Sleep quality and bullying – prevalence in a cohort of Portuguese students

Fábia Carvalho; Joana Vilaça; Ana Luísa Carvalho; Teresa Pontes; Susana Carvalho

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2020-0018

Article

Sleep quality and bullying – prevalence in a cohort of Portuguese students

Fábia Carvalho , Joana Vilaça , Ana Luísa Carvalho , Teresa Pontes and Susana Carvalho

Published/Copyright: June 6, 2020

Published by

Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Submit Manuscript Author Information Explore this Subject

From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 34 Issue 4

Abstract

Objectives

The involvement of adolescents in violent behaviors is becoming an important public health problem that is concerning physicians as it is associated with a decrease in adult life quality. In this context, bullying is a type of aggressive behavior that occurs repeatedly in interpersonal relationship where power imbalance exists increasing the risk of physical and psychosocial problems in all its intervenient. Prevalence of bullying in Portuguese adolescents is estimated to be ranging from 16.2 to 27.5%. Sleep disorders are a well-known problem related to bullying situations, either as a consequence or a risk factor; estimated prevalence in adolescence is 25% worldwide. In the present study we aimed to investigate the association between sleep quality and the involvement in school bullying in Portuguese adolescents in two high schools.

Methods

Data collected from a cross-sectional survey addressing questions on bullying behaviors and sleep quality was analyzed using SPSS 22.0. A two-tailed p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant for all tests.

Results

We have included 171 adolescents, mean age of 14.39 ± 1.149 years, 59.6% were boys; prevalence of bullying behaviors was 28.1%. Among the students 15.2% were identified as “pure victims”, 8.8% as “pure bullies”, 4.1% as “bully-victims” and 71.9% as “neutrals”. “Pure bullies” and “bully-victims” present higher Athens Insomina Scale (AIS) scores (p = 0.004) and higher prevalence of insomnia (p = 0.004). The prevalence of insomnia was significantly higher in the group involved in bullying behaviors comparing with the neutrals (58.3% vs 30%, p = 0.001). We verified that 65.4% of the reported bullying situations took place inside the school and 8.8% of those teachers did nothing to help the victim and in 17.5% school staff took the same attitude.

Conclusions

We found a prevalence of bullying behaviors higher than the one reported in previous studies and a prevalence of insomnia of 38.0%, proving that bullying and sleep disturbances are two major problems in adolescence which may increase future risk for psychiatric symptoms, involvement in criminal activities, hyperactive, and inattentive behaviors. We verified a strong relation between insomnia and involvement in bullying situations with those who are involved reporting difficulties in sleep induction. The group of “bully-victims” was identified as potentially being the one with the most troubled adolescents since they combine characteristics of both bullies and victims. The authors conclude that there should be an investment in school-based interventions that help recognize and reduce school bullying and change lifestyle behaviors that may negatively influence adolescents' development.

Keywords: adolescence; bullying; cyberbullying; gambling; insomnia; problematic internet use; sexting; sleep quality

Corresponding author: Fábia Carvalho, Pediatrics Departement of Hospital de Braga, Rua das 7 Fontes, São Vítor, 4710-243, Braga, Portugal. Phone: +351 253 027 000, Fax: +351 253 027 999, E-mail: fsgc_carvalho@hotmail.com

Implications and contributions of the manuscript: The authors consider this work is relevant because, to their knowledge, there are few published data that portrays the reality of bullying behaviors in Portuguese adolescents and fewer relating bullying and sleep disturbances. Also, understanding adolescents' risky behaviors has strong implications in the establishment of prevention campaigns.

References

1. The World Health Organization (WHO). Maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health – Adolescent development [Internet]; 2016. Available from: https://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/adolescence/en/ [Accessed 22 Oct 2019].Search in Google Scholar

2. O'Brien, LM, Lucas, NH, Felt, BT, Hoban, TF, Ruzicka, DL, Jordan, R, et al. Aggressive behavior, bullying, snoring, and sleepiness in schoolchildren. Sleep Med Rev 2011;12:652–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2010.11.012.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

3. Sosnowski, DW, Kliewer, W, Lepore, SJ. The role of sleep in the relationship between victimization and externalizing problems in adolescents. J Youth Adolesc 2019;45: 1744–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0506-2.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

4. Zhou, Y, Guo, L, Lu, CY, Deng, JX, He, Y, Huang, JH et al. Bullying as a risk for poor sleep quality among high school students in China. PLoS One 2015;10:e0121602. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0121602.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

5. Tochigi, M, Nishida, A, Shimodera, S, Oshima, N, Inoue, K, Okazaki, Y et al. Irregular bedtime and nocturnal cellular phone usage as risk factors for being involved in bullying: a cross-sectional survey of Japanese adolescents. PloS one 2012;7:e45736. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0045736.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

6. Coelho, VA, Sousa, V, Marchante, M, Brás, P, Romão, AM. Bullying and cyberbullying in Portugal: validation of a questionnaire and analysis of prevalence. Sch Psychol Int 2016;37:223–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034315626609.Search in Google Scholar

7. Currie, C, Zanotti, C, Morgan, A, Currie, D, de Looze, M, Chris Roberts, et al., editors. Social determinants of health and well-being among young people. Health behaviour in schoolaged children (HBSC) study: international report from the 2009/2010 survey. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe. (Heal Policy Child Adolesc No 6); 2012.Search in Google Scholar

8. Chester, KL, Callaghan, M., Cosma, A, Donnelly, P, Craig, W, Walsh, S, et al. Cross-national time trends in bullying victimization in 33 countries among children aged 11, 13 and 15 from 2002 to 2010. Eur J Public Health 2015;25:61–4. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckv029.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

9. (HBSC) HB in SC. Prevalence of violence involvement [Internet]; 2010. Available from: https://public.tableau.com/shared/2P764DZKY?:display_count=no&:showVizHome=no.Search in Google Scholar

10. Silva, JL, Oliveira, WA, Carlos, DM, Lizzi, EA, Rosário, R, Silva, MAI. Intervention in social skills and bullying. Rev Bras Enferm 2018;71:1085–91. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2017-0151.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

11. Craig, W, Harel-Fisch, Y, Fogel-Grinvald, H, Dostaler, S, Hetland, J, Simons-morton, B, et al. A cross-national profile of bullying and victimization among adolescents in 40 countries. Int J Public Health 2009;54:216–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-009-5413-9.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

12. Kaltiala-Heino, R, Rimpela, M, Rantanen, P, Rimpelä, A. Bullying at school—an indicator of adolescents at risk for mental disorders. J Adolesc 2000;23:661–74. https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.2000.0351.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

13. Tu, KM, Spencer, CW, El-Sheikh, M, Erath, SA. Peer victimization predicts sleep problems in early adolescence. J Early Adolesc 2017;39:67–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431617725199.Search in Google Scholar

14. Chatburn, A, Coussens, S, Kohler, MJ. Resiliency as a mediator of the impact of sleep on child and adolescent behavior. Nat Sci Sleep 2014;6:1–9. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S54913.Search in Google Scholar

15. Barros, PC, Carvalho, JE, Pereira, BO. Um Estudo sobre o Bullying no contexto escolar. Curitiba: Editora Universitária Champagnat; 2009.Search in Google Scholar

16. Olweus, D. Prevalence and incidence in the study of antisocial behavior: Definitions and measurements. In: Cross-national research in self-reported crime and delinquency. Dordrecht: Springer; 1989. 187–201 pp.10.1007/978-94-009-1001-0_9Search in Google Scholar

17. Soldatos, CR, Dikeos, DG, Paparrigopoulos, TJ. The diagnostic validity of the athens insomnia scale. J Psychosom Res 2003;55:263–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3999(02)00604-9.Search in Google Scholar

18. Allaert, FA, Dikeos, DG, Ohta, T, Soldatos, CR. How do individuals sleep around the world ? Results from a single-day survey in ten countries. Sleep Med 2005;6:5–13. (October 2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2004.10.006.Search in Google Scholar

19. Carvalhosa, S, Lima, L, Matos, MG. Bullying – A provocação/vitimação entre pares no contexto escolar português. Análise Psicológica 2001;4:523–37. https://doi.org/10.14417/ap.384.Search in Google Scholar

20. Nielsen, MB, Pallesen, S, Harris, A, Einarsen, SV. Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of research on the associations between workplace bullying and sleep. Syst Rev 2018;7:232. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-018-0898-z.Search in Google Scholar

21. Erikssen, HR, Ursin, H. The cognitive activation theory of stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2004;29:567–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4530(03)00091-X.Search in Google Scholar

22. Van Veen, MM, Rutters, F, Spreen, M, Lancel, M. Poor sleep quality at baseline is associated with increased aggression over one year in forensic psychiatric patients. Sleep Med 2020;67:1–6. [Internet]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2019.11.1183.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

23. Espelage, DL, Polanin, JR, Low, SK. Teacher and staff perceptions of school environment as predictors of student aggression. Victimization, and willingness to intervene in bullying situations. Sch Psychol Q 2014;29:287–305. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000072.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Received: 2019-12-29

Accepted: 2020-02-04

Published Online: 2020-06-06

You are currently not able to access this content.

Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2020-0018

Keywords for this article

adolescence; bullying; cyberbullying; gambling; insomnia; problematic internet use; sexting; sleep quality