The mediating effect of depressive symptoms on the relationship between bullying victimization and non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: Findings from community and inpatient mental health settings in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Although bullying victimization has been linked to a number of behavioral and emotional problems among adolescents, few studies have investigate the mechanism through which bullying victimization affect non-suicidal self-injury. The objectives of this study were to examine the effect of bullying victimization on non-suicidal self-injury and the mediating effect of depressive symptoms on the relationship between bullying victimization and non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents. Data for this study came from the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health dataset. A total of 1650 adolescents aged 12-18 years (M =14.56; SD =1.79; 54.2% males) were analyzed. Binary logistic and Poisson regression models were conducted to identify the mediating effect of depressive symptoms on the relationship between bullying victimization and non-suicidal self-injury. Of the 1650 adolescents studied, 611 representing 37% engaged in non-suicidal self-injury and 26.7% were victims of bullying. The effect of bullying victimization on non-suicidal self-injury was partially mediated by depressive symptoms after adjusting for the effect of demographic characteristics, history of childhood abuse, social support, and mental health diagnoses. The contribution of bullying victimization and depression to non-suicidal self-injury adds to the case for the development of trauma-focused interventions in reducing the risk of non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents.

Poor Dietary Habits in Bullied Adolescents: The Moderating Effects of Diet on Depression

“…Several studies have confirmed that, as expected, victims of bullying show higher levels of depression than nonbullied adolescents [9,10,11,12], this being one of the most widely studied consequences of bullying victimization in previous research [9,10,11]. Further, it has been demonstrated that bullying victimization is followed by depression, reaching clinical levels in some cases [9].…”

“…Further, it has been demonstrated that bullying victimization is followed by depression, reaching clinical levels in some cases [9]. This issue is especially worrisome considering that depression has shown to be a significant mediator in the association between bullying victimization and nonsuicidal self-injury [11] and a moderator of suicide risk [12]. In fact, bullying victims are at a higher risk of self-harm, suicidal ideation, suicidal planning, and suicide attempts than nonbullied adolescents [4].…”

“…Furthermore, the study aimed to identify the prediction ability of bullying and dietary habits on depression and to evaluate the possible moderation effects of dietary habits in the relationship between bullying and depression. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that bullying victimization would be negatively related to healthy dietary habits [8,13,14] and positively related to depression [9,11]. Although previous research had not evaluated the possible prediction and moderation effects of diet in this population, we expected to find that bullying victims with high adherence to a healthy dietary habit would show lower rates of depression [15,16].…”

The interRAI Suite of Mental Health Assessment Instruments: An Integrated System for the Continuum of Care

“…Two quality of care issues of considerable interest are use of physical restraints (211)(212)(213)(214)(215)(216)(217)(218) and potentially inappropriate use of antipsychotics (211)(212)(213)(214)(219)(220)(221)(222)(223)(224)(225). The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) now reports interRAI's risk adjusted quality indicators for restraint and antipsychotic use in nursing homes in seven provinces/territories.…”

Sex differences in youth with mental health problems in inpatient, outpatient and youth justice settings

“…Additional items related to control interventions (e.g., restraint use), discharge planning and resources available upon discharge were included within the inpatient assessment. InterRAI instruments have been utilized for a wide variety of children and youth with different presenting concerns [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52], including youth in conflict with the law [53]. For the purposes of this study, only information that was common across all instruments were utilized.…”