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 Researchers examined data on 1,363 children who were surveyed about
peer victimization and bullying from ages 6 to 13 and monitored for
any mental health issues through age 15. Most participants
experienced little or no victimization, but about 26 percent
reported some bullying and almost 15 percent said they suffered
severe, long-lasting victimization.
Compared to teens who experienced little or no bullying as kids,
adolescents who suffered chronic tormenting by their peers were more
than twice as likely to be depressed and more than three times more
likely to be anxious or seriously consider suicide, the study found.
“We found that exposure to peer victimization decreases by the end
of childhood,” said lead study author Marie-Claude Geoffroy, a
psychiatry researcher at McGill University in Montreal.
“However, the 15 percent of adolescents exposed to the most severe
levels of victimization when they entered kindergarten were still
exposed to the highest levels in high school,” Geoffroy said by
email.
All of the kids in the study were born in Quebec in 1997 and 1998.
Researchers assessed peer victimization based on questionnaires kids
completed to detail physical and verbal abuse as well as online
bullying. These surveys, done in the second half of the school year,
asked kids to detail how often they experienced any victimization
since the start of school.
At age 15, researchers asked teens about the frequency of
depression, anxiety, social problems, conduct issues or behavior
challenges in the previous 12 months.
Overall, about 7 percent of the teens exposed to little or no
victimization as kids had depression, compared with almost 18
percent of adolescents who had suffered severe bullying by their
peers, researchers report in CMAJ.
At the same time, 7 percent of teens with little or no exposure to
bullying had general anxiety, compared with 20 percent of youth who
had been constantly victimized by their peers.
Adolescents who were chronically bullied as kids were also much more
likely to experience social anxiety, eating problems, conduct issues
and behavior challenges, the study found.
About 3 percent of teens who had little previous exposure to
bullying had suicidal thoughts, compared to 13 percent of teens who
had suffered from routine peer victimization growing up.
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The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether
or how peer victimization early in childhood might influence mental
health in adolescence. Another limitation is that researchers relied
on kids to accurately recall and report on any mental health
problems or experiences with victimization.
Still, the findings add to the body of evidence already linking
bullying and peer victimization to future mental health problems,
said Dieter Wolke, a psychology researcher at the University of
Warwick in the UK who wasn’t involved in the study.
“One of the most painful feelings is to be socially rejected,
ridiculed, beaten and embarrassed by other classmates,” Wolke said
by email. “If this continues chronically, it not only increases
anxiety of social contacts, it leads to defeat and internalization
that one is useless, worthless, incapable, not worth loving.”
The study results underscore the need for teachers, parents and
other adults involved in kids’ lives to intervene early to stop any
events of victimization from turning into a routine problem, said
Bonnie Leadbeater, a psychology researcher at the University of
Victoria in British Columbia, Canada who wasn’t involved in the
study.
“Without adult help, victimization can be chronic,” Leadbeater said
by email. “Anxiety and depression can also worsen victimization,
catching children in a cycle of abuse and mental illness.”
To avoid this, parents should ask kids about bullying, and let them
know that if they experience this, they aren’t alone, said Dr.
Matthew Davis of the Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital of
Chicago.
“If your children are being bullied, focus on supporting their sense
of self-worth, to help nurture their self-esteem despite bullying,”
Davis said by email.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2FJGCkU CMAJ, online January 15, 2018.
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