Robust Study Reveals That There’s Something More Damaging To A Child Than Abuse, And It’s Happening Everywhere

For years, psychologists, sociologists, counselors, clergy and everyone else involved with children have likely been under the assumption that the most damaging thing that can affect a child’s long-term psychological health is child abuse — be it mental, physical, or sexual — and that the risk exponentially increases as the types of abuse the child is exposed to increases.

And certainly, these things do put a child at risk for long-term psychological damage, namely depression, poor self-esteem, suicidal ideation and high risk behaviors. However, two large studies that tracked mental health in children and then followed them at least until at least age 18 showed that childhood bullying is even more devastating to long term psychological health than child abuse. One study, from the U.S., included more than 1,200 participants. The other, from the U.K., involved more than 4,000 participants. This is important because despite the cultural differences, children’s emotive centers in their brains — their limbic systems — are being permanently damaged by bullying.

This is important information for everyone who deals with children. Many people have been under the impression that once a child is away from his or her bully, the emotional and psychological damage stops. But the study shows this is untrue, with many children suffering for years after incidents of bullying. Developmentally, it’s particularly important in the school-age years that a child identify with his or her cohort, and being ostracized is worse than being abused by an authority figure when it comes to the psychological aspect of their identity.

Senior study author Dieter Wolke, a psychology professor at the University of Warwick in the U.K., says that bullying has a unique effect on a child’s brain.

“We found, somewhat surprisingly, that those who were bullied and maltreated were not at higher risk than those just bullied. The findings highlight the need for parents, educators and clinicians to pay closer attention to bullying.”

U.S. researchers agree, stating that approximately one fifth of American children are severely bullied. Catherine Bradshaw, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence in Baltimore, says that this information sheds light on several factors as to behavior and risk factors.

“It is particularly novel that they found bullying is a greater source of mental health problems than maltreatment. Teaching good communication and conflict resolution skills before kids reach school age is also important for prevention. Later on, schools should reinforce these skills by creating a strong sense of community and fostering an environment where students feel connected to one another as well as to teachers and other adults. Schools often become the outlets where bullying comes to a head. Creating a sense of belonging has been consistently shown to be a protective factor as have programs that improve the school climate.”