Bullying
(IN PHOTO)Primary school children march against violence in Tegucigalpa October 26, 2012. Hundreds of students marched through Nueva Suyapa neighbourhood to demand from the government, security, respect for life and the right to live in a community without violence and bullying, local media reported. Honduras among Latin America and the Caribbean, has the highest homicide rate in the past decade, according to the safety citizen report published by the Organization of American States (OAS). REUTERS

A new study published in the British Medical Journal reports that experiencing bullying during adolescence might prove to be the cause for depression in adult life. The researchers at the Oxford University examined 4,000 youngsters in the age group of 13 to 18 to find out the effect of long-term bullying .Through their observations, they found that about one third of the group who suffered depression in adulthood had been exposed to bullying in their childhood or teen years, indicating a much stronger impact on the mental health that lingered for many years.

The study author, Dr Lucy Bowes at the University of Oxford, says, “We found evidence for an association between victimisation by peers in adolescence and depression in young adulthood. Adolescents who reported frequent bullying by peers were about twice as likely to develop depression compared with non-victimised peers.”

The study also revealed the fact that those people who had experienced frequent bullying at 13 were twice more likely to be suffering from clinical depression when they reach 18 in comparison to those who were never exposed to bullying. Bowes explains, “The large population attributable fraction suggests that approximately 29 per cent of the burden of depression at age 18 years could be attributed to victimisation by peers in adolescence if this were a causal relation.”

In Bowes opinion it is impossible to gauge as to which factors are responsible for a possible link between bullying and depression, but she strongly suspects that there is a sure causal relationship controlled by factors, including baseline depression and emotional problems which might make a person more vulnerable to both bullying and to later clinical depression.

The study team was also successful in establishing a missing link in the parents and their children in understanding the bullying experience. This conclusion was drawn after 3,700 families were surveyed where 1,199 teens reported that they were bullied, while among the mothers, only 229 confirmed that their children were the victims of bullying. While expressing her viewpoint on the study findings, psychological criminologist Maria Ttofi at the University of Cambridge says, “Bowes and colleagues establish a clear link between victimisation and non-reporting to teachers or family members. Parents and teachers need to be aware of this and proactively ask children about school experiences beyond academic matters."

To contact the writer, email:ruchira.dhoke@gmail.com

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