Association of Being Bullied in School With Suicide Ideation and Planning Among Rural Middle School Adolescents

BACKGROUND This study examined the association of ever being bullied in school with suicide ideation (ever thinking about killing oneself) and ever seriously making a plan to kill oneself (suicide planning) among rural middle school adolescents. METHODS Using the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey instrument, 2 cross‐sectional surveys were conducted among middle school adolescents (N = 1082) in a rural Appalachian county in Ohio in 2009 and 2012. Multivariable logistic regression models assessed the relationship of ever being bullied in school with suicide ideation and planning. RESULTS Overall, a total of 468 participants (43.1%) reported ever being bullied in school, and 22.3% and 13.2% of the adolescents surveyed reported suicide ideation and planning, respectively. In the multivariable analyses, ever being bullied in school was significantly associated with both suicide ideation (odds ratio [OR] = 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.7‐3.5) and planning (OR = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.6‐3.8). CONCLUSIONS The results show a strong association between being bullied in school and suicide ideation and planning among rural middle school adolescents. Prevention of bullying in school as early as in middle school should be a strategy for reducing suicide ideation and planning among adolescents.