A new study revealed that children who had experienced being bullied by their own siblings were affected negatively suffering from mental and emotional distress.
The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and conducted by a research team from the University of New Hampshire in Durham led by associate professor of family studies Corinna Jenkins Tucker.
The research team selected their sample population from the database of the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV). It included 3,599 children with age range of 1 month to 17 years old. Each sample had at least one sibling below 18 years of age. The researchers conducted a phone interview to 63 percent white children, 13 percent African Americans, 18 percent Hispanic, and six percent other races. Gender was equal for the sample.
After tabulating the answers given during the phone interviews, the researcher found out that 32 percent of the children had experienced at least one instance of sibling bullying in the past year.
They then analyzed the possible effects of that experience on those children using a regression model. Their presentation showed that these children were at risk to mental health distress.
They also looked at the possibility of emotional distress to these children and they discovered that those nine years old and below had the most negative impact while those 10 to 17 years old had mild impact.
Emotional distress was greater for younger children 1 month to 9 years than for adolescents, ages 10 to 17, who experienced "mild sibling physical assault," the authors reported online in Pediatrics.
The findings of this study were alarming because it means that one out of three children was being bullied by their own siblings. Parents should be more observant on their kids as these children will not usually complain to their parents.
