Bullying Behaviour in a Norwegian Sample: Psychiatric Diagnoses and School Well-being in an Adolescent Clinical Sample

Abstract

Background: Few studies have focused on bullying in clinical samples and the association between bullying and psychiatric disorders. In particular, there is a lack of studies on bullying behaviour and school well-being in clinical samples. The aim of this study was to examine if bullying behaviour was associated with psychiatric disorders and school well-being.

Methods: The cross-sectional study was part of The Health Survey in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, St.Olav’s University Hospital, in  Trondheim, Norway. The sample consisted of 717 adolescent patients aged 13-18 years who completed an electronic questionnaire. Clinical diagnoses were collected from clinical records.

Results: A total of 18% of the patients reported to be bullied often or very often, and 48% reported to be bullied from time to time. Logistic regression  analyses showed association between being a victim and having a mood disorder, and between being involved in bullying behaviour and reporting lower scores  on school well-being. No differences were found in bullying behaviour on gender, age and SES.

Conclusion: The risk of being a victim was very high among adolescents in this clinical sample, especially among patients with mood disorders. Any involvement  in bullying behaviour was associated with reduced school well-being.