Bullied Kids To Suffer Lasting Psychological Harm As Adults — Researchers

A study led by researchers from Duke Medicine revealed that bullied kids may likely grow as adults who are more prone to develop anxiety disorders, depressions and suicidal thoughts.

The said findings, based on more than 20 years of data from a large group of participants initially enrolled as adolescents, were described as most definitive in establishing long-term physical effects of bullying.

Also, the study, published online in JAMA Psychiatry, disproves common perception that bullying, while hurtful, inflicts a fleeting injury that victims outgrow.

William Copeland, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University and lead author of the study, said they were surprised at how deep bullying affects someone’s long term functioning.

“The psychological damage doesn’t just go away as the person grows up and no longer bullied,” he said, and added that this is something that stays with them.

Copeland and his team used the Great Smoky Mountain Study, tapped a population-based sample of 1,420 children ages 9, 11, and 13 from 11 countries in Western North Carolina. Children and their parents or guardians who were initially enrolled in 1993 were interviewed annually until the kids turned 16, then occasionally thereafter.

A total of 421 child or adolescent participants (26 percent of the children) reported being bullied at least once; 887 said they suffered no such abuse. Boys and girls reported incidents at about the same rate. Nearly 200 youngsters, or 9.5 percent, acknowledged bullying others; 112 were bullies only, while 86 were both bullies and victims. Of the original 1,420 children, more than 1,270 were followed up into adulthood. The subsequent interviews included questions about the participants’ psychological health.

The study found that as adults, those who said they had been bullied, and those who were both victims and aggressors, were at higher risk for psychiatric disorders compared to those with no history of being bullied. The young people who were only victims had higher levels of depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety, panic disorder and agoraphobia.

On the other hand, those who were both bullies and victims had higher levels of all anxiety and depressive disorders, plus the highest levels of suicidal thoughts, depressive disorders, generalized anxiety and panic disorder. Bullies were also at increased risk for antisocial personality disorder.

Meanwhile in a previous study conducted in Finland, researchers found mixed results, saying that boys had few lasting problems, while girls suffered from more long-term psychological harm. The study, however, was based on the registry data in health systems that didn’t fully capture psychological records.

In the Philippines, various organizations acknowledge that many kids, particularly students, experience being bullied by their peers. Some also experience abusive behavior from their teachers.

Anti-bullying measures in the country include Republic Act No. 10627 or the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 which aims to reduce and eliminate bullying in all elementary and secondary schools.

Senator Sonny Angara, principal author of the Anti-Bullying Act, had the idea of filing this kind of bill when his own son was bullied in school. (PNA) BNB/MCCA