Bullying Is Associated with Poor Mental and Physical Health

Bullying (intentional and repeated perpetration of aggression against a less powerful person or group by a more powerful person or group) is common in the school setting and might be associated with worse physical and psychological health and even suicide. To examine the chronic effects of bullying, researchers compared children who were bullied from elementary to high school with youth who were only currently experiencing bullying and those who had never been bullied.

In all, 4297 children and families from public schools in three metropolitan areas were interviewed in 5th, 7th, and 10th grades. Bullying was assessed using a validated six-item bullying victimization scale. Physical and psychological health, (physical and psychosocial qualit…