Bullying in the school environment: an injury risk factor?
OBJECTIVE
To describe a research project assessing the role of bullying at school as an injury trigger and the modification effect of the socio-economic environment of the victims. Preliminary results are also presented.


METHODS
A case-crossover and a case-referent design were combined. The study base consisted of all children aged 10-15 years residing in the Stockholm county in 2000-02. Cases were recruited at the county's children hospital and interviewed shortly after the injury, using a specially designed questionnaire.


RESULTS
Preliminary analyses (261 interviews) reveal that about two injured children out of 10 reported having been bullied during the school term. Also, one out of 10 had been bullied shortly enough before the injury for bullying to be considered as a trigger. The circumstances of occurrence of those injuries varied.


CONCLUSIONS
Bullying, apart from being frequent in the school environment, is quite likely to act as an injury trigger.
Laflamme
L
L
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Social Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden.
Engström
K
K
Möller
J
J
Alldahl
M
M
Hallqvist
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D012931:Social Environment; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000209:etiology*