Bullying in teen years linked to health problems

Researchers found both physical and emotional bullying was linked with difficulties such as headaches, dizziness, backaches, insomnia, abdominal pain and poor body image in adults

Bullying during adolescence might be tied to health problems that follow teens into adulthood, a Canadian study suggests.

Researchers who followed 662 youth for a decade starting when they were between 12 and 19 years old found that both physical and emotional bullying was linked with difficulties such as headaches, dizziness, backaches, insomnia, abdominal pain and poor body image.

Even emotional taunts predicted physical health problems in adulthood, researchers reported in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

"These health problems, be it depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms, or poor self-concepts, can interfere with several life domains including academic and occupational performance, relationship satisfaction, economic success and more severe health outcomes," study co-author Alanna D Hager of Metropolitan State University of Denver said by email.

"The study highlights that early adolescence is a sensitive time for the implementation of intervention and prevention efforts that can curb trajectories of health problems for youth," added co-author Bonnie J Leadbeater of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, where the research was conducted.

Previous research has linked peer victimisation, like other forms of stress, to adverse changes in biological, emotional, behavioural and social processes that over time can result in chronic physical health problems, the authors note. The impact can be particularly devastating during adolescence, when teens tend to depend on their peers for self-esteem and identity development.

For the current study, researchers analysed data from six interviews youth completed between 2003 and 2014.

To measure bullying, participants were asked questions such as how often they got pushed or shoved by peers and how often peers spread lies about them to make other youth dislike them.

Researchers assessed physical symptoms by asking participants to rate how frequently they experienced problems such as headaches, dizziness and insomnia. To monitor body image, the youth rated how regularly they noticed they were physically healthy or felt particularly proud or uncomfortable with their body's development.

Over the course of the six interviews, roughly 29 to 52 per cent of the boys reported experiencing physical bullying at least sometimes, as did 20 per cent to 29 per cent of girls. In addition, about 28 to 67 per cent of males and 37 to 54 per cent of females said they were victims of emotional taunts at least some of the time.

About one-two per cent of participants reported they were bullied all of the time, the study found. Generally, the females reported more physical symptoms and poorer body image than the males throughout the study period.