Childhood Bullying and Risk for Suicide Behavior Among Adolescent Girls
Childhood Bullying and Risk for Suicide Behavior Among Adolescent Girls
This is the Medscape Psychiatry Minute. I'm Dr. Peter Yellowlees. We know that childhood bullying is common, but are not clear about the long-term impact of such behavior. In 2009, in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 8 investigators from Columbia University, New York, reported a study of 5302 Finnish children born in 1981. Information about bullying was gathered at 8 years old by self-report, and from parents and teachers. Information about suicide attempts and completed suicides was gathered from 3 Finnish registries until the study participants were 25 years old. Regression analyses were conducted comparing bullying reports and later suicidal behavior, controlling for baseline conduct and depression symptoms. The authors concluded that there were differences between the genders for the association between bullying and suicidal behavior, finding that in girls there was an association after controlling for baseline conduct and depression symptoms, but that this association did not hold true for boys. This article is selected from Medscape Best Evidence. I'm Dr. Peter Yellowlees.
References
This is the Medscape Psychiatry Minute. I'm Dr. Peter Yellowlees. We know that childhood bullying is common, but are not clear about the long-term impact of such behavior. In 2009, in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 8 investigators from Columbia University, New York, reported a study of 5302 Finnish children born in 1981. Information about bullying was gathered at 8 years old by self-report, and from parents and teachers. Information about suicide attempts and completed suicides was gathered from 3 Finnish registries until the study participants were 25 years old. Regression analyses were conducted comparing bullying reports and later suicidal behavior, controlling for baseline conduct and depression symptoms. The authors concluded that there were differences between the genders for the association between bullying and suicidal behavior, finding that in girls there was an association after controlling for baseline conduct and depression symptoms, but that this association did not hold true for boys. This article is selected from Medscape Best Evidence. I'm Dr. Peter Yellowlees.
References
Klomek AB, Sourander A, Niemelä S, et al. Childhood bullying behaviors as a risk for suicide attempts and completed suicides: a population-based birth cohort study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2009;48:254-261.
Medscape Psychiatry Best Evidence, powered by McMaster Plus. Available at: http://www.medscape.com/pages/features/newsletters/bestevidence/psychiatry Accessed August 4, 2009.
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