A systematic review and empirical investigation: bullying victimisation and anxiety subtypes among adolescents

Abstract

<p><b>Objective:</b> Bullying victimisation is well known to be associated with social anxiety disorder and generalised anxiety disorder among adolescents. Study 1 reports on a systematic review to examine these relationships. Study 2 employed a survey to investigate the relationship between overt, reputational, and relational bullying with self-endorsement of social anxiety disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.</p><p><b>Method:</b> Study 1 consists of a systematic review of the literature published between 2011 and 2021. Multiple sources were used to identify potentially eligible studies using keywords in varying combinations and the PRISMA guidelines were followed. The quality of included studies was assessed using a critical appraisal tool. Study 2 collected data through an online questionnaire completed by 338 high-school students aged 12-18 years.</p><p><b>Results:</b> Study 1 demonstrated that bullying victimisation research limits anxiety outcomes to social anxiety disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. Results also demonstrated that overt and covert bullying types are typically not defined. Study 2 found that covert bullying types (reputational and relational) uniquely predicted increased levels of all anxiety subtypes, while overt bullying did not. Relational bullying was the best predictor of all anxiety subtypes, except obsessive-compulsive disorder.</p><p><b>Conclusion:</b> These results suggest the need to consider different types of bullying and the need to assess anxiety subtype symptoms more broadly.</p>