Association Between Sub-types of Sibling Bullying and Mental Health Distress Among Chinese Children and Adolescents

Sibling bullying is a common phenomenon in childhood and adolescence worldwide and has a significant association with mental health distress. However, there have been few studies that have examined the associations between any specific sub-type of sibling bullying and depression as well as anxiety. Besides, the association between sibling bullying and psychological well-being was never explored among the Chinese population. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the associations between the number of sub-types of sibling bullying involvement and depression as well as anxiety among Chinese children and adolescents. Multi-stage stratified cluster sampling was used to recruit 5,926 participants aged 10 to 18 who had at least one sibling living in the household. Different sub-types of sibling bullying involvement were determined by using Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ). The nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) were used to screen clinical ranges of major depression and generalized anxiety disorder, respectively. Of the participants, 1,235 (20.8%) were bullied by siblings, and 1,230 (20.8%) perpetrated bullying behavior against siblings over the past 6 months. After controlling potential confounders, adjusted model of logistic regression analyses indicated that all three sub-types of sibling victimization and perpetration were significantly associated with both depression and anxiety...
Source: Frontiers in Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research