Mental health problems both precede and follow bullying among adolescents and the effects differ by gender: a cross-lagged panel analysis of school-based longitudinal data in Vietnam

Abstract

Background The significant psychosocial harms from bullying among adolescents create major challenges for mental health promotion programs and services in schools. While the negative consequences of bullying victimisation are well known, to date there is scarce empirical analysis of inverse associations, in which mental health problems make children more vulnerable to bullying victimisation and perpetration. Based on a short-term longitudinal study among adolescents in Vietnam, this study examined reciprocal associations between children’s depressive symptoms, psychological distress, suicidal ideation and bullying victimisation experiences (i.e., victims or bully-victims). Methods Secondary and high school students (n = 1167; age range: 11–16 years old; 55% female) in urban areas in northern Vietnam completed two self-administered questionnaires, 6-months apart in the academic year 2014–2015. Measures estimated bullying victimisation and perpetration in the past 6 months, depressive symptoms, psychological distress, and suicidal ideation. A cross-lagged analysis was performed to test the reciprocal associations. Results About one-third of students in the sample were involved as victims, bullies or bully-victims at both times, with more males than females reporting these experiences. Females reported a higher level of depressive symptoms than males at Time 1 but not at Time 2. After adjusting for outcome variables and other covariates measured at Time 1, nine of 12 cross-lagged associations across three models were statistically significant, with different patterns for females and males. There were reciprocal associations between bullying victimisation and mental health problems. Bullying victimisation was shown as an independent predictor of subsequent mental health problems; in turn, mental health problems preceded students’ experience of becoming victims or bully-victims. Females with mental health problems were more likely to be victims; whereas similarly distressed males were vulnerable to both being bullied and being perpetrators. Conclusion This study is the first of its kind in Vietnam and in the Southeast Asian region to examine reciprocal associations between bullying victimisation and mental health problems among adolescents. Anti-bullying intervention and prevention programs and school-based mental health promotion programs should be integrated and be sensitive to gender differences in order to maximise their impact. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13033-019-0291-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Bullying experience in urban adolescents: Prevalence and correlations with health-related quality of life and psychological issues

“…Our study echoed the previous findings that bullying experience was a widespread phenomenon among adolescents in the metropolitan area of Vietnam [21,31]. In our study, more than one-third (37.5%) of adolescents were involved in at least one type of bullying in the last three months.…”

“…The findings of this study contributed to the current literature about the effects of different types of bullying on students' HRQOL and mental health. Prior studies showed that having bullying victimization experience increased significantly the risk of depression as well as suicidal ideation [21,49,50]. In this study, regarding HRQOL, we found that physical bullying had the strongest influence compared to other types of bullying, which might be because this type of bullying affects at least four (mobility, self-care, usual activity, and pain/discomfort) out of five dimensions of the EQ-5D-5L instrument.…”

“…First, differences in screening tools, cut-off thresholds, and recall period for bullying experiences across countries lead to differences in the prevalence. For example, the study in Vietnam used the Juvenile Victimisation Questionnaire (JVQ) Revised 2 toolkit with 34 behaviours [31], or another study asked participants to report bullying behaviours in children's life-time [21]. Previous research in India used four questions to screen victims of violence, combining the Peer Interaction in Primary Schools Questionnaire instrument to examine the level of bullying perpetrators or victims of violence [34].…”

“…In Vietnam, a previous study suggested that approximately one-third of students at secondary and high schools experienced as victims, bullies, or bully-victims at both times [21]. Positive associations between bullying victimization and depression was also found [21].…”

“…In Vietnam, a previous study suggested that approximately one-third of students at secondary and high schools experienced as victims, bullies, or bully-victims at both times [21]. Positive associations between bullying victimization and depression was also found [21]. However, the residential area was not taken into account when examining the bullying experience among children in the study, in which violent behaviour was proved to be more prevalent in the metropolis [22,23].…”