A number of negative outcomes are associated with bullying. Kids who are bullied by their peers, for instance, are likely to feel depressed and lonely. Health is affected and they are prone to experiencing changes in their eating and sleeping patterns.
While many parents are concerned about their children getting bullied, many actually view bullying as something that primarily happens during a person's childhood and that sooner or later, the child will get over the sad experience and move on with his life. A new study, however, suggests that bullied kids do not easily get over with their experience even when they reach adulthood.
In a new research published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, April 18, researchers involved more than 7,000 participants who were reported by their parents to have been exposed to bullying when they were between 7 and 11 years old.
The researchers found that those who were bullied more during their childhood tend to have poorer psychological and physical health as well as poor cognitive functioning when they reach 50 years old. Even in adulthood, they're also at risk of depression, suicidal thoughts and anxiety disorder which are often only associated with children who are currently bullied by their peers, suggesting that the mental and psychological implications of bullying can still be experienced many years after the incidents.
Because bullied children are also likely to lose interest in their academics and are more likely to skip class and drop out of school than other children, it's no wonder that adults who were bullied when they were children also have lower educational levels and are likely to be jobless and earn less than their counterparts. Adults who were bullied in childhood also tend to be less happy with their lives as they are likely to have poor social relationships and tend to be less satisfied with their quality of life.
"We found the kids who were victims of bullying didn't manage to move up or move on possibly because they are so used to being pushed down," said study researcher Louise Arseneault, a professor at King's College London. "Even in middle age, some of those bullied may not have as good of jobs or earn as much money."
With the advent of the internet and the social media, bullying now also happens online which requires that parents and guardians be more vigilant than ever. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS) 2011 results show that 16 percent of students between grades 9 and 12 in the United States experienced cyberbullying.
