Open AccessBullying and Suicide Ideation: Testing the Buffering Hypothesis of Social Support in a Sub-Saharan African Sample
Author(s) -
John E. Eze,
JohnBosco Chika Chukwuorji,
Peace Chiamaka Ettu,
Endurance Avah Zacchaeus,
Steven Kator Iorfa,
Sampson Kelechi Nwonyi
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of child and adolescent trauma
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.583
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1936-153X
pISSN - 1936-1521
DOI - 10.1007/s40653-019-00294-w
Subject(s) - suicidal ideation , psychology , clinical psychology , suicide prevention , social support , poison control , injury prevention , rating scale , human factors and ergonomics , scale (ratio) , psychiatry , developmental psychology , medicine , social psychology , medical emergency , physics , quantum mechanics
Substantial evidence indicates that adolescents and young adults have a disproportionately high incidence of most forms of violence, including suicide. Suicidality often includes suicidal ideation. The present study examined the relationship between bullying and suicidal ideation, and further tested whether social support moderates the association between the dimensions of bullying (verbal bullying, physical bullying, and bullying victimization) and suicidal ideation among adolescent secondary school students. A cross-sectional design was adopted for the study. Participants were 394 students (249 boys, 145 girls) drawn from two secondary schools in Nsukka semi-urban area, in southeast Nigeria. Participants completed the Illinois Bully Scale, the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Hayes' regression-based PROCESS macro was used to analyze the data. Verbal bullying, physical bullying, and victimization were independently positively associated with suicidal ideation. Social support was not independently significantly associated with suicidal ideation, but it moderated the relationship between victimization and suicidal ideation. The positive relationship between victimization and suicidal ideation was strongest for adolescents who had low social support, compared to those who had moderate or high social support. This finding is consistent with the buffering hypothesis of social support, suggesting that supportive relationships for victims can mitigate suicidal ideation.