dream day
recorded to audio tape and later transcribed verbatim. This
at school?
approach is recommended by Kreuger and Casey (34). The
What is going on when you are being
taping of the interviews was mentioned to the participants. bullied? Give examples.
The moderator presented the rules for the group, which How do you experience bullying?
stated that all group members should support each other What is done against bullying? Give
and one person should talk at a time. It was emphasized examples.
that all group members were supposed to talk about and Who has helped you?
deal with their experiences of the issue. The school nurse Who do you wish to get help from? Friends,
made field notes and recorded the order of the speakers. At family, teachers, school nurse?
the end of each focus group interview, the main message Closing What can be done to realize your dream day?
Give examples.
was summarized and participants were asked if they agreed
Summarize the session. Is this right?
with the summary or wished to add further comments.
What is most important? Is there something
The school nurse and the first author discussed the group
more you would like to discuss?
process after each group session.

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Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences Ó 2010 Nordic College of Caring Science
794 L.G. Kvarme et al.

could cease participation in the study at any time without As an example of the analytic process, one female
any consequences. Participants were asked not to talk respondent’s self-understanding in emotional reactions
about the content of the discussion in the focus group with was: ‘Nobody wants to be with me. They just say: ‘‘Get
anyone other than their own group. All participants signed away’’’. We analysed this as the respondent being left
the informed consent paper with these rules before they alone and being excluded in common sense and theoretical
joined the study. They were asked to create a trustful understanding was indicated in the discussion where QOL
atmosphere by showing respect and listening carefully to was connected to being bullied.
other participants. They were also invited to have a follow-
up talk with the school nurse or the moderator and we had
Results
a plan to maintain safety if the participants needed more
help after the focus group interview. Four main themes were identified from the analysis. The
first theme, from teasing to fighting, refers to the pupil’s
experiences of bullying at school. The second theme was
Analysis
the pupil’s emotional reactions to being left alone and
Analysis consisted of reading and re-reading the text of the excluded after being bullied. The third theme was the need
transcribed focus group interviews to obtain an overall for friends in reaching their dream day, and the need to be
understanding of the text, then dividing it into themes and included. The fourth theme was the need to stop the
sub-themes. The data were analysed according to the bullying immediately.
guidelines set down in Kvale’s qualitative interview
method (35), which has a phenomenological and herme-
From teasing to fighting
neutical framework. Kvale (2007) offers three levels of
interpretation: self-understanding, critical understanding The girls emphasized psychological and social bullying as
based on common sense and theoretical understanding. conflicts between girls, whereas the boys talked most about
Self-understanding is the first level and it consists of what bullying as physical fighting. The boys also mentioned
the informants said and intended to mean. Each focus verbal teasing, to which they had difficulty in responding.
group session was analysed separately to understand what One boy said: ‘You don’t know how to reply when they tease
it was about. The interpretation was a circular process that you in this way.’ For boys, bullying often began with teasing
moved back and forth from parts of the text to the text as a and ended in fighting. There was a bully leader in their
whole, then, back again (35). class, and most of the children were afraid of him. They
At the second level of critical understanding, the said: ‘We have to tolerate him; he is supposed to decide every-
researcher uses common sense and a critical view to thing.’
interpret and comment on what the informants had said in The girls spoke about the boys who called them ugly. A
each focus group. The focus group interviews are then girl said: ‘One should not tease someone for her appearance if she
analysed as a whole to find common patterns or differ- is too fat or too slim and so on. Many boys say nasty and ugly
ences among groups. This interpretation has a broader things. It is not our fault how we look.’ The girls spoke of boys
frame for understanding the informants. The background, who were hitting and throwing a ball at them in a locked
position and preconceptions of the researcher affect what is room. ‘It really hurt, but we are afraid to tell anyone about it,’
being investigated and the perspective of the investigation one girl said. Usually, there were many children against
(36). Our preconceptions were based on our backgrounds one; those being bullied were not as strong as the bullies,
as school nurses and researchers. and they did not manage to fight back. They were threa-
At the third level of theoretical understanding, a theo- tened with a beating if they told a teacher about the
retical framework is used to interpret the text by using bullying. The bullying mostly happened during class
some dimensions of QOL and elements from the SFA. breaks, especially if they were alone, and during gymnastic
Research findings from other studies were also used to lessons. They complained about not being selected for
broaden the perspective. To validate the interpretations, teams during the sports lesson, and they were often left
two independent researchers (the first and second alone during the break. Most of the girls complained that
authors), both public health nurses, read and interpreted the boys were bullying them.
the interviews and further discussed the interpretations to
reach agreement. Malterud (2001) claims that multiple
Left alone and being excluded
researchers might strengthen the validity of the results by
supplementing and contrasting one another’s statements. The participants described the bullying actions and their
The data were saturated according to the aspects of feelings in this situation. They experienced helplessness
experience of being bullied and what could be done to stop and powerlessness, and they were unable to fight back or
the bullying; however, the girls’ description of their dream defend themselves. The girls reported that they were
day differed from that of the boys. corrected by the teacher for something that the boys had

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Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences Ó 2010 Nordic College of Caring Science
 School children’s experience of being bullied 795

done. One girl said: ‘The boys are teasing us and follow me, and teachers made big things small, and she said: ‘The teacher
if I try to say something back, the teacher hears me, and I am talks to the bully, but it does not help very much. They make it
corrected by the teacher and then the boys are laughing at me.’ seem small, so if we tell the teacher about it and they don’t care so
The girls felt they were misunderstood and treated unfairly. much about it, it becomes worse.’ Another girl said: ‘I think it is
The participants described different emotions, such as very bad that the teacher doesn’t do anything when I complain
rejection, being left behind and being hurt. A girl said: ‘You about being bullied. The teacher should talk seriously about it to
feel so stupid, and I have never had any good days at school.’ the class.’ ‘They don’t care, I feel unsafe and they bully even
Other girls said: ‘Why am I here? I have been bullied almost more,’ the girl complained.
every day and very often. I can’t manage it any more.’ ‘Nobody The participants wanted the teachers to talk with the
wants to be with me. They just say ‘‘get away’’.’ They felt stupid bully and those who had been bullied individually. They
and excluded. One girl said: ‘You feel dumped and down at the wanted an active anti-bullying programme at the school,
bottom and the day is bad. And if someone is talking behind your and teachers who watched for bullying during the breaks.
back, they will turn more children against you.’ They wanted everyone to be nicer and not bully one
They felt unsafe, helpless and alone with the problem another and to share activities during the breaks. Most of the
because some teachers did not listen to them and did not participants said that their friends had been helpful when
stop the bullying. They felt sad, got hurt and started to cry they had been bullied. Only a few said that they had no
when they were bullied. Other participants said they were friends or that their friends could not do anything to help
afraid of going to school. One boy said that he had nothing them. Some of them said that their family could help them.
to say and that he lost his concentration because of the All the participants mentioned the school nurse’s role of
bullying. A girl said she felt lonely and had no friends to supporting those who had been bullied. They thought it
play with during the break: ‘You feel out of place and feel that was helpful to talk with the school nurse when they were
you are not as good as the others.’ Another girl commented: sad. A girl said: ‘I think it is helpful to talk to the school nurse
‘Bullying is dangerous, because you can think of committing when I am sad or hurt, I can tell her how I feel, so the school
suicide.’ She had known a person who had committed nurse can build up my self-esteem, so when I am leaving her
suicide because of being bullied and admitted that she had office, I do not think of the problem any more.’ They also
been thinking of doing the same. She was followed up by mentioned that the school nurse could talk with the bully
the school nurse after the interview. and to those who had been bullied separately and that they
could co-operate with the parents and the teachers to
combat and stop bullying.
The need for friends to reach their dream day

The participants described their dream day as a day when

Discussion
they had good feelings, good friends and were included;
they could rely on and trust their friends, everyone was The main findings of this study are that the participants felt
nice to each other and no one was bullied. On a dream helpless, lonely and excluded when they were bullied.
day, they were not afraid that something bad would hap- Their dream day was a day when everyone was included
pen and they felt safe. They respected and helped one and friendly to one another. They wanted more help from
another and everybody was included, and they played the school staff to stop the bullying. Participants’ perspec-
together during the break. One of them said: ‘My dream day tives of having experienced bullying, their dream day and
is when everybody is friendly and I feel happy inside.’ Another previous research are discussed.
comment on their dream day was: ‘I feel safe and my heart is The participants’ subjective feelings of being bullied
not thumping.’ ‘We have something in common; we play and talk were emphasized in the present study. According to
with each other.’ ‘You feel welcome; they want to play with you.’ Olweus (1999), bullying exists if a pupil is repeatedly
‘No one is teasing you, everybody is nice and they say pleasant called hurtful things, rumours are spread about them, they
things to you.’ are excluded, or if someone stronger attacks them. These
The boys talked mostly of doing enjoyable things types of negative incidents were reported from the partic-
together, such as going on trips and playing sport, while ipants in this study. They felt that they were worth less
the girls talked mostly of friendships and emotional feel- than ‘the others’, and feelings like these are often related
ings. The girls emphasized that everyone should show to low self-esteem. For children at the age of 12 or 13, peer
respect for others, even if they did not like them, and that relations are important, and one previous study found that
the teachers should care about them. children developed self-esteem in connection with others
(14). The participants in this study also reported that they
felt sad when they were bullied about their appearance.
Stop the bullying immediately
Because words are important in creating reality (37), if a
The participants wanted their teachers to stop the bullying child has regularly been told that he or she looks ugly, they
immediately when it happened. One girl said that the may eventually come to believe it.

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Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences Ó 2010 Nordic College of Caring Science
796 L.G. Kvarme et al.

Natvig (2001) found a high level of psychological All the participants mentioned the school nurse’s role in
symptoms of depression among victims of bullying. supporting those who were bullied. They said it was helpful
Participants in our study reported that being bullied gave to talk about their feelings with the school nurse. The task
rise to negative emotions such as feeling rejected, stupid of the school nurse is to promote health and well-being.
and misunderstood. When they talked of being bullied, School nurses are supposed to be available to listen to
they often used words such as ‘you’ or ‘one’ instead of children who have been bullied and support them in being
using ‘I’. This could be an avoidance coping strategy of included by their peers. Prosocial experiences can serve as a
creating a distance from themselves (38). Previous studies protective factor against relational victimization (47). Thus,
have shown that bullying can lead to depression and sui- an intervention among school children who have been
cide (39, 40). As we reported in this study, one girl men- bullied might facilitate their engagement in positive inter-
tioned having suicidal thoughts, indicating how serious actions. The SFA peer support groups could help children
this problem is. These children are in need of help both who have been bullied (39, 48), and the school nurse could
from school staff and from the school health service. be a leader for these support groups (49). The children
Our study supported the findings of previous studies that should choose the participants of the group, and those who
those who had experienced bullying felt more lonely, had bully should not be in the same group as those who have
more difficulties in maintaining friendships and had poorer been bullied. By participating in these groups, the children
social skills than those who had not been bullied (18, 41, could make new friends and do enjoyable things together.
42). Seen in this way, the experience of being bullied may The participants showed more happiness when they
be an experience of insecurity and feeling left alone. talked of solutions and their dream day. It improved their
Feeling helpless was often mentioned by the participants hope and optimism. They appreciated discussing bullying
in the focus groups, especially if teachers had not reacted to together and they wanted to support one another. Peer
bullying. Exclusion is often not seen as bullying and thus its support (42) and support from teachers (26) have been
injury can be overlooked (22, 43). Indirect bullying, such as shown to promote psychological well-being. Friendship
spreading rumours, is more difficult to detect. Our respon- and close relationships are necessary for a good life.
dents reported that they wanted to be acknowledged and Moreover, social support represents one potential coping
their experience of being bullied believed. If the children are mechanism for school children to deal with bullying and
not listened to and their feelings validated, they may doubt may function as a buffer against bullying (50).
their own feelings and views and may stop telling adults Bullied children are vulnerable; therefore, an assessment
about being victimized. A qualitative study from the chil- of the degree of benefit and the risk of disturbances,
dren’s perspective found that not being acknowledged and discomfort or pain that may occur from participating in the
helped could lead to loneliness (22). Loneliness is the study (51) needs to be made. In the present study, we tried
opposite of belonging, and the participants in our study to minimize the threats and risks involved by creating a
wanted to be included and to belong in a group. safe atmosphere in the focus groups. In each focus group,
The dream day was described as the opposite of being the interaction among the participants was open and
bullied and excluded; it was a day when they had good relaxed. This is of great importance as good interaction is
feelings and were included. The participants talked of significant for the trustworthiness of data collected and its
longing to be loved and included. They also expressed interpretation.
longing to be seen and confirmed by their teachers and In the present study, all the groups described experi-
wanting to be respected. encing a distance between the dream day and reality at
The dream day is not only a day without bullying; it is school.
also a day when they experience good QOL. QOL includes
subjective feelings of happiness and well-being (44) and is
Limitations
positively related to support from peers (26). These aspects
are similar to the description that the participants gave of Focus groups have their limitations, such as enabling some
their dream day. Their dream day was when they felt members to avoid contributing. This study was relatively
respected, had good feelings and felt safe. small, with only one group of boys, and carried out in one
Previous research has shown that being bullied by peers geographical area, so there may be specific local issues in
is significantly related to low levels of QOL (28, 45). Good other parts of Norway or internationally that will describe
QOL is also related to friendship. A study of adolescents this issue differently. Although the findings cannot be
found that they reported different levels of QOL from generalized because of the small sample size, they illumi-
positive to negative, and those who reported negative QOL nate themes worthy of further investigation. Generaliza-
felt left out and had no close friends in school (46). This is tion is not the aim in focus group interviews; however, the
similar to our study. The participants reported that they findings are probably transferable to other settings with
were often excluded by peers, but some of them also had school children of the same ages. The experience of being
friends who helped them when they were bullied. bullied might differ by individual and by school. However,

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Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences Ó 2010 Nordic College of Caring Science
 School children’s experience of being bullied 797

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as a caring science involves practices that are restorative,
A, Moffitt TE. Bullying victimization uniquely contributes to
supportive and promotive in nature. To be able to address adjustment problems in young children: a nationally repre-
the complex health problems of today’s children, school sentative cohort study. Pediatrics 2006; 118: 130–8.
nurses should work in collaboration with the school staff 11 Dao TK, Kerbs JJ, Stephen A, Rollin SA, Potts I, Gutierrez R,
and the families of the children. Choi K, Creason AH, Wolf A, Prevatt F. The association
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The authors are grateful to the school nurses and school relationship between social skills problems and peer
victimisation. Aggress Behav 2006; 32: 110–21.
children for participation and help to do this study possible.
13 Salmivalli C, Karhunen J, Lagerspetz KMJ. How do
The authors acknowledge the work of Librarian Jenny
the victims respond to bullying? Aggress Behav 1996; 22:
Owe, Diakonova University College. Financial support was
99–109.
kindly provided by Diakonova University College, Oslo. 14 Salmivalli C, Isaacs J. Prospective relations among victim-
ization, rejection, friendlessness, and children’s self- and
peer-perceptions. Child Dev 2005; 76: 1161–71.
Author contributions
15 Warden D, Mackinnon S. Prosocial children, bullies and
Lisbeth Gravdal Kvarme, Sølvi Helseth, Gerd Karin Natvig victims: an investigation of their sociometric status, empathy
conducted the study design. Lisbeth Gravdal Kvarme and social problem-solving strategies. Br J Dev Psychol 2003;
collected the data. Lisbeth Gravdal Kvarme and Sølvi 21: 367–85.
Helseth analysed the data. All four authors were involved 16 Bollmer JM, Milich R, Harris MJ, Maras MA. A Friend in
need: the role of friendship quality as a protective factor in
in the preparation and critical revision of the manuscript.
peer victimization and bullying. J Interpers Violence 2005;
20: 701–12.
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Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences Ó 2010 Nordic College of Caring Science