Does Bullying Cause Emotional Problems - Article Example

Critical review on “Does bullying cause emotional problems?” A prospective study of young teenagers by Bond, L., Carlin, J. B., Thomas, L., Rubin, K., & Patton, G. Introduction Bullying is an aggressive behavior whereby a person either intentionally or knowingly causes injury or discomfort to another. Bullying may manifest itself in the form of physical harm, verbal abuse, and harassment. The researchers state that while bullying occurs in all schools, its relation to health and wellbeing of victims is uncertain. The purpose of this study is to provide a correlation between peer victimization and the onset of anxiety and depression among teenagers. The researchers give a non-comprehensive review of prior research done on the effects of bullying. One study focused on bullying effects on pre-pubescent children with the result being loneliness, depression, and school maladjustment. Another research reviewed was a small parallel study on bullying on adolescents. The findings predicted poor physical health for boys, poor mental health for girls and early onset depression for both. Both cited reviews were from primary sources and seem to be relevant to the study problem. However, the researchers do not give a critical analysis of the results of the cited reviews. The research was conducted through the collection and analysis of survey data from a sample size of over two thousand teenage students collected twice over a period of two years (Bond, Carlin, Thomas, Rubin and Patton, 480). Methods of study The study was undertaken in schools around Victoria, Australia with a sample size of 2680 secondary school students. The sample was selected from a large population of students from over 12 school districts in rural and metropolitan Victoria. Participation in the study was voluntary for students; requiring written parental consent before involvement in the research. The researchers also sought the approval of education and health stakeholders. They included The Royal Childrens Hospital, the ethics, and human research committee, the Catholic Education Office and the Victorian Department of Education and Training (Bond et al.,481). The researchers clearly describe the method of sample selection. In metropolitan Melbourne, statistical probability methods were used to allocate randomly all participating schools to control or intervention status. Then random sampling methods were employed by the researchers to select 12 schools from the “intervention” status and 12 schools from the “control” status. In Rural Victoria, six schools were randomly selected from two regional districts. The total number of schools in Victoria that agreed to participate was twenty-six. Twelve of those schools were assigned intervention status and fourteen schools a control status. The sample selection process chosen by the researchers was representative of all types of schools as data was collected from government, independent and Catholic schools. However, the study had an urban bias as most of the schools selected for the research were in urban areas. The sample size chosen meets suggested guidelines for an appropriate sample size. The students selected from the survey from both intervention and control schools were surveyed once in year 8 and once in year 9. The school years chosen were representative of early teens (13 years at year 8) and the subsequent year (Bond et al. 482). The instruments used were questionnaires and computerized clinical interviews. Questionnaires were completed on laptop computers provided by the researchers. The average period, to complete the questionnaire, was 40 minutes. Absent students were surveyed by telephone or at a later date at school. The questionnaires used listed questions such as their sex, social relationships, languages spoken at home, family structure, bullying and rumors spread about the respondents. Survey questions employed in the study were mainly qualitative in nature. Respondents responding yes to questions on teasing, exclusions or violence were classified as victims. Respondents who reported multiple cases of bullying were classified under recurrent victimization. Data on questions concerning access to people they talk to when having difficulties was used to classify the social relation status of respondents. Surveys are a popular and accurate method of data collection and analysis. The researchers put it to good use to anonymously gauge the level of victimization and social status of the teenage students. The researchers, however, fail to explain how the surveys were distributed among respondents as the method used might affect results. Computerized clinical interview is another instrument used in the study. The clinical interview schedule used was based on a structured psychiatric interview for non-clinical populations. The psychiatric interview schedule was thus appropriate as the purpose of the study was non-clinical. This instrument was chosen to conduct mental health examinations. A scaling criterion was used to determine the mental state of the respondents. The schedule has 14 subscales and the researchers point to research that suggest the schedule is easy for adolescents to understand. The scale uses a score greater than 12 to depict minor psychiatric morbidity. Recurrent scores of over 12 in both case studies were chosen to indicate recurrently reported symptoms of anxiety or depression. Respondents, who scored less than 12 in both case study times in year eight but had a higher score in the subsequent year, were classified by the researchers as having self-reported symptoms. Psychiatric interviews are worldwide recognized appropriate methods to determine mental state of respondents and thus suitable for the study. The researchers collected survey and interview data from 2365 respondents from both case studies. The total missing data was from194 students in both case studies. From the collected data, the researchers estimated simple bivariate associations using odds ratios. Estimates were then tested using statistical methods such as χ test. The statistical methods used are appropriate ways of finding a relationship between bullying and mental health. The methods, however are not described in accurate enough detail that can be replicated by another researcher. To account for the missing data, the researchers made the assumption that the incidences of bullying were non-existent for the 194 missing respondents. Another assumption made was that there was a lack of depression for the missing respondents. Another control procedure was the use of robust “sandwich” estimates of standard errors to account for cluster sampling. This was calculated using survey estimation methods using statistical software. The researchers also used multiple regression techniques with adjustment for clustering to model potentially confounding variables. Logistic regression models adjusted to 95% confidence intervals were used to estimate the fraction of attributable population. The researchers gave a detailed non-technical overview of the methods used for statistical control and accounting. The statistical and accounting control procedures utilized in the study are based on years of research in statistics. The procedures are thus accurate methods to analyze recorded data. Results From the total sample population of 3623 students, 2860 students were participants in the first wave of surveys and interviews. 2559 students participated in the second wave. The researchers thus recorded a percentage response of 79% and 71 % respectively. From this data, the researchers recorded a victimization levels at 49%, 51 % and 42% during the three survey periods. The confidence level for these victimization prevalence rates was analyzed by 48% to 53%, 49% to54% and 39% to 45%. In addition to victimization rates, the study also sought to identify the different levels of victimization. Eight hundred and fifty-seven (33%) respondents were recorded experiencing recurrent victimization. A further eight hundred and fifty-three (33%) reported being bullied at least once. Finally eight hundred and forty-nine (33%) of respondents reported experiencing no victimization. Data from both years showed that five hundred and forty-four (63%) respondents reported being victimized in both years 8 and year 9. Analysis of results The analysis of research showed a prevalence rate of self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. The three survey points were at 16%, 18% and 15 % with confidence levels of 15% to 18%, 16% to 20%, and 13% to 16% respectively. For all case studies, 74% of respondents had no anxiety and depression symptoms in both waves of interviews. 17% had symptoms at least on one occasion and 9%had symptoms in both waves (Bond et al., 483). The study contains simple and well-organized tables that show the associations between bullying, mental health, and social relationship measures. Another table shows the relationship between self-reported of mental health in year 9, a history of victimization in year 8 and the impact of mental health status on the incidence of victimization. The researchers present the results in a clear fashion that is easy to understand. The data described in the tables are also represented in the tests. Discussion The researcher’s findings show a high prevalence of bullying among adolescents. Around two-thirds of students surveyed recorded being recurrently victimized. The researchers ended up confirming previous research on adolescents that showed a strong link between victimization and self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. The study also confirmed the mental toll of bullying on adolescent girls and the physical damage of bullying on adolescent boys. Generalizations given in the discussion section of the paper seem to be consistent with the results recorded. The researchers make recommendations for reducing levels of bullying in schools as a preventive method of securing the mental health of students. The researchers also recommend a greater focus to be given to girls with regards to bullying. In the journal paper, practical recommendations are made for future research. The researchers recommend more research to be done to determine if reducing bullying can decrease the onset of symptoms of anxiety and depression in young adolescents (Bond et al., 484). Conclusion The study raises grave questions concerning the mental health of students. A larger sample size with a global or continental distribution can be used to give a better indication of the research problems raised. The data collection method used depends on honesty and thus more research is required so as to give a better representation of the effects of bullying on teenagers. Reference Bond, L., Carlin, J. B., Thomas, L., Rubin, K., & Patton, G. “Does bullying cause emotional problems? A prospective study of young teenagers”. British Medical Journal, (2001). 323:480–484. Read More