The Role of Empathy in Alcohol Use of Bullying Perpetrators and Victims: Lower Personal Empathic Distress Makes Male Perpetrators of Bullying More Vulnerable to Alcohol Use

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Maren Prignitz - (Author)
  • Tobias Banaschewski - (Author)
  • Arun L. W. Bokde - (Author)
  • Sylvane Desrivières - (Author)
  • Antoine Grigis - (Author)
  • Hugh Garavan - (Author)
  • Penny Gowland - (Author)
  • Andreas Heinz - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Jean-Luc Martinot - (Author)
  • Marie-Laure Paillère Martinot - (Author)
  • Eric Artiges - (Author)
  • Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos - (Author)
  • Luise Poustka - (Author)
  • Sarah Hohmann - (Author)
  • Juliane H. Fröhner - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Author)
  • Lauren Robinson - (Author)
  • Michael N. Smolka - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Author)
  • Henrik Walter - (Author)
  • Jeanne M. Winterer - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Free University of Berlin (Author)
  • Robert Whelan - (Author)
  • Gunter Schumann - (Author)
  • Frauke Nees - (Author)
  • Herta Flor - (Author)
  • on behalf of the IMAGEN Consortium - (Author)

Abstract

Bullying often results in negative coping in victims, including an increased consumption of alcohol. Recently, however, an increase in alcohol use has also been reported among perpetrators of bullying. The factors triggering this pattern are still unclear. We investigated the role of empathy in the interaction between bullying and alcohol use in an adolescent sample (IMAGEN) at age 13.97 (±0.53) years (baseline (BL), N = 2165, 50.9% female) and age 16.51 (±0.61) years (follow-up 1 (FU1), N = 1185, 54.9% female). General empathic distress served as a significant moderator of alcohol use in perpetrators (F9, 493 = 17.978, p < 0.01), which was specific for males and FU1. Male perpetrators, who are generally less sensitive to distress, might thus be more vulnerable to alcohol abuse.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number6286
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume20
Issue number13
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jul 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85164845514
PubMed 37444132
Mendeley 3dbe98b7-5c2d-394d-bd2a-c08ad0f3feb6
ORCID /0000-0002-8493-6396/work/150330238

Keywords

Keywords

  • Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Alcohol Drinking, Bullying, Crime Victims, Empathy, Female, Humans, Male, alcohol, distress, empathy, adolescence, bullying