A study from the Boston Children’s Division of General Pediatrics shows that bullying can have a lasting effect on a child’s health, especially if the bullying persists over time.
Published in the journal Pediatrics, the researchers monitored 4,297 kids and adolescents in three cities who were enrolled in the 5th through 10th grade. Each child was interviewed to inspect their mental and physical health, as well as any bullying during grades five, seven, and 10.
When analyzing the data, the children were broken into four different groups:
The researchers found that 22 percent of fifth graders said they were currently being bullied. The frequency decreases as the students grew older to five and three percent in seventh and 10th grade respectively. Individuals who were bullied were linked with worse mental and physical health, more symptoms of depression and a lower sense of self-esteem.
Individuals who were exposed to chronic bullying also experienced more problems with physical activities like walking, running or playing sports. Almost one-third of 10th graders who had been bullied in the past and present said they experienced depressive symptoms, compared to 19 percent who were currently being bullied. Thirteen percent of those bullied only in the past and eight percent who had not experienced bullying had depressive symptoms.
"Our research shows that long-term bullying has a severe impact on child's overall health, and that its negative effects can accumulate and get worse with time," says Laura Bogart, from Boston Children's Division of General Pediatrics.
Stopping bullying early can have positive effects on the child. People should monitor the situation and speak up when they see a situation where someone is being bullied. “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,” Bogart adds.
Additional Resource:
and connect with fellow professionals
At DoveMed, our utmost priority is your well-being. We are an online medical resource dedicated to providing you with accurate and up-to-date information on a wide range of medical topics. But we're more than just an information hub - we genuinely care about your health journey. That's why we offer a variety of products tailored for both healthcare consumers and professionals, because we believe in empowering everyone involved in the care process.
Our mission is to create a user-friendly healthcare technology portal that helps you make better decisions about your overall health and well-being. We understand that navigating the complexities of healthcare can be overwhelming, so we strive to be a reliable and compassionate companion on your path to wellness.
As an impartial and trusted online resource, we connect healthcare seekers, physicians, and hospitals in a marketplace that promotes a higher quality, easy-to-use healthcare experience. You can trust that our content is unbiased and impartial, as it is trusted by physicians, researchers, and university professors around the globe. Importantly, we are not influenced or owned by any pharmaceutical, medical, or media companies. At DoveMed, we are a group of passionate individuals who deeply care about improving health and wellness for people everywhere. Your well-being is at the heart of everything we do.
0 Comments
Please log in to post a comment.