Intimidation à l'école et manifestations psychopathologiques : voies temporelles et rôle modérateur des profils de personnalité

Bullying victimization is a salient stressor that is associated with a broad variety of psychopathology. The lack of prospective studies has made it difficult to disentangle the temporal precedence of these associations. The present study aimed to (1) examine reciprocal cross-lagged associations between bullying victimization, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms, (2) study the specificity of effects through personality profiles as moderators in the association between bullying victimization, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms, (3) explore mediation effects between bullying victimization and alcool use through internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and (4) identify neural correlates underlying the association between bullying victimization, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms during adolescence. Data from a 5-year longitudinal cohort study (Co-Venture) of a population-based sample (n = 3800, 49.2% female, mean age = 12.8, SD = 0.4 years), and neuroimaging data from a sub-sample of 151 participants (54.3% female, mean age = 13.6, SD = 0.6 years, 3 neuroimaging sessions) were analyzed. Random intercepts cross-lagged panel models (objective 1) and multilevel models (objectives 2, 3, 4) were conducted to estimate cross-lagged effects (reciprocal influences between variables), between-person effects (overall effects, over a 5-year period), within-person effects (concurrent effects, within a year), and lagged-within-person effects (lasting effects, past year). Results provided evidence for bidirectional effects between bullying victimization and internalizing symptoms, and unidirectional effects from bullying victimization to externalizing symptoms (study 1). Anxiety sensitivity and hopelessness increased common vulnerability and concurrent effect of bullying victimization on internalizing symptoms. Impulsivity and sensation seeking increased common vulnerability and concurrent effect of bullying victimization on externalizing symptoms (study 2). There was significant between and within effects on alcohol use through internalizing symptoms for adolescents with high anxiety sensitivity and hopelessness, and significant between, within, and lagged effects on alcohol use through externalizing for adolescents with high impulsivity and sensation seeking (study 3). Adolescents prone to higher bullying victimization were prone to higher volumes in the right superior orbitofrontal gyrus, left middle orbitofrontal gyrus, and right thalamus, and, to lower volumes in the right para-hippocampal gyrus, bilateral putamen, and bilateral amygdala over the 5-year period. An increase in bullying 8 victimization in a given year is followed by a steeper decrease in the right thalamus volume, and a smaller volumetric increase in the bilateral amygdala during that same year. An increase in bullying victimization in a given year was associated with increased externalizing symptoms through a smaller volumetric increase in the right amygdala, during that year (study 4). Findings suggest that bullying victimization confers additional risk for psychopathological outcomes, and implicate two risk pathways that account for how bullying victimization enhances alcohol use risk and emphasize the importance of personality profiles that can shape the immediate and long-term consequences of victimization. Findings also suggest that bullying victimization plays a role in shaping brain development, but when victimization experiences can be addressed and stopped, such changes appears to be short-lived, and have immediate repercussion on mental health. Current interventions should broaden their scope to simultaneously target bullying victimization and psychopathology as each of these manifestations co-occurent within a year.

Keyphrases: Adolescence, Bullying victimization, Psychopathology, Internalizing symptoms, Externalizing symptoms, Personality, Brain development, Longitudinal design, Structural equation modeling, Multilevel model, Alcohol use, Adolescence