“A Co-Twin Control Study of the Association Between Bullying Victimization and Self-Harm and Suicide Attempt in Adolescence”, 2021-01-18 (; similar):
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.
Method: Using the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden, we examined twins born 1994–5199925ya (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.
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.
Conclusion: 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 (ie. 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.
[Keywords: bullying victimization, suicide attempt, self-harm, co-twin]