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Bullying as a Risk Factor for Eating Disorder Behaviors Among Students: Secondary Analysis for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Author
Abstract
:

This study aimed to examine whether being a victim of bullying predicted body dissatisfaction and eating disorder behavior (EDB). In this study, we performed secondary analysis from a cluster randomized controlled trial among 5208 eight grade students from 73 public schools in three Brazilian cities. Data were collected in 2019 through an anonymous self-report questionnaire on bullying, body dissatisfaction, and EDB. We used factor analysis, multivariate linear regression, and multinomial logistic regression to verify whether being a victim of bullying during the baseline results in body dissatisfaction and EDB at the nine months follow-up for the control and intervention groups. Our results showed that being female (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.22-1.63) is a risk factor for dissatisfaction by overweight. Bullying was not a predictor of body dissatisfaction; however, being a victim of bullying (β 0.40, 95% CI 0.35-0.46) is a predictor of having more EDB, independent of the exposure to the program. Therefore, bullying deserves attention in the school environment.

Year of Publication
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2022
Journal
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Child psychiatry and human development
Date Published
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2022
ISSN Number
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0009-398X
URL
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01343-6
DOI
:
10.1007/s10578-022-01343-6
Short Title
:
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev
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