Involvement in bullying and suicidal ideation in middle adolescence: a 2-year follow-up study

The objective of the study was to ascertain whether involvement in bullying increases the risk for subsequent suicidal ideation. A total of 2,070 Finnish girls and boys aged 15 were surveyed in the ninth grade (age 15) in schools, and followed up 2 years later in the Adolescent Mental Health Cohort Study. Involvement in bullying was elicited at age 15 by two questions focusing on being a bully and being a victim of bullying. Suicidal ideation was elicited by one item of the short Beck Depression Inventory at age 17. Baseline depressive symptoms and externalizing symptoms, age and sex were controlled for. Statistical analyses were carried out using cross-tabulations with Chi-square/Fisher’s exact test and logistic regression. Suicidal ideation at age 17 was 3–4 times more prevalent among those who had been involved in bullying at age 15 than among those not involved. Suicidal ideation at age 17 was most prevalent among former victims of bullying. Being a victim of bullying at age 15 continued to predict subsequent suicidal ideation when depressive and externalizing symptoms were controlled for. Being a bully at age 15 also persisted as borderline significantly predictive of suicidal ideation when baseline symptoms were controlled for. Findings indicate adolescent victims and perpetrators of bullying alike are at long-term risk for suicidal ideation.     

Bullying and peer victimisation in adolescent girls with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Emerging evidence suggests that adolescent girls with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are more socially impaired compared with their peers; however, research has yet to elucidate the nature of this impairment. We investigated overt (e.g., physical, such as hitting or kicking or verbal, such as teasing and taunting) and relational (e.g., social manipulation, such as social exclusion) bullying and victimisation in adolescent girls with and without ADHD. Adolescent girls (mean age = 15.11) with (n = 22) and without (n = 20) ADHD and their primary caregivers completed measures of overt/relational bullying and victimisation and social impairment. Adolescent girls with ADHD experienced more social problems and more relational and overt victimisation than adolescent girls without ADHD. Although adolescent girls with ADHD engaged in more overt and relational bullying than adolescent girls without ADHD, this difference was not statistically significant. Oppositional Defiant Disorder symptoms appeared to be more strongly related to bullying behaviour, while victimisation appeared to be more strongly related to ADHD.     

Peer involvement in bullying: insights and challenges for intervention.

The purpose of this research was to examine the peer processes that occur during bullying episodes on the school playground. These processes were examined from a social learning perspective, allowing us to consider the effects of various types of reinforcement among bullies, victims, and peers. Fifty-three segments of video tape were examined. Each segment contained a peer group (two or more peers) that viewed bullying on the school playground. Peers were coded for actively joining or passively reinforcing the bully, and for actively intervening on behalf of the victim. On average, four peers viewed the schoolyard bullying, with a range from two to 14 peers. Averaged across all episodes, peers spent 54% of their time reinforcing bullies by passively watching, 21% of their time actively modelling bullies, and 25% of their time intervening on behalf of victims. Older boys (grades 4-6) were more likely to actively join with the bully than were younger boys (grades 1-3) and older girls. Both younger and older girls were more likely to intervene on behalf of victims than were older boys. The results were interpreted as confirming peers' central roles in the processes that unfold during playground bullying episodes. We discuss the results in terms of the challenges posed to peer-led interventions. Peers' anti-bullying initiatives must be reinforced by simultaneous whole-school interventions.     

Mutual long-term effects of school bullying,victimization, and justice sensitivity in adolescents

In the present study, we investigate long-term relations between experiences of aggression at school and the development of justice sensitivity as a personality disposition in adolescents. We assessed justice sensitivity (from the victim, observer, and perpetrator perspective), bullying, and victimization among 565 German 12- to 18-year-olds in a one-year longitudinal study with two measurement points. Latent path analyses revealed gender differences in long-term effects of bullying and victimization on observer sensitivity and victim sensitivity. Experiences of victimization at T1 predicted an increase in victim sensitivity among girls and a decrease in victim sensitivity among boys. Bullying behavior at T1 predicted an increase in victim sensitivity among boys and a decrease in observer sensitivity among girls. We did not find long-term effects of justice sensitivity on bullying and victimization. Our findings indicate that experiences of bullying and victimization have gender-specific influences on the development of moral personality dispositions in adolescents.     

Quality of Life of Victims Bullies,and Bully/Victims Among School-Aged Children in the Netherlands

Two studies were conducted to examine the Quality of Life (QoL) of victims, bullies and bully/victims among Dutch school-aged children. Study 1 studied associations of QoL dimensions with self-reported victimisation in the Dutch sample from the KIDSCREEN Project (N = 1,669). Study 2 examined QoL of self-reported and peer-nominated victims, bullies and bully/victims using baseline data from an evaluation study of an anti-bullying intervention (N = 3,483). In both studies victimisation appeared to be consistently associated with statistically significantly poorer child and adolescent QoL in regard to all QoL dimensions measured. The strongest associations were found with the QoL dimension Moods and Emotions and least with QoL regarding Physical Well-Being. This indicates that victims of bullying are generally less happy and cheerful, feel sad and depressed more often, have a less positive perception of themselves and are less positive about going to school than non-involved children. Active bullying was only associated with decreased QoL in regard to School Environment. That is, bullies are on average less positive about going to school and attending classes than non-involved children are. Finally, QoL of bully/victims mostly resembled that of victims; whereas the association of being a bully/victim was strongest with the QoL dimension Moods and Emotions, the association with QoL regarding Physical Well-Being appeared to be statistically non-significant.     

Experiences of School Bullying Among Internationally Adopted Children: Results from the Finnish Adoption (FINADO) Study

This study investigated the prevalence of and factors associated with school bullying and victimization among Finnish international adoptees. The Olweus bully/victim questionnaire was sent to all 9–15-year-old children adopted in Finland between 1985 and 2007 through the mediating organizations officially approved by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The children were identified through official adoption organizations. The response rate in the target sample was 49.4%: the study sample consisted of 364 children (190 girls, 52.2%). The children’s background factors and symptoms of reactive attachment disorder (RAD) were evaluated using a FINADO questionnaire. Their learning difficulties and social and language skills were assessed using a standardized parental questionnaire (Five to Fifteen). Of the participants, 19.8% reported victimization by peers while 8% had bullied others. Both victimization and bullying were associated with severe symptoms of RAD at the time of adoption (RR 2.68, 95%CI 1.50–4.77 and RR 2.08, 95%CI 1.17–3.69 for victimization and bullying, respectively). Lack of social skills was associated with victimization (RR 1.74, 95%CI 1.06–2.85) but not independently with being a bully (RR 1.50, 95%CI 0.91–2.45). In a multivariate analysis the child’s learning difficulties and language difficulties were not associated with either bullying others or victimization.     

Forms of bullying reported by middle-school students in Latin America and the Caribbean

Nationally representative data from more than 25,000 middle-school students in 15 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean who participated in the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) between 2004 and 2009 were analyzed. The proportion of students by country who reported being the victim of a bully in the past month ranged from 17% to 39%. None of the countries had statistically significant differences in bullying prevalence by sex. For girls, the most common form of bullying reported in 14 countries was appearance-based (‘made fun of because of how the body or face looks’). For boys, physical aggression (‘being hit, kicked, pushed, shoved around, or locked indoors’) was the most common form in 10 countries and appearance-based bullying was the most common form reported in 4 countries. School-based anti-bullying efforts in this region must address a variety of bullying mechanisms as well as contributing factors such as body dissatisfaction.     

Correlates of bullying behaviors among a sample of North American Indigenous adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between familial, educational, and psychosocial factors and bullying among 702 North American Indigenous adolescents aged 11–14 years. The study used multinomial logistic regression models to differentiate correlates of bully perpetration and victimization versus being neither and between being a perpetrator versus being a victim. Analyses reveal that being a bully victim had different correlates than being a perpetrator. Perceived discrimination was associated with increased odds of being either a victim or a perpetrator, relative to being neither. Several factors differentiated being a bully perpetrator from being a bully victim: adolescent age, parental warmth and support, depressive symptoms, anger, and school adjustment. These findings expand upon the limited understanding of the factors associated with bullying among North American Indigenous youth. Bullying intervention and prevention programs that target Indigenous adolescents should be culturally grounded and begin early within the family.     

Childhood bullying as a predictor for becoming a teenage mother in Finland

The aim of this study is to examine the association between bullying behaviour at the age of 8 and becoming a mother under the age of 20. This birth cohort study included 2,867 Finnish girls at baseline in 1989. Register-based follow-up data on births was collected until the end of 2001. Information, both on the main exposure and outcome, was available for 2,507 girls. Both bullies and victims had an increased risk of becoming a teenage mother independent of family-related risk factors. When controlled for childhood psychopathology, however, the association remained significant for bullies (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.2–4.1) and bully-victims (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.05–3.2), but not for pure victims. Reports of bullying and victimisation from the girls themselves, their parents and their teachers were all associated with becoming a teenage mother independent of each other. There is a predictive association between being a bully in childhood and becoming a mother in adolescence. It may be useful to target bullies for teenage pregnancy prevention.     

Brief report: Emotional intelligence, victimisation and bullying in adolescents

In order to better understand bullying behaviours we examined for the first time the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) of adolescents, bullying behaviours and peer victimisation. The sample consisted of 68 adolescents from a secondary college. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire which assessed their EI, how frequently they engaged in bullying behaviours and how often they were the target of peer victimisation. Results of the study indicated that the EI dimensions of Emotions Direct Cognition and Emotional Management and Control, significantly predicted the propensity of adolescents to be subjected to peer victimisation. The EI dimension of Understanding the Emotions of Others was found to be negatively related with bullying behaviours. It was concluded that anti-bullying programs in schools could be improved by addressing deficits in EI in adolescents who bully others as well as those who are at a greater risk of being subjected to peer victimisation.     

Bullying in adolescence: psychiatric problems in victims and bullies as measured by the Youth Self Report (YSR) and the Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS)

Adolescents in junior high school (n = 237), completed a questionnaire on bullying as it relates to victim and to perpetrator status, suicidality and biographical data. Psychological symptoms were assessed by the Youth Self Report (YSR) and the Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS) supplemented by school health officers blind assessments. Bullying was common: bully only (18%), victim only (10%) and victim and bully (9%). Bullies had mainly externalizing symptoms (delinquency and aggression) and those of the victim and bully group both externalizing and internalizing symptoms as well as high levels of suicidality. Adolescents in the bully only group were more likely to be boys and to have attention problems. Moreover, a substantial proportion of the adolescents in the victim only group were judged by school health officer to have psychiatric symptoms and to function socially less well.     

Are children with epilepsy at greater risk for bullying than their peers?

The primary goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of bullying in children with epilepsy compared with their healthy peers and peers with chronic disease. Children with epilepsy were compared with healthy children and a cohort of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The following self-report questionnaires were completed: Revised Olweus Bully/Victim, Piers–Harris Self-Concept Scale, Revised Child Manifest Anxiety Scale, Child Depression Index, and Social Skills Rating System. Children with epilepsy were more frequently victims of bullying (42%) than were healthy controls (21%) or children with CKD (18%) (P = 0.01). Epilepsy factors such as early age at seizure onset, seizure type, and refractory epilepsy were not found to be predictors of victim status. Surprisingly, poor social skills, increased problem behaviors, poor self-concept, depression, and anxiety did not correlate with bully victim status. The relatively high prevalence of bullying behaviors in these children is concerning and, from a clinical standpoint, requires greater research specifically addressing peer relationships and consideration of the implementation of anti-bullying measures and coping strategies for children with epilepsy.     

Is Exposure to Domestic Violence and Violent Crime Associated with Bullying Behaviour Among Underage Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients?

We examined the relationship of exposure to domestic violence and violence occurring outside home to bullying behaviour in a sample (508; 40.9% males, 59.1% females) of underage psychiatric inpatient adolescents. Participants were interviewed using K-SADS-PL to assess DSM-IV psychiatric diagnoses and to gather information about domestic and other violence and bullying behaviour. Witnessing interparental violence increased the risk of being a victim of bullying up to 2.5-fold among boys. For girls, being a victim of a violent crime was an over 10-fold risk factor for being a bully–victim. Gender differences were seen in witnessing of a violent crime; girls were more likely to be bullies than boys. Further, as regards being a victim of a violent crime outside home and physical abuse by parents at home, girls were significantly more often bully–victims than boys. When interfering and preventing bullying behaviour, it is important to screen adolescents’ earlier experiences of violence.     

Bullying at school--an indicator of adolescents at risk for mental disorders

A number of 14-16 year old Finnish adolescents taking part in the School Health Promotion Study (n=8787 in 1995, n=17643 in 1997) were surveyed about bullying and victimization in relation to psychosomatic symptoms, depression, anxiety, eating disorders and substance use. A total of 9 per cent of girls and 17 per cent of boys were involved in bullying on a weekly basis. Anxiety, depression and psychosomatic symptoms were most frequent among bully-victims and equally common among bullies and victims. Frequent excessive drinking and use of any other substance were most common among bullies and thereafter among bully-victims. Among girls, eating disorders were associated with involvement in bullying in any role, among boys with being bully-victims. Bullying should be seen as an indicator of risk of various mental disorders in adolescence.     

Bullying and people with severe intellectual disability

Although bullying has been shown to reduce quality of life in many spheres, anti‐bullying strategies have yet to be incorporated into services for adults with severe intellectual disability (ID). The present study employed a survey of staff and parent concerns about 54 previously surveyed students who had left a school for pupils with severe ID. A content analysis of follow‐up interviews was performed in 10 cases. Staff identified 19% of the survey sample as bullying others and 11% as being picked on. Neither gender nor communication ability had an impact. There was no significant change in bully or victim status over time, although some people did change. Parents or staff raised bully/victim problems in more than half of the interviews. There is sufficient evidence of bullying behaviour to warrant the adoption of anti‐bullying strategies.     

Bullying at school—an indicator of adolescents at risk for mental disorders

A number of 14–16 year old Finnish adolescents taking part in the School Health Promotion Study (n=8787 in 1995, n=17643 in 1997) were surveyed about bullying and victimization in relation to psychosomatic symptoms, depression, anxiety, eating disorders and substance use. A total of 9 per cent of girls and 17 per cent of boys were involved in bullying on a weekly basis. Anxiety, depression and psychosomatic symptoms were most frequent among bully-victims and equally common among bullies and victims. Frequent excessive drinking and use of any other substance were most common among bullies and thereafter among bully-victims. Among girls, eating disorders were associated with involvement in bullying in any role, among boys with being bully-victims. Bullying should be seen as an indicator of risk of various mental disorders in adolescence.     

How Adolescent Girls Understand and Manage Depression Within Their Peer Group: A Grounded Theory Investigation

Depression is prevalent among adolescent girls, but few receive mental health treatment. Adolescent girls often forgo needed mental health treatment because they fear responses of peers about depression. Understanding the processes of how adolescent girls respond to peers with depression is an important first step to improve access to mental health treatment. This qualitative study describes the knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors of adolescent girls about depression and mental health treatment within their peer group. The investigators conducted two focus groups, with adolescent girls (n = 21), in a public high school in the southern U.S. Grounded theory methods were utilized to identify a beginning substantive theory about perceptions and behaviors of adolescent girls related to depression in their peers. Participants cognitively processed mental health concepts similarly to adults. However, their affective responses to peers with mental illness fluctuated between adult and child perspectives. Participants expressed concerns about individuals with depression that have previously been identified in adults, but expressed unique perspectives that reflect their transitional stage of development. Findings provide new information about how adolescent girls respond to peers with depression, define areas for further investigation, provide directions for constructing developmentally appropriate mental health educational interventions for adolescent girls, and elucidate the need to provide guidance to women with whom adolescent girls have sustained contact.     

Gender differences in adolescent sport participation, teasing, self-objectification and body image concerns

This study examined gender differences in adolescent participation in sport and physical activity, in teasing experiences specific to the physical activity domain, and the relationship between adolescent physical activity and body image. A sample of 714 adolescents (332 girls, 382 boys) aged between 12 and 16 years completed measures of participation in organised sport and other physical activities, experiences of teasing specific to sport, self-objectification and body image. Adolescent girls participated in organised sport at a lower rate than boys, but experienced higher levels of teasing. Both girls and boys reported being teased by same-sex peers, but in addition, girls also reported being teased by opposite-sex peers (i.e. boys). Time spent on aesthetic physical activities was related to disordered eating symptomatology for both girls and boys. It was concluded that teasing and body image concerns may contribute to adolescent girls’ reduced rates of participation in sports and other physical activities.     

Peer victimization and social phobia: a follow-up study among adolescents

Objective

This study examined longitudinal associations between direct and relational peer victimization (DV/RV) and self-reported social phobia (SP) among adolescents from 15 to 17 years of age, controlling for depression and family socioeconomic covariates.

Methods

A total of 3,278 Finnish adolescents with a mean age of 15.5 years were surveyed at baseline (T1), and followed up 2 years afterwards (T2) their mean age being 17.6 years. In all, 2,070 adolescents were reached for the follow-up. Both types of victimization were assessed with structured questions, SP with the Social Phobia Inventory, and depression with the 13-item Beck Depression Inventory. Socioeconomic covariates were assessed with items from the Life Events Checklist. Frequency of victimization and SP were assessed at T1 and T2, and incidence and persistence from T1 to T2. Longitudinal associations between victimization and SP were examined with three logistic regression analyses with depression and socioeconomic covariates controlled for, with SP, DV, and RV in turn as the dependent endpoint (T2) variables.

Results

Among boys a bidirectional association between DV and SP was found with DV both predicting SP [Odds Ratio (OR) 2.6] and being predicted by SP (OR 3.9). Among girls RV predicted SP (OR 2.8), but not vice versa, while depression in turn predicted DV (OR 4.3).

Conclusions

Direct victimization and SP have a bidirectional association among boys, while among girls RV increases the risk of subsequent SP.     

Global and physical self-esteem and body dissatisfaction as mediators of the relationship between weight status and being a victim of bullying

Research has found evidence of a link between being overweight or obese and bullying/peer victimisation, and also between obesity and adjustment problems such as low self-esteem and body dissatisfaction. Studies have also found that adjustment problems can put children at an increased risk of being bullied over time. However, to date the factors that place overweight or obese children at risk of being bullied have been poorly elucidated. Self-report data were collected from a sample of 11–14 year olds (N = 376) about their weight status, about their experiences of three different types of bullying (Verbal, Physical and Social), their global self-worth, self-esteem for physical appearance, and body dissatisfaction. Overweight or obese children reported experiencing significantly more verbal and physical (but not social) bullying than their non-overweight peers. Global self-worth, self-esteem for physical appearance and body dissatisfaction each fully mediated the paths between weight status and being a victim of bullying.