Bullying Impact and Resilience in Adolescents

Impact of Bullying and Resilience Study

• Longitudinal study explores the factors determining resilience to bullying victimization
• Focuses on individual, family, and peer characteristics
• Participants included 3,136 adolescents
• Measured bullying victimization at ages 13 and 14
• Measured depression and delinquency at age 14
• Relationships with parents and siblings play a significant role in promoting resilience

Key Findings

• Adolescents with low depression despite bullying were typically male
• They had higher self-esteem and felt less socially alienated
• Experienced low parental conflict
• Were not victimized by siblings
• Adolescents with low delinquency despite bullying were typically female
• They reported higher self-esteem
• Experienced low parental conflict
• Were not victimized by siblings
• Had fewer close friends

Methods

• Participants were 3,136 adolescents from the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime
• Measures included bullying victimization, depression, delinquency, self-esteem, social alienation, parental conflict, sibling victimization, and number of close friends
• Procedures involved self-report questionnaires administered at schools
• Statistical analyses used hierarchical regression models to predict emotional and behavioral resilience
• Being male, high self-esteem, low social alienation, parental conflict, and low sibling victimization predict emotional resilience
• Being female, high self-esteem, low parental conflict, low sibling victimization, and fewer close friends predict behavioral resilience
• Males showed more emotional resilience
• Females more behavioral resilience
• High self-esteem is crucial for resilience
• Low parental conflict and sibling victimization are significant predictors of resilience
• Fewer close friends predicted lower delinquency, possibly due to reduced exposure to deviant behaviors
• Individual characteristics and family relationships are important for resilience to bullying
• Interventions should enhance psychosocial skills and improve family dynamics
• Measures used were proxies and not specifically designed for bullying resilience
• Self-reported data may lead to under-reporting
• The study didn't control for other psychological or medical conditions
• Interventions should adopt a holistic approach, targeting individual skills and family relationships to support bullied adolescents
• Individual, family, and peer factors are important in promoting resilience to bullying victimization
• High self-esteem, low parental conflict, and supportive sibling relationships are crucial for emotional and behavioural resilience
• Interventions should focus on these areas to help bullied adolescents achieve positive outcomes

Long-Term Effects of Bullying Overview

• Reviews the long-term effects of bullying on physical, mental health, social relationships, and economic outcomes
• Bullying is a significant risk factor for poor health and social outcomes, often overlooked by health professionals

Key Definitions of Bullying

• Systematic abuse of power involving repeated aggressive behaviour or intentional harm-doing by peers
• Characterized by an imbalance of power

Forms of Bullying

• Direct Bullying: Physical or verbal acts of aggression (e.g., hitting, name-calling)
• Indirect Bullying: Social exclusion and rumor spreading
• Cyberbullying: Bullying via electronic means (e.g., mobile phones, Internet)

Epidemiology of Bullying

• Prevalence: One in three children report being bullied, 10-14% experience chronic bullying
• Roles: Children can be victims, bullies, or bully/victims (both bullies and victims)
• Cyberbullying: Lower rates than traditional bullying, but often co-occurs with face-to-face bullying

Adverse Consequences of Bullying

Childhood and Adolescence (6-17 years)

• Somatic Problems: Increased risk of headaches, stomach aches, sleep problems
• Mental Health: Higher risk of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicidal ideation
• Academic Impact: Poorer academic performance and school adjustment
• Social Relationships: Difficulty making and keeping friends

Adulthood (18-50 years)

• Mental Health: Increased risk of anxiety disorders, depression, psychotic experiences, and suicidal behavior
• Physical Health: Poor general health, more bodily pain, slower recovery from illnesses
• Economic Outcomes: Lower educational qualifications, poorer financial management, lower earnings
• Social Relationships: Trouble forming lasting relationships, less likely to live with a partner, reduced social support

Specific Findings

• Victims: Higher risk for internalizing problems, poor health, and economic difficulties
• Bullies: Often do not show significant long-term adverse effects; may have better health outcomes
• Bully/Victims: Poorest outcomes in mental health, social relationships, and economic stability

Bullying Mechanisms

Stress Response

• Altered physiological responses to stress and increased inflammation

Genetic Vulnerability

• Interaction with genetic factors (e.g., serotonin transporter gene)

Cognitive and Social Impact

• Altered cognitive responses to threats, difficulties in social relationships

Implications for Bullying

• Public Health Concern: Bullying should be a major public health concern
• Role of Health Professionals: Health professionals should address bullying in their practice
• Prevention: Preventing bullying can lead to significant long-term benefits
• The paper underscores the serious and long-lasting effects of bullying on individuals' health and well-being
• Calls for greater attention to bullying as a public health issue
• Emphasizes the importance of intervention and prevention strategies

Bullying Definition Details

• Aggressive behavior is carried out repeatedly
• Involves an interpersonal relationship
• Characterized by an imbalance of power

Bullying Roles

• Pure Bullies - those that bully others but never get victimized
• Pure Victims - those that get bullied but never bully others
• Bully/Victims - those that get victimised but also may bully others in the same or different environment
• Neutrals - those that are not bullies or victims of bullying

Roles Involved in Bullying Defined

• Ringleader initiates and leads the bullying
• Reinforcer supports the bullying, might laugh or encourage what's going on but doesn't do it
• Assistant actively involved in doing the bullying, but does not lead it
• Target/Victim the person at whom the bullying is aimed at
• Defender stands up for the person being bullied, knows that bullying is wrong and feels confident enough to defend, and might talk to an adult in school
• Outsider ignores or doesn't see the bullying and doesn't want to get involved

Bullying Misconceptions

• Bullying doesn't lead to bad consequences
• Bullying is part of growing up
• Bullying is harmless jokes between children
• Some children/adolescents deserve to be bullied
• There are no bullies in our school

Types of Bullying

• Direct Bullying involving physical and verbal actions
• Indirect Bullying involving relational actions via rumour and exclusion
• Cyber-Bullying: Bullying via an electronic device such as cellular phone or via the internet

Cyber-Bullying Characteristics

• Acting cruelly to others by sending or posting harmful material using the Internet or cellular phone
• Bully identity hidden
• Victim's emotional reactions not visible
• Can occur everywhere and at any time
• Harder to escape from
• Targets wider audience in just a few minutes

Cyberbullying Among UK Secondary School Students (2015)

• Traditional bullying more frequent than cyber bullying
• Most cyber bullying occurs outside of school
• Phone call and text message bullying were most prevalent
• Mobile phone/video clip although rarer had more negative impact
• Most cyber bullying was done by students in the same year group
• Students are therefore able to see the reaction to bullying when the victim attends school

Bullying Factors

• Overall prevalence of victimization between countries and schools is not associated with the economic level of the country of residence or school attended
• Adolescence living in countries or attend schools with larger economic inequality among students have a higher risk of victimisation
• Inequality = hierarchical organisation
• Acceptance of inequality = more widespread approval of behaviours associated with status difference → victimisation & bullying
• Bullying as a way of gaining access to resources (e.g., friends, attention, popularity/status)
• bullying is not always goal driven and can be done for entertainment (e.g. with low empathy, they may not consider the consequences of their actions)
• Higher inequality = bullying
• Little anxiety, Good self-esteem, Little empathy, Cool manipulators, and controversial status are characteristics seen in bulliers
• Withdrawn, Anxious, Low self-esteem, Poor theory of mind, Rejected by peers are characteristics seen in victims
• Irritable, Hyperactive, Positive attitudes to aggression, Interpret ambiguous clues as hostile, Highly rejected, exposed to violence as a child are characteristics of bully/victims
• Victims & Bully/Victim are more likely to have higher negative parenting behaviour such as authoritarian behaviour, hitting, neglecting
• Victims are also more likely to have overprotective parents
• Friends are the best protective factor against bullying

Risk Factors

• Living in a country or going to school with large social inequalities higher prevalence Bully & victims suffer from internalizesing & externalising prior to bullying especially bully/victims
• Lonely children are more likely to get victimized and remain victims for longer at school

Consequences of Bullying

• Victims: Depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, School avoidance, low achievement
• Bullying: truancy, criminal careers and deviant offspring

Being Bullied Statistics

• Suicide ideation higher in males
• Suicidal/self-injury higher in females
• Bully/victim more likely to partake in risky illegal behaviours
• No difference between victims and bullies in regards to wealth

Adverse Results of Bullying

• Adverse results are shown in health and socially
• Bullying begins under the skin and leads to low grade inplammation
• Victims have the highest

Bullying Interventions

• Bullying haopens in school
• Depression and anxiety in youth
• Slower recovery and lack of wealth later in life
• Mental health problems and poor relationships as adults

Anti-Bullying Interventions

• Whole-school approach and curriculum implementation
• There should be peer led mentor interventions and restorative justice approach and individual centered approach for treatment purposes