Objective:
To explore the relationship between different roles in campus bullying and depression among adolescents.
Methods:
Stratified cluster sampling method was used to select adolescents in grade 6-8 from three middle schools of Shanghai during November and December of 2017. Adolescents were surveyed anonymously using computer assisted self-interview approach via the tablets. Information including demographic characteristics, depression, and bullying was collected. The chi-square test and multivariate Logistic regressions were performed to explore the relationship between bullying roles and depression.
Results:
About 75.74% of the respondents were involved in bullying, including 456(27.65%) bystanders, 559(33.90%) victims, 33(2.00%) perpetrators, and 201 (12.19%) perpetrator-victims. There were 1 022(61.98%) respondents in the low depression group and 627 (38.02%) in the high depression group. Multivariate logistic regression showed that the four sub-groups involved in bullying all had higher level of depression than those uninvolved, with the perpetrator-victims (OR=4.77, 95%CI=3.27-6.96) and the victims (OR=3.66, 95%CI=2.71-4.94) had more depressive symptoms.
Conclusion
Different roles in campus bullying associates with more depressive symptoms, including perpetrators, victims, perpetrator-victims, and the bystanders.