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American Academy of Pediatrics
Article

Sibling Bullying and Risk of Depression, Anxiety, and Self-Harm: A Prospective Cohort Study

Lucy Bowes, Dieter Wolke, Carol Joinson, Suzet Tanya Lereya and Glyn Lewis
Pediatrics September 2014, peds.2014-0832; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2014-0832
Lucy Bowes
aDepartment of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom;
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Dieter Wolke
bDepartment of Psychology and Division of Mental Health & Wellbeing, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom;
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Carol Joinson
cCentre for Mental Health, Addiction and Suicide Research, School of Social & Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom; and
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Suzet Tanya Lereya
bDepartment of Psychology and Division of Mental Health & Wellbeing, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom;
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Glyn Lewis
dDivision of Psychiatry, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Being the victim of peer bullying is associated with increased risk of psychopathology, yet it is not known whether similar experiences of bullying increase risk of psychiatric disorder when the perpetrator is a sibling. We tested whether being bullied by a sibling is prospectively associated with depression, anxiety, and self-harm in early adulthood.

METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal study using data from >6900 participants of a UK community-based birth cohort (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) who reported on sibling bullying at 12 years. Our main outcome measures were depression, anxiety, and self-harm, assessed using the Clinical Interview Schedule–Revised during clinic assessments when participants were 18.

RESULTS: Children who were frequently bullied were approximately twice as likely to have depression (odds ratio [OR] = 2.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.33–3.51; P < .001), self-harm (OR = 2.56; 95% CI, 1.63–4.02; P < .001), and anxiety (OR = 1.83; 95% CI, 1.19–2.81; P < .001) as children who were not bullied by siblings. The ORs were only slightly attenuated after adjustment for a range of confounding individual, family, and peer factors. The population-attributable fractions suggested that 13.0% (95% CI, 1.0%–24.7%) of depression and 19.3% (95% CI, 7.6%–29.6%) of self-harm could be explained by being the victim of sibling bullying if these were causal relationships.

CONCLUSIONS: Being bullied by a sibling is a potential risk factor for depression and self-harm in early adulthood. Our results suggest that interventions designed to target sibling bullying should be devised and evaluated.

  • siblings
  • bullying
  • depression
  • anxiety
  • self-harm
  • longitudinal
  • ALSPAC
  • Accepted June 25, 2014.
  • Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
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1 Feb 2021
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Sibling Bullying and Risk of Depression, Anxiety, and Self-Harm: A Prospective Cohort Study
Lucy Bowes, Dieter Wolke, Carol Joinson, Suzet Tanya Lereya, Glyn Lewis
Pediatrics Sep 2014, peds.2014-0832; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2014-0832

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Sibling Bullying and Risk of Depression, Anxiety, and Self-Harm: A Prospective Cohort Study
Lucy Bowes, Dieter Wolke, Carol Joinson, Suzet Tanya Lereya, Glyn Lewis
Pediatrics Sep 2014, peds.2014-0832; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2014-0832
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Subjects

  • Psychiatry/Psychology
    • Psychiatry/Psychology
  • Injury, Violence & Poison Prevention
    • Injury, Violence & Poison Prevention
    • Bullying

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