Skip to main content

More Mental Health Problems Seen for Teens Bullied in Childhood

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Feb 21, 2024.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Feb. 20, 2024 -- Youth who are bullied in childhood develop more internalizing, externalizing, and total mental health problems in late adolescence, according to a study published online Feb. 13 in Nature Mental Health.

Dimitris I. Tsomokos, Ph.D., from the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom, and George M. Slavich, Ph.D., from the University of California in Los Angeles, examined how peer bullying in childhood impacts adolescent mental health in 10,000 youth drawn from the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study.

The researchers found that youth bullied in childhood developed more internalizing, externalizing, and total mental health problems in late adolescence; interpersonal distrust during middle adolescence partially mediated this effect. Compared with those who developed less distrust, adolescents who developed greater distrust were about 3.5 times more likely to subsequently experience clinically significant mental health problems.

"What these data suggest is that we really need school-based programs that help foster a sense of interpersonal trust at the level of the classroom and school," Slavich said in a statement. "One way to do that would be to develop evidence-based programs that are especially focused on the transition to high school and college, and that frame school as an opportunity to develop close, long-lasting relationships."

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted February 2024

Read this next

BMI Cutoff of 30 for Obesity May Be Too High for Middle-Aged, Older Adults

FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- The optimal body mass index (BMI) cutoff point appears to be 27 kg/m2 for detecting obesity in middle-aged and older adults, according to a study presented...

Emergency Inguinal Hernia Surgery Rates Increased With Lower Country Income

FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- For patients undergoing inguinal hernia surgery, emergency surgery rates increase from high- to low-income countries, according to a study published online...

Maternal Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein Levels Higher in Black Than White Women

FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels are higher in Black than White pregnant women, supporting the use of accounting for these differences in...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.