DOES CYBERBULLYING INFLUENCE

TEENAGERS’ MENTAL HEALTH? LONGITUDINAL RESULTS FROM THE OLYMPIC

REGENERATION IN EAST LONDON STUDY

Amanda Fahy, S. Stansfeld, M. Smuk, N. Smith, S. Cummins, & C. Clark

A Critical Transition

More reciprocal, supportive, intimate peer relationships

Quest for psychosocial autonomy

Physical & sexual maturation

Onset of symptoms of psychological distress

Development of social skills related to empathy and conflict resolution

Adulthood

Emergence of depression and psychological distress during adolescence

(Andersen & Teicher, 2008; Costello, Egger, & Angold, 2005; Steinberg, 2005)

One third of individuals will experience mental illness at some point – one of the largest causes of health burden

(Steel et al., 2014 ; Murray et al., 2013)

Adolescent internalising symptoms predict mental health in adulthood(Clark, Rodgers, Caldwell, Power, & Stansfeld, 2007; Fergusson & Woodward, 2002;

Patel, Flisher, Hetrick, & McGorry, 2007)

Foundations for Future Mental Health

Social Relationships and Adolescent Mental Health

(Stansfeld, 2005; Cohen, Underwood,

& Gottlieb, 2000; Umberson & Montez,

2010)

(Bakker, Ormel, Verhulst, & Oldehinkel,

2010; Graham & Bellmore, 2007)

A Changing World

12-15 year olds reported average screen time of 5 hours 15 minutes a day

(Ofcom & GFK, 2010)

Social media is changing adolescent social relationships and conflict…

Cyberbullying Defined

Do Traditional Definitions of Bullying Apply?

Repetition Defining online repetition is problematic Online permanence

IntentionA hurtful or upsetting “joke” cannot be

retracted onlineProblems with perceived intentions and the

impact on help-seeking

Power imbalance Perceived power imbalance Is it just related to offline power

Cyberbullying and Mental Health

Online disinhibition Say things online you would not say offline Reduced social cues online

Lack of respiteNot confined to a particular geographical location Permanence of online messages can increase

rumination

Lack of supervision Who is responsible for dealing with cyberbullying? Cyberbullied adolescents rarely seek adult help

Existing Research on Cyberbullying and Mental Health

After adjustment for baseline depressive symptoms

female cybervictims were twice as likely to report

depressive symptoms 2 years later(Bannink et al., 2014)

…but is it just females who are affected?

Baseline cybervictimisation associated with depressive

symptoms at 6 month follow-up (Gamez-Guadix et al., 2013; Machmutow et al., 2012)

Examining the prevalence of cyberbullying in a large, multi-ethnic, adolescent cohort in East London…

…using longitudinal data…

…to establish whether involvement in cyberbullying at baseline is associated with poorer mental health at

follow up.

Aims of this Research

The Olympic Regeneration in East London Study

25 secondary schools in East London

Longitudinal analysis (n=2480)

Baseline survey Year 8 (Mage=13.0)

Follow-up survey Year 9 (Mage=14.1)

Measures:

Involvement in cyberbullying

Depressive symptoms (SMFQ)

Social Anxiety (mini-SPIN)

Mental Well-being (WEMWBS)

Involvement in Cyberbullying

Involvement as cyberbully-victims was significantly

lower among females (17.1%) than males (23.0%;

RRR=0.76, 95% CI [0.60, 0.96]).

55.8

60.4

57.8

13

14.5

13.6

8.3

8.1

8.2

23

17.1

20.4

0 20 40 60 80 100

Male

Female

Total

% I

nvo

lved

Not involved

Cybervictims

Cyberbullies

Cyberbully-

victims

Cyberbullying and Depressive Symptoms

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3

OR [95% CI] OR [95% CI] OR [95% CI]

Not involved † † †

Cybervictim 1.96*** [1.45, 2.67] 1.95*** [1.40, 2.71] 1.44* [1.00, 2.06]

Cyberbully 1.21 [0.83, 1.77] 1.27 [0.85, 1.92] 1.16 [0.75, 1.79]

Cyberbully-victim 2.14*** [1.66, 2.76] 2.42*** [1.83, 3.19] 1.54** [1.13, 2.09]

*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; Model 1: Unadjusted; Model 2: Adjusted for gender, ethnicity, SES,

and school; Model 3: Additionally adjusted for baseline depressive symptoms

Cybervictims and cyberbully-victims were significantly more likely to report depressive symptoms at follow-up than their uninvolved peers.

Cyberbullying and Social Anxiety Symptoms

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3

OR [95% CI] OR [95% CI] OR [95% CI]

Not involved † † †

Cybervictim 1.68*** [1.27,2.22] 1.72*** [1.28,2.30] 1.52** [1.11,2.07]

Cyberbully 0.79 [0.53,1.17] 0.80 [0.53,1.20] 0.85 [0.55,1.29]

Cyberbully-victim 1.52*** [1.19,1.94] 1.63*** [1.26,2.10] 1.44** [1.10,1.89]

*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; Model 1: Unadjusted; Model 2: Adjusted for gender, ethnicity, SES,

and school; Model 3: Additionally adjusted for baseline social anxiety symptoms

Cybervictims and cyberbully-victims were significantly more likely to report social anxiety symptoms at follow-up than their uninvolved peers.

Cyberbullying and Below Average Well-being

*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; Model 1: Unadjusted; Model 2: Adjusted for gender, ethnicity,

SES, and school; Model 3: Additionally adjusted for baseline well-being

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3

RRR [95% CI] RRR [95% CI] RRR [95% CI]

Not involved † † †

Cybervictim 1.55* [1.09,2.21] 1.54* [1.06,2.24] 1.28 [0.86,1.91]

Cyberbully 1.09 [0.63,1.90] 1.09 [0.62,1.92] 1.07 [0.59,1.93]

Cyberbully-victim 1.65** [1.19,2.28] 1.73** [1.23,2.45] 1.38 [0.95,1.99]

Cybervictims and cyberbully-victims were significantly more likely to report below average well-being at follow-up than their uninvolved peers.

Conclusions

Involvement in cyberbullying was high, particularly those involved as cyberbully-victims.

Cybervictims and cyberbully-victims were significantly more likely to report depressive symptoms social anxiety symptoms and below average well-being at one year follow-up than those uninvolved in cyberbullying.

Cyberbullies were not prone to internalising problems in this study though future studies may benefit from looking at externalising problems.

Implications

Interventions designed to reduce cyberbullying and may enhance adolescent mental health.

Clinicians should address cyberbullying experiences when assessing mental health concerns in adolescents.

Public health researchers and policy makers in the UK need to address the problem of cyberbullying.

Thank You

Acknowledgements

My PhD supervisors Professor Stephen Stansfeld and DrCharlotte Clark

The members of the ORiEL team

The Schools and families in the ORiEL study

Contact

amanda.fahy@qmul.ac.uk