MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Mitch van Geel, PhD
Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University
Leiden, the Netherlands
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr.van Geel: We performed a meta-analysis, which is a way to statistically summarize effect sizes from earlier studies. Individual studies often provide varying effect sizes, which makes it difficult to judge whether and how strong variables are related. Furthermore, study characteristics (sampling methods, response rates, controlling for certain confounders) might influence study results. By using a meta-analysis it can be analyzed to what extent study characteristics are related to results; if a particular result only tends to be established in studies with certain designs (for example a convenience sample), we might wonder whether such an effect really exists; but if we find that a particular outcome is unrelated to study characteristics or found in studies with relatively stronger designs, we might feel more certain in concluding that a relation between variables (bullying-suicide thoughts or attempts) exists.
By using a meta-analysis we established a significant relation between
bullying and thoughts about suicide, and bullying and suicide attempts, and we found that these results were unrelated to study characteristics.
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