Umeå universitets logga

Background: Bullying victimization is a turbulent public health issue that conceals abundant health hazards for those people involved in it, as well as for the entire society. Limited studies have been conducted in Northern Sweden evaluating the aftermath linked to bullying.

Aim: The basic purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship among bullying and self- rated health in a representative sample of both male and female adolescents and young adults in Northern Sweden.

Methods: A cross- sectional study design was conducted (n= 3,009) and the data were derived from a survey named “Health on Equal Terms” from year 2014 in the four Northern Swedish counties. This study’s sample was consisted of 16 to 25 year- old Swedish adolescents and young adults. Bullying and self-rated health were self-reported. Bullying victimization was measured with the following question from the questionnaire: “During the last three months, have you been treated in a way that made you feel humiliated? (no, yes/sometimes; yes/several times)”. Participants’ personal data were based on the SCB (Statistics of Sweden) registry records. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed.

Results: Bullying rates indicated that 15.04% of males had been bullied ‘sometimes’, whereas the percentage for females was 27.70%. Strikingly, females who had been bullied ‘several times’ were 6.36%, while males had a percentage of solely 2.72%. Further adjusted analyses revealed that those individuals who were victimized either ‘sometimes’ (OR 2.16) or ‘several times’ (OR 6.83) reported decreased overall health compared to those not experiencing bullying. Common risk factors for bullying included: low income, ‘other’ occupation, place of birth, gender (females), civil status, age, and lower educational status. Logistic regression models showed that low education, diminished income, and ‘other’ occupation were all additionally related to poor health. Bullying victimization affected both men and women significantly, yet the impact was more intense in women. Further, there was a strong connection between low income and ill health merely for men, whilst in women ‘other’ occupation was significantly associated with reduced health.

Conclusion: This study corroborates the hypothesis of a strong significant association between bullying and poor subjective health. Therefore, the results verify prior findings that being bullied is associated with negative health outcomes. Since bullying has been proved to be a critical psychosocial problem, supplementary efforts are necessary for the prevention and hindrance of bullying, so that victims’ health will be enhanced. Interventions should concentrate on gender differences and socioeconomic disparities.