Co-occurrence of sibling and peer bullying victimization and depression and anxiety among Chinese adolescents: The role of sexual orientation.

BACKGROUND

Bullying victimization is a robust predictor of mental distress among lesbian/gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) adolescents. However, few research accounted bullying victimization within the context of both sibling and peer relationships.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effect of sibling and peer bullying victimization on depression and anxiety between heterosexual adolescents and LGBQ adolescents.

METHOD

This was a cross-sectional study with a random sample of 3062 Chinese senior high school students (56.0% female) aged 14 to 18. Related information was collected through a self-reported questionnaire. The associations were examined via a set of logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Of the participants, 12.5% were victims of sibling bullying only, 10.1% reported peer victimization only, and 4.7% were involved in both sibling and peer victimization. Compared to heterosexuals, LGBQ adolescents had increased risks of sibling victimization only, peer victimization only, and both sibling and peer victimization. The prevalence of major depression and generalized anxiety disorder were 24.9% and 18.7% respectively. Bullying victimization and sexual orientation were independently associated with depression and anxiety. Furthermore, the stratified analysis indicated that sibling victimization only was significantly associated with depression and anxiety for heterosexual adolescents, while the associations were not significant for LGBQ adolescents.

CONCLUSIONS

Sexual orientation and bullying victimization are predictive factors of depression and anxiety. In particular, bullying victimization shows the different effects on depression and anxiety between heterosexual and LGBQ adolescents. Anti-bullying intervention could take distinct strategies based on different sexual orientation to reduce risks of adolescents' mental health problems.