Deconstructing Traditional Bullying, Cyberbullying and Psychological Distress among LGBT and Heterosexual Adolescents in South Africa

Bullying and psychological distress among adolescents are considered serious social public health concerns. Several research works concerning as a result of bullying experiences have been conducted but not many studies explore the differences in LGBT their heterosexual counterparts. Therefore, purpose this study was to examine comparative analyses traditional bullying, cyberbullying, South Africa. The adopted an ex-post-facto design. A total 140 respondents (73.6% self-identified 26.4% adolescents) who students, were engaged using purposive random sampling. Participants completed victimisation components (B1 for scale B2 cyberbullying scale) Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10), which measures participants. Findings revealed that sexual orientations gender identities do significantly influence traditional-bullying (t = 0.065, df 138, p > .05). However, further analysis (ẋ=53.44; SD=05.03) reported higher compared counterparts (ẋ=45.84; SD=06.57). Consequently, (ẋ=30.28; SD=0.75) because victimisation, (ẋ=24.87; SD=03.15). It is recommended assessments insightful counselling should be encouraged adolescents. purposeful intervention might enable early identification problems, turn, enables psychosocial interventions will address prevailing experienced victimisation. Keywords: Bullying; LGBT; Heterosexual; Distress; Adolescents