Claire Wilcox, MD reviewing Campbell-Sills L et al. Depress Anxiety 2017 Apr 3.

Independently of several confounding factors, childhood bullying experiences are associated with risks for suicidal ideation and attempts.

U.S. soldiers have higher rates of suicide than the general population, and factors affecting suicide prevention still need to be identified. To learn more, researchers examined relationships between childhood bullying and suicidality in 30,436 soldiers (4817 women) reporting for basic training.

Participants completed a survey on suicidal behaviors (particularly, lifetime ideation, plans, or attempts), bullying victimization by peers (e.g., experiencing physical assault or theft by bullies at school or in the neighborhood), and ongoing bullying comments and behaviors.

Nearly 20% of new soldiers endorsed physical assault or theft; 30% endorsed ongoing bullying. In analyses adjusting for sociodemographic and army service variables, higher frequencies of both bullying types were associated with higher risks for lifetime ideation, plans, and attempts (adjusted odds ratios, 1.46–1.74). Among those acknowledging suicidal ideation, bullying was associated with progression to plans and attempts.

When analyses controlled for mental disorders and childhood maltreatment by adults, both measures of childhood bullying by peers were still significantly associated with all measures of suicidal behaviors with the exception of the association of physical assault or theft with plan. Furthermore, childhood maltreatment by adults was also strongly and independently associated with suicidal behaviors.

CITATION(S):

Campbell-Sills L et al. Associations of childhood bullying victimization with lifetime suicidal behaviors among new U.S. Army soldiers. Depress Anxiety 2017 Apr 3; [e-pub]. 

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