Being Bullied at School: Gratitude as Potential Protective Factor for Suicide Risk in Adolescents

Abstract

Bullying victimization has been recognized as a risk factor for social, physical, and psychological problems in adolescence. One promising resource that seems to protect adolescents from adversity and traumatic events is gratitude. However, no analysis of the specific role of gratitude in bullying context has been performed as yet. Thus, the aim of this research was to explore the associations between bullying victimization, gratitude and suicide risk (i.e., depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts and behaviors) and gender-based differences. We also investigated whether levels of gratitude moderated the relationship between victimization and suicide risk for girls and boys. A convenience sample of 1,617 adolescents (50.5% girls; M age = 14.02) participated in this research. Adolescents completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire about their bullying victimization, gratitude, depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Gratitude was found to be negatively related to victimization and suicide risk. While no gender differences were found in gratitude, it was observed that girls reported higher levels of suicide risk. However, the victimization × gratitude interaction contributed to variance in suicide risk, but only for girls: Those girls who were victims of bullying with high gratitude scores reported lower suicide risk than their counterparts who showed less gratitude. Thus, the findings from this present cross-sectional study suggest that gratitude is related to suicide risk in the context of bullying victimization, especially among adolescent girls. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of our novel contributions to the understanding of gratitude as a protective factor against consequences of bullying victimization are discussed.

Forgiveness, Gratitude, Happiness, and Prosocial Bystander Behavior in Bullying

“…Prior studies have also shown that gratitude has a positive impact on adolescent happiness, as it involves reflection, positive emotions, adaptive social behaviors, and relationships that facilitate well-being (Fredrickson, 2004;Watkins, 2004;Armenta et al, 2017). In fact, it has been reported that people with higher levels of gratitude experience less anger, feelings of loneliness, and fewer depressive symptoms (Breen et al, 2010;Wu et al, 2018;Rey et al, 2019).…”

“…While recent studies show that gratitude and forgiveness have the twofold benefit of decreasing the risk of aggression and victimization and also reducing the negative consequences of being bullied (Karremans et al, 2005;Egan and Todorov, 2009;Riek and DeWit, 2018;Rey et al, 2019;Yu and Chan, 2019), little is known about their relations with bystander behavior.…”

Understanding the Relation Between Self-Compassion and Suicide Risk Among Adolescents in a Post-disaster Context: Mediating Roles of Gratitude and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

“… Li et al (2012) investigated the suicide risk of 1,252 Chinese middle school students from Guangzhou and found that gratitude can significantly reduce the suicide risk of teenagers. Similarly, Rey et al (2019) focused on school bullying among high school students and explored the causes of suicidal behavior among adolescents in the context of trauma. They found that gratitude is an important protective factor for suicidal behavior in adolescents.…”

The Effects of Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Self-Control on Reactive and Proactive Aggression in Bullying

“…Some scholars suggest that gratitude has a positive relationship with wellbeing [ 52 , 53 ]. It also has been reported that people with greater levels of gratitude have fewer negative emotions [ 54 , 55 ] and more prosocial behavior [ 56 , 57 ]. A number of studies have shown that gratitude is associated with positive interpersonal relationships and social outcomes; however, it still remains unclear how gratitude influences negative and violent behaviors [ 58 ].…”