February 19, 2024
2 minutes of reading
Key takeaways:
- Experts suggest implementing school-based programs to foster confidence.
- A second study found that adolescents with an LGBTQ identity were likely to suffer emotional distress due to biased bullying.
Childhood intimidation was linked to mistrust in adolescence and mental health problems in late adolescence, according to a study released earlier this week.
The study, published in Natural mental health and led by researchers at UCLA Health and the University of Glasgow, found that adolescents who reported distrust of others due to childhood bullying were much more likely to have problems mental health problems in adulthood than their peers.
“There are few public health topics more important today than the mental health of young people. » George M. Slavich, PhD, director of evaluation and evidence at the Semel Institute of the UCLA-UCSF ACE Mindful Family Resilience Network for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, said in a statement. “To help adolescents reach their full potential, we must invest in research that identifies risk factors for poor health and translates this knowledge into prevention programs that can improve health and resilience throughout the lifespan. throughout life. »
Slavich and colleagues examined data from 10,000 young people from the United Kingdom’s Millennium Cohort Study, which surveyed its patients for 20 years, from late childhood to late adolescence. At age 11, patients were asked how often they were bullied by other children, while at age 14, they were asked about interpersonal distrust and at age 17, about mental health problems.
Ultimately, researchers found that 44% of adolescents who experienced bullying that fostered high levels of distrust were likely to subsequently develop clinically significant mental health problems, while only 13% of youth reporting low levels of distrust were likely to subsequently experience such difficulties.
“What this data suggests is that we really need school-based programs that help foster a sense of interpersonal trust at the classroom and school level,” Slavich said. “One way to do this would be to develop evidence-based programs that are particularly focused on the transition to high school and college, and that present school as an opportunity to develop close, lasting relationships. »
Issues of bullying also played a role in a study published late last month in Pediatricswhich found that young people with similar social positions in terms of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender show significantly higher levels of emotional distress if they have been victims of bias-based bullying , such as racist, homophobic or transphobic bullying.
The authors examined data from the 2019 Minnesota Student Survey of 80,456 9th and 11th grade students. The researchers discovered that LGBTQ identities (90%) and transgender, gender diverse, and gender diverse people (54%) were common among the highest prevalence groups of emotional distress, with bias-based harassment characterizing 82% of the highest prevalence groups. However, in groups without bias-based bullying, rates of emotional distress were 20 to 60 percent lower, an average of 38.8 percent.
“We hear a lot about mental health disparities affecting minority youth, and a common misinterpretation is that ‘these kids’ have problems. » Marla Eisenberg, ScD, MPH, a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and professor in the School of Public Health, said in a statement. “This study really shows that when kids are harassed or bullied just for being who they are, that’s the problem, that’s where we need to make changes.”
The references:
Eisenberg ME, et al. Pediatrics. 2024; doi: 10.1542/peds.2023-061647.
Study finds childhood bullying linked to distrust and mental health problems in adolescence https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1034053. Published February 13, 2024. Accessed February 16, 2024.
Tsomokos D, et al. National mental health. 2024;doi:10.1038/s44220-024-00203-7.
A University of Manitoba study finds that bias-based bullying amplifies emotional distress among youth from multiple marginalized social positions. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1034276. Published February 13, 2024. Accessed February 16, 2024.
