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Bullying before age 18 and its association with depression symptoms in final year undergraduates
Date Issued
2025
ISBN
9789819429547
Citation
Chan, C. Y., Yuen, W. Y., & Cheung, V. H. M. (10 Dec 2025). Bullying before age 18 and its association with depression symptoms in final year undergraduates. Singapore Conference on Applied Psychology (SCAP 2025), Singapore - Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium.
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
Bullying experience during childhood or adolescence may have lasting impacts on mental
health problems in later life. The main objective of this study is to investigate the relationships between both the presence and frequency of bullying experiences before age 18 and current depression symptoms among final-year undergraduate students.
A cross-sectional and quantitative design was used. Final-year undergraduate students (n = 528) from various universities in Hong Kong completed the self-administrated questionnaires via google form. Participants reported the frequency of bullying experiences before age 18 using a four-point scale (never, only once, several times and many times) and indicated the most common type of bullying they experienced. Current depression symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA were conducted to compare depression symptom scores across bullying frequency groups.
The mean age of participants was 22.92 years (SD = 2.06). More than half (63.6%) were female. Nearly half of the participants (44.3%) reported having been bullied. Among those who experienced bullying, 8.4% indicated being bullied many times, while 23% reported being bullied several times. The most common type of bullying was social exclusion or being ignored, following by teasing related to body or appearance. The results of the independent samples t-test indicated that participants who experienced bullying reported significantly higher levels of depression symptoms (M = 9.98, SD = 6.55) compared to those who did not experience bullying (M = 7.81, SD = 6.31), t (524) = 3.87, p < .01. Moreover, the results of the one-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in depression symptom scores among the bullying frequency groups, F (3, 522) = 6.56, p < .01. The Bonferroni post hoc test indicated that participants who reported being bullied several times (p < .01), or many times (p < .01) had significantly higher levels of depression symptoms compared to those who were not bullied.
The present findings indicate that experiencing bullying during childhood or adolescence is prevalent, and such experience may be associated with higher levels of depression symptoms in young adults during the transition to university graduation. The results underscore the need for increased awareness of the early identification of adverse childhood experiences, as well as the importance of providing mental health support and early intervention for students with a history of bullying. Further studies could examine other long-term psychological outcomes related to early-life bullying.
A cross-sectional and quantitative design was used. Final-year undergraduate students (n = 528) from various universities in Hong Kong completed the self-administrated questionnaires via google form. Participants reported the frequency of bullying experiences before age 18 using a four-point scale (never, only once, several times and many times) and indicated the most common type of bullying they experienced. Current depression symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA were conducted to compare depression symptom scores across bullying frequency groups.
The mean age of participants was 22.92 years (SD = 2.06). More than half (63.6%) were female. Nearly half of the participants (44.3%) reported having been bullied. Among those who experienced bullying, 8.4% indicated being bullied many times, while 23% reported being bullied several times. The most common type of bullying was social exclusion or being ignored, following by teasing related to body or appearance. The results of the independent samples t-test indicated that participants who experienced bullying reported significantly higher levels of depression symptoms (M = 9.98, SD = 6.55) compared to those who did not experience bullying (M = 7.81, SD = 6.31), t (524) = 3.87, p < .01. Moreover, the results of the one-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in depression symptom scores among the bullying frequency groups, F (3, 522) = 6.56, p < .01. The Bonferroni post hoc test indicated that participants who reported being bullied several times (p < .01), or many times (p < .01) had significantly higher levels of depression symptoms compared to those who were not bullied.
The present findings indicate that experiencing bullying during childhood or adolescence is prevalent, and such experience may be associated with higher levels of depression symptoms in young adults during the transition to university graduation. The results underscore the need for increased awareness of the early identification of adverse childhood experiences, as well as the importance of providing mental health support and early intervention for students with a history of bullying. Further studies could examine other long-term psychological outcomes related to early-life bullying.
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