Infectious Disease

Bullying among siblings in early adolescence can worsen mental health later on

October 07, 2021

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Individuals who were bullied by their siblings in early adolescence were at increased risk of poor mental health later in adolescence, according to a prospective longitudinal study in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

“Although sibling bullying was previously associated with poor mental outcomes, it was not known whether there was a long-term relationship between sibling persistence and mental health severity.” Umar Toseeb, PhD, from the Department of Education at the University of York in the United Kingdom, said in a press release. “In the first of its kind, we looked at a range of mental health outcomes in depth that encompassed both positive (e.g., well-being and self-esteem) and negative (e.g., symptoms of mental distress) mental health.

Toseeb U and Wolke D. J Jugend Adolesc. 2021; doi: 10.1007 / s10964-021-01495-z.

“Particularly noteworthy was the finding that even those who bullied their siblings but were not bullied themselves (ie, the bullies) had poorer mental health years later,” Toseeb added.

Toseeb and co-author Dieter Cloud, PhD, of the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick in the UK, analyzed data from 17,157 adolescents (48% girls) with an emphasis on early (age 11), middle (age 14) and late (age 17) adolescence. Participant data is from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, which began in the early 2000s and included completing questionnaires on sibling bullying by young people aged 11 and 14, and questionnaires on their mental health and wellbeing at 17 years old . In addition, parents completed questionnaires about their children’s mental health at ages 11, 14, and 17.

The results showed an association between bullying and poorer mental health outcomes in late adolescence, regardless of whether the person was bullied or the bullied. Mental health severity in late adolescence increased as the incidence of bullying victimization increased between early and middle adolescence. Bullying in early adolescence influenced the development of externalizing problems.

“When replicated using causal methods, these results suggest that sibling bullying in early adolescence has a long-term effect on both positive and negative mental health in late adolescence,” Toseeb and Cloud write in the study. “Prevention and clinical interventions aimed at reducing mental health problems and promoting positive mental health in late adolescence are likely to benefit from reducing sibling bullying in early adolescence.”

Reference:

Sibling bullying linked to poor mental health outcomes years later, finds a new study. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/929741. Published September 29, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.

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