Citation

Hepburn L, Azrael DR, Molnar B, Miller MC. J. Adolesc. Health 2012; 51(1): 93-95.

Affiliation

Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.12.014

PMID

22727083

Abstract

PURPOSE: To determine whether involvement in bullying as a perpetrator, victim, or both victim and perpetrator (victim-perpetrator) was associated with a higher risk of suicidal ideation or suicide attempts among a multiethnic urban high school population in the United States. METHODS: In 2008, a total of 1,838 youth in 9th-12th grades attending public high school in Boston, MA, completed an in-school, self-reported survey of health-related behaviors. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between bullying behaviors and self-reported suicidal ideation and suicide attempts within the 12 months preceding the survey. RESULTS: Students who reported having been involved in bullying as a perpetrator, victim, or victim-perpetrator were more likely than those who had not been involved in bullying to report having seriously considered or attempted suicide within the past year. When age, race/ethnicity, and gender were controlled, students who were victim-perpetrators of bullying were at highest risk for both suicidal ideation and suicide attempt. CONCLUSIONS: Urban youth who have been bullied as well as those who have bullied others are at increased risk of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.

Language: en