A pre-script
The following contribution was made on this site about 5 years ago. Research
in this area has continued to gain momentum. More and more published papers
on the consequences of bullying are come to light, often (I’m sorry to
say) without their authors having read what has already been published. Last
year I tried to keep up with it in a review paper I was aked to write for the
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (the paper can be downloaded here http://www.cpa-apc.org/Publications/Archives/CJP/2003/october/rigby.pdf
) – and already there is much new work on the subject by new authors waiting
to be read. This is certainly an encouraging trend. But the issues I raised
five years ago in the following contribution are still very much alive. Read
on.
An appeal for better research.
There continues to be a good deal of resistance to the view that bullying is harmful to the health of children. Some of the resistance comes from people who proudly assert that being bullied at school never did them any harm. This is not surprising. In a given year, about half the school children who are have been surveyed in Australia (currently over 38,000) report that they were not bullied at all. Then there are also those who claim that being bullied did them good. They responded (they say) to the challenge, and became tougher for the experience. And it is true that among those who say they are bullied weekly (some 15% of Australian children) there are some who say they are not really bothered by it. These are often tough, resilient children - fortunate to be so. It is the ten percent of children who are continually being bullied and plainly ARE bothered, feeling angry and/or sad as a consequence, who concern us most. For those who do not appreciate the misery and health concerns of these children we need clear convincing evidence that bullying really does them serious harm.
Despite the countless numbers of articles that have been written about bullying in the last few years - and the abundance of information about it on the Internet - the evidence of the harm that bullying can do remains open to criticism and can often unfortunately be discounted. Most of the existing studies are based on cross-sectional surveys; the relationships they reveal can be dismissed as "merely correlational." It is, for instance, open to critics to argue that victimisation does not necessarily lower a child's self-esteem. An equally plausible explanation for the correlation is that children with low self-esteem are commonly targeted by bullies. Further, even if children are sometimes upset by bullying - so the argument goes - they get over it soon enough. We need more persuasive studies employing longitudinal research designs.
Studies monitoring the health of children and the extent to which they are being victimised by peers over a period of time are, in fact, rare.
These are the ones known to me:
Olweus (1992) reported an association between frequent victimisation in Middle School and low self esteem and proneness to depression at age 23 years. However, baseline measures of mental health were not reported.
Kochenderfer and Ladd (1996) conducted a longitudinal study with primary school children and reported evidence of victimisation by peers producing subsequent maladjustment in these young children.
Egan and Perry (1998) also conducted a longitudinal study with primary school children and reported that although victimisation was experienced more often by children with low self-regard, victimisation by peers induced a further loss of self-esteem.
Rigby (1998) reported results from a three year longitudinal study with secondary school students in Australia. This study provided evidence supporting a causal link between peer victimisation and low levels of well-being. An account of this last study was published in Youth Studies Australia, 17,1, 13-17, 1998. A more detailed account appeared in the British Journal of Educational Psychology in March, 1999.
Studies such as those described above (and those indicted in the References below) should help to dispel some scepticism about the harmful effects of bullying. Nevertheless more studies are still needed, especially studies of a longitudinal kind that can demonstrate cause/effect relationships. Such studies also need to take into account other factors that can lead to poor mental and physical health, such as negative or abusive parenting, before we can accurately assess the contribution of peer abuse to deteriorating health among children.
Little progress will be made in countering bullying in schools until there is general acceptance that the experience of being repeatedly bullied over time can have serious health implications for a substantial proportion of children. Research has an important role in establishing what is the case.
Craig, W. (1998) The relationship among bullying, depression, anxiety and aggression among elementary school children. Personality and Individual Differences, 24, 123-130.
Crick, N.R. & Grotpeter, J.K. (1995) Relational aggression, gender and social psychological adjustment. Child Development, 66, 710-722.
Dawkins, J and Hill , P (1995). Bullying: another form of abuse ? In David TJ (ed.) Recent Advances in Paediatrics 13. Edinburgh, 103- 122.
Dawkins, J. (1995) Bullying in schools: doctors' responsibilities.British Medical Journal, 310 174-274.
Dodge, K.A, and Coie, J.D. (1987) Hostile attributional biases among aggressive boys are exarerbated under conditions of threats to the self. Child Development, 58, 213 - 224.
Egan, S. K.; Perry, D. G. (1998) Does low self-regard invite victimization? Developmental-Psychology Vol34(2): 299-309.
Forero, R., McLellan, L., Rissel, C. and Bauman, A. (1999). Bullying behaviour and psychosocial health among school students in NSW, Australia. British Medical Journal. 319: 344-348.
Gilmartin, B.G. (1987). Peer group antecedents of severe love-shyness in males. Journal of Personality, 55, 467-489.
Kaltialo-Heino, R., Rimpela, M., Marttunen, M., Rimpela, A. and Ratenen, P. (1999. "Bullying, depression and suicidal ideation
Kochenderfer, B.J. & Ladd, G.W. (1996). Peer Victimisation: Cause or Consequence of School Maladjustment. Child Development, 67, 1305-1317
Kumpulainen, K, Rasanen, E, Henttonnen, I., Almquest, F, Kresanov, K, Linna,S I., Moilanen, I., Piha, J., Puura, K., Tamminen, T (1998) Bullying and psychiatric symptoms among elementary school-age children Child Abuse and Neglect, 22 (7) 705-7
Olweus, D. (1992). Victimisation by peers: antecedents and long term outcomes. In K.H. Rubin and J. B.. Asendorf (eds) Social withdrawal, inhibition and shyness in children, Hillsdale, N. J. :Erlbaum. 17.
Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school. Cambridge: Blackwell.
Mynard, H. & Joseph, S. (1997). Bully/victim problems and their association with Eysenck’s personality dimensions in 8-13 year olds. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 67, 51-54.
Rigby, K (2003) Consequences of Bullying in schools. The Canadian Journal
of Psychiatry, 48, pp 583- 590. (To download:
www.cpa-apc.org/Publications/Archives/CJP/2003/october/editorialCredits.asp
Rigby, K. (1997) What children tell us about bullying in schools Children Australia,
Rigby, K. (1998) Peer relations at school and the health of children Youth Studies Australia. Vol 17, 1, 13-17.
Rigby, K. (1998) Health effects of school bullying The Professional Reading Guide for Educational Administrators Vol 19, No.2. Feb/March .
Rigby, K. (1998) The relationship between reported health and involvement in bully/victim problems among male and female secondary school students. Journal of Health Psychology, 3, 4, 465-476
Rigby, K. (1998). Suicidal ideation and bullying among Australian secondary school children. Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 15,1,45-61.
Rigby, K. (1999) Peer victimisation at school and the health of secondary students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 22, 2, 28 - 34.
Rigby, K. (2000) Effects of peer victimisation in schools and perceived social support on adolescent well-being Journal of Adolescence, 23.1.57-68.
Rigby,K (2001) Health consequences of bullying and its prevention in schools. In J Juvonen and S Graham(Eds) Peer Harassment in school. New York: Gulford
Rigby, K (2002) New perspectives on bullying. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Rigby,K &Bagshaw, D. (2001) What hurts? The reported consequences of negative interactions with peers among Australian school children. Children Australia, 26, 4, 36 – 41.
Rigby, K and Cox, I. K. (1996) The contributions of bullying and low self-esteem to acts of delinquency among Australian teenagers. Personality and Individual Differences. 21,4,609-612.
Rigby, K. and Slee, P. T. (1993) Dimensions of interpersonal relations among Australian school children and their implications for psychological well-being. Journal of Social Psychology, 133(1), 33-42
Rigby, K.and Slee, P.T. (1999) Suicidal ideation among adolescent school children, involvement in bully/victim problems and perceived low social support Suicide and Life-threatening Behavior, 29, 119-130.
Salmon, G., Jones, A., and Smith, D.M.(1998) Bullying in school: self-reported anxiety and self-esteem in secondary school children. British Medical Journal, 317, (7163) 924-5.
Sharp, S. (1995). How much does bullying hurt? The effects of bullying on the personal well-being and educational progress of secondary aged students. Educational and Child Psychology, 12, 81-88.
Slee, P. T. (1995). Peer Victimization and its relationship to depression among Australian Primary School Students. Person. Individ. Diff. Vol. 18, 1, 57 - 62.
Slee, P.T. and Rigby, K. (1993) The relationship of Eysenck's personality factors and self-esteem to bully/victim behaviour in Australian school boys. Personality and Individual Differences, 14, 37
Stanley, L. and Arora, T. (1998). Social exclusion amongst adolescent girls: Their self-esteem and coping strategies. Educational Psychology in Practice, 14 (2) 94-100.
Williams, K., Chambers, M., Logan, S. & Robinson, D. (1996). Association of common health symptoms with bullying in primary school children. British Medical Journal, 313: 17 - 19.
Zubrick, S.R., Silburn, S.R., Gurrin, L., Teoh, H., Shepherd, C., Carlton, J. and Lawrence, D. (1997). Western Australian Child Health Survey: Education, Health and Competence. Perth, Western Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics and Institute for Child Health Research.