Association of common health symptoms with bullying in primary school children

Williams, Katrina; Chambers, Mike; Logan, Stuart; Robinson, D

doi:10.1136/bmj.313.7048.17

Cited by 355 publications

(257 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(8 reference statements)

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“…This adds depth to the previous literature that supports a connection between bullying, suicide, and depression. 1,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] Victims have significantly lower academic achievement in school than bystanders using an objective measure of achievement. 4 Whether the lower academic achievement among victims preceded or was a consequence of being a victim cannot be determined from this cross-sectional study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bullying and School Safety

Glew¹,

Fan²,

Katon³

et al. 2008

The Journal of Pediatrics

139

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Objective-To identify an association between involvement in bullying and problems in school.Study design-This was a cross-sectional study of 5391 students in grades 7, 9, and 11 in an urban public school district. The main outcome measure was involvement in bullying. Secondary outcomes included attendance, grade point average, psychosocial distress, and perceived acceptability of carrying guns to school.Results-Of the 5391 children surveyed, 26% were involved in bullying either as victim, bully, or both (bully-victim). All 3 groups were significantly more likely than bystanders to feel unsafe at school and sad most days. Victims and bully-victims were more likely to say they are "no good." Victims were more likely to feel that they "do not belong" in their school. The odds of being a victim (vs a bystander) were 10% lower for every 1 point increase in grade point average. Bully-victims were more likely to say that it is "not wrong" to take a gun to school.Conclusions-Associations between involvement in bullying and academic achievement, psychological distress, and the belief that it is not wrong to take a gun to school reinforce the notion that school environment is interrelated with mental health and school success.Bullying is defined as any repeated negative activity or aggression intended to harm or bother someone who is perceived by peers as being less physically or psychologically powerful than the aggressor. 1 Of particular concern is that bullying may have an adverse impact on victims' scholastic achievement, desire to attend school, and psychological health. 2 In 2000, Nansel et al 3 found a prevalence of bullying involvement (as bully, victim, or both [bully-victim]) among American teens and preteens of approximately 30%. But although this study found a significant association between bullying involvement and lower self-reported academic achievement, it did not use objective measures of academic achievement. Two other studies found a relationship between victim status and lower grade point averages. 4,5 Results from studies of other age groups in other countries vary. [6][7][8] Between 1994 and 1999, 220 school-associated violent deaths occurred in the United States, of which 172 were committed by students. Analysis revealed that the offending students were 2.6 times more likely to have been bullied than their victims. 9 One US national study reported that during 1 month in 2001, 2.7 million students carried a weapon to school. In that study, carrying weapons was associated both with being a bully and with being a victim 19,20 Variations in culture, school variables, or socioeconomic factors may account for these differences. [19][20][21] The present study arose from an offer by a US urban school district to allow the authors to analyze the results of a survey designed to assess and improve the school climate. The goal was to characterize bullies, victims, and bully-victims as completely as possible given the available information. We identified the opportunity to answer the following specific...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bullying and School Safety

Glew¹,

Fan²,

Katon³

et al. 2008

The Journal of Pediatrics

139

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Moreover, this is the first study that reveals a relation between being bullied and suicidal ideation at this early age. Previous studies among primary school children in Ireland, 9 Australia, 10 United Kingdom, 11 and Finland 12 also reported that victims of bullying had more depression symptoms than nonvictims. Despite the negative effect of bullying on mental health, many victimized children do not talk about it at home or report it to their teachers.…”

Section: Being Bullied and Psychosocial Healthmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…2,3,6 Bullying has a negative impact on psychosocial health. Being repeatedly bullied has been associated with an increased risk of depression, [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] suicidal ideation, 8 and loneliness. 14 Being a bully is also associated with poorer health outcomes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychosocial Health Among Young Victims and Offenders of Direct and Indirect Bullying

Wal¹,

2003

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Bullying Psychosocial Health Among Young Victims and Offenders of Direct and IndirectParticipants. A total of 4811 children aged 9 to 13. Results. Depression and suicidal ideation are common outcomes of being bullied in both boys and girls. These associations are stronger for indirect than direct bullying. After correction, direct bullying had a significant effect on depression and suicidal ideation in girls, but not in boys. Boy and girl offenders of bullying far more often reported delinquent behavior. Bullying others directly is a much greater risk factor for delinquent behavior than bullying others indirectly. This was true for both boys and girls. Boy and girl offenders of bullying also more often reported depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. However, after correction for both sexes only a significant association still existed between bullying others directly and suicidal ideation.Conclusions. The association between bullying and psychosocial health differs notably between girls and boys as well as between direct and indirect forms of bullying. Interventions to stop bullying must pay attention to these differences to enhance effectiveness. Pediatrics 2003;111:1312-1317; bullying, depression, suicidal ideation, delinquency, children.

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“…Indeed, both family disorganization and maternal depression have been shown to correlate moderately with both sleep disturbance and anxiety symptoms in 3--4 year old children and accounted for some of the association between the two difficulties (Gregory et al 2005b). Other candidate environmental influences include being a bully victim, which is associated with poor sleep and feeling sad (Williams et al 1996) and socioeconomic status which is associated with poor sleep and a whole host of other difficulties (Buckhalt et al 2007;Miech et al 1999;Bøe et al 2012). The role of parenting in sleep development and sleep disturbances has been repeatedly demonstrated, particularly in early childhood (Sadeh et al 2010).…”

Section: Sleep and Emotional Difficulties: Links Between Sleep And Emmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sleep in Childhood and Adolescence: Age-Specific Sleep Characteristics, Common Sleep Disturbances and Associated Difficulties

Barclay

Gregory

2013

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences

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Sleep changes throughout the lifespan, with particularly salient alterations occurring during the first few years of life, as well as during the transition from childhood to adolescence. Such changes are partly the result of brain maturation; complex changes in the organisation of the circadian system; as well as changes in daily routine, environmental demands and responsibilities.Despite the automaticity of sleep, given that it is governed by a host of complex mechanisms, there are times when sleep becomes disturbed. Sleep disturbances in childhood are common and may stem from behavioural difficulties or abnormalities in physiological processes and, in some cases manifest into diagnosable sleep disorders. As well as occurring exclusively, childhood sleep disturbances often co--occur with other difficulties. The purpose of this chapter is to outline the neurobiology of typical sleep/wake processes, and describe changes in sleep physiology and architecture from birth to adulthood. Furthermore, common childhood sleep disorders are described as are their associations with other traits, including all of the syndromes presented in this handbook: ASDs, ADHD, schizophrenia, and emotional/ behavioural difficulties. Throughout, we attempt to explain possible mechanisms underlying these disorders and their associations.

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Association of common health symptoms with bullying in primary school children

Abstract: Health professionals seeing primary schoolchildren who present with headaches, tummy ache, feeling sad or very sad, bed wetting, and sleeping difficulties should consider bullying as a possible contributory factor.

Cited by 355 publications

References 5 publications

Bullying and School Safety

Bullying and School Safety

Psychosocial Health Among Young Victims and Offenders of Direct and Indirect Bullying

Sleep in Childhood and Adolescence: Age-Specific Sleep Characteristics, Common Sleep Disturbances and Associated Difficulties

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