New research suggests the longer a child is bullied for the worse the effects.
The study is the first to look at the "compounding effects of bullying from elementary school to high school," a Boston Children's Hospital news release reported.
"Our research shows that long-term bullying has a severe impact on a child's overall health, and that its negative effects can accumulate and get worse with time," the study's first author Laura Bogart, PhD, from Boston Children's Division of General Pediatrics, said in the news release. "It reinforces the notion that more bullying intervention is needed, because the sooner we stop a child from being bullied, the less likely bullying is to have a lasting, damaging effect on his or her health down the road."
The research team looked at 4,297 children and adolescents who were between fifth and tenth grade. The study subjects were periodically interviewed about their experiences involving bullying as well as their mental and physical health.
The team found a link between bullying and poor mental and physical health. Being bullied tended to lower one's feelings of self worth and increase depressive symptoms. The study subjects who experienced "chronic bullying" also tended to have more difficulty with physical activities such as running, participating in sports, or even walking.
"Those who experienced bullying in the past and were also experiencing bullying in the present showed the lowest health scores," the news release reported.
The study authors believe the research helps call attention to the need for bullying interventions. The team hopes to encourage more research that looks into bullying prevention and intervention methods.
"There's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to addressing bullying," Bogart said. "But providing teachers, parents and clinicians with best-practices that are evidence-based could better assist those at the frontlines helping children cope with this serious problem and lessen the damage it causes."
