Embedded Files
boys and girls is approximately equal: boys tend to be bullies and bully-victims more often than girls, but there are few sex differences in victimization. (40-42) This study addressed the following research questions: 1) do adolescents in all bullying roles (i.e., bullies, victims and bully-victim) have a greater desire for cosmetic surgery than adolescents uninvolved in bullying? 2) Are any effects of bullying on desire for cosmetic surgery sex-specific? 3) Is the relationship between bullying role and desire for cosmetic surgery direct or is it mediated by psychological functioning? 3 Method Design and Participants Approval for the study was obtained from the University of Warwick’s ethical committee. A twostage sampling process was used. In Stage 1, pupils from all year groups (i.e., 7-11; ages 11-16 years) of five secondary schools in the UK were approached (n=3883). As shown in the STROBE diagram(43) (fig. 1) 2782 (71%) agreed to take part and were screened for bullying involvement. All those who screened positive for bullying others (bullies; bully-victims) were invited to take part in Stage 2 alongside a sample of adolescents who were identified as victims or uninvolved. As there were a large number of uninvolved adolescents, a random sub-group balanced by sex were selected using Microsoft Excel’s random number generator. In total 1088 pupils were selected for Stage 2. After dropouts and exclusions data was collected from 752 (69.1%). Just over half (53.3%) were female and the mean age was 13.6 years (SD=1.4). 4 Procedure and Measures Firstly, school head teachers were approached and following consent to school participation written information sheets were sent to pupils and their parents. Passive consent was obtained from parents and pupils gave their informed consent prior to any data collection. At both stages, electronic questionnaires were completed in a school classroom on a PC, laptop or tablet, with at least one investigator present. All pupils who completed Stage 1 and 2 from each school were entered into a prize draw to win a £50 voucher. Stage 2 was conducted approximately 1-2 months following stage 1. Stage 1 measures Individual characteristics Sex, age, ethnicity, and parent education were included as covariates based on previous research indicating an association with cosmetic surgery. (6, 7, 18, 23, 44, 45) Parent’s highest level of education i.e., did not complete school (13 years), was used as a proxy for socioeconomic status(46) and was dummy coded (0=13 years or less (≤13), 1=more than 13 years (>13) of education). As there were a low proportion of adolescents whose ethnicity was not White British (e.g., the next highest prevalence was Asian at 6.1%), the ethnicity variable was dummy coded (0=White British, 1=Other). Bullying role We used two measures of bullying: self-report and peer nominations. For self-reported bullying we used the validated, Bullying and Friendship Interview schedule.(47-49) The schedule included 13 behavioral descriptions that relate to direct, relational and cyber-victimization (table 1). The items were repeated with slight wording adaptions to assess bullying perpetration. Adolescents were asked the frequency of each behavior during the past six months and responses of “quite a lot” or “a lot” indicated bullying involvement. (48, 49) 5 For the peer nominations, adolescents were given a list of names of all peers in their tutor group and asked to nominate up to three pupils (excluding themselves), who perpetrated or were a victim of bullying behaviors (table 1). Using the total number of nominations received and the total number of peers in the tutor group, z-scores were computed. Adolescents were identified as involved in bullying if their z-score was one standard deviation (SD) above (>1) the tutor group mean on the bullying items (bullies), victimization items (victims), or on both (bully-victims) (table 2). Adolescents were identified as uninvolved if they received zero nominations. Psychological functioning We constructed a latent variable of psychological functioning from three scales: self-esteem, (50) body-esteem(51) and emotional problems (subscale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). (52, 53) Differences in scale scores for each bullying role are reported in table 3. Selfesteem and emotional problems were self-reported at Stage 1 and body esteem was self-reported at Stage 2. The latent variable measures total psychological functioning: higher scores indicate higher functioning and wellbeing and lower scores indicate poorer functioning and distress. Stage 2 measure Desire for cosmetic surgery We used three items adapted from the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale(8) to assess desire for cosmetic surgery. These were: 1) “I would like to have cosmetic surgery so that others would find me more attractive”; 2) “I would consider having cosmetic surgery as a way to change my appearance so that I would feel better about myself”; and 3) “If I was offered cosmetic surgery for free, I would consider changing a part of my appearance that I do not like”. Responses were on a 5-point scale (1=not at all, 5=very much). These items have previously been used to assess overall and current interest in cosmetic surgery in a sample of undergraduate students.(25) 6 Statistical analysis Between-group comparisons were conducted using chi-
Google Sites
Report abuse