Bullying and Suicide Risk among Pediatric Emergency Department Patients

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Pediatr Emerg Care
• Personal Author:
  Stanley, Ian H. ; Horowitz, Lisa M. ; Bridge, Jeffrey A. ; Wharff, Elizabeth A. ; Pao, Maryland ; Teach, Stephen J.
• Description:
  Objectives ; To describe the association between recent bullying victimization and risk of suicide among pediatric emergency department (ED) patients. ; Methods ; Patients presenting to one of three different urban pediatric EDs with either medical/surgical or psychiatric chief complaints completed structured interviews as part of a study to develop a suicide risk screening instrument, the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ). Seventeen candidate items and the criterion reference Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (SIQ) were administered to patients ages 10 to 21 years. Bullying victimization was assessed by a single candidate item (“In the past few weeks, have you been bullied or picked on so much that you felt like you couldn't stand it anymore?”). ; Results ; A total of 524 patients completed the interview (34.4% psychiatric chief complaints; 56.9% female; 50.4% white, non-Hispanic; mean age 15.2±2.6 years). Sixty patients (11.5%) reported recent bullying victimization, and of these, 33 (55.0%) screened positive for suicide risk on the ASQ or the previously validated SIQ. After controlling for demographic and clinical variables, including a history of depression and drug use, the odds of screening positive for suicide risk were significantly greater in patients who reported recent bullying victimization (adjusted odds ratio=3.19, 95% CI=1.66-6.11). After stratification by chief complaint, this association persisted for medical/surgical patients but not for psychiatric patients. ; Conclusions ; Recent bullying victimization was associated with increased odds of screening positive for elevated suicide risk among pediatric emergency department patients presenting with medical/surgical complaints. Understanding this important correlate of suicide risk in pediatric emergency department patients may help inform ED-based suicide prevention interventions.
• Subjects:
  • Adolescent
  • Bullying
  • Child
  • Crime Victims
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Emergency Service, Hospital
  • Female
  • Hospitals, Urban
  • Humans
  • Male
  More +
• Source:
  Pediatr Emerg Care. 32(6):347-351.
• Pubmed ID:
  26417959
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4808508
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  K01 MH069948/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States ; R01 CE002129/CE/NCIPC CDC HHS/United States ; R01 MH093552/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States ; Z01 MH002912-01/Intramural NIH HHS/United States
• Volume:
  32
• Issue:
  6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/42100/cdc_42100_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 124.97 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7f6082162cc305337ff587e3259389ad17b0c3c4c12678d9b86ac4a20de03aeb01d0d9a0c9de72350f38711a7ccaddea9f844d363b46915d91d0dbd63bd75748