Mental health services use among adolescent bullying victims in Australia: Results from a nationwide survey

Background: Research supports a robust association between bullying, mental disorder, self-harm, and suicidal ideation in adolescence; however, the relation between bullying victimization and access to mental health services is incompletely understood. This study investigated whether traditional and cyberbullying victimization were associated with access to mental health services in adolescents, and to test the interaction between bullying victimization with a mental disorder, self-harm, and suicidal ideation on each service.Methods: Data analyses were conducted on 2218 Australian adolescents aged 12-17 years using the Young Minds Matter survey. Binary logistic regression models were employed to assess the odds of using mental health services (health, school, telephone, and online) separately among traditional bullying and cyberbullying victims. Interaction terms - 'bullying victimization and mental disorder', 'bullying victimization and self-harm', and 'bullying victimization and suicidal ideation', - were included in the regression models to examine whether and to what extent service use is affected respectively among traditionally bullied and cyberbullied sample. Results: Overall, 27.6% and 11.2% of adolescents experienced traditional bullying and cyberbullying, respectively. Also, the percentages of any mental disorder (20.4%) and health-risk behaviours (self-harm 7.6% and suicidal ideation 8.3%) were significant among the sample. Although many bullying victims did not use any services, both bivariate and multivariate analyses showed a strong and significant association between bullying victimization (traditional and cyber) and access to mental health services. Adolescents who reported both traditional bullying victimization and self-harm were found to be significantly associated with school service (p < 0.05). School service was also significantly (p < 0.05) used among those who experienced both traditional bullying victimization and suicidal ideation. Surprisingly, other interaction terms did not show any significant change in the service use among bullying victims.Conclusion: A limited number of bullying victims with or without mental health problems (mental disorder, self harm, and suicidal ideation) use mental health services. Further research is warranted to identify the barriers to service use and to promote service utilization in adolescent bullying victims in a way that prevents the effects of bullying timely.

Automated summary

Research shows a strong association between bullying victimization and mental health problems in adolescents. However, only a small number of bullying victims seek mental health services. Further research is needed to identify barriers to service utilization and promote timely intervention for adolescent bullying victims.