TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - A co-twin control study of the association between bullying victimization and self-harm and suicide attempt in adolescence
JO  - Journal of Adolescent Health
A1  - O'Reilly, Lauren M.
A1  - Pettersson, Erik
A1  - Quinn, Patrick D.
A1  - Klonsky, E. David
A1  - Baldwin, Jessie R.
A1  - Lundström, Sebastian
A1  - Larsson, Henrik
A1  - Lichtenstein, Paul
A1  - D'Onofrio, Brian M.
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to investigate the magnitude of an independent association between bullying victimization and self-harm and suicide attempt in adolescence after adjusting for unmeasured and measured confounding factors. <br><br>METHODS: Using the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden, we examined twins born between 1994 and 1999 (n = 13,852). Twins self-reported bullying victimization at age 15 years and self-harm and suicide attempt at age 18 years. We created a factor score of 13 bullying items, on which self-harm and suicide attempt items were regressed in three models: (1) among unrelated individuals; (2) among co-twins, in which a twin exposed to more bullying was compared with his/her co-twin who was exposed to less; and (3) among co-twins while adjusting for indicators of childhood psychopathology. <br><br>RESULTS: Among unrelated individuals, a one standard deviation increase in bullying victimization was associated with increased odds for self-harm (odds ratio [OR], 1.29 [95% confidence interval, 1.23-1.36]) and suicide attempt (OR, 1.68 [1.53-1.85]). Among co-twins, the odds attenuated for self-harm (OR, 1.19 [1.09-1.30]) and suicide attempt (OR, 1.39 [1.17-1.66]). Finally, when accounting for childhood psychopathology, there was a 14% (1.04-1.25) and 25% (1.03-1.52) relative increase in odds of self-harm and suicide attempt, respectively. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that bullying victimization was uniquely associated with self-harm and suicide attempt over and above the confounding because of unmeasured and measured factors (i.e., familial vulnerability and pre-existing psychopathy). However, magnitudes were small, suggesting that additional interventions and screenings are needed to address suicidality apart from bullying interventions.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1054-139X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.11.018
ID  - ref1
ER  -