Relationships among cyberbullying, parental attitudes, self-harm and suicidal behavior among adolescents: results from a school-based survey in Vietnam

Abstract

Background: The rapid and widespread development of social networking sites has created a venue for an increase in cyberbullying among adolescents. Protective mechanisms and actions must be considered, such as how proximal family factors can prevent self-harm and suicidal behaviors among adolescents exposed to cyberbullying. The present study examined the associations among cyberbullying, parental attitudes, self-harm, and suicidal behaviors after adjusting for confounding factors. Methods: Data were obtained from a school-based survey of randomly selected grade 6 students (11 years old) performed in Hue City, Vietnam, in 2018. A total of 648 students were interviewed face-to-face using a structured questionnaire based on the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS). Univariate, multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed at 95% confidence level. Results: After adjusting for gender, perceived academic pressure, unhealthy behaviors, use of Internet devices, school bullying, and family living situation, a significantly higher risk of self-harm was detected among those who had experienced cyberbullying (adjusted odd ratio [AOR] = 2.97; 95% CI, 1.32-6.71). Parental acceptance retained a significant association with self-harm and suicidal behavior (P < 0.05) while parental concentration did not exhibit a significant association in a multivariable logistic regression model. In addition, suicidal ideation and suicidal planning were associated with an interaction effect between cyberbullying and parental concentration (AOR = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.15-0.94 and AOR = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.06-0.87, respectively). Conclusion: Cyberbullying has become an important phenomenon associated with self-harm among young adolescents in developing countries, and parental acceptance in proxy of parental attitude was positively related with severe mental health issues among adolescents. Thus, sufficient attention in efforts to promote adolescent health should be focused on family factors in the digital era of developing countries.

The association of parental involvement with adolescents’ well-being in Oman: evidence from the 2015 Global School Health Survey

“…However, this influence decreases during adolescence while conflict peaks, leading to an erosion of parental power and an increased focus on parental psychological control that may impact child-adolescent development [ 7 ]. Results from this study are comparable to studies from other countries, such as India which showed higher levels of poor mental health in children with less parental involvement, and Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Vietnam which showed that lack of parental understanding was associated with higher incidence of suicidal ideation/thinking [ 18 , 19 , 25 , 30 ]. Those studies also used the GSHS databases for the corresponding countries reporting parental involvement using the same questions utilized in this study.…”

“…Studies also showed that decreased emotional resilience led to higher risk of substance use, and that less parental involvement increased overall risks of risky behaviour in later adolescence [ 14 , 35 ]. Furthermore, t having “warm parents, family support, and parental attachment” were significant resilience factors found to be protective against school bullying with adolescents reporting lower levels of loneliness, suicidal ideation and depression especially compared to peer to peer relationships [ 1 , 30 , 36 ]. Existing studies on adolescent high risk behaviour such as substance use, interpersonal violence demonstrated their association with decreased parental involvement and poor mental health, especially among middle and low income countries, however, further studies are needed to explore other contributors to mental health such as nutrition and physical activity [ 17 , 37 ].…”

Activities Of School Violence Prevention In Viet Nam: A Case Of Thai Nguyen City Junior High Schools, Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam

“…After processing the data, the items to investigate perceptions, attitudes and actions are sufficiently reliable and valid: Cronbach's Alpha = 0.91; Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy = 0.92. When using the questionnaire survey method, the convention of scores for the questionnaire is shown as follows: Each item has options and is defined by different scores: 1 point: Not important; Not performed, infrequently, unnecessary, unfeasible or weak / poorly performed; 2 points: Implementation is not regular, not necessary, not feasible or done at an average level; 3 points: Important, done regularly, necessary, feasible, or done at a good level [4]. Rating level (by score range): + Level 1: 1.00 ≤ GPA ≤ 1.66: Not important; Not performed, infrequently, unnecessary, unfeasible, or weak / poorly performed.…”

Legal Protection for Child Victims of Violence in Primary School in Palembang City

“…The results of the present study conducted in Vietnam showed that 9.0% of junior high school students reported their experience of being cyberbullied, and that experience of being cyberbullied was significantly associated with self-harm. In addition, parental acceptance showed a signifi-cant protective relationship by reducing the rates of self-harm and suicidal behaviors, including suicidal ideation, suicidal planning, and suicide attempts in a sample of ado-lescents from Hue city, Vietnam [17]. The research question of this research was what is the form of legal protection for victims of violence against children in elementary schools?…”