Scars of Childhood Bullying May Stay on Till Adulthood

                Childhood bullying inflicts the same long term psychological trauma on girls as severe physical or sexual abuse, and its detrimental effects may linger for years. The study suggests that the negative effects of bullying may negatively affect victims’ mental health well into young adulthood. Participants in the study were surveyed about their exposure to variety of traumatic experiences – including bullying, cyber bullying and crimes such as robbery, sexual assault, and domestic and community violence – from birth through age 17. Students also reported on their psychological functioning and symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

                The students who experienced bullying as children reported significantly greater levels of mental health problems than their peers. Experiencing bullying was the strongest predictor of PTSD symptoms among the college students who participated in the survey, surpassing other types of trauma such as exposure to community violence or being abused or neglected by adults. Females in particular struggled with the emotional damage inflicted by bullying, reporting greater levels of depression, anxiety and PTSD than their male peers.

Bullying victimization significantly predicted students’ current levels of depression and anxiety – over and above other childhood victimization experiences. This research suggests that college students’ psychological distress may be connected in part to their perceptions of past childhood bullying victimization experiences. Students who experienced one interpersonal trauma were at the greatest risk of being victimized in other ways and of developing PTSD. They suggested that practitioners in college mental health centers need to be aware that students who request psychological help are likely to have experienced multiple forms of trauma.