While child abuse has negative effects on children, bullying creates a more serious impact especially on mental health. Bullying has been a growing concern of most parents because there are schools that do not take such an issue seriously.
There are schools that claim bullying builds character, but if you are going to delve deeper into it, you will begin to realize that it leaves scars deeper than child abuse. Data have been combined showing how childhood experiences affect one’s development. The results revealed that children who are bullied are most likely to suffer from mental health problems.
Without a doubt, bullying is a worldwide issue and there have been a lot of cases of bullying reported, which have not been properly addressed. Schools should build a safer place for children because a strong foundation helps them create a safety net as they grow. This revelation should serve as a wake up call not only to teachers, but to parents as well.
“The mental health outcomes we were looking for included anxiety, depression or suicidal tendencies,” said Wolke. “Our results showed those who were bullied were more likely to suffer from mental health problems than those who were maltreated. Being both bullied and maltreated also increased the risk of overall mental health problems, anxiety and depression in both groups.”
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Maltreatment was defined as “physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, or severe maladaptive parenting,” such as hitting or frequent shouting.
As the study notes, “Child maltreatment is a global issue and has been a matter of intense public concern in high-income countries for more than a century,” and is known to have serious physical and mental effects, while bullying has been relatively understudied. Yet on all measures, bullying had a greater effect, with GSMS participants who were bullied 4.9 times as likely to suffer anxiety as those who had been maltreated.
Unsurprisingly, bullying is more common than maltreatment, being reported by 36.7% of participants compared with 15.5% for maltreatment (7% reporting both). If the consequences are as severe as Wolke concludes, the contribution to mental illness is enormous.
Read full article via: Study Finds Bullying Affects Mental Health More Than Child Abuse
