Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T23:39:47.818Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bullying in elementary school and psychotic experiences at 18 years: a longitudinal, population-based cohort study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2013

D. Wolke ,
S. T. Lereya ,
H. L. Fisher ,
G. Lewis  and
S. Zammit
D. Wolke*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Warwick Medical School, Division of Mental Health and Wellbeing, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
S. T. Lereya
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Warwick Medical School, Division of Mental Health and Wellbeing, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
H. L. Fisher
Affiliation:
MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK
G. Lewis
Affiliation:
Mental Health Sciences Unit, University College London, London, UK
S. Zammit
Affiliation:
Mental Health Sciences Unit, University College London, London, UK MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
*
* Address for correspondence: D. Wolke, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Victims of bullying are at risk for psychotic experiences in early adolescence. It is unclear if this elevated risk extends into late adolescence. The aim of this study was to test whether bullying perpetration and victimization in elementary school predict psychotic experiences in late adolescence.

Method

The current study is based on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a prospective community-based study. A total of 4720 subjects with bullying perpetration and victimization were repeatedly assessed between the ages of 8 and 11 years by child and mother reports. Suspected or definite psychotic experiences were assessed with the Psychosis-Like Symptoms semi-structured interview at age 18 years.

Results

Controlling for child's gender, intelligence quotient at age 8 years, childhood behavioural and emotional problems, and also depression symptoms and psychotic experiences in early adolescence, victims [child report at 10 years: odds ratio (OR) 2.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6–3.4; mother report: OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1–2.3], bully/victims (child report at 10 years: OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.7–5.8; mother: OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.7–5.0) and bullies (child report at 10 years: OR 4.9, 95% CI 1.3–17.7; mother: OR 1.2, 95% CI 0.46–3.1, n.s.) had a higher prevalence of psychotic experiences at age 18 years. Path analysis revealed that the association between peer victimization in childhood and psychotic experiences at age 18 years was only partially mediated by psychotic or depression symptoms in early adolescence.

Conclusions

Involvement in bullying, whether as victim, bully/victim or bully, may increase the risk of developing psychotic experiences in adolescence. Health professionals should ask routinely during consultations with children about their bullying of and by peers.

Keywords

ALSPACbullyingpsychotic experiencesvictimization
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 44 , Issue 10 , July 2014 , pp. 2199 - 2211
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angold, A, Costello, EJ, Messer, SC, Pickles, A, Winder, F, Silver, D (1995). The development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research 5, 237–249.Google Scholar
Angold, A, Erkanli, A, Silberg, J, Eaves, L, Costello, EJ (2002). Depression scale scores in 8–17-year-olds: effects of age and gender. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines 43, 1052–1063.Google Scholar
APA (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, 4th edn, revised. American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Arseneault, L, Bowes, L, Shakoor, S (2010). Bullying victimization in youths and mental health problems: “Much ado about nothing”? Psychological Medicine 40, 717–729.Google Scholar
Arseneault, L, Cannon, M, Fisher, HL, Polanczyk, G, Moffitt, TE, Caspi, A (2011). Childhood trauma and children's emerging psychotic symptoms: a genetically sensitive longitudinal cohort study. American Journal of Psychiatry 168, 65–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arseneault, L, Milne, BJ, Taylor, A, Adams, F, Delgado, K, Caspi, A, Moffitt, TE (2008). Being bullied as an environmentally mediated contributing factor to children's internalizing problems: a study of twins discordant for victimization. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 162, 145–150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bentler, PM (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin 107, 238–246.Google Scholar
Bradley, AJ, Dinan, TG (2010). Review: a systematic review of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis function in schizophrenia: implications for mortality. Journal of Psychopharmacology 24, 91–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Browne, MW, Cudeck, R (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In Testing Structural Equation Models (ed. Bollen, K. A. and Long, J. S.), pp. 136–162. Sage: Newbury Park, CA.Google Scholar
Burnette, ML, Cicchetti, D (2012). Multilevel approaches toward understanding antisocial behavior: current research and future directions. Development and Psychopathology 24, 703–704.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D (2010). Resilience under conditions of extreme stress: a multilevel perspective. World Psychiatry 9, 145–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copeland, WE, Wolke, D, Angold, A, Costello, EJ (2013). Adult psychiatric and suicide outcomes of bullying and being bullied by peers in childhood and adolescence. JAMA Psychiatry 70, 419–426.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Done, DJ, Crow, TJ, Johnstone, EC, Sacker, A (1994). Childhood antecedents of schizophrenia and affective illness: social adjustment at ages 7 and 11. British Medical Journal 309, 699–703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edelsohn, GA (2006). Hallucinations in children and adolescents: considerations in the emergency setting. American Journal of Psychiatry 163, 781–785.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisher, HL, Caspi, A, Poulton, R, Meier, MH, Houts, R, Harrington, H, Arseneault, L, Moffitt, TE (2013 b). Specificity of childhood psychotic symptoms for predicting schizophrenia by 38 years of age: a birth cohort study. Psychological Medicine 43, 2077–2086.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisher, HL, Moffitt, TE, Houts, RM, Belsky, DW, Arseneault, L, Caspi, A (2012). Bullying victimisation and risk of self harm in early adolescence: longitudinal cohort study. British Medical Journal 344, e2683.Google Scholar
Fisher, HL, Schreier, A, Zammit, S, Maughan, B, Munafò, MR, Lewis, G, Wolke, D (2013 a). Pathways between childhood victimization and psychosis-like symptoms in the ALSPAC birth cohort. Schizophrenia Bulletin 39, 1045–1055.Google Scholar
Flora, DB, Curran, P (2004). An empirical evaluation of alternative methods of estimation for confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data. Psychological Methods 9, 466–491.Google Scholar
Freeman, D, Fowler, D (2009). Routes to psychotic symptoms: trauma, anxiety and psychosis-like experiences. Psychiatry Research 169, 107–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garety, PA, Bebbington, PE, Fowler, D, Freeman, D, Kuipers, E (2007). Implications for neurobiological research of cognitive models of psychosis: a theoretical paper. Psychological Medicine 37, 1377–1391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garralda, ME (1984). Hallucinations in children with conduct and emotional disorders I: the clinical phenomena. Psychological Medicine 14, 589–596.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Golding, J, Pembrey, M, Jones, R (2001). ALSPAC – The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 15, 74–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodman, R (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines 38, 581–586.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodman, R, Ford, T, Richards, H, Gatward, R, Meltzer, H (2000). The Development and Well-Being Assessment: description and initial validation of an integrated assessment of child and adolescent psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines 41, 645–655.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harkness, KL, Stewart, JG, Wynne-Edwards, KE (2011). Cortisol reactivity to social stress in adolescents: role of depression severity and child maltreatment. Psychoneuroendocrinology 36, 173–181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hixon, S (2009). Psychosocial processes associated with bullying and victimization. Humanistic Psychologist 37, 257–270.Google Scholar
Horwood, J, Salvi, G, Thomas, K, Duffy, L, Gunnell, D, Hollis, C, Lewis, G, Menezes, P, Thompson, A, Wolke, D, Zammit, S, Harrison, G (2008). IQ and non-clinical psychotic symptoms in 12-year-olds: results from the ALSPAC birth cohort. British Journal of Psychiatry 193, 185–191.Google Scholar
Houndoumadi, A, Pateraki, L (2001). Bullying and bullies in Greek elementary schools: pupils' attitudes and teachers'/parents' awareness. Educational Review 53, 19–26.Google Scholar
Hu, L-T, Bentler, PM, Kano, Y (1992). Can test statistics in covariance structure analysis be trusted? Psychological Bulletin 112, 351–362.Google Scholar
Janssen, I, Krabbendam, L, Bak, M, Hanssen, M, Vollebergh, W, De Graaf, R, Van Os, J (2004). Childhood abuse as a risk factor for psychotic experiences. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 109, 38–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Juvonen, J, Graham, S, Schuster, MA (2003). Bullying among young adolescents: the strong, the weak, and the troubled. Pediatrics 112, 1231–1237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelleher, I, Corcoran, P, Keeley, H, Wigman, JT, Devlin, N, Ramsay, H, Wasserman, C, Carli, V, Sarchiapone, M, Hoven, C, Wasserman, D, Cannon, M (2013 a). Psychotic symptoms and population risk for suicide attempt: a prospective cohort study. JAMA Psychiatry 70, 940–948.Google Scholar
Kelleher, I, Harley, M, Lynch, F, Arseneault, L, Fitzpatrick, C, Cannon, M (2008). Association between childhood trauma, bullying and psychotic symptoms among a school-based adolescent sample. British Journal of Psychiatry 193, 378–382.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelleher, I, Keeley, H, Corcoran, P, Ramsay, H, Wasserman, C, Carli, V, Sarchiapone, M, Hoven, C, Wasserman, D, Cannon, M (2013 b). Childhood trauma and psychosis in a prospective cohort study: cause, effect, and directionality. American Journal of Psychiatry 170, 734–741.Google Scholar
Lereya, ST, Winsper, C, Heron, J, Lewis, G, Gunnell, D, Fisher, HL, Wolke, D (2013). Being bullied during childhood and the prospective pathways to self-harm in late adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 52, 608–618.Google Scholar
Lereya, ST, Wolke, D (2013). Prenatal family adversity and maternal mental health and vulnerability to peer victimisation at school. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines 54, 644–652.Google Scholar
Mackie, CJ, Castellanos-Ryan, N, Conrod, PJ (2011). Developmental trajectories of psychotic-like experiences across adolescence: impact of victimization and substance use. Psychological Medicine 41, 47–58.Google Scholar
Mackie, CJ, O'Leary-Barrett, M, Al-Khudhairy, N, Castellanos-Ryan, N, Struve, M, Topper, L, Conrod, P (2013). Adolescent bullying, cannabis use and emerging psychotic experiences: a longitudinal general population study. Psychological Medicine 43, 1033–1044.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muthén, LK, Muthén, BO (2010). Mplus User's Guide, 6th edn. Muthén & Muthén: Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Myin-Germeys, I, Van Os, J (2007). Stress-reactivity in psychosis: evidence for an affective pathway to psychoses. Clinical Psychology Review 27, 409–424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nishida, A, Tanii, H, Nishimura, Y, Kajiki, N, Inoue, K, Okada, M, Sasaki, T, Okazaki, Y (2008). Associations between psychotic-like experiences and mental health status and other psychopathologies among Japanese early teens. Schizophrenia Research 99, 125–133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ouellet-Morin, I, Danese, A, Bowes, L, Shakoor, S, Ambler, A, Pariante, CM, Papadopoulos, AS, Caspi, A, Moffitt, TE, Arseneault, L (2011). A discordant monozygotic twin design shows blunted cortisol reactivity among bullied children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 50, 574–582.e3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ouellet-Morin, I, Wong, CCY, Danese, A, Pariante, CM, Papadopoulos, AS, Mill, J, Arseneault, L (2013). Increased serotonin transporter gene (SERT) DNA methylation is associated with bullying victimization and blunted cortisol response to stress in childhood: a longitudinal study of discordant monozygotic twins. Psychological Medicine 43, 1813–1823.Google Scholar
Perren, S, Ettekal, I, Ladd, G (2013). The impact of peer victimization on later maladjustment: mediating and moderating effects of hostile and self-blaming attributions. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 54, 46–55.Google Scholar
Poulton, R, Caspi, A, Moffit, T, Cannon, M, Murray, R, Harrinton, HL (2000). Children's self-reported psychotic symptoms and adult schizophreniform disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry 57, 1053–1058.Google Scholar
Read, J, Van Os, J, Morrison, AP, Ross, CA (2005). Childhood trauma, psychosis and schizophrenia: a literature review with theoretical and clinical implications. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 112, 330–350.Google Scholar
Reijntjes, A, Kamphuis, JH, Prinzie, P, Telch, MJ (2010). Peer victimization and internalizing problems in children: a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Child Abuse and Neglect 34, 244–252.Google Scholar
Rønning, J, Sourander, A, Kumpulainen, K, Tamminen, T, Niemelä, S, Moilanen, I, Helenius, H, Piha, J, Almqvist, F (2009). Cross-informant agreement about bullying and victimization among eight-year-olds: whose information best predicts psychiatric caseness 10–15 years later? Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 44, 15–22.Google Scholar
Schreier, A, Wolke, D, Thomas, K, Horwood, J, Hollis, C, Gunnell, D, Lewis, G, Thompson, AE, Zammit, S, Duffy, L, Salvi, G, Harrison, G (2009). Prospective study of peer victimization in childhood and psychotic symptoms in a nonclinical population at age 12 years. Archives of General Psychiatry 66, 527–536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scrabstein, JC (2009). Be aware of bullying: a critical public health responsibility. Virtual Mentor 11, 173–177.Google Scholar
Shalev, I, Moffitt, TE, Sugden, K, Williams, B, Houts, RM, Danese, A, Mill, J, Arseneault, L, Caspi, A (2013). Exposure to violence during childhood is associated with telomere erosion from 5 to 10 years of age: a longitudinal study. Molecular Psychiatry 18, 576–581.Google Scholar
Spauwen, J, Krabbendam, L, Lieb, R, Wittchen, HU, Van Os, J (2006). Impact of psychological trauma on the development of psychotic symptoms: relationship with psychosis proneness. British Journal of Psychiatry 188, 527–533.Google Scholar
Sterzer, P, Stadler, C (2009). Neuroimaging of aggressive and violent behaviour in children and adolescents. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 3, 35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Teicher, MH, Samson, JA, Sheu, Y-S, Polcari, A, Mcgreenery, CE (2010). Hurtful words: association of exposure to peer verbal abuse with elevated psychiatric symptom scores and corpus callosum abnormalities. American Journal of Psychiatry 167, 1464–1471.Google Scholar
Toblin, RL, Schwartz, D, Hopmeyer Gorman, A, Abou-Ezzeddine, T (2005). Social–cognitive and behavioral attributes of aggressive victims of bullying. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 26, 329–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trotta, A, Di Forti, M, Mondelli, V, Dazzan, P, Pariante, C, David, A, Mule, A, Ferraro, L, Formica, I, Murray, RM, Fisher, HL (2013). Prevalence of bullying victimisation amongst first-episode psychosis patients and unaffected controls. Schizophrenia Research 150, 169–175.Google Scholar
Ttofi, MM, Farrington, DP (2011). Effectiveness of school-based programs to reduce bullying: a systematic and meta-analytic review. Journal of Experimental Criminology 7, 27–56.Google Scholar
Van Bokhoven, I, Van Goozen, SHM, Van Engeland, H, Schaal, B, Arseneault, L, Séguin, JR, Nagin, DS, Vitaro, F, Tremblay, RE (2005). Salivary cortisol and aggression in a population-based longitudinal study of adolescent males. Journal of Neural Transmission 112, 1083–1096.Google Scholar
Van Dam, DS, Van Der, Ven E, Velthorst, E, Selten, JP, Morgan, C, De Haan, L (2012). Childhood bullying and the association with psychosis in non-clinical and clinical samples: a review and meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine 42, 2463–2474.Google Scholar
Van Winkel, R, Stefanis, NC, Myin-Germeys, I (2008). Psychosocial stress and psychosis. A review of the neurobiological mechanisms and the evidence for gene–stress interaction. Schizophrenia Bulletin 34, 1095–1105.Google Scholar
Varese, F, Smeets, F, Drukker, M, Lieverse, R, Lataster, T, Viechtbauer, W, Read, J, Van Os, J, Bentall, RP (2012). Childhood adversities increase the risk of psychosis: a meta-analysis of patient–control, prospective- and cross-sectional cohort studies. Schizophrenia Bulletin 38, 661–671.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Welham, J, Scott, J, Williams, G, Najman, J, Bor, W, O'Callaghan, M, McGrath, J (2009). Emotional and behavioural antecedents of young adults who screen positive for non-affective psychosis: a 21-year birth cohort study. Psychological Medicine 39, 625–634.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weschsler, D, Golombok, S, Rust, J (1992). WISC-III UK Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Psychological Corp.: Sidcup.Google Scholar
Wigman, JTW, Van Winkela, R, Raaijmakersa, QAW, Ormela, J, Verhulst, FC, Reijneveld, SA, Van Os, J, Vollebergh, WAM (2011). Evidence for a persistent, environment-dependent and deteriorating subtype of subclinical psychotic experiences: a 6-year longitudinal general population study. Psychological Medicine 41, 2317–2329.Google Scholar
Winsper, C, Lereya, T, Zanarini, M, Wolke, D (2012). Involvement in bullying and suicide-related behavior at 11 years: a prospective birth cohort study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 51, 271–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolke, D, Schreier, A, Zanarini, MC, Winsper, C (2012). Bullied by peers in childhood and borderline personality symptoms at 11 years of age: a prospective study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines 53, 846–855.Google Scholar
Wolke, D, Waylen, A, Samara, M, Steer, C, Goodman, R, Ford, T, Lamberts, K (2009). Selective drop-out in longitudinal studies and non-biased prediction of behaviour disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry 195, 249–256.Google Scholar
Wolke, D, Woods, S, Bloomfield, L, Karstadt, L (2000). The association between direct and relational bullying and behaviour problems among primary school children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 41, 989–1002.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1994). Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry. American Psychiatric Research: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Zammit, S, Kounali, D, Cannon, M, David, AS, Gunnell, D, Heron, J, Jones, PB, Lewis, S, Sullivan, S, Wolke, D, Lewis, G (2013). Psychotic experiences, at-risk mental states and psychotic disorder at age 18 in relation to psychotic experiences at age 12 in a longitudinal, population-based cohort study. American Journal of Psychiatry 170, 742–750.Google Scholar
Zwierzynska, K, Wolke, D, Lereya, T (2013). Peer victimization in childhood and internalizing problems in adolescence: a prospective longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 41, 309–323.Google Scholar