They were also more likely to display sleep problems such as nightmares and night-terrors.
Children who were victims of bullying have been consistently found to be at higher risk for internalising problems, in particular diagnoses of anxiety disorder 55 and depression 9 in young adulthood and middle adulthood (18–50 years of age) ( table 2 ). 56 Furthermore, victims were at increased risk for displaying psychotic experiences at age 18 8 and having suicidal ideation, attempts and completed suicides. 56 Victims were also reported to have poor general health, 65 including more bodily pain, headaches and slower recovery from illnesses. 57 Moreover, victimised children were found to have lower educational qualifications, be worse at financial management 57 and to earn less than their peers even at age 50. 56 69 Victims were also reported to have more trouble making or keeping friends and to be less likely to live with a partner and have social support. No association between substance use, anti-social behaviour and victimisation was found. The studies that distinguished between victims and bully/victims showed that usually bully/victims had a slightly higher risk for anxiety, depression, psychotic experiences, suicide attempts and poor general health than pure victims. 9 They also had even lower educational qualifications and trouble keeping a job and honouring financial obligations. 57 65 In contrast to pure victims, bully/victims were at increased risk for displaying anti-social behaviour and were more likely to become a young parent. 62 70 71 Again, we know less about pure bullies, but where studied, they were not found to be at increased risk for any mental or general health problems. Indeed, they were healthier than their peers, emotionally and physically. 9 57 However, pure bullies may be more deviant and more likely to be less educated and to be unemployed. 65 They have also been reported to be more likely to display anti-social behaviour, and be charged with serious crime, burglary or illegal drug use. 58 59 66 However, many of these effects on delinquency may disappear when other adverse family circumstances are controlled for. 57
Consequences of involvement in bullying behaviour in childhood/adolescence on outcomes in young adulthood and adulthood (18–50 years)
Findings | Example References | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Categories | Victims | Bullies | Bully/victims | |
Health and mental health | ||||
Anti-social personality disorder | No significant relationship was found between victimisation and anti-social behaviour. | Being a bully increased the risk of violent, property and traffic offences, delinquency, aggressiveness, impulsivity, psychopathy, contact with police or courts and serious criminal charges in young adulthood. | Frequent bully/victim status predicted anti-social personality disorder. Bully/victims also had higher rates of serious criminal charges and broke into homes, businesses and property in young adulthood. | |
Anxiety | Victimised adolescents (especially pure victims) displayed a higher prevalence of agoraphobia, generalised anxiety and panic disorder in young adulthood. | No significant relationship was found between being a pure bully and anxiety problems. | Bully/victims displayed higher levels of panic disorder and agoraphobia (females only) in young adulthood. Frequent bully/victim status predicted anxiety disorder. | |
Depression and internalising problems | All types of frequent victimisation increased the risk of depression and internalising problems. Experiencing more types of victimisation was related to higher risk for depression. On the other hand, Copeland and colleagues did not find a significant association between pure victim status and depression. | No significant association between pure bully status and depression was found. | Bully/victims were at increased risk of young adult depression. | |
Inflammation | Being a pure victim in childhood/adolescence predicted higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP). | Being a pure bully in childhood/adolescence predicted lower levels of CRP. | The CRP level of bully/victims did not differ from that of those uninvolved in bullying. | |
Psychotic experiences | Pure victims had a higher prevalence of psychotic experiences at age 18 years. | No significant association was found between pure bully status and psychotic experiences. | Bully/victims were at increased risk for psychotic experiences at age 18 years. | |
Somatic problems | Those who were victimised were more likely to have bodily pain and headache. Frequent victimisation in childhood was associated with poor general health at ages 23 and 50. Moreover, pure victims reported slow recovery from illness in young adulthood. | No significant association was found between health and pure bully status. | Bully/victims were more likely to have poor general health and bodily pain and develop serious illness in young adulthood. They also reported poorer health status and slow recovery from illness. | |
Substance use | No significant relationship was found between victimisation and drug use, but being frequently victimised predicted daily heavy smoking. | Bullies were more likely to use illicit drugs and tobacco and to get drunk. | Bully/victim status did not significantly predict substance use but bully/victims were more likely to use tobacco. | |
Suicidality/self-harm | Results were mixed regarding suicidality and victimisation status. Some showed that all types of frequent victimisation increased the risk of suicidal ideation and attempts. Experiencing many types of victimisation was related to a higher risk for suicidality. However, others only found an association between suicidality and frequent victimisation among girls. | No significant association was found between being a bully and future suicidality. | Male bully/victims were at increased risk for suicidality in young adulthood. | |
Wealth | ||||
Academic achievement | Generally, victims had lower educational qualifications and earnings into adulthood. | Bullies were more likely to have lower educational qualifications. | Bully/victims were more likely to have a lower education. | |
Employment | Some found no significant association between occupation status and victimisation, whereas others showed that frequent victimisation was associated with poor financial management and trouble with keeping a stable job, being unemployed and earning less than peers. | Bullies were more likely to have trouble keeping a job and honouring financial obligations. They were more likely to be unemployed. | Bully/victims had trouble with keeping a job and honouring financial obligations. | |
Social relationships | ||||
Peer relationships | Frequently victimised children had trouble making or keeping friends and were less likely to meet up with friends at age 50. | Pure bullies had trouble making or keeping friends. | Bully/victims were at increased risk for not having a best friend and had trouble with making or keeping friends. | |
Partnership | Being a victim of bullying in childhood was not associated with becoming a young parent. Frequent victimisation increased the risk of living without a spouse or partner and receiving less social support at age 50. | When bully/victims were separated from bullies, pure bully status did not have a significant association with becoming a young father (under the age of 22). However, pure bullies were more likely to become young mothers (under the age of 20). No significant association between bully status and cohabitation status was found. | Being a bully/victim in childhood increased the likelihood of becoming a young parent. No significant association between bully/victim and cohabitation status was found. |
The findings from prospective child, adolescent and adult outcome studies are summarised in figure 1 .
The impact of being bullied on functioning in teenagers and adulthood.
The carefully controlled prospective studies reviewed here provide a converging picture of the long-term effects of being bullied in childhood. First, the effects of being bullied extend beyond the consequences of other childhood adversity and adult abuse. 9 In fact, when compared to the experience of having been placed into care in childhood, the effects of frequent bullying were as detrimental 40 years later 56 ! Second, there is a dose–effect relationship between being victimised by peers and outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. Those who were bullied more frequently, 56 more severely (ie, directly and indirectly) 31 or more chronically (ie, over a longer period of time 8 ) have worse outcomes. Third, even those who stopped being bullied during school age showed some lingering effects on their health, self-worth and quality of life years later compared to those never bullied 72 but significantly less than those who remained victims for years (chronic victims). Fourth, where victims and bully/victims have been considered separately, bully/victims seem to show the poorest outcomes concerning mental health, economic adaptation, social relationships and early parenthood. 8 9 62 70 Lastly, studies that distinguished between bullies and bully/victims found few adverse effects of being a pure bully on adult outcomes. This is consistent with a view that bullies are highly sophisticated social manipulators who are callous and show little empathy. 73
There are a variety of potential routes by which being victimised may affect later life outcomes. Being bullied may alter physiological responses to stress, 74 interact with a genetic vulnerability such as variation in the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene, 75 or affect telomere length (ageing) or the epigenome. 76 Altered HPA-axis activity and altered cortisol responses may increase the risk for developing mental health problems 77 and also increase susceptibility to illness by interfering with immune responses. 78 In contrast, bullying may also differentially affect normal chronic inflammation and associated health problems that can persist into adulthood. 64 Chronically raised C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, a marker of low-grade systemic inflammation in the body, increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders and mental health problems such as depression. 79 Blood tests revealed that CRP levels in the blood of bullied children increased with the number of times they were bullied. Additional blood tests carried out on the children after they had reached 19 and 21 years of age revealed that those who were bullied as children had CRP levels more than twice as high as bullies, while bullies had CRP levels lower than those who were neither bullies nor victims ( figure 2 ). Thus, bullying others appears to have a protective effect consistent with studies showing lower inflammation for individuals with higher socioeconomic status 80 and studies with non-human primates showing health benefits for those higher in the social hierarchy. 81 The clear implication of these findings is that both ends of the continuum of social status in peer relationships are important for inflammation levels and health status.
Adjusted mean young adult C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (mg/L) based on childhood/adolescent bullying status. These values are adjusted for baseline CRP levels as well as other CRP-related covariates. All analyses used robust SEs to account for repeated observations (reproduced from Copeland et al 64 ).
Furthermore, experiences of threat by peers may alter cognitive responses to threatening situations. 82 Both altered stress responses and altered social cognition (eg, being hypervigilant to hostile cues 38 ) and neurocircuitry 83 related to bullying exposure may affect social relationships with parents, friends and co-workers. Finally, victimisation, in particular of bully/victims, affects schooling and has been found to be associated with school absenteeism. In the UK alone, over 16 000 young people aged 11–15 are estimated to be absent from state school with bullying as the main reason, and 78 000 are absent where bullying is one of the reasons given for absence. 84 The risk of failure to complete high school or college in chronic victims or bully/victims increases the risk of poorer income and job performance. 57
Childhood bullying has serious effects on health, resulting in substantial costs for individuals, their families and society at large. In the USA, it has been estimated that preventing high school bullying results in lifetime cost benefits of over $1.4 million per individual. 85 In the UK alone, over 16 000 young people aged 11–15 are estimated to be absent from state school with bullying as the main reason, and 78 000 are absent where bullying is one of the reasons given for absence. 86 Many bullied children suffer in silence, and are reluctant to tell their parents or teachers about their experiences, for fear of reprisals or because of shame. 87 Up to 50% of children say they would rarely, or never, tell their parents, while between 35% and 60% would not tell their teacher. 11
Considering this evidence of the ill effects of being bullied and the fact that children will have spent much more time with their peers than their parents by the time they reach 18 years of age, it is more than surprising that childhood bullying is not at the forefront as a major public health concern. 88 Children are hardly ever asked about their peer relationships by health professionals. This may be because health professionals are poorly educated about bullying and find it difficult to raise the subject or deal with it. 89 However, it is important considering that many children abstain from school due to bullying and related health problems and being bullied throws a long shadow over their lives. To prevent violence against the self (eg, self-harm) and reduce mental and somatic health problems, it is imperative for health practitioners to address bullying.
Contributors: DW conceived the review, produced the first draft and revised it critically; STL contributed to the literature research and writing, and critically reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Funding: This review was partly supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) grant ES/K003593/1.
Competing interests: None.
Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Style Guides provide formatting guidelines for research papers including citations and bibliographies.
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
1 Introduction. Bullying, long tolerated by many as a rite of passage into adulthood, is now recognized as a major and preventable public health problem, one that can have long-lasting consequences (McDougall and Vaillancourt, 2015; Wolke and Lereya, 2015).Those consequences—for those who are bullied, for the perpetrators of bullying, and for witnesses who are present during a bullying event ...
Bullying involves repeated hurtful actions between peers where an imbalance of power exists [].Arseneault et al. [] conducted a review of the mental health consequences of bullying for children and adolescents and found that bullying is associated with severe symptoms of mental health problems, including self-harm and suicidality.Bullying was shown to have detrimental effects that persist into ...
Introduction. Bullying in childhood has been classified by the WHO as a major public health problem 1 and for decades has been known to increase the risk of poor health, social and educational outcomes in childhood and adolescence. 2 Characterised by repeated victimisation within a power-imbalanced relationship, bullying encompasses a wide range of types, frequencies and aggression levels ...
Introduction. With its negative consequences for wellbeing, bullying is a major public health concern affecting the lives of many children and adolescents (Holt et al. 2014; Liu et al. 2014). Bullying can take many different forms and include aggressive behaviours that are physical, verbal or psychological in nature (Wang, Iannotti, and Nansel ...
Abstract. This article provides an introductory overview of findings from the past 40 years of research on bullying among school-aged children and youth. Research on definitional and assessment issues in studying bullying and victimization is reviewed, and data on prevalence rates, stability, and forms of bullying behavior are summarized ...
Introduction. Research on bullying victimization in schools has developed into a robust body of literature since the early 1970s. Formally defined by Olweus (Citation 1994), "a student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other students and where a power imbalance exists" (p. 1173).
Four Decades of Research on School Bullying An Introduction Shelley Hymel University of British Columbia Susan M. Swearer University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Born This Way Foundation, Los Angeles, California This article provides an introductory overview of findings from the past 40 years of research on bullying among school-aged children and ...
Four Decades of Research on School Bullying: An Introduction. Shelley Hymel, Faculty of Education, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special Education, University of British Columbia. Susan M. Swearer, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Born This Way Foun-dation, Los Angeles ...
Abstract. During the school years, bullying is one of the most common expressions of violence in the peer context. Research on bullying started more than forty years ago, when the phenomenon was defined as 'aggressive, intentional acts carried out by a group or an individual repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him- or herself'.
Defining and Contextualising Bullying. While certain individuals are more likely to bully (psychological dimension), the structures in which they exist (sociological dimension) can also contribute towards an environment (educational dimension) where bullying is more acceptable.Furthermore, social media and other online spaces (technological dimension) are now extending the nature and scope of ...
There is a tremendous amount of research on the prevalence, associated factors and effects of bullying; on the theoretical approaches applied to bullying; and on the evaluation of anti-bullying prevention and intervention school wide programs. This book is a compilation of relevant information on bullying. Challenges and obstacles to addressing ...
Bullying in school is a common experience for many children and adolescents. Such experiences relate to a range of adverse outcomes, including poor mental health, poorer academic achievement, and anti-social behaviour (Gini et al., 2018; Nakamoto & Schwartz, 2010; Valdebenito et al., 2017).Bullying research has increased substantially over the past 60 years, with over 5000 articles published ...
The chapter uses the Institute of Medicine's multi-tiered framework ( National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2009) to present the different levels of approaches to preventing bullying behavior. Chapter 6 reviews what is known about federal, state, and local laws and policies and their impact on bullying.
School bullying research has a long history, stretching all the way back to a questionnaire study undertaken in the USA in the late 1800s (Burk, 1897).However, systematic school bullying research began in earnest in Scandinavia in the early 1970s with the work of Heinemann and Olweus ().Highlighting the extent to which research on bullying has grown exponentially since then, Smith et al. found ...
Bullying is a repeated and deliberate pattern of aggressive or hurtful behavior targeting individuals perceived as less powerful. Bullying manifests in various forms, such as physical, verbal, social/relational, and cyberbullying, each having unique characteristics. Vulnerable populations often at greater risk of being bullied are individuals ...
Bullying affects student's academic achievement in various ways. Ammermueller (2012) found that being bullied has a significantly negative impact on present and future students' performance in school Brank et al. (2012) indicated that bullying victims are weak, shy, and anxious. They added that victims' performance is poor in school and ...
Bullying, internationally recognized as a problematic and aggressive form of behavior, has negative effects, not only for those directly involved but for anybody and in particular children in the surrounding environment (Modin, 2012).However, one of the major concerns among researchers in the field of bullying is the type of research methods employed in the studies on bullying behavior in schools.
WASHINGTON — A special issue of American Psychologist® provides a comprehensive review of over 40 years of research on bullying among school age youth, documenting the current understanding of the complexity of the issue and suggesting directions for future research. "The lore of bullies has long permeated literature and popular culture.
Introduction. Research on school bullying has developed rapidly since the 1970s. Originating in social and psychological research in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, this body of research largely focusses on individualized personality traits of perpetrators and victims (Olweus, 1995).Global interest in this phenomenon subsequently spread and bullying research began in the United Kingdom, Australia ...
Bullying is a significant and pervasive yet preventable public health problem with detrimental consequences for children's physical and mental well-being. Bullying is a repeated and deliberate pattern of aggressive or hurtful behavior targeting individuals perceived as less powerful.[1] The CDC's formal and somewhat unwieldy definition is "any unwanted aggressive behavior by another youth or ...
Cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication (cell phone, computer, tablet) to bully a person by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature. stopbullying.gov. Image credit: Wikipedia Commons. In 2015, about 21 percent of students ages 12-18 reported being bullied at school during the school year.
This sample bullying research paper features: 4600 words (approx. 15 pages), an outline, and a bibliography with 28 sources. Browse other research paper example ... Introduction. The study of bullying has flourished in recent years, reflecting the growing recognition of the negative long-term effects this type of aggressive behavior can have on ...
Introduction . We were in the fifth month after WHO had declared the Covid-19 pandemic when I last updated this page. If you followed the news at that time you would know of the appeal from some (including the then-President of the United States) for use of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-parasite drug, as a prophylactic or treatment for active Covid-19 infection (cf. Liu et al 2020).
Definition and epidemiology. Bullying is the systematic abuse of power and is defined as aggressive behaviour or intentional harm-doing by peers that is carried out repeatedly and involves an imbalance of power, either actual or perceived, between the victim and the bully. 1 Bullying can take the form of direct bullying, which includes physical and verbal acts of aggression such as hitting ...
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