Bullying: Cause and Effect With Victim Depression

Bullying, Cause and Effect

What are the long-term effects of being bullied as a child? I hope to demonstrate through an examination of sources that bullying has a direct causal connection to later mental health problems for its victims. It must be stated at the outset, however, that the causal connection can only be proven if we can establish several things. We must ascertain that children who are bullied do not already possess mental health problems, or that even if they do that the bullying has a direct relation to the worsening of those problems later in the victims' lives. I think it can be clearly established that -- regardless of a child's mental state at the time bullying begins -- by the time a child has been bullied, that child's mental health prospects in later life have significantly worsened.

As a matter of clinical observation, it has been shown that victims of bullying frequently suffer from mental health problems in later life. In a 2009 article for the Journal of Genetic Psychology, Menesini, Modena and Tani surveyed the available literature to show that the first study to posit a conclusive connection between a victim being bullied and that same victim showing more mental health problems in later life was done in 1993, but that later studies have confirmed the process. In particular, they note that "some researchers have highlighted how victims have a greater risk of manifesting anxiety and depressive disorders in adulthood, suggesting that experiences of school victimization can have long-term effects on the probability of showing depression and internalizing symptoms" (Menesini et al., 117-8). This would appear to make perfect sense -- the victim might very well be conditioned by the abuse to keep a low profile, which would explain the "internalizing symptoms," while the notion of depression as a long-term consequence of being victimized seems perfectly intuitive.

In order to demonstrate the causal connection perfectly, however, it is necessary to evaluate what victims are like at the time bullying begins. This has been studied extensively by Shakoor, Jaffe et al. In their 2011 article for the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology: with a survey of all available literature, they conclude "research shows that being a victim of bullying is more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A number of individual, school and family risk factors contribute to this risk. Studies have identified exposure to domestic violence, child maltreatment, emotional and behavioral problems, low self-worth and reduced assertiveness to increase children's risk of being bullied." (Shakoor, Jaffe et al., 380). In other words, victims may already be in a position where they could very well suffer mental health issues later in life, but it is undeniable that the bullying worsens any prognosis. Indeed, Farrington et al. In a 2011 study have shown that if anything victims tend to understate their own mental health difficulties (at least in contrast to parental assessments): they write that "victimization (being bullied) according to mothers was a strong and significant predictor of depression, even after controlling for ten key risk factors. Victimization according to boys was a weak but nevertheless significant predictor, especially when it was measured at the youngest age of 10. These results suggest that being bullied is followed by an increased risk of depression, and consequently that intervention programmes that prevent bullying would cause a decreased risk of depression." (Farrington et al., 80)