Bullying Victimization and Self-Harm Among Adolescents from Diverse Inner-City Schools: Variation by Bullying Sub-Types and the Role of Sex.
Wilson-Lemoine E., Hirsch C., Knowles G., Smith S., Blakey R., Davis S., Chamberlain K., Stanyon D., Ofori A., Turner A., Putzgruber E., Crudgington H., Schools Working Group ., Dutta R., Pinfold V., Reininghaus U., Harding S., Gayer-Anderson C., Morgan C.
OBJECTIVE: Bullying has consistently been highlighted as a risk factor for youth self-harm. Less is known about associations by bullying sub-type (i.e., physical, verbal, relational, cyberbullying), among boys and girls in diverse urban populations. This study aimed to explore: (1) prevalence of bullying and lifetime self-harm; (2) cross-sectional associations between bullying and self-harm. Both aims investigated bullying sub-types and the role of sex. METHOD: Baseline data on bullying victimization and lifetime self-harm were drawn from REACH (Resilience, Ethnicity and AdolesCent Mental Health), an accelerated cohort study of adolescent mental health in London, United Kingdom. Data on baseline self-harm and sex were available for 3,060 adolescents aged 11-14 years (Mage=12.4, 50.6% girls, >80% ethnic minority groups) from 10 schools. RESULTS: Prevalence of bullying in the past six months was 22.3% and lifetime self-harm was 16.9%. Both were more common in girls than boys (adjusted risk ratios: bullying, 1.13 [1.02,1.25]; self-harm, 1.45 [1.03,1.86]). By bullying sub-type, prevalence estimates ranged from 4.1% (cyberbullying) to 16.6% (physical bullying). Bullying was associated with self-harm (aRR 3.35 [2.89,3.82]) for both girls (aRR 3.61 [3.07,4.14]) and boys (aRR 2.96 [2.27,3.65]), independent of sex, age, free school meals and ethnic group. All sub-types were associated with self-harm (aRRs 3.16-4.34), for girls and boys. CONCLUSIONS: These baseline findings underline the importance of exploring nuances between bullying sub-types and self-harm, by sex or gender.