Non-Disclosure and Suicidal Ideation in Adolescent Victims of Bullying: An Analysis from the Family and School Context

Abstract

In recent years, suicide rates among bullying victims have raised much concern among educators and health professionals. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of preventable death among adolescents, data that warn about the need to monitor the signs before victims’ suicidal behavior to prevent this fatal outcome. In the present study, the role of victims’ silence about their victimization situation was analysed, as well as the particular impact of family and school environments. More specifically, we examined the mediating role of the victim’s non-disclosure between the parental styles (observing the father’s and mother’s roles separately) and the school climate, concerning suicidal ideation in victims. The sample consisted of 2,977 adolescents (48.5% boys), aged 11-17 years (M = 14.1, SD = 1.42), of whom 635 (21.3%) reported having been victims of bullying in the past year. The results showed that parental styles of rejection and indifference were positively related to victims’ non-disclosure of bullying and suicidal ideation. Conversely, a positive school climate showed a negative relationship with victims’ disclosure of the bullying situation and suicidal ideation. The findings also indicated that non-disclosure mediates the relationship between the mother’s parental style and suicidal ideation. These findings expand knowledge about the role of bullying victims’ social context and the variable disclosure with regards to suicidal ideation in adolescents victimized by peers at school.

Keywords

• adolescence
• non-disclosure
• victimization
• school bullying
• suicidal ideation