In college, some students experience bullying which has an impact on their mental health. This could lead to negative effects on their ability to learn, socialize, and cope with the stress of their academic career. An online survey is underway to measure levels of anxiety and depression as well as any bullying experiences in Rowan students

Residence is being used as a moderator of the relationship between bullying and mental health outcomes. The hypothesis for this study are 1.) Students who have been bullied will have higher levels of depression compared to non-bullied students, 2.) Students who have been bullied will have higher levels of anxiety compared to non-bullied students, 3.) Students who have been bullied and who live on campus will have higher levels of anxiety compared with the students who live off campus, 4.) Students who have been bullied and live on campus will have higher levels of depression compared to students who live off campus.

The target sample size for the study is 300 male and female Rowan University college students age 18 years old or older. Moderation analysis will be conducted with the main effects model used to test hypothesis 1 and 2. The interaction model will be used to test hypothesis 3 and 4. The systematic versus chance difference will be assessed using 2-tailed t-tests for independent means using tests 1,  2.

Authors: Victoria Cannizzaro & Steven Malec