Abstract
BackgroundIt is well-documented that obese children and adolescents tend to experience a variety of negative physical and psychological health consequences. Despite the association between obesity and physical and psychological well-being, few studies have examined the role of off-line and on-line forms of bullying victimization in this link. The main objective of the current study is to investigate the direct and mediating effects of traditional and cyber bullying victimization in explaining the relationship between the body mass index (BMI) and physical/psychological distress.MethodsA nationally representative sample of 10,160 school children (mean age = 12.95 ± 1.75) were collected from the 2009 Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. Data were collected on body mass index, physical and psychological health, bullying victimization experience, and demographic information. A seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) was employed to assess and compare the indirect effects in multiple mediation models.ResultsWhile a significant direct association was found between BMI and both physical and psychological health, the indirect effect of BMI on physical distress was significant only via traditional bullying victimization. Both forms of bullying victimization had a mediating impact between BMI and psychological distress. However, the indirect effect on psychological distress was manifested through a negative mediating role of cyberbullying victimization. The negative relation between cyberbullying victimization and psychological distress warrants further exploration.ConclusionsObesity represents a serious risk to adolescent health and well-being, both physically and psychologically. If becoming a victim of traditional bullying mediates (specifically exacerbates) the level of physical and psychological distress among obese and overweight adolescents, health professionals need to focus on raising awareness of the importance of weight-based victimization for children and adolescents with obesity. School administrators and teachers could increase the efforts to identify school-age children who are stigmatized for their weight and recommend coping strategies for distressed victims of traditional and cyberbullying.
Highlights
It is well-documented that obese children and adolescents tend to experience a variety of negative physical and psychological health consequences
Recent statistics illustrate that obesity rate remains high among children and adolescents: while about 1 in 5 reported to be obese or overweight based on the body mass index (BMI), hereafter referred to as BMI, those aged from 12 to 19 years with extreme obesity increased to slightly over 9% during the past two decades [1]
Traditional and cyber bullying victimization The current study examines the indirect effects of obesity on health-related outcomes by investigating the mediating influence of traditional and cyberbullying victimization
Summary
It is well-documented that obese children and adolescents tend to experience a variety of negative physical and psychological health consequences. Recent statistics illustrate that obesity rate remains high among children and adolescents: while about 1 in 5 reported to be obese or overweight based on the body mass index (BMI), hereafter referred to as BMI, those aged from 12 to 19 years with extreme obesity increased to slightly over 9% during the past two decades [1]. Such prevalence of obesity may lead to deleterious health problems, physically [2, 3] and psychosocially [4,5,6]. School children and adolescents with obesity suffer from psychological and emotional problems such as depression [10], anxiety [11], low self-esteem [12], and lack of emotional support and cognitive stimulation [13]
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