Bullying Perpetration and Depressive Symptoms: A Causal Investigation of TwinLife Data.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bullying perpetration has been associated with depressive symptoms. Although the bullying literature is large, most studies are correlational and cannot address the question of causation directly. This study explored bidirectional causal relationships between bullying perpetration and depressive symptoms using data from the TwinLife study, a comprehensive longitudinal survey of German twins. We aimed to clarify whether bullying perpetration leads to depressive symptoms or vice versa, or if other underlying factors might explain their co-occurrence.

Methods

The analysis included 1975 twin pairs from the TwinLife study, with data on depressive symptoms and bullying. The analysis used an extension to the Direction of Causation model, a bivariate causal inferential tw

SUBMITTER: Araujo JAP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12558664 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep-Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature