Risk Factors and Psychological Outcomes of Bullying Victimization: A Community-based Study

To understand the negative impact of bullying on the psychological well-being of children and adolescents we need to examine the associated context of adverse home life, problem peer relationships and school experience. Standardized retrospective in-depth interviews provide a useful method. A sample of 160 high-risk community-based emerging adults in the UK (age 16–30) were interviewed to rate familial and peer/school relationships, and severity of bullying with or without aggression before age 17. A clinical interview assessed psychiatric disorders in teenage years. Statistical analyses showed a differential model for bullying victims versus aggressive victims and internalizing versus externalizing disorders. Both types of bullying experiences were associated with parental neglect and abuse, parental discord and inadequate supervision; victimization alone related to problem school context and internalizing disorders (anxiety disorders and major depression); in contrast, bullying victimization with aggression was distinctly associated with experiences of violence in family, problem peer group, and externalizing disorders (conduct disorder and substance use disorder). Thus differentiation of context of young people’s experience can inform effective psychosocial, educational and clinical approaches to reduce the risks associated with bullying victimization.