Contents:
- Medical Video: How A Messed Up Childhood Affects You In Adulthood
- Where did this research come from?
- What is this research?
- Who was the research conducted at?
- Then, what are the results?
- What is the purpose of the results of this study?
Medical Video: How A Messed Up Childhood Affects You In Adulthood
People bullied in childhood are reported to be more likely to have mental problems in their adult years than those who have been persecuted by adults, including their parents.
But this heading is misleading because the figure only reflects the results of research in the United States. Compared to the results of studies in the UK, which included more than three times the number of children, the results were almost not as significant as this.
There are several things that become problems in the design of this study. Research variables depend only on reports from personal experiences of children and parents, which might make results less reliable. Parents may underestimate their mistreatment of their children.
Still, the researchers conclude that schools, health institutions, and other institutions must work together in tackling bullying, is a suggestion that must be considered.
If you suspect your child is a victim bullying at school, it's important for both of you to consult with the school. You can question their anti-bullying policies, which every school should have. The anti-bullying policy will help you review how schools plan to prevent and overcome bullying.
Where did this research come from?
The study was conducted by a number of researchers from the University of Warwick and in collaboration with Duke Medical Center, in the United Kingdom.
This research was widely covered by the media. However, the results said that the child was the victim bullying a five-fold risk of suffering from nervousness (anxiety disorder) compared to children who are victimized by adults is considered misleading.
This result is also used in various news articles and media releases, but this figure only shows the population in the United States. The results of research from the UK, which involved more than three times the number of children, were almost not as significant as this.
What is this research?
This is a group study that looks at the long-term effects of mental health as a result bullying during school and compared to the effects of violence on children carried out by adults.
Researchers report that cases of child abuse, such as neglect, physical and sexual violence, are problems that concern the public at large. This has been shown to increase the risk of mental disorders, drug abuse, and suicide attempts.
Bullying, both verbally and physically, what other peers do is also a global problem. Reported 1: 3 children in 38 countries are victims bullying. This can also have the same adverse effects in adulthood.
The researchers aim to find out whether mental disorders are the result of a combination bullying and violence against children, or what bullying has other effects on children.
Who was the research conducted at?
This study is based on two major research subject groups on an ongoing basis. One group involved 4,026 children in the UK and another group involving 1,420 children in the United States.
Research in the UK aims to look at the health and development of children during childhood and so on. Participants are a number of pregnant women who will have children within the period of birth from April 1991 to December 1992.
In the first trimester, a number of parents will only be given a questionnaire to fill in about themselves and the stage of child development.
The mother provided information about the persecution that occurred between the ages of 8 weeks to 8.6 years, along with reports from their children regarding bullying which they experience at the ages of 8, 10, and 13. The keywords "persecution" are made based on physical, emotional, and sexual violence.
These children are then asked to attend the annual examination clinic, which includes face-to-face interviews and a number of physical tests, starting from the age of 7 years onwards.
Research in the US was based on samples obtained from three groups of children aged 9, 11, and 13 years who were recruited in 1993. These parents and children were continuously interviewed and questioned about the abuse and bullying experienced by the child.
Cruel treatment includes physical, sexual, or sadistic disciplinary violence from parents. These children were examined for behavioral problems and mental disorders until they reached adulthood.
Researchers control results based on factors that are expected to increase a child's risk of abuse and bullyingincluding the child's gender, family difficulties, and maternal mental health. In a British group study, participants were observed for the possibility of these factors during the mother's pregnancy. Whereas in studies in the US, participants (children and parents) were observed through annual interviews.
Then, what are the results?
In a US group study, children who were bully were at a five-fold risk of suffering from anxiety disorder than children who were persecuted.
The British group study stated that children who are bully victims are more prone to suffer from depression and self-harm than those who experience domestic violence.
The US study shows that groups of children who are victims of adult violence but who are not bully victims are four times more susceptible to depression in adulthood when compared to a group of children who are not abused or bullied.
In the UK group study, children who were victims of adult violence but not bullies did not show an increased risk of mental disorders than children who were not abused or bullied.
The results of the two study groups proved that children who were children were victims of parental violence and were also targeted bullying at school it shows an increased risk of suffering from mental disorders, anxiety disorder, and depression when compared to those who are not bullied or persecuted. In British children, in particular, there is a risk of hurting yourself.
Furthermore, the two study groups proved that children were victims bullying but not being victims of domestic violence are more prone to mental disorders than children who are victims of persecution but not targets bullying.
What is the purpose of the results of this study?
The researchers say, victims bullying from peers generally have a worse long-term effect on their mental health as adults compared to children who are victims of domestic violence (domestic violence).
This discovery has an important role for public health design and service development to deal with bullying, according to the researchers.
Two sets of results found in two different groups made the results of this study quite confusing. For example, the published media release highlights 4.9% increase in the effect of anxiety disorder only on children who are bullied, compared to children who are victims of domestic violence. But, this figure is only obtained from US group studies.
This study only relies on personal reports of children and parents around cases of abuse and bullying, which can be doubted by accuracy. Adults in particular tend to be reluctant to report cases of abuse committed by themselves or by their partners, even though researchers try to design research in such a way as to prevent this from happening. In addition, researchers can also show that this study does not make a difference between adult abuse and harsh parental upbringing.
In UK studies, not all children complete a mental examination at the age of 18. Those who have internal family problems are generally excluded from school, which makes research results less reliable. There may also be some selection bias for participants who agreed to participate in the study.
The researchers also did not succeed in including the factors of cyber bullying into the research variables, although they said that a number of previous studies had shown the overlapping forms between "traditional" bullying and cyber bullying.
In both studies, around 40% of children who were victims of abuse were also victims bullying. Shown by researchers, it is very possible for children who experience persecution to be more vulnerable to action bullying, or both types of abuse have risk factors that are similar between each other.
