Exposure to teacher bullying in schools: A study of patients with personality disorders

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the level and affect of exposure to teacher bullying in primary and secondary schools on patients with personality disorders (PD). Method: The study group contained 116 people (18–60 years old); 49 patients diagnosed with PD undergoing psychiatric treatment in 10 different psychiatric outpatient clinics in the Southern and Middle part of Norway, and a control group consisting of 67 people who worked in an institution for somatic/elderly people and an institution for people with drug/alcohol dependency in the Middle part of Norway. All study participants filled out a self-report questionnaire, which included demographic data, one item about whether they have been bullied by one or several teachers, and 28 items regarding subjection to negative acts from teachers based on the Negative Acts Questionnaire -Revised (NAQ-R). Results: Patients diagnosed with PD reported significantly more bullying by teachers in both primary school (OR 7.3; 95% CI 1.9–27.7) and secondary school (OR 5.8; 95% CI 1.1–30.5) than healthy controls. Patients with PD also reported a higher prevalence of negative acts from teachers than healthy controls in both primary and secondary schools, such as differential treatment, ridicule, humiliation, and being ignored or neglected at least once weekly. Conclusion: Our findings indicate a correlation between bullying from teachers, as reported by PD patients, and the development of PD in adulthood. The problem of teacher bullying deserves more attention with regard to this possible correlation between student victimization and the development of PD.

• Clinical
• Personality disorders
• Self-reports
• Teacher bullying
• Victimization

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the patients and staff at the outpatients clinics at the Norwegian Network of Psychotherapeutic Day Hospitals, the Psychiatric Youth Teams (PUT) in Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag, the healthy people and staff at the institution for elderly people and at the institution for people with drugs and alcohol abuse.

We also wish to thank Professor Ståle Einarsen, UiB, Bergen, Terje Aursand, Lade Treatment Center, MD Ph.D./associate Professor Gunnar Morken and chef psychiatrist Erling Bakken and colleagues, St. Olav's Hospital University, Department of Østmarka; and Forskningsutvalget ved St. Olav's Hospital University for financial support.

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