Transcript Race, bullying, and psychological well

Amy Hawkins
BACCH Annual Scientific Meeting
9th October 2012
Content
 Introduction
 Aim
 Methods
 Results
 Discussion, including study limitations and implications of
our findings
Introduction
 Studies from the US have suggested that transition from
primary to secondary education is an ‘at risk’ time for
bullying, particularly amongst minority racial groups1,2
 The degree of inter-racial mixing declines as children
progress through school3,4
 Little published evidence from the UK
 Pre-existing data from the ALSPAC cohort not yet
examined
1
Bradshaw et al, 2009; 2Nansel et al, 2001;
3Virdee et al, 2000; 4Pitts et al. 2001
The Avon Area
 Transatlantic slave trade
 African-Caribbean and Somali
communities in St Pauls,
Montpellier and Easton
 Predominantly white population
Aim
 To examine the differences between white, mixed race
and ethnic minority children at the transition to
secondary school in terms of:
 Bullying
 Racial attitudes and friendships
 Behavioural difficulties
 Mood
 Self-esteem
Methods 1
 The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
(ALSPAC):
 Children living in Avon with estimated dates of
delivery between April 1991 and December 1992
 15,247 women enrolled during pregnancy5
 15,211 children surviving to 1 year5
5
Boyd et al, 2012
Methods 2
 Study subgroup completed
racial attitudes questions from
‘all around me’ at 12 years
(n=7017)
 Self-defined racial
categorisation at 12 years based
on skin colour
 3 categories for meaningful
statistical analysis: ‘white’,
‘mixed colour’, ‘racial minority’
Methods 3
 Primary outcome:
 Bullying at 12.5 years (compared with 8 years)
 Secondary outcomes:
 Discrimination, racial attitudes and friendships at 12 years, mood
at 10.5 and 14 years, self-esteem at 14 years
 Behavioural difficulties at 11.5 years
 Statistical methodology
 STATA: chi-squared or Fisher’s exact tests
 Logistic regression controlling for gender, maternal education
and early puberty
Results 1: Demographics
 Self-defined racial group at 12 years (n=7017):
Child’s perception of his/her skin colour Frequency Percentage
White
6607
94.16
255
3.63
Asian
48
0.68
Black
42
0.60
Other
65
0.93
7017
100
Mixed Colour
Total
Results 2: Bullying
 No significant difference in risk of bullying at 8 years
 Overt bullying at 12.5 years (n=1236):
Bullying prevalence
Logistic regression*
Mixed Colour
42.9%
Ethnic minority
65.7%
OR 1.00
(95% CI 0.52 to 1.93)
OR 3.49
(95% CI 1.42 to 8.59)
 Baseline bullying prevalence amongst white children 40.34%
 Relational bullying: no significant difference
* Adjusted for gender, maternal
education and early puberty
Results 3: Racial discrimination
 Verbal and physical racial discrimination at 12 years
(n=4991):*
Mixed Colour
Ethnic minority
Verbal racial
discrimination
Prevalence 9.80%
OR 6.63
(95% CI 3.76 to 11.69)
Physical racial
discrimination
Prevalence 31.37%
OR 2.34
(95%CI 1.47 to 3.70)
Prevalence 12.90%
Prevalence 32.90%
OR 8.29
OR 1.29
(95% CI 3.95 to 17.42) (95% CI 0.74 to 2.24)
* Adjusted for gender, maternal
education and early puberty
Results 4: Friendships
 No significant differences in racial attitudes at 145
months (12.08 years)
 Mixed race children were more likely to retain friends of a
different skin colour at the transition to secondary school
(n=4991)
OR 2.34, 95% CI 1.47 to 3.70*
 There was no significant difference for ethnic minority
children
* Adjusted for gender, maternal
education and early puberty
Results 5: Mood, behaviour and
self-esteem
 No statistically significant association between racial
group and...
1.
2.
3.
4.
Depression score at 10.5 or 14 years
Behavioural difficulties at 11.5 years
Racial attitudes at 12 years
Self-esteem at 14 years
Discussion 1: Summary
 No difference between racial groups in risk of bullying
at 8 years
 Ethnic minority but not mixed race children have an
increased risk of being bullied at 12.5 years
 A decline in inter-racial friendships at the transition
to secondary school, except for mixed race children
 No differences between racial groups in terms of
mood, behaviour, racial attitudes or self-esteem
Discussion 2: Limitations
 Relatively small proportion of non-white children;
‘racial minority’ groups had to be grouped together
 Children were asked about ‘skin colour’ rather than
race or ethnicity
 Fewer ethnic minority inhabitants than some UK
cities
 Missing data (social and educational bias)
Discussion 3: Results in Context
 Increased risk of bullying amongst ethnic minority
children6,7
 New social hierarchy8
 Puberty9
 Inter-racial mixing declines at the transition to secondary
school3,4, although not for mixed race children
 Complex relationship between racial discrimination ,
mood and behavioural disorders10,11,12,13
6(Espelage
and Swearer 2003) 7(Smith, Madsen and Moody 1999)
8(Pellegrini and Long 2002) 9(Collins 2003) 3(Virdee et al. 2000) 4(Pitts
et al. 2001) 10(Coker et al. 2009) 11(Brody et al. 2006) 12(Paradies
2006) 13(Huynh and Fuligni 2010)
Discussion 4: Implications
 Wide-reaching implications for health professionals
and educationalists
 For paediatricians, the key challenge is to focus on
periods of transition to re-assess and support
vulnerable children
 Schools need to take positive action to protect ethnic
minority and mixed race children
Any questions?
References 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Bradshaw C, Sawyer A & O'Brennan L. A social disorganization perspective on bullying-related
attitudes and behaviors: the influence of school context. American Journal of Community
Psychology (2009); 43:204-20.
Nansel T R, Overpeck M, Pilla R S et al. Bullying behaviors among US youth. JAMA: the journal
of the American Medical Association (2001); 285: 2094.
Virdee S, Modood T, Newburn T. Understanding racial harassment in school. Economic and
Social Research Council (2000).
Pitts J, Marlow A, Porteous D et al. Inter-Group and Inter-Racial Violence and the Victimisation
of School Students in a London Neighbourhood. ERSC (2001).
Boyd A, Golding J, Macleod J, Lawlor DA, Fraser A, Henderson J, Molloy L, Ness A, Ring S, Davey
Smith G. Cohort profile: The ‘Children of the Nineties’- the index offspring of the Avon
Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Int J Epidemiol. 2012. Apr 16 [epub ahead of print]
doi: 10.1093/ije/dys064
Espelage D L, Swearer A M. Research on school bullying and victimization: What have we
learned and where do we go from here? School Psychology Review (2003); 32: 365-383.
References 2
7. Smith P K, Madsen K C, Moody J C. What causes the age decline in reports of being bullied at
school? Towards a developmental analysis of risks of being bullied. Educational Research (1999);
41: 267-285.
8. Pellegrini A D, Long J D. A longitudinal study of bullying, dominance, and victimization during the
transition from primary school through secondary school. British Journal of Developmental
Psychology (2002); 20: 259-280.
9. Collins, W A. More than myth: The developmental significance of romantic relationships during
adolescence. Journal of research on adolescence (2003); 13: 1-24.
10. Coker T, Elliott M, Kanouse D et al. Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination among fifth-grade
students and its association with mental health. American Journal of Public Health (2009); 99:
878-84.
11. Brody G H, Chen Y F, Murry V M B et al. Perceived Discrimination and the Adjustment of African
American Youths: A Five Year Longitudinal Analysis With Contextual Moderation Effects. Child
Development (2006); 77: 1170-1189.
12. Paradies Y. A systematic review of empirical research on self-reported racism and health.
International Journal of Epidemiology (2006); 35: 888.
13. Huynh V, Fuligni A. Discrimination Hurts: The Academic, Psychological, and Physical Well-Being
of Adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence (2010); 20: 916-941.