Association Between Experiencing Relational Bullying and Adolescent Health‐Related Quality of Life

• Published in: The Journal of school health Vol. 87; no. 11; pp. 865 - 872
• Main Authors: Chester, Kayleigh L., Spencer, Neil H., Whiting, Lisa, Brooks, Fiona M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Wiley Periodicals, Inc 01.11.2017; Wiley-Blackwell; American School Health Association; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Attitudes; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescent Health; Adolescent interpersonal relations; Aggression - psychology; Bullying; Bullying - statistics & numerical data; Children; Childrens health; Confidence intervals; Crime Victims - psychology; Crime Victims - statistics & numerical data; Demographic variables; Demographics; Early Adolescents; England; Ethnicity; Female; Foreign Countries; Gender Differences; Health aspects; Health Behavior; Health status; health‐related quality of life; Humans; Interpersonal relations in adolescence; KIDSCREEN; Male; Minority & ethnic groups; Multilevel; Multilevel analysis; Nursing; Public Health; Quality of Life; Quality of Life - psychology; relational bullying; Socioeconomic status; Socioeconomics; Surveys; Teenagers; victimization; Youth; United Kingdom (England); United Kingdom; KIDSCREEN; health-related quality of life; victimization; relational bullying
• ISSN: 0022-4391; 1746-1561
• DOI: 10.1111/josh.12558

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Bullying is a public health concern for the school‐aged population, however, the health outcomes associated with the subtype of relational bullying are less understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between relational bullying and health‐related quality of life (HRQL) among young people. METHODS This study utilized data from 5335 students aged 11‐15 years, collected as part of the 2014 Health Behavior in School‐aged Children (HBSC) study conducted in England. Data were collected through self‐completed surveys. Multilevel analysis modeled the relationship between relational bullying and HRQL. Demographic variables (sex, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status) and other forms of bullying were controlled for. RESULTS Experiencing relational bullying had a significant negative association with HRQL whilst controlling for other forms of bullying. Weekly relational bullying resulted in an estimated 5.352 (95% confidence interval (CI), −4.178, −6.526) decrease in KIDSCREEN‐10 score compared with those not experiencing relational bullying. CONCLUSION Experiencing relational bullying is associated with poorer HRQL. The findings question the perception of relational bullying as being a predominantly female problem. Girls were more likely to report experiencing relational bullying, but the negative association with HRQL was equal for boys and girls.