Introduction: Child maltreatment, such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect, have a great impact on the development of the brain and...Show moreIntroduction: Child maltreatment, such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect, have a great impact on the development of the brain and psychological health. Child maltreatment often leads to mental problems such as depression and suicide. It is however still unclear if there are differences between forms of child maltreatment and their relation to mental problems, such as suicidal behaviors. This research is interested in the specific relations that different forms of abuse might have with suicidal behaviors. Methods: In this study, we applied a Gaussian Graphical network model with regularization, that shows how the different forms of maltreatment are related to depression and suicidal behaviors and ideation. The sample size exists of 445 students that participated in the first trial of the WARN-D study. The participants filled in questionnaires with questions regarding among others child maltreatment, depression, suicidality, and social support. The network analysis is run in JASP (2022). Results: This study has found considerable correlations but of moderate strength. We found mostly positive partial correlations between emotional neglect and variables about suicidality, such as passive and active suicidality, suicide attempt and nonsuicidal self-injury. We also found that sexual abuse seems to have a relationship with passive suicidality and nonsuicidal self-injury. Lastly, social support seems to act as a protective factor for negative outcomes, since the results showed negative correlations between social support, depression, and suicidal behaviors. We have found that there are some differences in the psychological outcome of child maltreatment and with these results, we will understand de process of suicidal behaviors a bit better than before.Show less
Bullying is a phenomenon that is widespread in schools and workplace but is also occurring online in the form of cyberbullying. Previous studies have indicated that bullying is negatively related...Show moreBullying is a phenomenon that is widespread in schools and workplace but is also occurring online in the form of cyberbullying. Previous studies have indicated that bullying is negatively related to social support and self-esteem. Social support and self-esteem thus constitute protective factors in the relation to bullying. Further, it was expected that bullying will be positively related to the negative mental health outcomes loneliness, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. To investigate the relations between bullying and social support, self-esteem, loneliness, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation the present study used the network approach to integrate all the variables and visualize their relations. The data was taken from the WARN-D project, where 453 participants aged between 18 and 53 (M = 22.7, SD = 4) filled out questionnaires about various mental health aspects including the seven variables used in the present study. Results show that the hypothesized positive relationships between bullying and mental health outcomes are present in the network. The same holds for the negative relationships between bullying and the protective factors. In conclusion, the present study provides an important framework for theory development and further use of the network approach in the field of bullying.Show less
