A study at the Duke University suggests that children who have been bullied as a child suffer psychological disorders such as depression and suicidal thoughts in the future, Medical Xpress reports.
The study analyzed data of more than 20 years from a group of participants who joined as teenagers. The data helped in putting forward the long- term effects of bullying. The study shows bullying can have serious consequences in the future adulthood resulting in anxiety disorders, depression and suicidal thoughts.
"We were surprised at how profoundly bullying affects a person's long-term functioning," said William E. Copeland, PhD, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University and lead author of the study. "This psychological damage doesn't just go away because a person grew up and is no longer bullied. This is something that stays with them. If we can address this now, we can prevent a whole host of problems down the road."
The data used in the research by Copeland and his team was from the Great Smoky Mountain Study, which gathered information of 1,420 children from 11 different counties in western North Carolina.
These children were between the ages of 9 and 13 years old. The parents or guardians were asked questions related to their children that gave an insight if they were bullied or were bullies or were neutral during their childhood. The questions were to be answered annually until the children turned 16, at which time, the interviews were done periodically, according to Medical Xpress.
During the interviews conducted with the parents or guardians it was noted that 26 percent of participating children were bullied at least once, while 887 children were not involved in any such activity. It was also found that nearly 200 children bullied others and 86 children had bullied and were also victims; 112 children were bullied but never bullied others. The questions were followed by the participants' psychological health as they grew up.
The interviews helped researchers gather information, which helped them in sorting out the children's psychological risks based on their childhood behavior. It was found that children who were victims and bullied others were at a greater risk of developing psychological disorders than those who did not have any incident of being bullied or bullying others.
The youngsters who were only victims were at a greater risk of developing depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety, panic disorder and agoraphobia. Also those who were both victims and bullies had increased risk of having suicidal thoughts, depressive disorders, generalized anxiety and panic disorder, according to the article.
"Bullying is potentially a problem for bullies as well as for victims," said senior author E. Jane Costello, PhD, associate director of research at Duke's Center for Child and Family Policy. "Bullying, which we tend to think of as a normal and not terribly important part of childhood, turns out to have the potential for very serious consequences for children, adolescents and adults."
The findings of the study are published online in JAMA Psychiatry.
