Lifetime Polytraumatization in Adolescence and Being a Victim of Bullying

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to examine the mental health consequences of having been a victim of bullying and to investigate whether the impact of bullying was dependent on the co-occurrence of other potentially traumatic events, noninterpersonal traumas, interpersonal traumas, as well as adverse childhood circumstances. A community sample of participants (n = 462; 216 males and 246 females) aged 15 to 20 years completed the self-administered Linkoping's Youth Life Experience Scale about lifetime exposure to a range of traumatic and other adverse events and circumstances and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC). The results showed that those who reported being a victim of bullying reported significantly higher scores on all TSCC clinical scales as well as significantly more other traumatic and adverse family exposures. Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that the impact of bullying on mental health was explained, to a considerable degree, by the accumulation of other adverse and traumatic exposures, particularly in the females.

Bullying Victimization in Medically Hospitalized Patients With Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders: Prevalence and Associated Factors

“…21 Thus, as hypothesized, the majority of the patients with SSDs had not experienced bullying; however, bullied patients presented with more physical and psychosocial vulnerabilities in comparison with nonbullied patients. Although our study was crosssectional, the findings corroborate the literature that indicates multiple psychosocial stressors before or after bullying 22,23 and highlight the risks of developing somatic complaints 24 and SSDs 1,4,7 in the context of psychosocial stressors.…”

A cross-sectional study of victimisation of bullying among schoolchildren in Sweden: Background factors and self-reported health complaints

“…In order to avoid the influence of other types of abuse, we conducted analyses of the association between bullying and poor health with a comparison group “no abuse” (children who stated they had not been exposed to bullying, CPA, or parental IPV) and limited the study group of bullied children to those who had not reported other types of abuse. Therefore we were able to present estimations of associations with poor health without the cumulative effects from multiple abuse [4, 15, 29, 30]. However, there may be other confounding factors that we have not been able to control for, such as other types of adverse experiences and additional social/economic circumstances not included in this survey.…”

“…In a study comparing 40 countries, Sweden had the lowest figures of involvement in bullying (8.6%), while Lithuania had the highest 45.2% [5]. Studies of Swedish children show diverging prevalence rates from 3–4% and up to >30% [5, 6, 13–16]. It is, however, difficult to compare figures between studies owing to differences in methods such as the use of different questions, definitions, and time periods.…”

Suicidality and Melancholia in a 17-Year-Old Girl

“…Bullying is a phenomenon found globally, although the reported prevalence rates differ from country to country. 2 It is defined as a specific form of aggression that is intentional, repeated, and involves a disparity of power between the victim and perpetrator. 3 The technological savviness of teenagers, widespread accessibility of devices such as smart phones and computers, as well as the ability to be online without much adult supervision, has contributed to an increase in cyber bullying.…”