TY - JOUR
T1 - The association between self-reported psychosomatic complaints and bullying victimisation and disability among adolescents in Finland and Sweden
AU - Bjereld, Ylva
AU - Augustine, Lilly
AU - Turner, Russell
AU - Löfstedt, Petra
AU - Ng, Kwok
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Aim: To analyse the associations between bullying victimisation, disability, and self-reported psychosomatic complaints in adolescents, and to investigate the role of support from parents and teachers in such associations. Methods: The study was based on Finnish and Swedish data from two waves (2013/2014 and 2017/2018) of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey (n=16,057). Descriptive statistics were produced for four groups of adolescents: (a) bullied with disabilities; (b) not bullied with disabilities; (c) bullied without disabilities; and (d) not bullied without disabilities (reference group). Two multilevel multinomial logistic regression models were performed for the Finnish and Swedish samples separately. The first model analysed associations between psychosomatic complaints and bullying victimisation, controlling for a range of confounders. The second model analysed associations between psychosomatic complaints and social support from parents and teachers. Results: Across both countries, bullied adolescents with disabilities were more likely to self-report psychosomatic complaints than the reference group, even after adjusting for other potential confounders. Teacher support was identified as a potential protective factor as the odds ratio for psychosomatic complaints decreased when including teacher support as a factor in the model. The association with parent support showed mixed findings in Finland and Sweden. Conclusions: Disability in combination with bullying victimisation generated the highest levels of self-reported psychosomatic complaints compared to adolescents that were not bullied nor had disabilities. High teacher support may be a protective factor against psychosomatic complaints for bullied and/or disabled adolescents.
AB - Aim: To analyse the associations between bullying victimisation, disability, and self-reported psychosomatic complaints in adolescents, and to investigate the role of support from parents and teachers in such associations. Methods: The study was based on Finnish and Swedish data from two waves (2013/2014 and 2017/2018) of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey (n=16,057). Descriptive statistics were produced for four groups of adolescents: (a) bullied with disabilities; (b) not bullied with disabilities; (c) bullied without disabilities; and (d) not bullied without disabilities (reference group). Two multilevel multinomial logistic regression models were performed for the Finnish and Swedish samples separately. The first model analysed associations between psychosomatic complaints and bullying victimisation, controlling for a range of confounders. The second model analysed associations between psychosomatic complaints and social support from parents and teachers. Results: Across both countries, bullied adolescents with disabilities were more likely to self-report psychosomatic complaints than the reference group, even after adjusting for other potential confounders. Teacher support was identified as a potential protective factor as the odds ratio for psychosomatic complaints decreased when including teacher support as a factor in the model. The association with parent support showed mixed findings in Finland and Sweden. Conclusions: Disability in combination with bullying victimisation generated the highest levels of self-reported psychosomatic complaints compared to adolescents that were not bullied nor had disabilities. High teacher support may be a protective factor against psychosomatic complaints for bullied and/or disabled adolescents.
KW - Bullying
KW - disability
KW - HBSC
KW - protective factors
KW - self-reported psychosomatic complaints
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132677336&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/14034948221089769
DO - 10.1177/14034948221089769
M3 - Article
C2 - 35491912
AN - SCOPUS:85132677336
SN - 1403-4948
VL - 51
SP - 1136
EP - 1143
JO - Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
JF - Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
IS - 8
ER -