Factors associated with the persistence of bullying victimization from 10th grade to 13th grade: a longitudinal study

Vitenskapelig, fagfellevurdert artikkelAbstract: Background: Bullying among adolescents represents a major public health challenge. The aim of this study was to map the stability of bullying victimization across the transitional phase from lower to upper secondary school, and to describe the sociodemographic, academic and health-related characteristics of those bullied during the transition. Method: 3674 Norwegian adolescents were followed longitudinally from the age of 15/16 until the age of 18/19, answering questionnaires about health, academic achievements, life events, lifestyle and sociodemography. The 337 participants reporting exposure to bullying victimization at age 15/16 were the target group, as we made comparisons between those reporting victimization only at the age of 15/16 (n=289) with the participants for whom the bullying had continued into later adolescence (n = 48). Results: 14% of those victimized at age 15/16, reported continuation of bullying victimization into upper secondary school. These adolescents were significantly more likely to report having divorced parents, low parental educational level, poor self-perceived economy, muscle and skeletal pain, symptoms of mental distress, lower school marks in Norwegian and higher body-mass index (BMI) when group differences at age 18/19 were assessed through basic inferential statistical tests. However, the multivariate logistic regression analyses only revealed statistically significantly increased adjusted odds ratios for the variables mental distress and school-marks in Norwegian. Conclusion: The persistence of exposure to bullying from 10th grade to 13th grade is associated with mental health complaints and poor school performance. Preventive measures to take care of students being continuously bullied should be in place in secondary schools

Mental and somatic health complaints associated with school bullying between 10th and 12th grade students; results from cross sectional studies in Oslo, Norway

Background Bullying is a widespread and serious problem that might influence both mental and psychical well being as well as school performance and social life. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of bullying, mental health problems and psychical complaints among 10th and 12th grade students and to analyze the association between bullying, mental health problems and muscle and skeletal complaints. Methods Two cross sectional studies of adolescents living in Oslo, Norway the first conducted in 2001 among 10th grade students (15/16 years old) and the second in 2004 among 12th grade students (18/19 years old). Both surveys were based on self report, were mostly school based and had almost identical questionnaires. There were around 3700 participants in both surveys, but the participation rate was lower in the latter survey (88 versus 80%). The Hopkins Symptoms Check List (HSCL-10) and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used to measure mental health problems. Results Bullying is decreasing both among boys and girls while the prevalence of internalized mental health problems are increasing from 10th to 12th grade. For muscle and skeletal pain there is a diverging trend between boys and girls, with an increase among girls and a decrease among boys. The highest Odds Ratios, as a measure for the association between bullying, mental health problems and pain, were found for internalized mental health problems at both 10th and 12th grade both for boys and girls. Conclusion Both internalized and externalized mental health problems together with pain seem to be associated with bullying irrespective of school type and gender

Factors associated with the persistence of bullying victimization from 10th grade to 13th grade: a longitudinal study

Abstract: Background: Bullying among adolescents represents a major public health challenge. The aim of this study was to map the stability of bullying victimization across the transitional phase from lower to upper secondary school, and to describe the sociodemographic, academic and health-related characteristics of those bullied during the transition. Method: 3674 Norwegian adolescents were followed longitudinally from the age of 15/16 until the age of 18/19, answering questionnaires about health, academic achievements, life events, lifestyle and sociodemography. The 337 participants reporting exposure to bullying victimization at age 15/16 were the target group, as we made comparisons between those reporting victimization only at the age of 15/16 (n=289) with the participants for whom the bullying had continued into later adolescence (n = 48). Results: 14% of those victimized at age 15/16, reported continuation of bullying victimization into upper secondary school. These adolescents were significantly more likely to report having divorced parents, low parental educational level, poor self-perceived economy, muscle and skeletal pain, symptoms of mental distress, lower school marks in Norwegian and higher body-mass index (BMI) when group differences at age 18/19 were assessed through basic inferential statistical tests. However, the multivariate logistic regression analyses only revealed statistically significantly increased adjusted odds ratios for the variables mental distress and school-marks in Norwegian. Conclusion: The persistence of exposure to bullying from 10th grade to 13th grade is associated with mental health complaints and poor school performance. Preventive measures to take care of students being continuously bullied should be in place in secondary schools

Måleegenskaper ved den norske versjonen av Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)

-Beskrivelse. Edinburgh Postanatal Depression Scale (EPDS) ble utviklet i England og publisert i 1987 av John Cox og medarbeidere. Det foreligger to norske oversettelser. Rettighetshaver har godkjent Eberhard-Grans oversettelse. Denne ble uavhengig oversatt tilbake til engelsk og sammenlignet med originalen. The Royal College of Psychiatrists i England er rettighetshaver for engelsk og norsk versjon. EPDS måler depressive symptomer hos barselkvinner og er et selvutfyllingsskjema med 10 spørsmål som besvares på ca 5 minutter. Det kan brukes av helsepersonell som har fått opplæring. Litteratursøk. Vi inkluderte 13 relevante artikler fra 11 norske studier, fire artikler fra fire svenske studier, men vi fant ingen relevante danske artikler. Ni av de norske artiklene rapporterte gjennomsnittsskårer og standardavvik på EPDS for gravide og/eller barselkvinner, hvorav en studie også for kvinner som ikke var gravide eller i barsel. Psykometri. Dokumentasjonen av kriterievaliditeten er svak, siden den er undersøkt i bare én studie (n = 310), og måleegenskapene til referansestandarden, PRIME-MD, er ukjente. Studien viste at for EPDS ≥ 10 er det ingen falske negative, men med 3 % forekomst av alvorlig depresjon er andelen falske positive svært høy (81 %). EPDS har god begrepsvaliditet, basert på høye korrelasjonskoeffisienter med MADRS (r = 0,78) og SCL-25 (r = 0,80) undersøkt i en og samme studie (n = 310). God intern konsistens (Chronbachs α) undersøkt i 5 studier: α gj.sn. = 0,83 (min 0,81; max 0,86); n varierte fra 310 til 2816 i psykometristudiene med gj.sn. 1697. God test-retest reliabilitet undersøkt i en studie: r = 0,74; n = 310. Konklusjon. EPDS har god reliabilitet, men validitet er bare undersøkt i en studie som fant svakheter i diagnostisk presisjon. Det er behov for flere studier av kriterievaliditet hvor EPDS sammenlignes med best mulig depresjonsdiagnostikk