The role of bullying in depressive symptoms from adolescence to emerging adulthood: A growth mixture model

Abstract

Background The present study sought to identify trajectories of depressive symptoms in adolescence and emerging adulthood using a school-based sample of adolescents assessed over a five-year period. The study also examined whether bully and cyberbully victimization and perpetration significantly predicted depressive symptom trajectories. Method Data from a sample of 1,042 high school students were examined. The sample had a mean age of 15.09 years (SD = 0.79), was 56.0% female, and was racially diverse: 31.4% Hispanic, 29.4% White, and 27.9% African American. Data were examined using growth mixture modeling. Results Four depressive symptoms trajectories were identified, including those with a mild trajectory of depressive symptoms, an increasing trajectory of depressive symptoms, an elevated trajectory of depressive symptoms, and a decreasing trajectory of depressive symptoms. Results indicated that bully victimization and cyberbully victimization differentially predicted depressive symptoms trajectories across adolescence, though bully and cyberbully perpetration did not. Limitations Limitations include reliance on self-reports of bully perpetration and a limited consideration of external factors that may impact the course of depression. Conclusions These findings may inform school personnel in identifying students’ likely trajectory of depressive symptoms and determining where depression prevention and treatment services may be needed.

Victimization Experiences and Mental Health Outcomes Among Grades 7 to 12 Students in Manitoba, Canada

“…Previous research, including a recent systematic review and meta-analysis, has established a robust association between global assessments of bullying and a number of detrimental mental health outcomes in adolescence and over the life course (Arseneault 2017 ; Haraldstad et al 2016 ; Moore et al 2017 ; Troop-Gordon 2017 ). For example, bullying victimization is associated with self-harming behaviour (Bucchianeri et al 2014 ), lower self-esteem and quality of life (Bucchianeri et al 2014 ; Haraldstad et al 2016 ), depressive symptoms (Bucchianeri et al 2014 ; Cole et al 2016 ; Fahy et al 2016 ; Gámez-Guadix et al 2013 ; Hill et al 2017 ; Lemstra et al 2012 ; Puhl and Luedicke 2012 ; Turner et al 2013 ), anxiety symptoms (Fahy et al 2016 ), substance use (Mackie et al, 2011 ; Radliff et al 2012 ; Turner et al 2018 ), suicidal behaviours (Litwiller and Brausch 2013 ; Moore et al 2017 ; Skapinakis et al 2011 ), and mental health service use (Evans-Lacko et al 2017 ). As well, previous research has indicated that experiences of bullying in childhood and adolescence are related to an increased likelihood of mental disorders in adulthood (Copeland et al 2013 ; Lund et al 2008 ; Sigurdson et al 2014 ; Takizawa et al 2014 ).…”

“…As mentioned, bullying research often includes general or global assessments of any bullying or is limited to more traditional forms of face-to-face bullying experiences such as being physically taunted or ridiculed based on intentionality, repetition, and power imbalances (Gladden et al 2014 ; Olweus 1993 ; Solberg et al 2007 ). More recent research has begun to examine less traditional forms of victimization including cyberbullying (Fahy et al 2016 ; Fisher et al 2016 ; Hill et al 2017 ; Litwiller and Brausch 2013 ; Merrill and Hanson 2016 ) and forms of discriminatory harassment based on body composition, sexual identity and orientation, and race and ethnicity (Bucchianeri et al 2014 ; Carey et al 2018 ; Goebert et al 2011 ; Johns et al 2017 ; Juvonen and Graham 2014 ; Kahle and Peguero 2017 ; Mustanski et al 2016 ; Puhl et al 2016 ). However, there remains a dearth of research that has examined multiple individual types of victimization related to poor mental health outcomes in adolescence.…”

Self‐reported physical and psychological symptoms among victims and perpetrators of bullying in Arab American Adolescents

“…The association between bullying perpetration and internalizing problems remains understudied, and among the existing studies, findings have been largely inconsistent. To illustrate, Kowalski and Limber (2013) reported that perpetration is strongly associated with depression, low self‐esteem, and anxiety; however, other studies found that perpetrators do not exhibit internalizing problems (Dupont‐Reyes, Villatoro, Phelan, Painter, & Link, 2018; Hill, Mellick, Temple, & Sharp, 2017). In regard to physical health symptoms, research findings have also been inconsistent.…”

Direct Bullying At School And Depressive Risk In Early Adolescence

“…In developing individuals, depression rarely reveals itself in all those symptoms that are typical of adulthood, and this makes it more difficult to detect and make a diagnosis. Tendency to act or "actingout" is one of the main symptoms of depression in adolescents (Blain-Arcaro & Vaillancourt, 2017;Hill, Mellick, Temple, & Sharp, 2017) leading to self-injurious behavior or harming others. In their attempt to investigate the correlation between bullying and depression further, researchers have reached general agreement in concluding that those who were victims of bullying during their childhood are more likely to be at risk of depression, be they either boys (Brunstein Klomek et al, 2008;2011) or girls (Kaltiala-Heino, Frojd, & Marttunen, 2010;Ledwell & King, 2013).…”