Bullying starts early and escalates for some kids
Monday, October 6, 2008
By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Bullying starts as early as preschool for some children and may get progressively worse, a new study shows.
The study also found that children who show early signs of being physically aggressive (at age 17 months), who come from families with harsh parenting styles, or from poor families seem more likely to be consistently the target of bullying by their peers.
"Preventive efforts should start early and focus on the child and their family to alleviate or mitigate these negative life experiences and their related outcomes," Dr. Michel Boivin from Laval University, Quebec City, Canada, an investigator on the study, told Reuters Health.
In the report, published today in Archives of General Psychiatry, Boivin and colleagues point out that as many as 1 in 10 children are bullied by children their own age. Studies also show that peer bullying "becomes increasingly stable over time, with the same children enduring such negative experiences throughout childhood and adolescence," they note.
Chronic bullying may lead to a whole host of problems including depression, loneliness, low self-esteem, physical health problems, social withdrawal, alcohol or drug use, low school performance, as well as suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Boivin and colleagues evaluated 1,970 boys and girls born in Quebec between October 1997 and July 1998 to understand how and why some children become chronically abused by their peers. At different time points between age 4.5 months and 7.2 years, mothers provided investigators with information on bullying, adverse conditions in the home, parenting styles and physical aggression by the child. In first grade, when the children were an average of 7 years old, teachers and children were also asked about bullying by classmates.
The results indicate that peer relationship difficulties or "victimization" -- defined as a child being the target of peer's aggression according to the mother -- starts early for a limited number of children in preschool (roughly 4 percent), and progressively increases for another group of children (25 percent).
"These difficulties predict similar difficulties later in school (i.e., in 1st grade)," Boivin said.
The findings are "consistent with the view that, as preschool children progressively spend more time interacting with peers, they are more likely to experience negative peer experiences," Boivin and colleagues note in their report.
The researchers also identified three risk factors or predictors of bullying - signs of physical aggression by the child at age 17 months; a mother who was hostile or "reactive" toward the child, and low family income.
The study is ongoing, Boivin noted, and it will soon be possible to see whether these early negative experiences forecast later social problems (i.e., bullying in late elementary school), personal problems (i.e., harboring bad feelings about oneself) and academic problems.
SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, October 2008.
Monday, October 6, 2008
By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Bullying starts as early as preschool for some children and may get progressively worse, a new study shows.
The study also found that children who show early signs of being physically aggressive (at age 17 months), who come from families with harsh parenting styles, or from poor families seem more likely to be consistently the target of bullying by their peers.
"Preventive efforts should start early and focus on the child and their family to alleviate or mitigate these negative life experiences and their related outcomes," Dr. Michel Boivin from Laval University, Quebec City, Canada, an investigator on the study, told Reuters Health.
In the report, published today in Archives of General Psychiatry, Boivin and colleagues point out that as many as 1 in 10 children are bullied by children their own age. Studies also show that peer bullying "becomes increasingly stable over time, with the same children enduring such negative experiences throughout childhood and adolescence," they note.
Chronic bullying may lead to a whole host of problems including depression, loneliness, low self-esteem, physical health problems, social withdrawal, alcohol or drug use, low school performance, as well as suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Boivin and colleagues evaluated 1,970 boys and girls born in Quebec between October 1997 and July 1998 to understand how and why some children become chronically abused by their peers. At different time points between age 4.5 months and 7.2 years, mothers provided investigators with information on bullying, adverse conditions in the home, parenting styles and physical aggression by the child. In first grade, when the children were an average of 7 years old, teachers and children were also asked about bullying by classmates.
The results indicate that peer relationship difficulties or "victimization" -- defined as a child being the target of peer's aggression according to the mother -- starts early for a limited number of children in preschool (roughly 4 percent), and progressively increases for another group of children (25 percent).
"These difficulties predict similar difficulties later in school (i.e., in 1st grade)," Boivin said.
The findings are "consistent with the view that, as preschool children progressively spend more time interacting with peers, they are more likely to experience negative peer experiences," Boivin and colleagues note in their report.
The researchers also identified three risk factors or predictors of bullying - signs of physical aggression by the child at age 17 months; a mother who was hostile or "reactive" toward the child, and low family income.
The study is ongoing, Boivin noted, and it will soon be possible to see whether these early negative experiences forecast later social problems (i.e., bullying in late elementary school), personal problems (i.e., harboring bad feelings about oneself) and academic problems.
SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, October 2008.
