Maria M. Ttofi, David P. Farrington, Friedrich Lösel and Rolf Loeber
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which bullying victimization in school predicts depression in later life and whether this relation holds after…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which bullying victimization in school predicts depression in later life and whether this relation holds after controlling for other major childhood risk factors.
Design/methodology/approach
As no previous systematic review has been conducted on this topic, effect sizes are based on both published and unpublished studies: longitudinal investigators of 28 studies have conducted specific analyses for the authors' review.
Findings
The probability of being depressed up to 36 years later (mean follow‐up period of 6.9 years) was much higher for children who were bullied at school than for non‐involved students (odds ratio (OR)=1.99; 95 per cent CI: 1.71‐2.32). Bullying victimization was a significant risk factor for later depression even after controlling for up to 20 (mean number of six covariates) major childhood risk factors (OR=1.74; 95 per cent CI: 1.54‐1.97). Effect sizes were smaller when the follow‐up period was longer and larger the younger the child was when exposed to bullying. Finally, the summary effect size was not significantly related to the number of risk factors controlled for.
Originality/value
Although causal inferences are tentative, the overall results presented in this paper indicate that bullying victimization is a major childhood risk factor that uniquely contributes to later depression. High quality effective anti‐bullying programmes could be viewed as an early form of public health promotion.
Details
Keywords
David P. Farrington, Rolf Loeber, Rebecca Stallings and Maria M. Ttofi
School bullying is an important social problem with serious consequences. Many studies suggest that involvement in bullying (as a perpetrator or a victim) is associated with…
Abstract
Purpose
School bullying is an important social problem with serious consequences. Many studies suggest that involvement in bullying (as a perpetrator or a victim) is associated with undesirable short‐term effects on the physical and psychological health of children and with undesirable long‐term effects on their future psychosocial adjustment as adults. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether bullying perpetration predicts later criminal offending and whether bullying victimization predicts later depression.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyses data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study in which 503 boys who were originally assessed at age 6‐7 years have been followed up to age 19, with yearly or half‐yearly assessments.
Findings
Bullying perpetration in one age range, according to boys and mothers, predicted delinquency (reported by boys) in a later age range, and this relationship held up after controlling for ten major risk factors measured in an earlier age range. Bullying perpetration, according to boys, was the stronger predictor of delinquency. Bullying victimization (being bullied) in one age range predicted depression (reported by boys, mothers and teachers) in a later age range, and this relationship also held up after controlling for ten earlier risk factors. Bullying victimization according to mothers was the stronger predictor of depression.
Originality/value
The paper provides useful evidence which leads to the conclusion that bullying perpetration is followed by an increased risk of delinquency, and that bullying victimization is followed by an increased risk of depression.
Details
Keywords
Maria Ttofi and David Farrington
This paper summarises the results of a systematic review and meta‐analysis of the effectiveness of anti‐bullying programmes in schools. Extensive searches were carried out in 18…
Abstract
This paper summarises the results of a systematic review and meta‐analysis of the effectiveness of anti‐bullying programmes in schools. Extensive searches were carried out in 18 databases and in 35 journals. The number of reports on anti‐bullying programmes increased considerably over time. Nearly 600 reports were found, but only 59 of these (describing evaluations of 30 different programmes) were eligible for inclusion in our review because they described a high‐quality evaluation. We coded the elements of the intervention in these programmes and key features of the evaluation and related these to the effects of the intervention. These types of figures have never been presented in any previous systematic review or meta‐analysis of anti‐bullying programmes. Our meta‐analysis showed that school‐based anti‐bullying programmes are effective in reducing bullying and victimisation (being bullied), which were reduced by about 20‐23% in experimental schools, compared with control schools. The most important programme components that were associated with a decrease in bullying were parent training, improved playground supervision, disciplinary methods, school conferences, videos, information for parents, work with peers, classroom rules and classroom management.
Details
Keywords
Friedrich Lösel and Doris Bender
Although school bullying is an important social problem, its long‐term relation to mental health and behavioural outcomes is rarely investigated. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Although school bullying is an important social problem, its long‐term relation to mental health and behavioural outcomes is rarely investigated. The purpose of this paper is to address the relation between bullying in childhood and behavioural and emotional problems in adolescence.
Design/methodology/approach
Bullying and victimization were assessed in a sample of 557 German children (mean age 9 years). Nearly five years later anxious, depressive, delinquent, aggressive and other outcomes were assessed via self‐ and mother‐reports. Data analyses contained bivariate correlations and hierarchical regressions in which family and individual risk factors (measured two years before bullying/victimization) were controlled.
Findings
It was found that there were mostly small, but highly significant correlations between bullying perpetration and later antisocial behaviour. Among girls, bullying also predicted later symptoms of anxiety, depression and social withdrawal. The same was the case for victimization. Victimized girls also showed more antisocial outcomes. When controlling for other risk factors, bullying perpetration remained as a predictor of externalizing problems, however, there were no significant relations between victimization and internalizing or externalizing outcomes.
Originality/value
This paper presents longitudinal data on a large sample from a country under‐represented in the English‐language literature on bullying, also its findings reveal that bullying perpetration is a highly significant predictor of later antisocial and delinquent outcomes in adolescence.
Details
Keywords
Tara Renae McGee, James G. Scott, John J. McGrath, Gail M. Williams, Michael O'Callaghan, William Bor and Jake M. Najman
The purpose of this paper is to report on the association between bullying victimisation and various internalizing and externalizing behaviours including anxiety and depression…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the association between bullying victimisation and various internalizing and externalizing behaviours including anxiety and depression, somatic problems, withdrawn behaviour, aggressive and delinquent behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this research come from the Mater‐University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy and its Outcomes (MUSP) a prospective cohort study of mothers and their children which began in Brisbane in 1981, assessing the impact of experiences of being bullied at 14 years of age and YASR outcomes at 21 years of age. Brisbane is the capital city of the State of Queensland, Australia. The site for the research was the Brisbane Mater Misericordiae Mothers' Hospital (MMH), which is one of the two major obstetric units in Brisbane. In effect all pregnant women attending a publicly‐funded obstetrical service over a three‐year period were recruited to the study (about 50 percent of women attend public obstetrical services in Queensland).
Findings
The authors find that: first, there is no association between the experience of being bullied and young adult anxiety and depression, as well as some other outcomes (withdrawn, intrusive behaviour); second, for both males and females, there are increased rates of attention problems for those children who have been bullied; and third, males and females respond somewhat differently to being bullied, with males reporting more aggressive behaviour and females reporting more somatic problems.
Originality/value
Overall, the findings suggest that the likely impact of being bullied may not be widespread across mental health domains, and that the impact may differ somewhat depending upon whether the person bullied is a male or female.
Details
Keywords
Margit Averdijk, Barbara Müller, Manuel Eisner and Denis Ribeaud
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between bullying victimization at age 8 and anxiety and depression at age 11 in a large and ethnically heterogeneous…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between bullying victimization at age 8 and anxiety and depression at age 11 in a large and ethnically heterogeneous sample from Zurich, Switzerland.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors present new analyses from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youth (z‐proso) on the relationship between bullying victimization at age 8 and anxiety and depression at age 11.
Findings
Different measures of bullying victimization significantly predicted later anxiety and depression. Differences existed between measures of anxiety and depression from different informants.
Originality/value
First, the paper provides readers with an overview of the victimization data collected in z‐proso among an ethnically heterogeneous population sample of children in Zurich, Switzerland. Second, it provides results of bivariate and multivariate analyses on the relationship between bullying victimization and internalizing behavior. Third, the authors investigate if their results are robust across different measures of bullying victimization and across measures of anxiety and depression from different informants.
Details
Keywords
Sheree J. Gibb, L. John Horwood and David M. Fergusson
This paper aims to report on the associations between reports of bullying victimization and bullying perpetration in childhood and subsequent mental health and adjustment…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report on the associations between reports of bullying victimization and bullying perpetration in childhood and subsequent mental health and adjustment difficulties in late adolescence/adulthood (16‐30 years) in a New Zealand birth cohort.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study, a longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1,265 individuals born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1977 and followed to age 30.
Findings
There were general trends for rates of mental health/adjustment problems to be significantly associated with parental reports of bullying victimization in adolescence, and with parent and teacher reports of bullying perpetration in middle childhood or adolescence. Effect sizes were typically in the small to moderate range, and were reduced by covariate adjustment. After adjustment the majority of associations were statistically non‐significant. Effect sizes did not vary significantly with gender or the age at which outcomes were assessed.
Originality/value
The paper confirms that reports of bullying perpetration and victimization in childhood were associated with higher rates of later mental health/adjustment problems. Effect sizes were typically in the small to moderate range and, in the majority of cases, were substantially reduced upon covariate adjustment. Effect size estimates were not significantly different between males and females and did not vary with the age at which outcomes were assessed.
Details
Keywords
Metin Özdemir and Håkan Stattin
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how children's involvement in bullying (as bullies, victims and bully‐victims) is related to longer term levels of various…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how children's involvement in bullying (as bullies, victims and bully‐victims) is related to longer term levels of various internalizing problems such as depression and self‐harm.
Design/methodology/approach
A prospective longitudinal design was used based on data from the Swedish Seven Schools Longitudinal Study. The authors also examined whether bullying/victimization experiences predict changes in internalizing problems.
Findings
Results vary depending on children's participation in bullying behavior as bullies, victims or bully‐victims.
Originality/value
Overall, the paper's findings highlight the importance of uniqueness of different bullying/victimization experiences. This study showed that the bully‐victims, followed by the victimized group, were more at risk for displaying internalizing problems. Bullies showed neither higher internalizing problems nor increases over time in symptom levels compared to the youths who were neither bullies nor victims.
Details
Keywords
Yasuyo Nishino, Tatsuo Ujiie, Katsumi Ninomiya, Atsushi Igarashi, Hiromitsu Inoue and Chika Yamamoto
The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation of the relationships between victimization and later emotional problems among Japanese junior high school students. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation of the relationships between victimization and later emotional problems among Japanese junior high school students. The effects of psychosocial risk factors and their role as predictors of the relationship between victimization and later emotional problems were also examined over time.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors' first concern was to determine whether victimization is, indeed, related to emotional problems during junior high school. The authors' second concern was to determine how long victimization or risk factors will be associated with emotional problems. The third concern was to determine whether there is a gender difference in the relationship between victimization and emotional problems. Emotional problems were assessed using self‐report questionnaire measures of depression and low self‐worth. This article used eight‐months interval data collections; September 2002 (Time 1), May 2003 (Time 2), January 2004 (Time 3), and September 2004 (Time 4).
Findings
The results section is organized into three parts. The first part presents correlation coefficients for each of the variables. The second part examines whether the experience being bullied is related to four risk factors, depression and low self‐worth. The third part examines whether risk factors and victimization are related to depression and low self‐worth over time. In each part the authors also examined whether results vary depending on gender.
Originality/value
The paper usefully shows that victimization at Time 1 predicted later depression at Times 2 and 3 for boys, but not for girls. Victimization at Time 1 also predicted later depression for boys after controlling for other Time 1 risk factors. Early victimization may be a unique predictor of later depression for boys, but not for girls.