Table 1.

Summary of Studies on Prevalence of Bullying Involvement Among Racial/Ethnic Groups

Study	Sample	Bullying measures	Major relevant findings
PREVALENCE OF BULLYING VICTIMIZATION
Greater prevalence of bullying victimization among minority youth
Berkowitz, De Pedro, & Gilreat (2015)	N = 418,483 middle and high school students in California, U.S.	Behavior-based self-report questionnaires of verbal, physical, and sexual victimization	African Americans (OR = 1.27) were more likely to be classified into the “frequent verbal, physical, and sexual victimization” class compared to White and Latino (OR = 0.82) students, out of four defined latent classes (occasional verbal and physical, verbal and sexual, and no victimization)
Bjereld, Daneback, & Petzold (2015)	N = 7,107 7- to 13-year-old children in Nordic countries	Parent-report single-item survey asking “has your child been bullied?” that was coded dichotomously	Immigrant children had higher odds of being bullied than native children in Norway, Sweden, and all Nordic countries surveyed. In Sweden, 8.6% of native children and 27.8% of immigrant children were bullied.
Carlyle & Steinman (2007)	N = 79,492 6th-12th grade students in large metropolitan area in the U.S.	Behavior-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	27.5% of Native Americans were victims of bullying, which were higher rates than that endorsed by White, African American, Hispanic, or Asian students (ranging from 16.5%−19.6%)
Goldweber, Waasdorp, & Bradshaw (2013)	N = 10,254 middle school youth in the U.S.	Behavior-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	Compared to White and Hispanic youth, African American Black youth were more likely to be in the victim (probability of 46%) or bully-victim (45%) classes than in the low-involvement class (7%).
Jansen et al. (2016)	N = 8,523 children in Rotterdam, the Netherlands	Behavior-based teacher reports of bullying vict. & perp.	Children with a non-Dutch background were more likely to be victims (AOR = 1.41) or bully-victims (AOR = 1.41) than children of Dutch origin.
Malta et al. (2014)	N = 109,104 adolescents from the National Adolescent School-based Health Survey in Brazil	Behavior-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	Black (OR = 1.15) and Indigenous (OR = 1.16) adolescents had greater likelihood of experiencing bullying victimization than White, mulatto, and Asian students.
Maynard, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Vaughn (2016)	N = 12,098 school-aged children in the U.S.	Behavior-based self-report of bullying victimization that provides definition of bullying and refers to behavior as bullying	Non-Hispanic White immigrant youth (OR = 1.96) and Non-Hispanic Black immigrant youth (OR = 2.39) were more likely to be bullied than native-born youth.
Mouttapa, Valente, Gallaher, Rohrbach, & Unger (2004)	N = 1,368 6th graders in southern California, U.S.	Behavior-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	Asian youth (AOR = 1.57) were more likely to be victimized compared to Hispanic (AOR = 1.41) youth.
Pottie, Dahal, Georgiades, Premji, & Hassan (2015)	Systematic review including 18 studies from the U.S., the Netherlands, Israel, and France		Across cultures, first-generation immigrants experience peer victimization at higher rates than third-generation and native-born youth.
Strohmeier, Kärnä, & Salmivalli (2011)	N = 4,957 9- to 12-year-old children in Finland	Behavior-based self-report of victimization prefaced by a definition of bullying & behavior-based peernomination	First- (M = 0.36) and second-generation (M = 0.36) immigrant youth scored higher on a 0- to 1-point bullying victimization scale than native youth (M = 0.25) by both self- and peer-report. Physical, racist, and sexual victimization were more common in both immigrant groups than in the native group.
Sulkowski, Bauman, Wright, Nixon, & Davis (2014)	N = 2,929 youth who endorsed victimization two times a month or more in the U.S.	Behavior-based self-report of peer victimization	More immigrant youth (33%) reported experiencing physical aggression than non-immigrant youth (22%), and they were also more likely to be victimized because of their race, religion, or family income.
von Grünigen, Perren, Nägele, & Alsaker (2010)	N = 1,090 kindergarten-age children in German-speaking Switzerland	Definition-based teacher report of bullying victimization, preceded by a workshop about bullying	Having an immigrant mother predicted more frequent bullying victimization than native Swiss parents (B = 0.62).
Kisfalusi, Pál, & Boda (2018)	N = 347 students in Hungary across 4 schools	Nominations of which peers participants bullied based on questions about behavior	Both Roma (β= 0.42) and non-Roma students (β = 0.53) reported bullying peers they perceived as Roma more often than peers not perceived as Roma.
Greater prevalence of bullying victimization among majority youth
Blake, Zhou, Kwok, & Benz (2016)	N = 2,870 adolescents with disabilities in the U.S.	Single-item definition-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	White students were more likely to be bully-victims than Black (OR = 0.14), Hispanic (OR = 0.06) or other race (OR = 0.12) students, and also more likely to be victims than Black students (OR = 0.13).
Feinstein, Turner, Beach, Korpak, & Phillips (2019)	N = 18,515 bisexual youth in the U.S.	Definition-based self-report of bullying victimization	White youth reported bullying at higher rates (40.7% reported in-person bullying; 31.4% reported electronic bullying) than African American (21.8%; 18%) and Hispanic (25.2%; 21.7%) bisexual youth.
Fisher, Middleton, Ricks, Malone, Briggs, & Barnes (2015)	N = 4,581 middle school U.S. White and African American students	Behavior-based self-report of bullying victimization	White students were bullied at significantly higher rates than African American students (β = .28)
Kawabata & Crick, 2013	N = 232 4th grade White and Asian American students in the U.S.	Behavior-based peer nomination of bullying perpetration of peer physical and verbal aggression	Association between ethnicity and nominations for experiencing peer victimization was stronger for Asian American students (β = 0.21) than White students (β = 0.35) such that Asian American students were less often identified as victims.
Mehari & Farrell (2015)	N = 4,593 sixth grade students in the U.S.	Behavior-based self-report of overt and relational victimization	White students (R2 = −0.08) reported lower frequency of overt victimization than African American students (reference group), but not for relational victimization. Hispanic students reported victimization at similar rates as African American students.
Strohmeier & Spiel (2003)	N = 568 native and immigrant children in Austria	Definition-based peer nomination of bullying vict. & perp.	9.0% of native Austrian children, 5.1% of the Turkish/Kurdish children, and 1.6% of the former Yugoslavian children were nominated as bullying victims.
Tippett, Wolke, & Platt (2013)	N = 4,668 10- to 15-year-old youth in the U.K.	Self-report of bullying vict. & perp. that identifies certain behaviors as “bullying”	Indian (OR = 0.53), Bangladeshi (OR = 0.40), and African youth (OR = 0.27) were more likely to be bullied than White youth while there were no significant differences for Pakistani, other Asian, and Caribbean youth (though all groups still reported less bullying victimization than White youth).
Wang, Iannotti, & Nansel (2009)	N = 7,182 6th through 10h grade U.S. adolescents	Definition-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	African American adolescents were less likely to be victims of verbal (OR = 0.77) and relational bullying (OR = 0.70), but not physical or cyber bullying, than White adolescents.
No significant difference in bullying victimization between ethnic groups or mixed rates between groups
Connell, Sayed, Gonzalez, & Schell-Busey (2015)	N = 3,965 middle school students in northeastern U.S.	Behavior-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	No substantial differences in bullying victimization rates were reported between White (71%), African American (75%), Latino (70%), and Asian (66%) students.
Hanish & Guerra (2000)	N = 1, 956 elementary-age children in the U.S. followed up after 2 years	Peer nomination based on two questions: who gets picked on and who gets pushed and hit	Hispanic students (M = 0.20) were less likely to be victimized than White (M = 0.24) and African American (M = 0.24) students.
Kljakovic, Hunt, & Jose (2015)	N = 2,174 adolescents from 78 schools across northern New Zealand	Definition-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	Bullying victimization rates were relatively similar across ethnic groups, but Maōri adolescents were more likely to experience victimization via text message (but not in-school, outside of school, or internet victimization) than New Zealand European and other ethnicity groups.*
Llorent, Ortega-Ruiz, & Zych (2016)	N = 2,139 adolescents in secondary schools in the south of Spain	Behavior-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	No significant differences in bullying victimization rates between racial minority and majority groups.
Mueller, James, Abrutyn, & Levin (2015)	N = 75,344 U.S. adolescents, of whom 5,541 self-reported as lesbian, gay, or bisexual	Single-item definition-based self-report of bullying victimization	While White and Hispanic sexual minority youth were bullied more frequently than White heterosexual youth, Black sexual minority youth were bullied at the same rates as White heterosexual youth. Furthermore, Black and Hispanic heterosexual youth were bullied less than White heterosexual youth.*
Rhee, Lee, & Jung (2017)	N = 2,799 adolescents in California, U.S.	Single-item behavior-based bullying victimization (operationalized as threatening to hurt)	African American youth reported the highest rates of bullying victimization (24%) and Asian American youth the lowest (6.5%) compared to White (17.5%) and Latino (15.2%) adolescents.
Seals & Young, 2003	N = 454 7th and 8th grade students in the U.S.	Definition-based self-report of bullying with examples of bullying scenarios	No significant difference in involvement based on ethnicity.
Vitoroulis & Vaillancourt, 2015	Meta-analysis of 105 international studies from 1990 to 2011		Analyses revealed small effect sizes for the impact of ethnic group membership on rates of bullying victimization (range d = ±0.02 to ±0.08)
Wang, Iannotti, Luk, & Nansel (2010)	N = 7,475 6th through 10th grade U.S. adolescents	Definition-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	No significant differences in latent class membership (all types victims, verbal/relationship victims, or not victims) based on race/ethnicity.
PREVALENCE OF BULLYING PERPETRATION
Greater prevalence of bullying perpetration among minority youth
Carlyle & Steinman (2007)	N = 79,492 6th-12th grade students in large metropolitan area in the U.S.	Behavior-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	27.7% of African Americans and 30.9% of Native Americans endorsed repeated bullying perpetration behaviors, which were higher rates than that endorsed by White (15.5%), Hispanic (17.4%), and Asian (11.6%) students.
Connell, Sayed, Gonzalez, & Schell-Busey (2015)	N = 3,965 middle school students in northeastern U.S.	Behavior-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	Prevalence of bullying perpetration among African Americans (56%) was highest compared to White (44%), Latino (47%), and Asian (41%) students.
Espelage, Hong, Kim, & Nan, 2018	N = 310 6th and 7th grade students in midwestern U.S.	Behavior-based self-report of peer victimization perpetration	Non-White students were more likely to perpetrate non-physical bullying (B = 0.31) compared to White students.
Fandrem, Ertesvåg, Strohmeier, & Roland, 2010	N = 156 native and immigrant secondary school students in an urban schools in Oslo, Norway	Definition-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	Immigrant boys were more often in the bullying group than in the non-bullying, and nearly all immigrant boys were bullies. Immigrant girls were underrepresented in the bullying group and overrepresented in the non-bullying group.*
Fandrem, Strohmeier, & Roland, 2009	N = 3,127 native and immigrant 8th, 9th, and 10th grade students in Norway	Definition-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	Compared to native children in Norway (M = 0.36), immigrant children (M = 0.46) were significantly more likely to be bullying perpetrators.
Jansen et al. (2016)	N = 8,523 children in Rotterdam, the Netherlands	Definition-based teacher-report of bullying vict. & perp. with concrete examples.	Children with a non-Dutch background were more likely to be bullies (AOR = 1.38) or bully-victims (AOR = 1.38) than children of Dutch origin.
Kisfalusi, Pál, & Boda (2018)	N = 347 students in Hungary across 4 schools	Behavior-based self-report and peer nominations of bullying perpetration	Roma students self-reported being bullies (M = 1.99) and were nominated for being bullies by peers (M = 1.37) at higher rates than non-Roma students (M = 1.60 self-report; M = 0.97 peer nomination).
Kljakovic, Hunt, & Jose (2015)	N = 2,174 adolescents from 78 schools across northern New Zealand	Definition-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	Bullying perpetration rates were significantly different across ethnic groups, with Mari adōlescents more likely to perpetrate bullying in person at school and via text message (but not outside of school or internet bullying) than New Zealand European and other ethnicity groups.*
Llorent, Ortega-Ruiz, & Zych (2016)	N = 2,139 adolescents in 22 secondary schools in the south of Spain	Behavior-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	Ethno-cultural minority students (M = 2.83) were more involved in bullying perpetration than majority students (M = 2.26), but not cyber bullying.
Sykes, Piquero, & Giovanio (2017)	Weighted N = 16,837, 733 U.S. adolescents	Single-item parent report	Hispanic and African American students are more likely than White peers to be bullies.*
Tippett, Wolke, & Platt (2013)	N = 4,668 10- to 15-year-old youth in the U.K.	Self-report of bullying vict. & perp. that identifies certain behaviors as “bullying”	Pakistani (OR = 3.32) and Caribbean youth (OR = 2.74) were more likely to be bullies than White youth while there were no significant differences for Indian, Bangladeshi, other Asian, and African youth (though all groups except other Asian still reported greater bullying perpetration than White youth).
Wang, Iannotti, & Nansel (2009)	N = 7,182 6th to 10th grade U.S. adolescents	Definition-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	African American adolescents were more likely to perpetrate physical (OR = 1.60), verbal (OR = 1.52), and cyber bullying (OR = 1.74), than White adolescents. Hispanic adolescents were more likely to perpetrate physical bullying (OR = 1.39) and be cyber bully-victims (OR = 1.56).
Greater prevalence of bullying perpetration among majority youth or no significant differences
Almeida, Johnson, McNamara, & Gupta (2011)	N = 1,348 high school students in Boston, U.S.	One- to two-item behavior-based self-reports of physical, relational, and verbal/emotional aggression/violence toward peers	Recent immigrant youth (19%) had a significantly lower prevalence of peer violence perpetration than third-generation (43%), second-generation (39%), or immigrant youth who had lived in the U.S. for over four years (42%). No significant differences in relational or verbal/emotional peer aggression.
Kawabata & Crick, 2013	N = 232 4th grade White and Asian American students in the U.S.	Behavior-based peer nomination of bullying perpetration of peer physical and verbal aggression	Association between ethnicity and nominations for perpetrating peer victimization was stronger for Asian American students (β = 0.29) than White students (β = 0.06) such that Asian American students were less often identified as aggressors.
Strohmeier & Spiel (2003)	N = 568 native and immigrant children in Austria	Definition-based peer nomination of bullying vict. & perp.	11.8% of native Austrian children, 7.2% of the former Yugoslavian children, and 3.8% of the Turkish/Kurdish children were nominated as bullies.
Vitoroulis & Vaillancourt, 2018	Meta-analysis of 53 studies		Meta-analysis found small, non-significant differences in bullying perpetration rates between immigrant and non-immigrant youth, and between visible minority and majority students.
PREVALENCE OF BIAS-BASED BULLYING
Boulton, 1995	N = 156 children in the U.K.	Peer nomination based on definition of bullying. Smaller sample asked to specify type of bullying and race of bully.	While ethnic majority and minority students experienced roughly equal rates of bullying victimization, Asian students reported being teased about their race or color more often than White students.*
Cooc & Gee (2014)	N = 5,000 12- to 18-year old U.S. adolescents, approximately, every other year from 2001 to 2011	Self-report on bullying and race- or ethnic-based victimization, definition-based and behavior-based	Asian Americans were less likely to report experiencing bullying, but more likely to report race-based victimization (9%) compared to White students (4%).
Durkin, Hunter, Levin, Bergin, Heim, & Howe (2012)	N = 925 8- to 12-year-olds in Britain	Behavior-based self-report of experiencing peer aggression and discriminatory aggression	Overall, minority children (16%) experienced greater discriminatory aggression than majority children (7%). However, while minority children experienced greater discriminatory aggression when ethnic minorities were less than half the school population, but when the school concentration of minorities exceeded 81%, majority students experienced greater discriminatory aggression.
Fisher, Middleton, Ricks, Malone, Briggs, & Barnes (2015)	N = 4,581 middle school U.S. White and African American students	One-item self-report about teasing due to race/ethnicity or skin color	White students reported greater rates of race-based bullying victimization than African American students (β = 1.25) when controlling for gender and school ethnic composition. White students reported greater rates of race-based bullying when they were numerical minority than when African American students did when they were the minority, while African American students reported rates of race-based bullying when they were the numerical majority than White students did when they were the majority (β = −0.02).
Moran, Smith, Thompson, & Whitney (1993)	N = 66 White and Asian children in the U.K.	Definition-based self-report of bullying vict. & perp.	While Asian (36.4%) and White children (39.4%) reported similar rates of bullying victimization in general, 50% of Asian children reported race-based bullying (racist name-calling), while no White children reported racist bullying.
Verkuyten & Thijs (2002)	N = 2,851 primary school students in the Netherlands	Behavior-based self-report of experiencing racist victimization	33–42% of Turkish, Moroccan, and Surinamese elementary age students reported racist name-calling and 26–30% of them reported ethnic exclusion. These rates were significantly higher than 21% of Dutch students who reported racist name-calling and 19% who reported ethnic exclusion.

All statistics reported are significant at the p < 0.05 level or lower where relevant. OR comparison groups are White, racial or ethnic majority, or native-born youth unless specified.

Behavior-based surveys of bullying involvement include a list of behaviors (i.e. “I was pushed or shoved; ” “I was teased or called names”) that participants endorse or do not endorse individually, usually by indicating the frequency. They do not name the behaviors as “bullying,” unless otherwise noted. Definition-based surveys present a definition of bullying and participants endorse bullying victimization and/or perpetration based on this description. They may be single-item surveys or may include a list of behaviors or contexts.

^*Statistics omitted due to space restraints. See original paper for more accurate reports.