Source: Boston Globe, PhysOrg.com
Saying that being bullied can leave a mark on a child for life, state public health officials today released a comprehensive guide to prevent bullying in the state's schools.

"Our kids deserve to grow up in an environment that is free from harassment and violence," Department of Public Health Commissioner Jon Auerbach said in a statement. "Bullying is not an inevitable part of growing up and we need to do more to stop it."

In 2005, nearly one in four Massachusetts middle or high school students surveyed reported being bullied, health officials said. The officials cited research indicating that children who are bullied are more likely to become depressed, more likely to have considered suicide, and less likely to succeed academically.

One such study was released early this month by researchers at the University of Florida who looked at the effects of what some might consider a minor form of bullying -- what the researchers call "relational victimization."

It doesn't cause black eyes or bruises, but the researchers found that the psychological consequences of spreading rumors and gossiping can be as severe as other, more physical forms of bullying.

Rather than threatening a child with physical violence, these bullies target a child’s social status and relationships by shunning them, excluding them from social activities or spreading rumors, said Allison Dempsey, a doctoral student in the UF College of Education and the study’s lead author.

“Even though people are outside of high school, the memories of these experiences continue to be associated with depression and social anxiety,” said Dempsey, who graduated from Columbine High School in Colorado one year before the 1999 school shooting there and now studies school prevention programs. “It was interesting to see these relationships still continue to exist even though they are in early adulthood now and in a completely different setting."

In the study of 210 college students, UF researchers discovered a link between relational victimization in adolescence and depression and anxiety in early adulthood.

"About 20 years ago people thought of bullying as very physical,” said Eric Storch, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry in the UF College of Medicine and a co-author of the study.“As a result people thought guys did the bullying, and that it wasn’t really a big experience for girls. The problem is that isn’t actually true. There are different types of aggression.

"Boys do tend to be more physical, but both sexes engage in relational victimization. We wanted to see if gender affected strength of the relationship between depressive symptoms and victimization."

But researchers found no gender difference in the link between this type of bullying and depression.

To uncover the relationships between social bullying and loneliness, depression and anxiety, researchers surveyed college undergraduates between the ages of 18 and 25 and asked them to recall their experiences from high school. They were also looking to see if having friends mitigated some of the effects of bullying and if there was any relationship between gender and the severity of psychological symptoms, Storch said.

Dempsey said she hopes this study and others will help other researchers and psychologists design programs that can help stop this form of bullying in schools.

“I think many people have the belief that victimization is a normal rite of passage in childhood,” Storch said.

“While it certainly does happen to most kids, it’s not acceptable. And while I think it would be difficult to completely curtail it, by reducing it you’re going to help someone a tremendous amount to not have to go to school and be plagued by this environment of being tortured day in and day out.

“This isn’t a normative experience and we need to do something about it and recognize that not doing something could affect children who are really rising stars.”

It's not clear whether their guide addresses this form of bullying, health officials in Massachusetts said noted today that research suggests that bullies are more likely to commit crimes as they grow up.

The guide they prepared includes chapters on what teachers can do to prevent bullying, what school personnel can do after bullying has already occurred, and what strategies students can use themselves to address bullying.

State health officials said being bullied is a particular problem for gay, lesbian and bisexual youth.

"No guide alone can change a culture of bullying, but we hope this guide will help by providing administrators, teachers, and students with practical advice on what works and what doesn't work in preventing bullying," Auerbach said.

Full article: Battling the bullies: state health officials release prevention guide | Boston Globe
Social form of bullying linked to depression, anxiety in adults | PhysOrg.com