Bullying behaviour among Norwegian adolescents: Psychiatric diagnoses and school well-being in a clinical sample

Abstract

Background: Few studies have focused the association between bullying and psychiatric disorders 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 a health survey at St. Olav's University Hospital. The sample consisted of 685 adolescent patients aged 13–18 years who completed an electronic questionnaire. Clinical diagnoses were collected from clinical records. Results: In this clinical psychiatric sample, 19% reported being bullied often or very often, and 51% reported being bullied from time to time. Logistic regression analyses showed associations 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 difference was found in bullying behaviour on gender, age and SES. Conclusion: The risk of being a victim was 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.

• Adolescents
• Bullying
• Mental health
• Psychiatric disorders
• School well-being

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Stian Lydersen Dr.ing, medical statistics, M.D., Ph.D., Johannes Foss Sigurdson, Ph.D. candidate and Wenche L. Mangerud, Ph.D. candidate.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.