Weight-based bullying linked to increased adolescent alcohol, marijuana use
Overweight girls most likely to report being bullied, study finds
February 25, 2020
Science Daily/American Psychological Association
Adolescents who are bullied about their weight or body shape may be more likely to use alcohol or marijuana than those who are not bullied, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
The link between appearance-related teasing and substance use was strongest among overweight girls, raising special concerns about this group.
"This type of bullying is incredibly common and has many negative effects for adolescents," said lead study author Melanie Klinck, BA, a clinical research assistant at the University of Connecticut. "The combination of appearance-related teasing and the increased sensitivity to body image during adolescence may create a heightened risk for substance use."
"These findings raise larger issues about how society places too much emphasis on beauty and body image for girls and women and the damaging effects that may result," said Christine McCauley Ohannessian, PhD, professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, as well as director of the Center for Behavioral Health at Connecticut Children's Medical Center and a study co-author.
"Schools and communities should specifically address appearance-related teasing in anti-bullying policies and substance-use interventions," she said. "Parents particularly have a role to play in addressing this issue. There is some startling research showing that some of the most hurtful examples of weight-based teasing come from parents or siblings, so families should be kind when they discuss the weight of their children."
The study, which was conducted at Connecticut Children's Medical Center, involved a survey of 1,344 students ages 11 to 14 from five public middle schools near Hartford, Connecticut. The students were asked if siblings, parents or peers had teased them about their weight, body shape or eating during the prior six months. More than half (55%) of the overall participants reported weight-based teasing, including three out of four overweight girls (76%), 71% of overweight boys, 52% of girls who weren't overweight, and 43% of boys who weren't overweight.
The participants also were asked about their alcohol and marijuana use. The results showed that frequent weight-based teasing was associated with higher levels of total alcohol use, binge drinking and marijuana use. In a follow-up survey six months later, weight-based teasing was still linked to total alcohol use and binge drinking. The research was published online in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.
Previous research has found that boys have greater substance use in their teens and early adulthood, but girls begin using alcohol and drugs at an earlier age compared with boys. Those trends may be related to the societal pressures for girls to adhere to unrealistic body image ideals. This can damage their sense of self-worth and contribute to eating disorders and self-medication through substance use to cope with teasing or fit in with their peers, Klinck said.
"The old saying that 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me' is a fallacy that ignores the serious effects of emotional abuse and verbal bullying," Klinck said. "Weight-based discrimination appears to be one of the most common and seemingly socially sanctioned reasons to bully or discriminate against someone. As a society, we need to address the damage caused by this, especially for girls."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200225154338.htm
Teen girls more vulnerable to bullying than boys
May 7, 2019
Science Daily/Rutgers University
Girls are more often bullied than boys and are more likely to consider, plan, or attempt suicide, according to research led by a Rutgers University-Camden nursing scholar.
"Bullying is significantly associated with depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, suicide planning, and suicide attempts," says Nancy Pontes, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Nursing-Camden. "We wanted to look at this link between bullying victimization, depressive symptoms, and suicidality by gender."
In an examination of data from the Centers for Disease Control's nationally representative Youth Risk Behavior Survey from 2011-2015, Pontes and her fellow researchers conducted analyses of the data and found that more females are negatively affected by bullying.
Pontes says that, in general, girls are more often bullied than boys, and girls are also more likely to consider, plan, or attempt suicide compared with boys, regardless of being bullied or not -- although boys are more likely to die by suicide. In this study, Pontes and her fellow researchers looked at significant associations and not direct causal links.
Using two methods of statistical analysis, the researchers showed the probability of a link between bullying and depressive symptoms and suicide risk, and then compared the results of the two methodologies.
Through the more commonly used multiplicative interactions method, their findings matched the findings that some other researchers have used in previous studies, which showed no difference between males and females being bullied at school and having depressive symptoms or suicide risk behaviors.
However, when using the International Journal of Epidemiology-recommended methodology of additive interactions, Pontes and her team found the effects of bullying are significantly higher in females than males on every measure of psychological distress or suicidal thoughts and actions.
The study, "Additive Interactions between Gender and Bullying Victimization on Depressive Symptoms and Suicidality: Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2011-2015" by Pontes and her colleagues, is published in the journal Nursing Research.
"To our knowledge, our paper is the first in nursing to compare these two methodologies, and to challenge the status quo of analysis in our field," says Pontes.
The researchers acknowledge limitations with the study, such as the nature of its retrospective design and the inability to change or alter the design of the CDC study.
Pontes hopes the results of her team's examination will help draw attention to how researchers conduct analyses of data and how crucial it is to carefully consider which methods are the best fit, or to use both methods and compare them.
Bullying among boys is often physical. Pontes says while many schools are cracking down on physical bullying which people can see, those actions probably are preventing and stopping bullying that's more common among males.
Among females, Pontes says, the bullying is often the kind that's not visible. It's often relational bullying, such as excluding someone from activities and social circles, or spreading rumors about them. The actions are not overt, Pontes explains, so they could go on for a long time without anyone else knowing.
"Our school interventions should understand the differences in bullying and how we might better address females who are bullied," says Pontes.
The Rutgers-Camden nursing researcher believes that preventing bullying should begin at a young age. She says parents should start teaching preschool children that bullying is unacceptable.
"There are parents who see it as a rite of passage," says Pontes. "They say, 'Everyone gets bullied. You have to buck up. Stand up for yourself.'"
She says pediatricians and nurse practitioners should talk about the harmful effects of bullying with parents so that they can intervene early and reduce the victimization that causes adolescents to consider suicide, so they will be able to live happier and healthier lives.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190507110457.htm