Impact of Bullying—Victimization and Gender over Psychological Distress, Suicidal Ideation, and Family Functioning of Mexican Adolescents

Bullying victimization is strongly associated with increased psychological distress and suicide in adolescents and poor family functioning. Knowledge of gender differences influencing these factors will improve the prevention of mental problems and suicide in victimized adolescents. A total of 1685 Mexican secondary students, 12–17 years old (m = 13.65), of whom 54% were girls, responded to a standardized scale questionnaire to analyze such differences. Based on the statistical analysis, girls reported significantly lower family functioning and higher psychological distress and suicidal ideation than boys. The cluster analysis classified adolescents into high (5.78%), moderate (24.07%), and no-victimization (69.76%) groups. Boys predominated in the high (3.1%) and moderate-victimization (12.4%) clusters, and girls in the no-victimization group (39.51%). Multivariate statistical analyses found significant differences between the three groups, with the highest means of psychological distress and suicidal ideation and lowest family functioning in the high-victimization group. Only for suicidal ideation, there was an interaction between gender and the degree of victimization, with girls showing a higher increase of suicidal ideation than boys in the same cluster. Conclusions: Early detection and intervention in bullying-victimized adolescents, aiming to decrease psychological distress and suicidal ideation and strengthen family functioning, should consider contextual gender differences for effective prevention of mental health problems and suicide in adolescents

Bullying Victimization among Mexican Adolescents: Psychosocial Differences from an Ecological Approach

This transversal study over a random representative sample of 1687 Mexican students attending public and private secondary schools (54% girls, 12–17 years old, M = 13.65. DT = 1.14) aimed to analyze psychosocial differences between victims and non-victims of bullying from the bioecological model. It included individual variables (ontosystem), familiar, community, and scholar factors (microsystem), and gender (macrosystem) to perform a multivariate discriminant analysis and a logistic regression analysis. The discriminant analysis found that psychological distress, offensive communication with mother and father, and a positive attitude toward social norms transgression characterized the high victimization cluster. For the non-victims, the discriminant variables were community implication, positive attitude toward institutional authority, and open communication with the mother. These variables allowed for correctly predicting membership in 76% of the cases. Logistic regression analysis found that psychological distress, offensive communication with the father, and being a boy increased the probability of high victimization, while a positive attitude toward authority, open communication with the mother, and being a girl decrease this probability. These results highlight the importance of open and offensive communication between adolescents and their parents on psychological distress, attitude toward authority, community implication, and bullying victimization

Comunicación con los padres, malestar psicológico y actitud hacia la autoridad en adolescentes mexicanos: su influencia en la victimización escolar

Las consecuencias de la victimización escolar en los adolescentes demandan una mayor comprensión de las relaciones entre los factores involucrados. Se seleccionó una muestra representativa y aleatoria por conglomerados, que incluía 1.698 estudiantes mexicanos de Secundaria (46% niños y 54% niñas), de 12 a 17 años (M = 13.65. DE = 1.14). Los datos de auto-reporte sobre comunicación con los padres, malestar psicológico y actitud positiva hacia la autoridad institucional se analizaron con la técnica del análisis estructural. El modelo estructural resultante confirmó una relación indirecta de la comunicación padres-adolescentes con la victimización escolar, a través del malestar psicológico y la actitud positiva hacia la autoridad institucional, demostrando la influencia de la calidad de la comunicación con sus padres sobre la victimización escolar de los adolescentes.Consequences of adolescent's school victimization compel a better understanding of the relations between infl uential factors. A randomized representative sample, was selected by conglomerates, including 1.698 Mexican adolescents (46% boys and 54% girls), with ages between 12-17 years (M = 13.65. SD = 1.14) attending secondary school. Self-report data about parents- adolescent communication, psychological distress and positive attitude toward institutional authority were analyzed using structural analysis. The resulting path structural model confi rmed an indirect relation between parents-adolescent communication and school victimization trough psychological distress and a positive attitude toward institutional authority, underscoring the influence of parents-adolescent communication over adolescent`s school victimization

Parent-adolescent Communication, Psychological Distress and Attitude toward Authority in Mexican Adolescents: their Infl uence on School Victimization

Consequences of adolescent's school victimization compel a better understanding of the relations between infl uential factors. A randomized representative sample, was selected by conglomerates, including 1.698 Mexican adolescents (46% boys and 54% girls), with ages between 12-17 years (M = 13.65. SD = 1.14) attending secondary school. Self-report data about parents- adolescent communication, psychological distress and positive attitude toward institutional authority were analyzed using structural analysis. The resulting path structural model confi rmed an indirect relation between parents-adolescent communication and school victimization trough psychological distress and a positive attitude toward institutional authority, underscoring the influence of parents-adolescent communication over adolescent`s school victimization