The Inclusion of Bullying Victimization as a Risk Factor for Major Depressive Disorder and Anxiety Disorders in the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
Overview
Being bullied during childhood and adolescence is associated with an increased risk of mental disorders, both concurrently and later in life. Bullying victimization is one of the few identifiable, quantifiable, and modifiable risk factors for mental disorders. The aim of this project is to have bullying victimization included as a risk factor for major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders in the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.
The project involves comprehensive global systematic reviews of the prevalence of bullying victimization and longitudinal studies reporting the association between bullying victimization and major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders. It also requires to development of specific methodology for calculating population-attributable fractions (PAFs) and modelling within the GBD machinery.
The lack of risk factors for mental disorders and the lack of psychosocial risk factors has been an ongoing criticism of GBD. The inclusion of bullying victimization will represent both a significant improvement of the scope of GBD and an important step forward in gaining recognition of bullying victimization as a global public health issue.
Funded by
NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (Holly Erskine – APP1137969)
In Partnership with
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington
Lead Investigators
Dr Holly Erskine
Dr Hannah Thomas
Project Team
Dr Damian Santomauro
Prof James Scott
Dr Alize Ferrari
Prof Harvey Whiteford
Prof Theo Vos (IHME)
