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 Previous research has linked physical, emotional and sexual abuse
during childhood to psychological difficulties later in life.
Bullying too can have severe, long-lasting psychological and
physical effects.
For the new study, researchers looked for associations between
maltreatment, being bullied, and long term mental health problems.
In particular, they say, they wanted to know whether mental health
problems in kids exposed to those kinds of experiences are due to
both maltreatment and bullying or whether bullying has a unique
effect.
"We found, somewhat surprisingly, that those who were bullied and
maltreated were not at higher risk than those just bullied," senior
study author Dieter Wolke, a psychology professor at the University
of Warwick in the U.K., said by email.
The data came from two large studies that tracked mental health in
children and then followed them at least until at least age 18. One
study, from the U.S., included more than 1,200 participants. The
other, from the U.K., involved more than 4,000.
Both studies relied on a combination of interviews with parents to
track abuse in younger children as well as reports of bullying by
older children.
As young adults, 19 percent in the U.K. group and 18 percent in the
U.S. group had mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and
suicidal thoughts.
After adjusting for other family factors that might contribute to
psychological problems, the researchers found an increased risk of
depression among abused children in the U.S. group but not in the
U.K. group.
In both groups, however, mental health problems were significantly
more likely in children who were bullied by their peers than in kids
who were abused.
It's possible that abuse was underreported by parents questioned
about treatment of their children, the researchers note in the
study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry and presented today at the
Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in San Diego. The study
also didn't explore the severity of abuse or the age at which it
began.
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Even so, the findings highlight the need for parents, educators and
clinicians to pay closer attention to bullying, Wolke said.
"It is particularly novel that they found bullying is a greater
source of mental health problems than maltreatment," said Catherine
Bradshaw, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Center for the
Prevention of Youth Violence in Baltimore.
Given this emerging connection, parents whose children encounter
behavior problems at school should be sure to follow up to make sure
bullying isn't a factor, said Bradshaw, who wasn't involved in the
study. At the same time, schools officials who discover bullying
should explore whether there might be problems at home.
Teaching good communication and conflict resolution skills before
kids reach school age is also important for prevention, she said.
Later on, schools should reenforce these skills by creating a strong
sense of community and fostering an environment where students feel
connected to one another as well as to teachers and other adults.
"Schools often become the outlets where bullying comes to a head,"
Bradshaw said. "Creating a sense of belonging has been consistently
shown to be a protective factor as have programs that improve the
school climate."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1lNlf0J
The Lancet Psychiatry, online April 28, 2015.
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