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Objective: To examine the prevalence and intensity of victimization through bullying by peers, in relation to experiencing offensive treatment by adults at school or bullying other adolescents oneself. Comparing adolescents with and without disabilities.

Design: Three school surveys, with identical questions, from 2005, 2007, and 2009, with 13/14 year olds, 15/16 year olds, and 17/18 year old students as participants.

Setting: The self-reporting students in this study represent all the mainstream schools and special schools for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the county of Örebro in Sweden.

Participants: In 2005, a total of 8664 students completed the survey Life and Health – Young People; in 2007, a total of 8968 adolescents completed the same survey; and in 2009, a total of 8253 adolescents participated, giving completion rates of 84%, 82%, and 78% respectively.

Results: The prevalence of bullying in our sample was 23.4 % among adolescents reporting disabilities and 11.1 % among adolescents not reporting a disability. Adolescents with disabilities were more likely to be disparaged or otherwise treated offensively by an adult at school (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 2.7, 95% CI  2.0–3.6). Adolescents with disabilities were also more likely to be victims of bullying (AOR 2.1, 95% CI 1.6 –2.8), and to be aggressive towards others (AOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.3–2.3).

Conclusions: The bullying process is related to a complex interactional process with both children and adults taking part. The same person can both be a victim and bully others. Disability is a high risk factor for victimization. Adolescents with disabilities are increasingly being mainstreamed in Sweden, as in other countries. Students in special schools also become victimized or bully. All schools should be encouraged to undertake preventive measures by educating children and staff about equality to avoid the victimization of adolescents because of disabilities, other chronic health conditions, ethnicity, gender, etc. At the same time all schools should be encouraged to have special programs to assist children and adults who are victims of the bullying process.