Written by Joyce Smith, BS. Survey analyses of 2,670 middle and high school students across the United States revealed that students who experienced both bullying at school and cyberbullying were more than 11 times as likely to attempt suicide compared to those who had not been bullied.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; 2015) reported that suicide was the second leading cause of death in the United States among 10-17 year olds in 2015. This reflects a 21% increase from 2000 to 2015 and underscores the need to understand the increasing prevalence of adolescent suicide and to explore what society collectively can do to prevent it.
The current study by Hinduja and Patchin 1 analyzed recent survey data from a representative sample of 2,670 U.S. middle and high school students (12 to 17-year-olds) to explore the association between school-based or online bullying, and suicidal thoughts and attempts. The sample was evenly divided by sex (49.9% female, 49.6% male) with 66% White/Caucasian, 12% Black/African American, 11.9% Hispanic/Latin American, and 10% of another race. Two independent variables were measured: suicidal thoughts and a subset of students who have engaged in suicidal attempts. Also used were two measures of bullying: school bullying (a student’s experience in the previous 30 days as a victim of any of ten different forms of school bullying) and online or cyberbullying (a student’s experience in the previous 30 days as a victim of any of eleven different forms of cyberbullying). To explore the magnitude of the bullying, the authors assessed the students’ views of the severity of the bullying incidents on a scale of 0-10 and finally asked the penultimate question whether school- or cyberbullying had “really affected their ability to learn and feel safe at school.”
- Students who experienced either school-based or online bullying were significantly more likely to report suicidal thoughts. 16.1% of participating students experienced suicidal thoughts (16.7% of females; 15.3% of males) while 2.1% reported that they had attempted suicide (2.2% of females; 2.0% of males). Even though during adolescence the incident rate of suicidal thoughts is remarkably higher for females, major gender disparities were not evident.
- Prevalence of school bullying ranged from 8.3% to 50.9%. Older students were generally more likely to report suicidal thoughts and to have attempted suicide, while white students were more likely to have attempted suicide.
- Compared to students who had not been bullied, students who reported being bullied at school and online were more than 11 times as likely to report not just suicidal thoughts, but also suicide attempts, while students experiencing either school-based or online bullying were 1.6 times more likely to report suicidal thoughts and were at no greater risk of attempted suicide
- However, students who reported that their experience with school bullying or cyberbullying affected them at school were at the highest risk for suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide.
Collectively, these results support the very tangible impact that bullying can have on the mental health of today’s youth, especially if multiple forms combine and are magnified to plague a student in pointedly negative ways. Suicide prevention programs led by school personnel 2, anonymous reporting systems 3,4 and the fearless, powerful collective voice of the students themselves are all required to raise awareness, set appropriate norms around bullying and suicide, promote vulnerability, acceptance, tolerance, and kindness; and collectively stand against hate and harassment of all forms. 5-7
Study limitations include the cross-sectional data which does not prove causation, the potential for over- or under-reporting, and potential recall bias.
Source: Hinduja, Sameer, and Justin W. Patchin. “Connecting Adolescent Suicide to the Severity of Bullying and Cyberbullying.” Journal of School Violence 18, no. 3 (2019): 333-346.
© 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Posted June 10, 2019
Joyce Smith, BS, is a degreed laboratory technologist. She received her bachelor of arts with a major in Chemistry and a minor in Biology from the University of Saskatchewan and her internship through the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine and the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She currently resides in Bloomingdale, IL.
References:
- Hinduja S, Patchin JW. Connecting Adolescent Suicide to the Severity of Bullying and Cyberbullying. Journal of School Violence. 2019;18(3):333-346.
- Holfeld B. Perceptions and attributions of bystanders to cyber bullying. Computers in Human Behavior. 2014;38:1-7.
- Davis S, Nixon C. Youth voice project: Student insights into bullying and peer mistreatment. Research Press Publishers Champaign, IL; 2014.
- Desmet A, Bastiaensens S, Van Cleemput K, Poels K, Vandebosch H, De Bourdeaudhuij I. Mobilizing bystanders of cyberbullying: an exploratory study into behavioural determinants of defending the victim. Studies in health technology and informatics. 2012;181:58-63.
- Mitra DL. Balancing power in communities of practice: An examination of increasing student voice through school-based youth–adult partnerships. Journal of Educational Change. 2008;9(3):221.
- Patchin J, Hinduja S. Words wound: Delete cyberbullying and make kindness go viral. Free Spirit Publishing; 2013.
- Perkins HW, Craig DW, Perkins JM. Using social norms to reduce bullying: A research intervention among adolescents in five middle schools. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. 2011;14(5):703-722.
