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. 2010 Dec;11(4):355-9.
doi: 10.1007/s11121-010-0179-0.

Bullying victimization and substance use among U.S. adolescents: mediation by depression

Jeremy W Luk  1 , Jing Wang, Bruce G Simons-Morton
Affiliations

Bullying victimization and substance use among U.S. adolescents: mediation by depression

Jeremy W Luk et al. Prev Sci. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

This study examined the link between bullying victimization and substance use and tested the mediating role of depression in male and female adolescents. Cross-sectional data were collected from a national sample of 1,495 tenth graders who participated in the 2005/06 Health Behaviors in School-aged Children U.S. Survey. Victimization, depression and substance use were all measured as latent variables. Substance use was measured by drinking alcohol, being drunk, smoking cigarettes and using marijuana in the past 30 days. Multiple-group structural equation modeling showed that victimization was linked to substance use in both males and females. Among females, depression was positively associated with both victimization and substance use and mediated the association between the two latter variables. Among males, depression was associated with victimization but not with substance use. Results highlight the elevated risk for victimization and substance use problems that depression poses among adolescent females.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Theoretical model of the mediating role of depression. This figure shows the hypothesized mediating role of depression on the association of victimization with substance use. All three variables (i.e., victimization, depression and substance use) are latent variables measured by a few indicators. Socio-demographic variables were included as covariates to the outcome variable (i.e., substance use)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Results of the mediation model. The multiple-group SEM provided acceptable indices of goodness-of-fit, CFI=.962, TLI=.963, and RMSEA=.048. The path weights in the graph were standardized
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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