Social form of bullying linked to depression, anxiety in adultsApril 23, 2008GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Spreading rumors and gossiping may not cause bruises or black eyes, but the psychological consequences of this social type of bullying could linger into early adulthood, a new University of Florida study shows. In a study of 210 college students, UF researchers discovered a link between what psychologists call relational victimization in adolescence and depression and anxiety in early adulthood, according to findings published online this month in the journal Psychology in the Schools. Rather than threatening a child with physical violence, these bullies target a child's social status and relationships by shunning them, excluding them from social activities or spreading rumors, said Allison Dempsey, a doctoral student in the UF College of Education and the study's lead author. "Even though people are outside of high school, the memories of these experiences continue to be associated with depression and social anxiety," said Dempsey, who graduated from Columbine High School in Colorado one year before the 1999 school shooting there and now studies school prevention programs. "It was interesting to see these relationships still continue to exist even though they are in early adulthood now and in a completely different setting. "I'm hoping this study will help shed light on the fact that this is a real problem and continues to be a real problem after students leave school." To uncover the relationships between social bullying and loneliness, depression and anxiety, researchers surveyed college undergraduates between the ages of 18 and 25 and asked them to recall their experiences from high school. They were also looking to see if having friends mitigated some of the effects of bullying and if there was any relationship between gender and the severity of psychological symptoms, said Eric Storch, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry in the UF College of Medicine and a co-author of the study. "About 20 years ago people thought of bullying as very physical," Storch said. "As a result people thought guys did the bullying, and that it wasn't really a big experience for girls. The problem is that isn't actually true. There are different types of aggression. "Boys do tend to be more physical, but both sexes engage in relational victimization. We wanted to see if gender affected strength of the relationship between depressive symptoms and victimization." But researchers found no gender difference in the link between this type of bullying and depression. They also discovered that having friends or other positive social relationships didn't lessen rates of depression and anxiety in adulthood, a finding that surprised them, Dempsey said. For some children, having friends and positive support can help make them more resilient to the slings and arrows from bullies, Storch said. But other children take the words and abuse more to heart and begin to believe what's being said about them. "Those types of negative thoughts are actually believed to be at the core of things like depression and anxiety," Storch said. "Behaviorally what starts happening is you avoid interactions and situations that could be quite positive for you." Currently, there are few prevention or intervention programs that focus specifically on relational victimization, in part because it's tougher to pinpoint and stop, Dempsey said. "If a child tries to punch someone or kick someone, there's evidence of that happening," Dempsey said. "There's a definite aggressor and a definite victim. When it comes to spreading rumors and gossiping, that's a lot more difficult to prove who's doing it. And it's harder to provide consequences." Dempsey said she hopes this study and others will help other researchers and psychologists design programs that can help stop this form of bullying in schools. "I think many people have the belief that victimization is a normal rite of passage in childhood," Storch said. "While it certainly does happen to most kids, it's not acceptable. And while I think it would be difficult to completely curtail it, by reducing it you're going to help someone a tremendous amount to not have to go to school and be plagued by this environment of being tortured day in and day out. "This isn't a normative experience and we need to do something about it and recognize that not doing something could affect children who are really rising stars." Wendy Troop-Gordon, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at North Dakota State University, said understanding how past relational bullying affects people in adulthood is an important step forward for research in this field. "Turning 18 is not a magical age when you leave all of these experiences behind," said Troop-Gordon, who is not affiliated with the study. "People do seem to carry these experiences with them." University of Florida |
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| Related Bullying Current Events and Bullying News Articles Virtual reality games could help bullying victims Virtual reality games could help children to escape victimisation and bullying at school, according to researchers at the University of Warwick. Adolescents think school bullying 'will keep on happening' and resign themselves to it Most of the adolescents think that bullying in the school context "has always happened and will continue happening", and present "a negative, pessimistic and resigned attitude" towards this social problem, which makes difficult the intervention and leaves few hopes for its eradication. New study finds high rates of childhood exposure to violence and abuse in US A new study from the University of New Hampshire finds that U.S. children are routinely exposed to even more violence and abuse than has been previously recognized, with nearly half experiencing a physical assault in the study year. Workplace bullying is associated with sleep disturbances A study in the Sept.1 issue of the journal SLEEP shows that current or past exposure to workplace bullying is associated with increased sleep disturbances. High school put-downs make it hard for students to learn, study says High-school put-downs are such a staple of teen culture that many educators don't take them seriously. However, a University of Illinois study suggests that classroom disruptions and psychologically hostile school environments can contribute to a climate in which good students have difficulty learning and students who are behind have trouble catching up. Children who are depressed, anxious or aggressive in first grade risk being victimized later on Children entering first grade with signs of depression and anxiety or excessive aggression are at risk of being chronically victimized by their classmates by third grade. Teaching autistic teens to make friends During the first week of class, the teens' eyes were downcast, their responses were mumbled and eye contact was almost nonexistent. By Week 12, though, these same kids were talkative, responsive and engaged. Children who are dissatisfied with their appearance often have problems with their peer group Being satisfied with one's appearance is one of the most important prerequisites for a positive self image. However, in today's appearance culture it is the rule rather than the exception that children and young people are dissatisfied with their appearance. Girls growing up with heroin-addicted parent more resilient than boys Growing up with a heroin-addicted parent exposes children to a variety of detrimental experiences before the age of 18 and new research indicates that girls are four times more resilient than boys in overcoming such adverse events. New tactics to tackle bystander's role in bullying A new psychodynamic approach to bullying in schools has been successfully trialled by UCL (University College London) and US researchers. CAPSLE (Creating a Peaceful School Learning Environment) is a groundbreaking method focused more on the bystander, including the teacher, than on the bully or the victim. More Bullying Current Events and Bullying News Articles |
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