“Negative impact of childhood
bullying on adult”
Bullying is systematic abuse of
power and refers to repeated aggression against another person that is
intentional and involves an imbalance of power (Olweus, 1994). The repeated
aggression can be either direct (e.g., name calling, beating) or relational, that
is, with the intent to damage relationships (e.g., spreading rumors; Wolke,
Woods, Bloomfield, & Karstadt, 2000). Children can be perpetrators or
victims of bullying, and some children both bully and get victimized (bully-victims). Being bullied or bullying
others is a relatively common experience in childhood and adolescence (Nansel
et al., 2001). Negative impact of childhood bullying on adult from the journal
the author found that some negative impact.
First, health be participants
reported whether they had been diagnosed with a serious physical illness or
been in a serious accident at any point during young adulthood and whether they
had had a sexually transmitted disease (i.e., a positive test result for
herpes, genital warts, chlamydia, or HIV). Weight and height measurements were
used to derive body mass index, with obesity defined as a body mass index
greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2. Participants were assessed for a Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV),
psychiatric diagnosis (any DSM-IV anxiety disorder, any depressive disorder,
and antisocial personality disorder). Regular smoking was defined as smoking
one or more cigarettes per day for 3 months. Self-reported perceived poor
health, high illness-contagion risk, and slow illness recovery were derived
from a physical-health-problems survey (National Center for Health Statistics,
1988).
Social relationship. Marital,
parenthood, and divorce status were determined through self-report at the last
adult assessment. The quality of the subject’s relationship with his or her
parents, spouse or significant other, and friends (including arguments or
violence) was assessed at each assessment. Variables were included to indicate
any violence in a romantic relationship, a poor relationship with one’s
parents, absence of a best friend or confidante, and problems making or keeping
friends.
The last Risky or illegal behaviors.
Official felony charges were garnered from North Carolina Administrative Office
of the Courts records. Self-report data were used to assess recent police
contact; frequent lying to others; frequent physical fighting; breaking into a
home, business, or property; frequent drunkenness (drinking to excess at least
once weekly for 3 months); recent use of marijuana or other illegal substances;
and frequency of one-time sexual encounters with strangers (“hooking up” with
strangers for a one-night stand). Specifically, both victims and bully-victims
showed poorer health (victims: β = −0.45, SE = 0.11, p < .001;
bully-victims: β = −1.22, SE = 0.28, p < .001), but bullies did not (β =
−0.21, SE = 0.14, p = .11). For risky or illegal behaviors, bullies and
bully-victims had more negative outcomes (bullies: β = −0.82, SE = 0.25, p <
.001; bully-victims: β = −0.44, SE = 0.19, p = .02), but victims did not (β =
−0.13, SE = 0.10, p = .16). For social functioning, all three groups involved
in bullying displayed more negative problem scores (bullies: β = −0.62, SE =
0.24, p = .009; victims: β = −0.27, SE = 0.11, p = 0.01; bully-victims: β =
−0.91, SE = 0.31, p = .003).
The conclusion, being bullied is not
a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up but throws a
long shadow over affected children’s lives. Victims, in particular chronic
victims and bully-victims, are at increased risk for adverse health, financial,
and social outcomes in adulthood.
