Bullying is a greater risk factor than obesity for developing depressive symptoms in girls and boys, revealed study conducted by Uppsala University researchers and published in the Journal of Public Health. Peer-review/Observational study/People
‘Bullying can affect mental illness for a long time to come, which therefore makes preventive measures against bullying in schools extremely important.’
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"The purpose of our study was to investigate the connection between body mass index (BMI) and depressive symptoms, and to take a close look at whether being subjected to bullying affects this relationship over time. We also wanted to investigate whether any gender differences existed," says Sofia Kanders, a PhD student at Uppsala University's Department of Neuroscience. In the study young people, born in Västmanland County, replied to questions about their height, weight and depressive symptoms on three separate occasions (2012, 2015 and 2018). The respondents' mean age was 14.4 years on the first occasion and 19.9 years on the last.
Based on BMI, the adolescents were divided into three groups: those with normal weight, overweight and obesity respectively. They were also grouped according to the extent of their depressive symptoms.
Overall, regardless of their weight, the girls stated more frequently that they had depressive symptoms. In 2012, 17 per cent of the girls and 6 per cent of the boys did so. By 2015, the proportions of adolescents with these symptoms had risen to 32 per cent for the girls and 13 per cent for the boys. The corresponding figures for 2018 were 34 and 19 per cent respectively.
A higher BMI did not, as far as the researchers could see, affect the girls' mental well-being to any great extent. Among the boys, however, the pattern observed was entirely different.
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The study has been unable to answer the question of what causes this gender difference, and the researchers think more research is needed in this area.
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In every analysis, exposure to bullying was associated with a higher risk of depressive symptoms. This connection was also evident six years later, especially in overweight boys. The researchers believe that these results seem to indicate a gender difference in how BMI and bullying together drive development of future depressive symptoms.
Source-Eurekalert