Do Spiritual Health Connections Protect Adolescents When They Are Bullied: A National Study of 12,593 Young Canadians

Abstract

It has long been established that bullying has many negative impacts on the mental health of adolescents. Young people who are victimized by bullying may cope by drawing on available assets to protect themselves from harm. One such asset with ancient roots but with the potential for contemporary application is the concept of spiritual health—the idea that the connections in our lives (whether to ourselves, others, nature, or something transcendent) affect our well-being. In this study, we examined 12,593 Canadians aged 11–15 years to determine the effects of being victimized by bullying on their mental health, as measured by frequent subjective health complaints. We then explored whether strong spiritual health connections were effect modifiers that buffer such negative pathways, thereby acting as protective health assets. Data were obtained from the 2017/18 Canadian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. Generalized linear regression models were used to estimate associations and evaluate effect modification in different age and gender groups. Approximately 21% of participants reported being victimized by bullying. Strength of “connections to self” (i.e., a sense of meaning/purpose or joy and happiness in one’s life) was found to act as an effect modifier, but in girls alone. Contrary to expectations of a buffering effect, the strongest associations between victimization and frequent health complaints were identified for girls with high connections to self. Relative risks for poor mental health among these highly self-connected girls were 1.63 [95% CI: 1.26–2.12] and 1.25 [1.06–1.47] for younger and older girls, respectively. We interpreted this unexpected finding in light of cognitive theories of trauma, which suggest that adverse events may lead to worse health outcomes among those who place particular value on their world being meaningful, controllable or benevolent. Implications for clinical intervention and health promotion are considered.

Manitoba Grade 9 Students’ Satisfaction with Life

“…In a similar study with youth across Canada, Shaver et al (2021) also noted a higher frequency of bullying towards girls than towards boys. Shaver and colleagues argue that because girls' sense of self is strongly developed in relation to others, victimization experiences "may create cognitive dissonance between their secure senses of self-worth and the positive, empathetic relationships that they pursue to develop identity" (pp.…”

“…Most of the available literature on the topic of well-being of students in Canada stems from analyses of longitudinal studies such as COMPASS, the Manitoba Youth Health Survey, the Canadian Community Health Survey, and the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Some of the most common variables under analysis were: the use of alcohol/cannabis (Butler et al, 2019;Duncan et al, 2021), sleep patterns (Chaput & Janssen, 2016;Gariépy et al, 2019;Gruber et al, 2019), eating habits (Gariépy et al, 2019;Ovenell et al, 2022), screen time (Gazendam et al, 2020), physical activity (Caldwell et al, 2022;Maximova et al, 2022;Vanderloo et al, 2022;Weatherson et al, 2020), organized activity (Albanese et al, 2023), parents' profession (Stelnicki et al, 2022) and separation/divorce (Galbraith & Kingsbury, 2022), neighbourhood (Sim & Georgiades, 2022), immigration or refugee background (Albanese et al, 2023;Paradis et al, 2022), perceived body image (Livermore et al, 2020), and bullying (Shaver et al, 2021;Stewart-Tufescu et al, 2021). Following, we summarize the findings of these and some other studies around different aspects and factors of well-being.…”

“…The second phenomenon that stood out across several studies was that girls had lower wellbeing compared to boys (e.g., Gariépy et al, 2019;Gazendam et al, 2020;Romano et al, 2020;Shaver et al, 2021;Stewart-Tufescu et al, 2021). For instance, the literature showed a tendency for negative health indicators (e.g., longer screen time, being bullied) to have a more detrimental impact on girls than on boys.…”

The mediating effect of forgiveness on the relationship between spirituality and psychological well-being in adults with history of childhood bullying

“…However, its effects can be long-term and can continue into adulthood. This study is unique in focusing on the adult experience of bullying, an area less researched than that related to adolescents (Juwita & Kustanti, 2020;Quintana-Orts et al, 2021;Shaver et al, 2022). Previous studies also focus solely on the association between forgiveness and psychological well-being (Cornish et al, 2022;Ekawardhani et al, 2019) or spirituality and psychological well-being (Basileyo, 2019;Gireyhan, 2022).…”

Spirituality in the health curricula in Canada: A review

“…In recent years, the potential value of applied protective practices based on spiritual health practices has also been recognised through approaches such as mindfulness (Simkin and Black, 2014) and connections to nature (Louv, 2005). Shaver et al (2021) report that connections to spirituality have practical implications that can be used to inform public health promotion and prevention activities aimed at supporting youth mental health through the development of resilience. These researchers propose a nuanced approach to supporting the development of meaning and purpose in at risk youth by addressing school-level bullying.…”