Carnelius Filippa, Dennhag Inga
Department of Clinical Science, Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Nord J Psychiatry. 2023 Apr;77(3):256-265. doi: 10.1080/08039488.2022.2089231. Epub 2022 Jun 23.
The study aims to identify the prevalence of bullying and sexual harassment as well as possible risk and protective factors for depression among adolescents. We focus on the association of different types of sexual harassment, gender, bullying, and self-compassion to depression criteria according to DSM 4.
This cross-sectional study included 318 adolescents aged 15-20 years, from Sweden. Participants answered the self-assessment scales Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale, Second Edition, and Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales for Youth, as well as questions about sexual harassment and bullying. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between bullying, sexual harassment, self-compassion, and gender with depressive symptoms.
Few students had been subjected to bullying, whereas sexual harassment was more common. About 32.7% of students had been subjected to verbal harassment and girls were more frequently exposed. Both bullying and sexual harassment were associated with depressive symptoms, and gender patterns were observed. For boys, verbal harassment and bullying correlated with negative self-evaluation and somatic complaints. For girls, bullying correlated with all depressive symptoms. Higher levels of self-compassion were associated with less depression, and the correlation was especially strong among boys.
Boys and girls express different types of depressive symptoms when subjected to bullying and sexual harassment. Not asking boys about negative self-evaluation or somatic complaints could lead to missing depression. However, for girls, all four symptoms are equally important to inquire about. Self-compassion is a possible protective factor against depression and future studies will show if teaching this to adolescents could lead to less depression.
本研究旨在确定青少年中欺凌和性骚扰的发生率以及抑郁症可能的风险和保护因素。我们重点关注不同类型的性骚扰、性别、欺凌以及自我同情与根据《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第四版的抑郁标准之间的关联。
这项横断面研究纳入了318名年龄在15至20岁之间的瑞典青少年。参与者回答了自我评估量表《雷诺兹青少年抑郁量表》第二版、《青少年同情参与和行动量表》，以及有关性骚扰和欺凌的问题。进行回归分析以检验欺凌、性骚扰、自我同情和性别与抑郁症状之间的关联。
很少有学生遭受过欺凌，而性骚扰更为常见。约32.7%的学生遭受过言语骚扰，女孩更容易受到此类骚扰。欺凌和性骚扰均与抑郁症状相关，且观察到了性别模式。对于男孩，言语骚扰和欺凌与负面自我评价及躯体不适相关。对于女孩，欺凌与所有抑郁症状相关。更高水平的自我同情与较少的抑郁相关，且这种关联在男孩中尤为强烈。
男孩和女孩在遭受欺凌和性骚扰时表现出不同类型的抑郁症状。不询问男孩关于负面自我评价或躯体不适的情况可能会导致漏诊抑郁症。然而，对于女孩而言，询问所有四种症状同样重要。自我同情是预防抑郁症的一个可能的保护因素，未来的研究将表明向青少年传授这一点是否会减少抑郁症的发生。
