Lauren M O'Reilly1, Erik Pettersson2, Patrick D Quinn3, E David Klonsky4, Jessie R Baldwin5, Sebastian Lundström6, Henrik Larsson7, Paul Lichtenstein2, Brian M D'Onofrio8. 1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. Electronic address: loreilly@iu.edu. 2. Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. 3. Department of Applied Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. 4. Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada. 5. Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK; Social Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. 6. Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden. 7. Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden. 8. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Abstract
PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to investigate the magnitude of an independent association between bullying victimization and self-harm and suicide attempt in adolescence after adjusting for unmeasured and measured confounding factors. METHODS: Using the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden, we examined twins born between 1994 and 1999 (n = 13,852). Twins self-reported bullying victimization at age 15 years and self-harm and suicide attempt at age 18 years. We created a factor score of 13 bullying items, on which self-harm and suicide attempt items were regressed in three models: (1) among unrelated individuals; (2) among co-twins, in which a twin exposed to more bullying was compared with his/her co-twin who was exposed to less; and (3) among co-twins while adjusting for indicators of childhood psychopathology. RESULTS: Among unrelated individuals, a one standard deviation increase in bullying victimization was associated with increased odds for self-harm (odds ratio [OR], 1.29 [95% confidence interval, 1.23-1.36]) and suicide attempt (OR, 1.68 [1.53-1.85]). Among co-twins, the odds attenuated for self-harm (OR, 1.19 [1.09-1.30]) and suicide attempt (OR, 1.39 [1.17-1.66]). Finally, when accounting for childhood psychopathology, there was a 14% (1.04-1.25) and 25% (1.03-1.52) relative increase in odds of self-harm and suicide attempt, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that bullying victimization was uniquely associated with self-harm and suicide attempt over and above the confounding because of unmeasured and measured factors (i.e., familial vulnerability and pre-existing psychopathy). However, magnitudes were small, suggesting that additional interventions and screenings are needed to address suicidality apart from bullying interventions.
PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to investigate the magnitude of an independent association between bullying victimization and self-harm and suicide attempt in adolescence after adjusting for unmeasured and measured confounding factors. METHODS: Using the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden, we examined twins born between 1994 and 1999 (n = 13,852). Twins self-reported bullying victimization at age 15 years and self-harm and suicide attempt at age 18 years. We created a factor score of 13 bullying items, on which self-harm and suicide attempt items were regressed in three models: (1) among unrelated individuals; (2) among co-twins, in which a twin exposed to more bullying was compared with his/her co-twin who was exposed to less; and (3) among co-twins while adjusting for indicators of childhood psychopathology. RESULTS: Among unrelated individuals, a one standard deviation increase in bullying victimization was associated with increased odds for self-harm (odds ratio [OR], 1.29 [95% confidence interval, 1.23-1.36]) and suicide attempt (OR, 1.68 [1.53-1.85]). Among co-twins, the odds attenuated for self-harm (OR, 1.19 [1.09-1.30]) and suicide attempt (OR, 1.39 [1.17-1.66]). Finally, when accounting for childhood psychopathology, there was a 14% (1.04-1.25) and 25% (1.03-1.52) relative increase in odds of self-harm and suicide attempt, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that bullying victimization was uniquely associated with self-harm and suicide attempt over and above the confounding because of unmeasured and measured factors (i.e., familial vulnerability and pre-existing psychopathy). However, magnitudes were small, suggesting that additional interventions and screenings are needed to address suicidality apart from bullying interventions.
Authors: Katja I Seitz; Sarah Gerhardt; Claudius von Schroeder; Angelika Panizza; Dorothea Thekkumthala; Katja Bertsch; Sabine C Herpertz; Christian Schmahl; Inga Schalinski Journal: PLoS One Date: 2022-09-08 Impact factor: 3.752