Bullying-suicide link explored in new study

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found signs of an apparent connection between bullying, being bullied and suicide in children, according to a new review of studies from 13 countries published in the International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health.

"While there is no definitive evidence that bullying makes kids more likely to kill themselves, now that we see there's a likely association, we can act on it and try to prevent it," said review lead author Young-Shin Kim, M.D., assistant professor at Yale School of Medicine's Child Study Center.

In the review, Kim and colleague Bennett Leventhal, M.D., analyzed 37 studies that examined bullying and suicide among children and adolescents. The studies took place in the United States, Canada, several European countries (including the United Kingdom and Germany), South Korea, Japan and South Africa.

Almost all of the studies found connections between being bullied and suicidal thoughts among children. Five reported that bullying victims were two to nine times more likely to report suicidal thoughts than other children were.

Not just the victims were in danger: "The perpetrators who are the bullies also have an increased risk for suicidal behaviors," Kim said.

However, the way the studies were designed made it impossible for researchers to determine conclusively whether bullying leads to suicide, Kim said. In addition, the authors report that most of the studies failed to take into account the influence of factors like gender, psychiatric problems and a history of suicide attempts.

Kim said her interest in bullying grew several years ago when she visited South Korea and heard several new slang terms referring to bullies and their victims. The words reflected "an elaborated system of bullying," she said.

According to international studies, bullying is common and affects anywhere from 9 percent to 54 percent of children. In the United States, many have blamed bullying for spurring acts of violence, including the Columbine High School massacre.

In the United States, many adults scoff at bullying and say, "Oh, that's what happens when kids are growing up," according to Kim, who argues that bullying is serious and causes major problems for children.

Kim is currently studying whether being bullied actually leads to suicide, although she acknowledges it will be difficult for researchers to get a firm grasp on a cause-and-effect relationship. She said that to confirm a definitive link, researchers would have to rule out the possibility that some unknown factor makes certain children more susceptible to both bullying and suicide.

For now, Kim said, the existing research should encourage adults to pay more attention to bullying and signs of suicidal behavior in children. "When we see kids who are targets of bullying, we should ask them if they're thinking about hurting themselves," she said. "We should evaluate and prevent these things from happening."

Source: Yale University

Related stories:

Jeers of peers may affect adolescent adjustment
New research suggests that traits such as obesity during adolescence that may increase the risk of attacks from peers can result in health and psychological struggles that remain through young adulthood. The researchers say that this is one of the first studies to explore a possible link between victimization and weight changes for obese adolescents.
The school bully -- does it run in the family?
A shove, a taunt or name-calling on the playground or in the hall, away from the eyesight, earshot and authority of the teacher – childhood bullying can involve physical contact, spreading rumors and other negative behaviors committed over and over again to intimidate, humiliate and isolate the receiver of the behavior.
Children are naturally prone to be empathic and moral
Children between the ages of seven and 12 appear to be naturally inclined to feel empathy for others in pain, according to researchers at the University of Chicago, who used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans to study responses in children.
Social form of bullying linked to depression, anxiety in adults
Spreading rumors and gossiping may not cause bruises or black eyes, but the psychological consequences of this social type of bullying could linger into early adulthood, a new University of Florida study shows.
Study shows compassion meditation changes the brain
Can we train ourselves to be compassionate? A new study suggests the answer is yes. Cultivating compassion and kindness through meditation affects brain regions that can make a person more empathetic to other peoples' mental states, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Research on consequences: Hyperactive girls face problems as adults
Young girls who are hyperactive are more likely to get hooked on smoking, under-perform in school or jobs and gravitate towards mentally abusive relationships as adults, according to a joint study by researchers from the Université de Montréal and the University College London (UCL).
University of Denver bullying victimization study
A University of Denver study shows a curriculum-based bullying prevention program reduced incidents of bullying by 20 percent, twice as much as in the study control group.
Children's peer victimization -- a mix of loyalty and preference
New research into childhood prejudice suggests that loyalty and disloyalty play a more important role than previously thought in how children treat members of their own and other groups. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), a study into the ‘black sheep effect’, shows that children treat disloyalty in their own group more harshly than disloyalty within different groups.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news