Schoolchildren Who Are Victims of Bullying Report Benefit from Health Dialogues with the School Health Nurse

Background: School health services are important tools for health promotion among schoolchildren, but little is known about their effects. This article addresses the effects of dialogues with school health nurses among schoolchildren who were victims of bullying. Study population and methods: Cross-sectional and school-based survey, the Danish contribution to the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. The study included all students in the fifth, seventh, and ninth grade (11, 13, and 15 year olds) in a random sample of schools. The participation rate was 98 per cent of the students present on the day of data collection and 88 per cent of the enrolled students, n = 5205. Measurements: Bullying was measured as recommended by Olweus. Outcome of the dialogue with the school health nurse was measured as self-reports of five responses: (1) reflected on the dialogue, (2) discussed the content with parents, (3) followed the advice from the school health nurse, (4) did what he (she) himself (herself) thought was best, and (5) visited the school health nurse again. Results: All outcome measures were more prevalent among students who were victims of bullying. The most pronounced association was that the odds ratio for visiting the school health nurse again was 1.8 (95 per cent CI 1.3-2.5) for students who were bullied at least weekly. Conclusion: Schoolchildren who are victims of bullying benefit from health dialogues with the school health nurse. (Contains 2 tables.)