Cyberbullying victimization and suicidal ideation among in-school adolescents in three countries: implications for prevention and intervention

Prince Peprah; Michael Safo Oduro; Reforce Okwei; Collins Adu; Bernard Yeboah Asiamah-Asare; Williams Agyemang-Duah

doi:10.1186/s12888-023-05268-9

Cyberbullying victimization and suicidal ideation among in-school adolescents in three countries: implications for prevention and intervention

BMC Psychiatry. 2023 Dec 14;23(1):944. doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-05268-9.

Authors

Prince Peprah^{1

2}, Michael Safo Oduro^{3

4}, Reforce Okwei⁵, Collins Adu^{6

7}, Bernard Yeboah Asiamah-Asare^{8

9}, Williams Agyemang-Duah¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
² Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
³ Department of Applied Statistics and Research Methods, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, USA.
⁴ Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, Pharm Sci and PGS Statistics, Groton, CT, USA.
⁵ Department of Geography and Environment, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street, N6A 3K7, London, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Department of Health Promotion, Education and Disability Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. collinsadu80@yahoo.com.
⁷ Centre for Social Research in Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. collinsadu80@yahoo.com.
⁸ Curtin School of Population Health, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, WA, Australia.
⁹ Health Psychology, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Geography and Planning, Queen's University, ON K7L 3N6, Kingston, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Countries in South and Central America and the Caribbean are among the countries with the highest adolescent cyberbullying crimes. However, empirical evidence about the effect of cyberbullying victimization on suicidal ideation among in-school adolescents in these countries remains limited. The present study examined the association between cyberbullying victimization and suicidal ideation among in-school adolescents in Argentina, Panama, St Vincent, and the Grenadines.

Methods: A representative cross-sectional data from 51,405 in-school adolescents was used. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between cyberbulling victimization and suicidal ideation.

Results: Overall, 20% and 21.1% of the adolescents reported cyberbullying victimization and suicidal ideation, respectively in the past year before the survey. Suicidal ideation was higher among adolescents who experienced cyberbullying victimization (38.4%) than those who did not experience cyberbullying victimization (16.6%). Significantly higher odds of suicidal ideation were found among adolescents who had experienced cyberbullying victimization than those who had not experienced cyberbullying victimization [aOR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.77-1.98].

Conclusion: This finding calls for developing and implementing evidence-based programs and practices by school authorities and other relevant stakeholders to reduce cyberbullying victimization among adolescents in this digital age. Protective factors such as parental support and peer support should be encouraged.

Keywords: Adolescents; Argentina; Panama; Protective factors; Risk factors; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Suicidal ideation; cyberbullying victimization.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Bullying*
Crime Victims*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Cyberbullying*
Humans
Suicidal Ideation