Bullying in schools: self reported anxiety, depression, and self esteem in secondary school children

British Medical Journal, Oct 3, 1998 by G. Salmon, A. James, D.M. Smith

Evidence exists of considerable problems with bullying and bullied children in secondary schools. In the largest survey in the United Kingdom to date 10% of pupils reported that they had been bullied "sometimes or more often" during that term, with 4% reporting being bullied "at least once a week."[1] The impact of the introduction of policies on bullying throughout a school seems to be limited.[1] The commonest type of bullying is general name calling, followed by being hit, threatened, or having rumours spread about one.[1] Bullying is thought to be more prevalent among boys and the youngest pupils in a school.[2]

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We are unaware of any study that has examined the mental health problems of children who are being bullied. We assessed self reported anxiety, depression, and self esteem in bullied children and those who were not bullied and in bullies and those who were not bullies.

Subjects, methods, and results

Four questionnaires (the Olweus bully/victim,[2] the short mood and feelings,[3] the revised children's manifest anxiety incorporating a lie scale,[4] and the Rosenberg self esteem[5] questionnaires) were anonymously completed by 904 pupils aged 12-17 in years 8-11 in two coeducational secondary schools. School A is a non-selective school in a socially disadvantaged urban area. School B is a rural grant maintained school in an area with a higher than average proportion of high social class households.

Logistic regression models were fitted to the proportions of bullied or bullying children using STATA. Categorical variables were school, school year, and sex. Anxiety, lying, esteem, and depression scores were treated as continuous variables. The table shows the odds ratios of the fitted logistic regression models. For anxiety, esteem, lying, and depression the odds ratios are for a change of one standard deviation of 6.22, 4.92, 2.13, and 5.44 respectively (pooled SD). The prevalence of being bullied "sometimes or more often" was 4.2%. Significant variables (P [is less than] 0.05) for being bullied were school, sex, and anxiety and lying scores; school year approached significance (P=0.06). The prevalence of bullying others "sometimes or more often" was 3.4%. Significant variables (P [is less than] 0.05) for being a bully were school year, sex, and anxiety, lying, and depression scores. The esteem score featured in neither model.

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Bullying in schools: self reported anxiety, depression, and self esteem in secondary school children

British Medical Journal, Oct 3, 1998 by G. Salmon, A. James, D.M. Smith

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