Singapore’s youth endure high rates of bullying

Peer victimization, or bullying, appears to be highly prevalent among youth, according to a recent Singapore study. In turn, bullying aggravates depressive symptoms and worsens quality of life.

“The study found a high prevalence of peer victimization among youth seeking treatment at a tertiary psychiatric institution that was associated with severity of depression and lower quality of life,” the researchers said.

“The study calls for evidence-based interventions to mitigate peer victimization which must subsequently be evaluated from the perspectives of both the victimized youth and those doing the victimization,” they added.

Of 239 youth (aged 15–24 years, 52.7 percent boys) enrolled in the current study, 95.8 percent (n=229) said that they had experienced at least one form of peer victimization while they were at school. Participants were recruited from a tertiary psychiatric institution, from which they were seeking treatment for mood disorders (37.4 percent), adjustment disorder (20.6 percent), and anxiety disorder (17.2 percent). [Ann Gen Psychiatry 2022;21:47]

Most frequently, participants said that they had been victimized by peers at least once during their school years by being called names (85.4 percent), being made fun of for “some reason,” (83.7 percent), and by refusing to be talked to (73.6 percent).

Using the Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale (MPVS), the researchers quantified the extent of bullying across four domains: physical victimization, social manipulation, verbal victimization, and attacks on property.

Participants scored an average of 16.1 points out of a maximum possible score of 32 points. For the respective MPVS domain, each of which had a maximum possible score of 8 points, the respective mean scores of the participants were 2.22, 4.85, 5.59, and 3.45.

Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that gender was a significant correlate of peer victimization. In particular, total scores tended to be higher in boys, who were also more likely to report having experienced physical victimization and attacks on property.

Meanwhile, educational level appeared to have a minor and inconsistent effect on victimization. Those who were level A (equivalent of high school), for instance, reported lower odds of social manipulation than counterparts in O and N levels (secondary school).

Moreover, those who were still in secondary education but had not yet passed the secondary school examination were more likely to experience attacks on property than counterparts who had passed this test.

Bullying worsens quality of life

Linear regression analysis additionally revealed that verbal victimization was significantly and inversely associated with scores in the social functioning subdomain (B, –0.64, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], –1.11 to –0.18; p=0.007) and mental component summary (B, –0.46, 95 percent CI, –0.85 to –0.06; p=0.024) of the Short-Form 12 survey, after controlling for confounders.

Attacks on property (B, –0.77, 95 percent CI, –1.23 to –0.31; p=0.001) and total MPVS score (B, –0.18, 95 percent CI, –0.32 to –0.04; p=0.014) had similar and significant impacts on social functioning.

Moreover, all MPVS subscales were significantly associated with depressive symptoms as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire: physical victimization (B, 0.45, 95 percent CI, 0.14–0.76; p=0.005), social manipulation (B, 0.50, 95 percent CI, 0.21–0.78; p=0.001), verbal victimization (B, 0.50, 95 percent CI, 0.19–0.80; p=0.001), and attacks on property (B, 0.58, 95 percent CI, 0.29–0.88; p<0.001). The same was true for overall MPVS score (B, 0.19, 95 percent CI, 0.10–0.27; p<0.001).

“The current study is among the first to report on peer victimization among a psychiatric outpatient sample,” the researchers said.

“Longitudinal studies are needed both in community and patient samples to understand the phenomenon in further depth. Mediational analyses to understand the link between peer victimization and mediators including self-esteem, personality, classmate support, resilience, and outcomes in youth are needed,” they added.